Read: Esther 2:19-3:15
Verses chosen for meditation:
Esther 3:5 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.
Reflect
In church, we talk much about the "wrath of God". The wrath of God is always related to the sin of man. For example, the wrath of God can be seen upon the plight of the people of Judah; where God allowed Babylon to conquer and enslave them due to their persistent sinfulness. The people were exiled and lived through two groups of foreign kings; namely the Babylonians and Persians. It was only 70 years later, where God allowed the exiles to return.
The wrath of God was also fully upon the Son of man Jesus. Jesus took upon Himself, the sins of the world as well as the penalties meted out to each of these sins. Jesus was tortured and died so that we who believe can be righteousness, in the eyes of a Holy God.
Interestingly, there is also something call the "wrath of man". While the wrath of God is related to sin and His righteousness, the wrath of man is usually acted out of man's sinfulness. Much as the wrath of God is related to the power of God, so the wrath of man is related to the power given to man.
In Chapter 3, we are told that the King promoted Haman. It must have been a very big promotion because all the servants who witnessed the promotion paid homage to Haman. All except for Modercai. We are not told specifically why Modercai did not pay homage. He probably knew something about the ungodly character of Haman or he just didn't see the reason to.
Whatever the reason, such an action angered Haman. Not just an ordinary anger, but we are told that he was "full of fury". As a consequence, not only did he seek to punish Modercai for the seemingly disrespect, he also sought to punish all the Jews. He wanted to destroy them all.
It can be mind blogging to understand why someone can be so wicked to want to destroy a whole group of people just because one person seemingly "slighted" him or her. Yet we have also witnessed plenty of other contemporary examples, such as in the case of Hitler on the Jews, Saddam Hussein on the Kurds and Putin on the Ukrainians.
Relate
The wrath of man is a dangerous trait of someone who is haughty and believes that he or she is always right. It is even more dangerous when such a trait occurs in someone who is in the power to do some great harm to others.
While most of us cannot contemplate why Haman would react in such a way; we can only deduce that his wickedness was backed by his own sense of righteousness. He felt that it was right to persecute the Jews just because one man seemingly disrespected him. He justified to himself and to the King that this group of persons need to be destroyed because they acted very differently and did not wish to follow the King's laws (Esther 3:7-9).
Indeed, all of us have the potential to be like Haman. We are so good at justifying our own wants that sometimes, even if a "want" is evil and sinful; we try to create some twisted logic. This is especially so when we feel entitled or when we allow power to corrupt our soul. When that happens, we feel that people must be subservient to what we are saying or thinking. So when an opposition occurs, we are easily angered and hasty to want to quell that seeming "rebellion".
I sensed that the lesson for us today is that we must continue to be self-aware that our identity is in Christ. If we have that solid foundation, we will not feel so entitled anymore because we know that whatever comes our way, is God purposed and God driven. If we are promoted, we know that it is only by the grace of God. If we are demoted, we know that God has a good purpose. If we are given certain powers to do some changes, make sure we use it for good and not evil. If we are strip of some powers, know that perhaps that is God's mercy for us to repent of certain haughtiness in our lives.
For those of us in a position to confer higher responsibilities or "power" to others; we need to be very discerning of the character trait of the person we intent to promote. Clearly, Ahasuerus did not have that kind of discernment. It seemed that throughout the book of Esther, he was only concerned with how people looked at him and how he can display his wealth and powers.
Whatever it is, challenging as it sometimes may be, God is in control and we can trust in His Name. If you are reading this and somehow, God is using this devotion to ask you to have some self-checks in life; I pray that you will do so. As you do so, I believe that God will guide you towards the better option.
Rest
Lord my God, You are justice and love. Help us not to take Your love for granted; so much so that we forgot that You are just as well. Keep us humble and know that whatever You have given into our hands, we ought to use it for Your glory. Amen.
Jason
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