1 After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles.
After Esther had become queen and the assassination plot was foiled, a man named Haman comes onto the scene. Haman’s lineage is important here. He is the son of an Agagite. Agag was the former king of the Amalekites. These were enemies to Israel from way back in the days of Moses (Exodus 17:14-16).
Let’s recap some of the judgment foibles of King Xerxes:
1. Six month glory party 2. 7-Day drunken bender 3. Calling the queen out to be displayed 4. Creating an edict to kick the queen out of the house 5. Devising a Cinderella-esqe search for a new queen 6. Deporting and damning nearly 400 women to a life in the harem 7. Honoring a known enemy of Israel
2 All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor. 3 Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?”
This seems out of character for a man that foiled the assassination attempt of a pagan king. Yet there are two profound differences in the stance Mordecai takes:
1. The prostration of those before Haman seems to be motivated by Haman’s pride. Mordecai may find no honor in bowing to a man’s pride 2. Mordecai would never bow to a generational enemy to Israel
4 Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew. 5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. 6 Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, 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.
Through Haman’s pride, we see the true color of his heart. Haman cannot stand for a single person not bowing to him. It seems that he didn’t notice at first until he was told about it. But then he discovers Mordecai’s heritage. But it isn’t enough to destroy just Mordecai. He must destroy all the Jews.
And perhaps this was what Mordecai first saw in Haman. It could have been the reason he could not bow to him. Because he saw that Haman was evil and bent on destruction. A man of God would be able to see that.
7 In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the pur (that is, the lot) was cast in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar. 8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.”
In verse 7, we see that another 5 years has passed since Esther has become queen. Haman has cast the Pur (Persian for lots). This was an ancient way to leave decisions to chance. Since he was throwing it in the first month, and the Pur fell on the twelfth month, it meant that Haman’s attack on the Jewish population would not occur for nearly a year.
After choosing his timeframe, he then goes to the king. Haman is wily; he chooses his words carefully. Notice how he never calls out the Jews by name. He says “a certain people” who “keep themselves separate” have different “customs” and they “don’t obey the king’s laws”. In the best interest of the king, Haman says, it’s best to destroy them, and in doing so, he’ll set the treasury up with a tidy sum.
Haman frames the truth with a lie. Yes, the jews are a “certain people” and they have “different customs” and they do “separate themselves”. But there is no evidence that they didn’t obey the king’s laws. In fact, Haman’s motivation is based solely on his hate for Mordecai. He is trying to coerce the king to sign an irreversible edict.
In Persian culture, once a king signs an edict, they can’t reverse it. It stands as law. If you’ve read the book of Daniel, the conspiring officials use this same irreversible tactic to catch Daniel praying to God instead of the king (Daniel 6:13) and is thrown into the Lion’s Den because of it.
10 So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”
Another poor decision by Xerxes, to eradicate a people based on a lie. He doesn’t research it, doesn’t even question it, but gives his seal of approval. This is a stark contrast to his father Darius, who researched the plight of the Jewish people rebuilding the temple deeply before issuing an edict (Ezra 6).
12 Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language of each people all Haman’s orders to the king’s satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his own ring. 13 Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. 14 A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so they would be ready for that day. 15 The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.
Because of Haman’s pride, an entire people are to be murdered. Xerxes and Haman seem content with it (they sat down to drink), but the city was “bewildered”. The city knew there were Jewish people within their walls and these people were good people. They were given 11 months to prepare to be slaughtered. This telegraphed genocide was unusual, but this is also part of God’s timing. Things seem bleak, but God is at work. Remember, Mordecai told Esther not to reveal her lineage. Her lineage is Jewish. God is at work.