Haman's Fall | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Haman's Fall | Previous Challenge Entry
By Gloria Pierre Dean
03/11/18
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The book of Esther relates the story of a man who seems large and powerful but who had a small soul in which dwelt greed and revenge. He was an Agagite. Agagites were descendants of King Agag which ensured he had power by birth but all of his young life he had been poor and despised. He was a quietly desperate man who wanted so badly to be rich and powerful. He was of a high noble birth, but he wanted more.

Over time and with the help of his wife he came up with a devious plan. Through bribery, witchcraft and lies he got his long-desired job in the palace of King Ahasuerus. It took years and a lot of work but he worked his way into his boss’ affection and trust. He ingratiated himself into his good books, found out his likes and dislikes and made sure the King was pleased at all times.

“King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him” (Esther 3:1). Haman was second in command in the nation with only King Ahasuerus over him. He set up and ran his own private mafia.
The time came when he saw a big opportunity to become richer and even more powerful, so he decided to take it. Firstly he needed to depose one Jewish man even if it meant killing all the Jews in the land to do so. That man was Mordecai because
“Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honour, he was enraged”.
“He scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead, Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes” {Esther 3:5-6}

Haman and his wife Zeresh decided to lay a trap for them. They sat up late into the night making their evil plans. After all, he was close enough to the king to drop words into his ear. The king trusted him so he encouraged the change of laws that would entrap the Jews. He would be paid to do this;

“Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.” {Esther 3:11}

However, his first big mistake was in doing poor research. Hatred, greed for power and wealth-obsessed and blinded him. If he had done his homework he would have realised that the man he hated had done some good for the king in the distant past. He would have also found out that the shy new queen adored by the king, and who he thought he could control, was of the Jewish race that he so ardently hated.

On the day the queen invited him to a dinner party for the king, he thought that surely now he would be appointed to his best paying job yet. That would mean more money and power over the national destiny.

The next step in his plan was to devise a killing instrument. *His wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a pole set up, reaching to a height of fifty cubits, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai impaled on it.Then go with the king to the banquet and enjoy yourself.”

This suggestion delighted Haman. He had the pole set up”. {Esther 5:14}

As we know, his plans failed!
Time and history revealed that he and his wife lost their lives and never achieved their wicked desires. Too late they learned that God protected His people and that God had placed certain people in positions of leadership and that they were in 'for such a time as this'. Both of them received the same death sentence that they had planned for the innocent Jewish people.

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