Esther 3:1-15[1]
As preached at Rolling Hills Church on Sunday, April 10th, 2011
Esau's son Timnah had a son through a concubine, and the son was named Amalek. As was the practice of that day, his descendants became known as the tribe of Amalek, or the Amalekites. The king of the Amalekites was later given the title/name of Agag (Num 24:7).
Fast-forward to 1440 B.C. when the Israelites, having been delivered from Egypt by the great hand of God, were wandering in the desert. Amalek attacks Israel at Rephidim, and God uses Joshua and Moses to defeat them; Joshua fighting, Moses on the hill holding his arms up, with help from Aaron and Hur. God declared something there that was actually astonishing…
Ex 17:14-16. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven." And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The LORD Is My Banner, saying, "A hand upon the throne of the LORD! The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."
Forty years later Moses was giving instructions to the Israelites before they crossed the Jordan to take the Promised Land. One note was about Amalek…
Deut 25:17-19. "Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God. [Note; those lagging behind were young children and the older, weaker adults, perhaps with no family to keep them together; like orphans and widows.] Therefore when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you, in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget.
Now we jump to 1050 B.C. in 1 Samuel 15 when Saul, first king of Israel, is sent to war against the Amalekites with the mandate to utterly destroy every person, animal, and thing. He did not; he left the king and the best of the animals alive. The prophet Samuel came, tried Saul and found him guilty. He declared (at God's command, of course) that Saul would lose his kingdom to one more worthy, and violently killed the king of Amalek. Saul's father was named Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin. The name of the king of the Amalekites was, of course – Agag.
Now we are up to about 474 B.C. and the remnants of the nation of Israel are scattered all around the nation of Persia, of which Ahasuerus is king and Esther is queen. Esther's cousin, if you'll recall from chapter two of Esther, is Mordecai, "Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite" (Esther 2:5). Now we are ready to pick up with the story of Esther, since you have a little background to today's portion of the narrative, in Esther 3:1-15. Follow along as I read the entire chapter.
1 After these things 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.
2 And all the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage.
3 Then the king's servants who were at the king's gate said to Mordecai, "Why do you transgress the king's command?"
4 And when they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai's words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew.
5 And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury.
6 But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.
7 In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur (that is, they cast lots) before Haman day after day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.
8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws, so that it is not to the king's profit to tolerate them.
9 If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king's business, that they may put it into the king's treasuries."
10 So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews.
11 And the king said to Haman, "The money is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you."
12 Then the king's scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king's satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the officials of all the peoples, to every province in its own script and every people in its own language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's signet ring.
13 Letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.
14 A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by proclamation to all the peoples to be ready for that day.
15 The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.
Providence, courage, and commemoration, the themes of the book of Esther.
Chapter one takes place in 3rd year of Ahasuerus; chapter two takes place in 6-7th year of Ahasuerus, and chapter three takes place in 11-12th year of the king.
This is the crux of the story. We have the introduction of the bad guy and his plot all in one chapter – just like that, the hammer drops! But wicked people never surprise God; He had already set the stage. Esther is queen, Mordecai is at the gates, and the Invisible Hand of God (Providence) had seen to other details. Things will move quickly now.
So it seems that in the Old Testament times, bad blood runs deep! For the record, I think 1626 years is a long time to be mad at your brother, then your cousin. But such is the story of Israel and Amalek; it is more than a grudge. Here we have the descendants of Jacob and Esau still striving, as in the womb of their mother. Here we have two men, hundreds of miles and hundreds of years from their home countries in the court of a foreign nation, re-drawing the battle lines of old. This history has much bearing on this story, and I believe it gives a little help understanding some very difficult unanswered questions in this chapter…
Why did Ahasuerus promote Haman? This we do not know. There is one possibility through this history of Amalek that I've read. Just as Israel was taken captive by Babylon and the princes were treated with some dignity in that kingdom and the subsequent nations of the Medes and Persians, perhaps the prince of Amalek was also treated with a measure of respect as well. Maybe that gave his descendant, Haman, access to the king through that venue. We can simply deduce that it wasn't from character. Matthew Henry uttered this line: "Princes' darlings are not always worthies." He was a vain, evil person, this we have seen already. And Ahasuerus was a whimsical king, who seems to pay little attention to Haman. Maybe he was broke after the Greek wars; more likely, his leadership reflected a king who fancied himself above the law.
Why such stubborn resistance from Mordecai? Why did Mordecai not bow? It seems that history was not easily erased in either of these households. All we can surmise is that Mordecai knew that Haman was an Amalekite (Agagite) and he simply would not bow. Perhaps he was aware, somehow, that Haman already hated the Jews, and would do them harm once he was in power. We don't know; but perhaps Haman's ancestry caused Mordecai to answer the way he did - did you notice that? "I am a Jew" was the only reason he gave for his defiance. Also, note that he did what he had forbidden Esther to do, and openly acknowledged his ancestry.
Why such venomous hatred from Haman? The answer lies in the history of his people, like Mordecai's history. Perhaps the Amalekites had issued their own "Never forget!" memo to the children through stories around the fireplace through the centuries. Remembering a terrible defeat can be motivating to a people; as the barely-formed Army of Texas fought Santa Anna's Mexican forces in 1836 they rallied with the cry of "Remember the Alamo!" Why? Because from Feb 23rd-March 6th 1836 one hundred and eighty-two men had elected to make their stand in the Alamo against Santa Anna's massive army, knowing they would die. But their sacrifice would give the fledgling state (March 2nd) time to muster an army and fight back[2]. "Remember Saul's slaughter at Havilah!" might have been a slogan through the centuries for Amalekites. Israelites knew their tribe – and still do; it wouldn't be unrealistic to think that Haman's people had held on to their heritage in Persia as well. What if his father told him the story of the few escapees who had fled from Saul's deadly attack, and the 'hacking up' of King Agag by Samuel? Then finding out that Mordecai was a Jew might have been the motivating factor behind such hatred. After all, he had "disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone" because "Haman sought to destroy all the Jews".
This man was serious, and he was crafty. Silver as of Thursday April 7th was $39.50 per ounce. In today's currency, with a talent being about 75 lbs., Haman's gift given for the privilege of killing the Jews would have been $474 million. That's serious. And he was crafty; "It would be to the king's advantage to get rid of them." Folks, our enemy is crafty as well, and he is well funded in this world.
Why did God hate Amalek? Not knowing God's motives behind every move leaves us wondering, but the rest of Scriptures give us some insight that we need to hold fast to. Two things we need to take away from this chapter about God's character, even though He isn't mentioned out right:
1) God is holy, and hates sin. Never did God forget the sin of Amalek, and never will He forget the sin of any person who sins against Him and disdains fear of God's wrath. This is unthinkable to us, but completely consistent to God; He hates sin, and judges it all with death. This is unchanged through time, just as God remains the same. If God remembers our sins against Him, what hope is there of mercy, life, pardon, forgiveness? Only the shed blood of Jesus Christ. This is the only hope for any of us; our sins have us guilty before God, and require death; but Christ died on that cross outside of Jerusalem to provide atonement for the sins of all who DO fear God and turn from their sin, crying out for mercy through Christ.
2) God loves His children, and will bring about justice. The great message of Esther is the salvation of God's people, yet again targeted for annihilation. He was faithful to the descendants of Abraham, and He still is faithful to protect and to provide for the descendants of Abraham. According to Romans and Galatians, that includes all who believe in the Savior God promised to bring through Abraham, all who believe God as that man did. It may tarry, but you wait; justice will come. The wicked will fall, and the righteous will be saved. Trust in God, church family; repent, believe, and hold to God's goodness. Justice, mercy will come from His throne.
So the crux of the story is here in chapter three; the death warrant for all Jews. Haman and the king sit down to eat, and the city of Susa – and likely many other cities in Persia – was in confusion over this edict. But the hand of God wasn't tied; He stays ahead of His enemies.
Let's pray.
[1] All Scriptures, unless otherwise noted, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (via E-Sword Software) © 2001 Crossway Publishing. All Rights Reserved. I paste them in red for distinction.
[2] Details about the battle of the Alamo from http://www.texasmilitaryforcesmuseum.org/tnghist3.htm
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