Esther 3
I. \\#Esther 1:1-22\\ The Wife Who Refused to Obey
II. \\#Esther 2:1-23\\ Choosing a New Queen
III. \\#Esther 3:1-15\\ Haman Forms A Plot
III. \\#Esther 3:1-15\\ - Haman Forms A Plot
A. \\#Esther 3:1-6\\ Haman Is Offended
1. \\#1\\ "king Ahasuerus promote Haman… the Agagite" - Mordecai
was a descendent of Benjamin \\#Esther 2:5\\, the tribe of King
Saul, who was commanded by God to kill all the Amalekites
\\#1Sam 15:1-9\\, over whom King Agag had ruled more than 500
years before. The contention between Haman and Mordecai was not
just personal. It was international and had roots going back
hundreds of years.
2. \\#2\\ "Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence" - Mordecai
had become a lower ranking official in the King Ahasuerus’ court
\\#Esther 2:21\\, but Haman had been promoted to a higher office.
Bowing to show reverence for a superior, or even a friend, is not
uncommon in the Arab world; yet. Mordecai would not bow to Haman,
even though "the king had so commanded concerning him."
3. \\#4\\ "for he told them that he was a Jew"
a. Although Mordecai had commanded Esther not to reveal that she
was a Jew \\#Esther 2:10\\, Mordecai was known to be a Jew.
In fact, Mordecai’s reason for now bowing was that he did not
bow to Haman because he was a Jew.
b. Mordecai’s reasoning was not that his Jewish heritage
(i.e. the law) prevented him from bowing to another man. As a subject
and a servant in King Ahasuerus’ court, he likely bowed to
the king on a regular basis.
c. His reasoning was that as a Jew, he would not bow to an
Amalekite. Mordecai was refusing to bow to a man whose
nation had attacked his people in a cowardly manner as they
came out of Egypt and whom God had cursed.
d. Mordecai’s refusal could—and probably would—have cost him
his life if Haman had gone to the king and charged him, for
it was the king’s command which was being violated. However,
Haman did not want to kill just one Jew.
4. \\#5\\ "then was Haman full of wrath" - Haman’s anger was great.
5. \\#6\\ "Haman sought to destroy all the Jews… throughout the
whole kingdom" - Haman saw an opportunity to eliminate not just
Mordecai, but all the Jews, thus ending forever the feud between
the two nations.
B. \\#Esther 3:7-15\\ A Plan Is Made
1. \\#7\\ "In the first month… Nisan"
a. Haman’s plan started during the first days of the first month
of the Jewish year. Nisan is the month that the Jews
celebrate the Passover, their deliverance from Egypt. It
is interesting that Haman is conniving a plan of destruction
while the Jews are celebrating their past deliverance.
b. "in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus" - It has now been
nine years since Vashti was removed \\#Esther 1:3\\ and five
years since Esther was made queen \\#Esther 2:16\\.
c. "they cast Pur… the lot… from day to day, and from month
to month" - THEY is a reference to Haman and his fortune
tellers. Haman had his "wise men" go through every day of
the calendar for that year to judge what day would be the
best or the "luckiest" day on which to have all the Jews
killed.
d. The date selected was "the thirteenth day of the twelfth
month," as given in \\#Esther 3:13\\.
2. \\#8-9\\ "And Haman said unto King Ahasuerus" - Haman needed the
king to approve his plan to kill all the Jews.
a. \\#8\\ Haman describes the Jews in three ways, although he
never mentioned who they were.
1. "their laws are diverse from all people" - This was a true
statement. God had made the Jews a peculiar people by
giving them the Law.
2. "neither keep they the king’s laws" - That was not true.
There is no evidence that anyone save Mordecai was
violating the king’s commandment.
3. "therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them"
Haman’s conclusion was that it was not profitable for the
king to allow such a people to exist.
b. \\#9\\ "let it be written that they may be destroyed"
1. Even if the charges Haman presented were completely true,
Haman’s remedy would have been drastic!
2. "I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to… those that
have charge of the business" - Haman offered to foot the
bill for the termination of this unnamed people.
(a) Certainly this type of offer must have been very rare.
Haman obviously did not want his request rejected
due to the high financial cost of completing it. It
is clear that Haman had thought out his plan
carefully and was dedicated to fulfilling it.
(b) "ten thousand talents of silver" - Since the price of
metals fluctuates, it is hard to figure an exact
currency conversion, but the weight is estimated to
have been 375 tons by one writer and would be upward
of $10 million dollars.
MacArthur, J. J. (1997, c1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed.)
(Es 3:12). Nashville: Word Pub.
3. \\#10\\ "the king took the ring from his hand, and gave it unto…
the Jews’ enemy"
a. It appears the king had no questions, but completely trusted
that Haman had his best interests in mind.
b. There are several references in this book to the laws of
the Persian kingdom \\#Esther 1:8, 15; 4:11; 8:8\\. To what
extent these laws protected its citizens is unclear, for
it certainly did not protect the Jewish citizens.
4. \\#11\\ "The silver is given to thee, the people also" - As it
turns out, the king was not concerned with the issue of money.
5. \\#12-14\\ The law is decreed and the kingdom notified.
a. \\#12\\ "Then were the king’s scribes called on the
thirteenth day of the first month" - The law was written
eleven months before it was to be carried out.
b. \\#13\\ "to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all
Jews… young and old… children and women" - No mercy was
to be shown.
c. \\#13\\ "and to take the spoil of them for a prey"
Apparently, as an extra incentive, those who did the killing
kept the spoil.
d. \\#14\\ "The copy… was published unto all people… that
they should be ready against that day" - The intervening
eleven months was to allow the people of the kingdom to make
themselves ready for the day to slaughter the Jews.
6. \\#15\\ The results of this decree are given.
a. "the king and Haman sat down to drink" - The two leaders were
hardened to their deed.
b. "but the city Shushan was perplexed" - But the city, and
likely most of the kingdom, was distressed at such a decree.
Surely even non-Jews realized that if such a law could be
passed against one group of people, it could be passed
against any group of people.
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