"His Vanity" (Ester 3:2-6)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/27/2011 9:03:21 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                           Focus:  “His Vanity”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                          Reference:  Ester 3:2-6

 

            Message of the verses:  “2 All the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage. 3 Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, "Why are you transgressing the king’s command?" 4 Now it was when they had spoken daily to him and he would not listen to them, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5 When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage. 6  But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.”

 

            It is important to remember as I begin this SD that I have been looking at different keys in this chapter of Ester that show how Haman was a dangerous man, and what is meant by this is that he was dangerous to the Jews as is very easy to see in these verses for he was not just content to do something with Mordecai but wanted to get rid of all of the Jews that were in the kingdom, and that would have been all of the Jews.

 

            Dr. Wiersbe points out in his commentary that it was pretty much a custom in the Middle East to show respect to those who were in command by bowing to them or in other forms of respect, but in the case of Haman he had to go to the king and to make an order that all would bow down to him.

           

            Dr Wiersbe quotes a British essayist named Walter Savage Landor who lived from 1775-1864, and wrote:  “When little men cast long shadows, it is a sign that the sun is setting.”  Dr. Wiersbe then goes on to write “Haman was a little man, indeed, but his vanity compelled him to make himself look and sound bigger than he really was.” 

           

            “Fools take to themselves the respect that is given to their office,” wrote Aesop in his fable “The Jackass in Office,” and this also applies to Haman, for people recognized him because of his office and not because of his character.  Even Albert Einstein agreed with this when he wrote “Try not to become a man of success, but try to become a man of value.”

           

            Mordecia seemed to have the best brought out in him by the worst that was brought out in Haman.  As written before you don’t actually see a lot of things that Mordecia did to follow the Law, but what you do see is that he had a great love for the people of God, and this must mean that he had a great love of the God of his people.

           

            We can read in the OT that Abraham bowed down to the sons of Heth when he negotiated with them for Sarah’s grave site.  It was not a violation of the second commandment to bow down before people in authority and it is not wrong for Christians to do this today as they would show respect to their leaders.  I realize that this is not the practice in our culture, but Christians should show respect to those who are in authority over them.  Sometimes this is difficult when we me have people who are in authority over us that are not good leaders, for as we learned in the last SD written on Nehemiah that good leaders led people, like Nehemiah lead people, like a shepherd leads his sheep, and not like a cattleman who has to go behind his cattle and drive them.

 

            It seems that Haman did not even recognize that Mordecia was not bowing down to him for others had to tell him about it, and this again brought out the worst in Haman.  These other officials questioned Mordecia about not bowing down to Haman and it was at this time (v-3) that Mordecia identified himself as a Jew. 

           

            The question arises why did Mordecia refuse to bow down to Haman?  Dr. Wiersbe writes “I think the answer is that Haman was an Amalekite, and the Amalekites were the avowed enemies of the Jews.  The Lord swore and put in writing that He had declared war on the Amalekites and would fight them from generation to generation (Ex. 17:16).  How could Mordecai show homage to the enemy of the Jews and the enemy of the Lord?  He didn’t want to be guilty of what Joab said about King David, ‘You love your enemies and hate your friends’ (2Samuel 19:6 NKJ).”

 

            By not bowing down to Haman we can see that Mordecia knew the history of the Amalekites and what the Lord has said about them.  This is another indication of Mordecia being a godly man.  Mordecia was truly standing up for what the Lord had written in His Word and if he had not then it would mean that Satan would use Haman to win a battle that the Lord said would not happen, for the promise of the coming Messiah would not happen if Haman got his way, but again by using the analogy of the chess game that John MacArthur brought up in is commentary on Ester, we see that God would use Mordecia and Ester to call “Checkmate” to win the game against Satan.  There was a lot at stake when Mordecia refused to bow down to Haman.

           

            In the book of Acts there were several apostles who told those in authority over them these words, “We will obey God and not man,” meaning that if civil laws go against God’s Laws believers are to obey God’s Laws.  Think about the Hebrew midwives who refused to kill the young male Hebrews even though that was the law of the land at that time.  The three brave men in Daniel chapter three did the same, and now we find Mordecai joining this group of brave people.

           

            It is important to remember that all of these people we are talking about had respect and did not go out and start a riot, but allowed the Lord to work through them in bringing about His will.  They all stood on the promises of God.

 

We now see Haman’s anger growing larger and larger, as he not only wanted Mordecai out of the way, but all of the Jews.  It is good to remember Genesis 12:1-3 which states “1  Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3  And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’”

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  To have the courage to stand like Mordecai did against Haman, by having the same respect that Mordecai and others in the Scriptures had when they stood for the cause of Christ against leaders who did not.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      Trust the Lord to give me the courage to stand for the cause of Christ.

2.     Continue to learn contentment and to realize that by learning contentment that I realize that the Lord is in control of my life and the circumstances in my life.

 

9/27/2011 10:08:23 AM