Read in this 5-day devotional the far-reaching consequences of pride, hate and bitterness. Even though Haman had received a promotion, he was never satisfied. The Bible says that “God resists the proud”. We see this clearly in the life of Haman, when God turned the tables on him and the gallows that he had set up for Mordecai became the gallows on which he was hung. Don’t be a Haman.
Vijay Thangiah
Day 1
Scripture: Esther 3:1
Who was Haman?
In the book of Esther, Haman is called an Agagite (3:1). This small word can give us a huge clue as to why Haman so bitterly hated the Jews.
In Exodus 17, we read about how the Amalekites became the very first nation in the world to attack God’s newly formed covenant nation. Though the Amalekites were defeated in that battle, they spent the next 900 years growing bitter against the God of Israel and his people.
The Amalekites historically were bitter enemies of Israel. In Deut. 25:17–19 we read “Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey out of Egypt, how he attacked you on the way, when you were faint and weary, and struck down all who lagged behind you; he did not fear God. Therefore when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies on every hand, in the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; do not forget”
Agag lived during the time of Saul and was king of the Amalekites. In the First Book of Samuel, King Saul was ordered to bring the judgment of God against the Amalekites and their king Agag. They represented an extremely evil, pagan religion known for its worship of fertility gods through immoral acts and child sacrifices. Instead of obeying God, Saul spared Agag and the best of the cattle. This resulted in the Lord’s rejection of King Saul. Samuel then stepped in and killed Agag.
With Agag dead, his descendants scattered, taking their hatred for God and the Jews with them wherever they settled.
Haman’s ancestry is, therefore, mentioned to show that he was an enemy of the Jews, by birth, and that it was more than just personal hatred of Mordecai that motivated him.
The “Agagite” label distinguished Haman as an ancestral enemy of the Jews. This means that even though he was not a Persian, King Ahasuerus had promoted him to a high position within the government.
Around 480 B.C., Haman was the second most powerful man in the vast Persian Empire. Since Haman hated the Jews, he thought he was now in a position to do something about it.
So his hatred isn’t just about one man. It is about the family feud, kept alive by un-forgiveness, bitterness, hatred, and the lies of Satan. But the spirit of Haman is more than just ethnic prejudice. It is wrath. It is unforgiveness. It is hatred. It is bitterness. This type of hatred is something that not only do we have to face in ourselves but we also pass down from generation to generation.
Don’t be a Haman.
Quote: “The problem with revenge is that it never gets what it wants; it never evens the score. Fairness never comes. The chain reaction set off by every act of vengeance always takes its unhindered course. It ties both the injured and the injurer to an escalator of pain.” Lewis B Smedes
Prayer: Lord, I pray that you will help me not to allow any longstanding family fued to take root of bitterness in my life. Amen
Day 2
Scriptures: Esther 3:1-6, Esther 5:9-14, Esther 6:1-9
Haman was a Proud Individual
Haman’s name in Persian means magnificent.
Haman was promoted to chief over all the princes, making him grand vizier. Notice in Esther 3:2 that the king has to ‘command’ honour for Haman. Perhaps the intended implication is that commanded honour is in fact no honour at all!
Proud, vain, and hungry for adulation and praise, could it have been Haman’s own suggestion that the king issued this command? And all complied, with the exception of Mordecai the Jew, who, having God’s law to guide him, consistently refused to do obeisance to Haman.
The fact that Mordecai wouldn’t kneel infuriated Haman. Why was he so angry? Could it have been his massive ego? He enjoyed all the people paying homage to him.
His pride was presumptuous and delusional because it had deluded him to the true reality of his place in the kingdom. He had overrated his own importance.
We find evidence of his pride when we see him talking about himself and his riches in verse 11. The word used here suggests that he is going over the same things again and again, boasting about his riches, his sons, and how the king had promoted him. In verse 12 he brags about how Esther invited him to the feast and how he’s been invited to another one the next day.
It is as if you can hear the pride dripping from his mouth.
Haman’s statement in verse 13, “yet all of this does not satisfy me” teaches us the important truth that pride is never satisfied. When a person is living for themselves, there’s never enough praise, compliments, or material possessions.
When Haman saw Mordecai at the King’s gate, which meant that Mordecai still had some position of authority in the kingdom, Haman was filled with rage. Unchecked pride will generate malice.
Malice is that deep-seated hatred that brings delight if our enemy suffers and pain if our enemy succeeds. Malice can never forgive; it must always take revenge. Malice has a good memory for hurts and a bad memory for kindnesses
All of this pride culminated in a rash decision and a rash act. His family members who had also bought into Haman’s hatred and pride suggested that he simply build gallows, have Mordecai executed, and be done with it.
Haman was made to know the truth of the Scriptural proverb: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Prov 16:18)
We need to understand, in this modern age, that we are susceptible to the same pride to which Haman fell. We live in a world that encourages us to think we can do it all and that there are no limits on human potential.
Quote: “The next time you feel the need to brag about what you’ve done, pay attention to that faint cracking sound. It’s the thin ice beneath your feet that is about to give way.” Ray Pritchard
Prayer: Lord, I pray that I will never allow success in life to make me become proud. Keep me humble, I pray. Amen
Day 3
Scripture: Esther 3:6-15
Haman’s Life was Filled with Hate and Bitterness
We have seen that Haman’s hatred isn’t just about one man. It is about a family feud. This hatred had been kept alive by unforgiveness, bitterness, hatred, and the lies of Satan, It is more than just ethnic prejudice. It is wrath. It is unforgiveness. It is hatred. It is bitterness. And it has been passed down from generation to generation.
Bitterness is defined as a bad outlook because of past circumstances. Because someone has hurt you in the past, bitterness looks for opportunity to hurt others.
What was the root of Haman’s bitterness? The root came from an act of disobedience that occurred long before he was born. And growing up in Xerxes‘ Persia didn’t help.
Haman already hated the Jews and there was a lot of anti-Semitic feelings throughout the kingdom. His own lineage was part of the reason he hated the Jews so much. Mordecai refusing to bow down to him was just the last straw that encouraged him to set this plan of government-sanctioned genocide into action. It likely wasn’t a spontaneous thought, but one he had been plotting and scheming about for a long time.
Some are so focused on harming their imagined enemies, they cannot see the harm they are doing to themselves. Harm, intended for others, often backfires.
The intensity of the hurt does not decrease with time; in fact, it may increase. The memory of the hurt is always fresh. Remembering the hurt always renews the intense pain.
Bitterness is a root, not a fruit. Like a root, it is often unseen. Like a root, other things spring from it and cause trouble, often defiling, staining, or polluting.
We can all identify with similar situations. All of us have these kinds of hurts in our past. With some people, the mention of a name or a situation will cause an intense feeling of loathing, anger, or even hatred to well up inside of us.
What hurt have you faced that you refuse to forgive and let go of rather than giving it to Christ and letting Him heal you?
What mistakes have you made whose consequences have destroyed your spirit and, instead, you wallow in despair and hopelessness?
What is the condition of your heart? Are you harboring any bitterness toward someone who has harmed you or dishonored you? Are you bitter toward God as you, perhaps, feel cheated from what you desire and think you deserve? Be humble. Repent.
There are too many Hamans in the world. Let’s not add to the number.
Quote: “Resentment is when you allow what’s eating you to eat you up. Revenge is the raging fire that consumes the arsonist. Bitterness is the trap that snares the hunter. And mercy is the choice that can set them all free.” Max Lucado
Prayer: Lord, I pray that You will help me to deal with bitterness in my life knowing, that like a cancerous growth, it can eat me up from within. Amen
Day 4
Scripture: Esther 5:10-14
Haman Surrounded Himself with Foolish Counselors
In Esther 5:13, we read, “Yet all this is worth nothing to me,” Haman said, “so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate”.
When Haman felt distressed, because his enormous pride was hurt, he went to his friends.
In verse 14 we read, “Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows be made, fifty cubits high, and in the morning suggest to the king that Mordecai be hanged on it; then go merrily with the king to the banquet.”
The response of Zeresh and his friends had for Mordecai is shocking because it is so disproportionate. These so called “friends” clearly didn’t have the guts to give Haman truthful advice that would actually him. Haman was rich. They said whatever they thought he would like to hear to assuage his hurt feelings and strole his ego.
These same friends turned on him in Esther 6:13: “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish origin, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him.”
It is perhaps a note of irony that in Esther 5:14 they are called his friends. Their advice in 6:13 is stated as a statement of fact and does not even have a hint of friendliness about it.
Some believe that to be a friend to someone, one should never stand up to or disagree with him. But the Bible describes true friendship as when one will be honest even when it hurts.
Proverbs 27:6 says, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.”
This means that a true friend will tell you what you need to hear, even if it hurts, instead of flattering you all the time.
In our world, friends who tell us what we want to hear are valued. People prefer friends who flatter them. They want friends who will respond to a problem about a difficult decision in their life with, “You should do what makes you happy.”
Undoubtedly, Haman did not have true friends or counselors. A true friend would have cautioned Haman and told him he was playing with fire.
No matter how high you are or how smart you are, it is wise to surround yourseof, not with “yes men”, but with people who will give you the cold, hard truth even if it hurts.
True friends put enough trust in you to tell you openly of your faults. Do you have true friends?
Quote: “There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship”. – Thomas Aquinas
Prayer: Lord, help me to be a true friend to my friends, not telling them what they want to hear, but telling them the truth. Amen
Day 5
Scriptures: Esther 6:10-11, Esther 7:7-10, Galatians 6:7-8
Haman Forgot the Principle “You Reap What You Sow”
Haman had a massive ego. He delighted in the respect of men. He delighted in controlling people. He delighted in his riches, his power, his position, and in his clever schemes.
But Haman did not know that if you set yourself up against God and His people, you will fail. It is foolhardy to fight against God. If he had practiced humility, he wouldn’t have found himself hanging from the gallows.
When the king asked Haman the question, “What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?” Haman immediately thinks of himself! Haman reverted from interior monologue (6:6) to exterior monologue (6:7-9) and suggested a grand and public scale of the honours that must be given.
Little did Haman know he was guaranteeing that he not be the one who was going to be honored, but the one to carry out these honors.
The good things that Haman planned for himself, he ended up having to do for Mordecai. The bad things he planned for his enemies, the towering gallows for Mordecai, God used to execute him.
The irony of the reversal is dramatic: Haman had intended that Xerxes should utter the final words of condemnation, ‘impale him on it’, and had intended that Mordecai should be the subject! But Haman found himself being impaled on the gallows.
Haman reaped what he sowed. His treachery, his deceitfulness, his greed, his pride, his envy, his hatred all came back. He hung on his own gallows
Just as surely there is the law of gravity and the law of thermodynamics, there is also the law of sowing and reaping. The Bible says in Galatians 6:7-8 “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”
Some people think they can fool God. They think that they can sin without any consequences.
Sow a thought, reap an act. Sow an act, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny. It starts with a thought. What do you let into your mind, what do you contemplate, what do you ponder?
Haman had a deep-seated bitterness in his heart, his mind was full of pride, his actions were full of evil and he reaped what he sowed.
Life is full of choices. You will reap what you sow. Therefore, choose life!
Quote: “Every selfish, sinful, or indulgent choice I make today is sowing a seed that will reap a multiplied harvest. And every act of obedience is a seed that will produce a multiplied harvest of blessing in my life and in the lives of those I love. Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Prayer: Lord, help me to make the right choices in life, recognizing thevprinciple that what I sow today will decide the harvest of tomorrow. Let me not be like Haman. Amen