“Impale Him”
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. 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.
Then the royal
officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s
command?” 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.
When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him
honor, he was enraged. 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
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.
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. 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.”
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. “Keep the money,” the king said
to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”
Esther 3:1-11
So
the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet, and
as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen
Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even
up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.”
Then Queen Esther
answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you,
grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. For
I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we
had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet,
because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.”
King Xerxes
asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a
thing?”
Esther said, “An
adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!”
Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. The king got
up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had
already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.
Just as the king
returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman
was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.
The king exclaimed,
“Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?”
As soon as the word
left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.
Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king,
said, “A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up
to help the king.”
The king said,
“Impale him on it!” So they impaled Haman on the pole
he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided.
Esther 7:1-10
Events
can change our lives. God can take revenge in ways we can never imagine. Some
would call it poetic justice. However, Scripture promises that God will one day
avenge all injustice. While we wait, we are to do what we can to work for
justice and leave the results in God’s hands.
The scales of Divine justice always balance – if not
here, then hereafter.
Our Daily Bread –