My God and My Country

The Book of Esther

Chapters 5:11-6:14

11 And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how that he had set him above the princes and servants of the king.
12 Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared, save me: and tomorrow am I bidden unto her also with the king.
13 But all this doth nothing avail me, as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.
14 Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let them make a tree of fifty cubits high, and tomorrow speak thou unto the king, that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then shalt thou go joyfully with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman, and he caused to make the tree.

1 The same night the king slept not, and he commanded to bring the book of the Records, and the Chronicles: and they were read before the king.
2 Then it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs keepers of the door, who sought to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus.
3 Then the king said, What honor and dignity hath been given to Mordecai for this? And the king’s servants that ministered unto him, said, There is nothing done for him.
4 And the king said, Who is in the court? (Now Haman was come into the inner court of the king’s house, that he might speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the tree that he had prepared for him.)
5 And the king’s servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.
6 And when Haman came in, the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king will honor? Then Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king do honor more than to me?
7 And Haman answered the king, The man whom the king would honor,
8 Let them bring for him royal apparel, which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and that the crown royal may be set upon his head.
9 And let the raiment and the horse be delivered by the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, and let them apparel the man (whom the king will honor) and cause him to ride upon the horse through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king will honor.
10 Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, take the raiment and the horse, as thou hast said, and do so unto Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king’s gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.
11 So Haman took the raiment and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king will honor.
12 And Mordecai came again to the king’s gate, but Haman hasted home mourning and his head covered.
13 And Haman told Zeresh his wife, and all his friends, all that had befallen him. Then said his wise men, and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.
14 And while they were yet talking with him, came the king’s eunuchs and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared

Brethren:

And so it is a truism, that pride does go before the fall. As we shall read in the next chapter. Let it be well considered, that those that raise up themselves in vanity, shall likewise be brought down in disgrace. For the fool, thinks not of others, but only of himself, inflating his own ego. Yet indeed his fall is most assuredly quickly come and will be swift. Also, it can be well to consider that usually, such fools are guilty of such wickedness within their own hearts.

“He took notice of his own riches and honours, the numerousness of his family, and the high posts to which he was advanced, that he was the darling of the prince and the idol of the court; and yet all this avails him nothing as long as Mordecai is unhanged. Those that are disposed to be uneasy will never want something or other to be uneasy at; and proud men, though they have much to their mind, yet, if they have not all to their mind, it is as nothing to them. The thousandth part of what Haman had would serve to make a humble modest man as much of a happiness as he expects from this world; and yet Haman complained as passionately as if he had been sunk into the lowest degree of poverty and meditating revenge, and assisted therein by his wife and his friends.

They saw how gladly he would dispense with his own resolution of deferring the slaughter till the time determined by the lot, and therefore advised him to take an earnest and foretaste of the satisfaction he then expected in the speedy execution of Mordecai; let him have that to please him at the moment; and having, as he thought, made sure the destruction of all the Jews, at the time appointed, he will not think scorn, for the present, to lay hands on Mordecai alone.

We may here observe,I. How little Mordecai was puffed up with his advancement. he came again to the king’s gate he returned to his place and the duty of it immediately, and minded his business as closely as he had done before. Honour is well bestowed on those that are not made proud and idle by it, and will not think themselves above their business. How much Haman was cast down with his disappointment. he could not bear it. To wait upon any man, especially Mordecai, and at this time, when he hoped to have seen him hanged, was enough to break such a proud heart as he had. He hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered, as one that looked upon himself as sunk and in a manner condemned. What harm had it done him to stoop thus to Mordecai? Was he ever the worse for it? Was it not what he himself proposed to be done by one of the king’s most noble princes? Why then should he grudge to do it himself? But that will break a proud man’s heart which would not break a humble man’s sleep. How his doom was, out of this event, read to him by his wife and his friends: "If Mordecai be, as they say he is, of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, though but in a point of honour, never expect to prevail against him; for thou shalt surely fall before him,’’ Miserable comforters were they all; they did not advise him to repent, and ask Mordecai’s pardon for his bad design against him, but foretold his destiny as fatal and unavoidable. Two things they foresaw:-1. That Haman would be disappointed in his enterprise against the Jews: "Thou shalt not prevail to root out that people. Heaven plainly fights against thee.’’ That he himself would be destroyed: Thou shalt surely fall before him. The contest between Michael and the dragon will not be a drawn battle; no, Haman must fall before Mordecai. Two things they grounded their prognostications upon: This Mordecai was of the seed of the Jews; feeble Jews their enemies sometimes called them, but formidable Jews they sometimes found them. They are a holy seed, a praying seed, in covenant with God, and a seed that the Lord hath all along blessed, and therefore let not their enemies expect to triumph over them. Haman had begun to fall, and therefore he was certainly a gone man. It has been observed of great court-favourites that when once they have been frowned upon they have fallen utterly, as fast as they rose; it is true of the church’s enemies that when God begins with them he will make an end. As for God his work is perfect.IV. How seasonably he was now sent for to the banquet that Esther had prepared. He thought it seasonable, in hopes it would revive his drooping spirits and save his sinking honour. But really it was seasonable because, his spirits being broken by this sore disappointment, he might the more easily be run down by Esther’s complaint against him. The wisdom of God is seen in timing the means of his church’s deliverance so as to manifest his own glory.”

Matthew Henry - Theologian