WEBVTT - Esther 3 - Haman Plots to Kill All Jews 0:00:02.680 --> 0:00:12.760 Life Audio. Hi, faith listeners, thank you for tuning into 0:00:12.760 --> 0:00:15.920 the Bible Explain podcast on this lovely Monday morning, and 0:00:15.960 --> 0:00:18.880 for starting your week out right by reading the Bible 0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:21.760 with me. So we are going to get into Esther 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:26.880 chapter three today and talk about this notoriously evil character, 0:00:27.520 --> 0:00:30.680 one of the most evil characters actually mentioned in scripture, 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:33.400 I would say, So we will get into this chapter 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:36.120 in just one moment, right after a message from a 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:42.519 sponsor speaking of disgusting characters, I had one of the 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:48.360 grossest things ever happened to me today. It was so disgusting. 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:52.800 I can't even tell you, guys the amount of sick 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:55.920 and queasy that I felt after this happened. So I 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:59.640 was just happily making myself some lunch, you know, grilling 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:02.560 up a few pieces of bacon for myself, cutting an avocado, 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:06.520 you know, just doing the normal one routine that I do. 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:10.920 And I have this very small section between my oven, 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:13.680 which is like one of those like wall ovens, and 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:18.200 my stovetop, this little like section of area that I 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:20.399 can like place a plate, like that's all that can 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:23.720 go there. So I placed my plate there and the 0:01:23.760 --> 0:01:28.640 plate was like, you know, slightly over the counter, where 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:31.520 I couldn't see what was underneath it. So I'm plaiting 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:33.200 the stuff on my plate and I see these two 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:36.240 little hairs, you know, that are kind of like flowing 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:38.200 in the wind under my plate. And I'm like, oh, 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:40.760 you know, there's like on a big old hair under 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:43.720 my plate. And I grabbed it. And it was not 0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:49.160 a hair. It was a locust with like really long antennas, 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:53.840 and I touched it. I touched it and I threw it. 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:56.200 I threw it across my kitchen. Thank god, it did 0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:59.520 not land in my food. But I'm telling you, I 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:03.000 killed that thing very quickly and had a very hard 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:08.160 time eating after that. Oh that was that was disgusting. 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:12.320 I pray to God be something like that never happens 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:15.960 to me again, or to any of you listening to this, 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:18.919 because that was vile. I'm not joking. I had to 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:21.840 sit down for like a solid fifteen minutes and just recover, 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:24.400 and then after eating, I had to sit down for 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:27.079 like another hour to recover. Like that is how queasy 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:33.000 I felt after that whole ordeal. That was disgusting, But 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:34.800 I just had to share my pain with all of 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:37.560 you guys. It has nothing to do with today's chapter 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:41.960 from Ester three. So let's delve into Ester three and 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:45.240 talk about this Hayman character and everything that goes on 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:49.080 right here. So I'll be reading from the NIV version 0:02:49.560 --> 0:02:53.520 today instead of the Web like I usually do. Faith listeners, 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:55.320 grab your Bible out of the version that you prefer, 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:57.520 and also your cup of coffee. Let's read all of 0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:03.320 Esther chapter three. After these things, King Aha Sarras promoted Haman, 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.600 the son of Hamadatha the Agagite, and advanced him and 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:09.239 set his seat above all the princes who were with him. 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:11.760 All the king's servants who were in the king's gate 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:14.560 bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:17.959 had so commanded concerning him, but Mordechai didn't bow down 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:20.960 or pay him homage. Then the king's servants who were 0:03:20.960 --> 0:03:23.440 in the king's gate said to Mordecai, why do you 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:26.400 disobey the king's commandment? Now it came to pass when 0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:28.919 they spoke daily to him, and he didn't listen to them, 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:32.480 that they told Haman to see whether Mordechai's reason would stand, 0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:34.800 for he had told them that he was a Jew. 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:38.200 When Haman saw that Mordechai didn't bow down nor pay 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:41.680 him homage. Haman was full of wrath, but he scorned 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:44.240 the thought of laying hands on Mordechai alone, for they 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:47.720 had made known to him Mordechai's people. Therefore, Hamen sought 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:49.840 to destroy all the Jews who are throughout the whole 0:03:49.880 --> 0:03:53.880 kingdom of Aha Sarras, even Mordechai's people. In the first month, 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:56.280 which is the month Nissan, in the twelfth year of 0:03:56.360 --> 0:03:59.880 King Aha Saras, they cast pure, that is the lot 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:02.880 before Hayman from day to day and from month to month. 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:05.800 To choose the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, 0:04:06.480 --> 0:04:09.240 Haman said to King Aha Saras, there is a certain 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:12.240 people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:15.000 the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:18.279 from other peoples. They don't keep the king's laws. Therefore, 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:20.280 it is not for the King's prophet to allow them 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:22.880 to remain. If it pleases the king, let it be 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:25.320 written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:27.640 thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:29.839 are in charge of the king's business to bring it 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:33.200 into the king's treasuries. The king took his ring from 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:35.479 his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hamadatha, 0:04:35.520 --> 0:04:38.839 the Agagite, the Jews enemy. The king said to Haman, 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:41.600 the silver is given to you the people also to 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:43.920 do with them as it seems good to you. Then 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:46.160 the King's scribes were called in on the first month, 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:48.520 on the thirteenth day of the month, and all that 0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:51.400 Haman commanded was written to the King's local governors and 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:53.919 to the governors who are over every province, and to 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:57.000 the princes of every people, to every province according to 0:04:57.040 --> 0:05:00.400 its writing, and to every people in their language, written 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:02.680 in the name of King Aha Saris, and it was 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:06.160 sealed with the King's ring. Letters were sent by couriers 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:09.400 into all the King's provinces to destroy, to kill, and 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:12.120 to cause to perish all Jews, both young and old, 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:15.479 little children and women, in one day, even on the 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:18.440 thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, 0:05:18.680 --> 0:05:21.800 and to plunder their possessions. A copy of the letter 0:05:22.040 --> 0:05:24.520 that the decree should be given out in every province 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:27.039 was published to all the peoples, that they should be 0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:30.400 ready against that day. The couriers went out in haste 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:33.039 by the King's commandment, and the decree was given out 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:35.920 in the Citadel of Susa, the King and Hayman sat 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:38.680 down to drink, but the city of Susa was perplexed. 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:43.600 You know, since childhood, I've seen a handful of movies 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:46.280 portraying the Book of Esther, and I feel like King 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:49.800 Aha Saras is always presented pretty much the same way 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:52.320 in every movie that I've seen, at least, where he's 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:57.120 sort of this handsome, hunky, mysterious kind of man that 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:00.760 just needs a little bit of fixin and Queen Esther, 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:04.719 you go, girl, you can fix that man. And I 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:08.320 feel like that's what every single Ester movie really comes 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:10.760 down to, is this like weird, cheesy romance. But it 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:12.840 is nothing like that when you read through the Book 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:15.679 of Esther. There's not a lot of romance actually happening 0:06:15.720 --> 0:06:19.680 in this book. And King Aha Saras is a legitimate 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:24.440 psychopath where he has no qualms at all over committing 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:28.280 genocide against an innocent group of people. He doesn't care. 0:06:28.320 --> 0:06:31.039 He's just like, oh, my best friend Hayman says that 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:33.280 these people are bad, so I don't care, go ahead 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:35.039 and kill all of them. I don't know what they did, 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:36.920 but they must not be a good group of people. 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:41.360 And that is exactly what's happening in this chapter. Because 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:45.320 Haman is personally offended by Mordecai, he decides he's going 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:48.200 to kill all of the Jews. So here's what happens 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:51.200 in this chapter. It says in verse one, after these things, 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:55.240 in other words, after Queen Esther became the queen, King 0:06:55.360 --> 0:06:59.680 Aha Saras promoted Haman, the son of him Adatha the Agagite, 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:03.320 and advanced him and set his seat above all the 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:06.600 princes who are with him. So you might remember in 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:11.880 chapter one that King Aha Saras had seven princes that 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:15.080 surrounded him, and these guys would have been like advisors 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:19.800 and close friends, people that regularly saw the king regularly 0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:23.600 eight with the king. And apparently Haman, for whatever reason, 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:27.640 became well known to the king, and the king really 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:30.880 liked him, so he promoted Haman above all the other 0:07:30.960 --> 0:07:34.320 princes in his cabinet. And by the way, you might 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:38.040 notice the term seven coming up a lot in this book. 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:43.120 For example, King Aha Sarahs had seven princes, he also 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:48.440 had seven eunuchs, and Queen Esther had seven maidens. Apparently 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:52.800 the number seven was considered a holy number to the 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:56.520 Persian people, interestingly enough, because it's also a holy number 0:07:56.680 --> 0:07:59.480 in Jewish and Christian tradition as well, which is kind 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:02.800 of interesting. So, yeah, the Persian kings would have seven 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:06.760 people that surrounded them because they considered seven like a 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:11.040 lucky number or a holy number of some sort. So 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:15.640 the king having these seven princes promotes Hayman above all 0:08:15.680 --> 0:08:19.480 of them. And so apparently the king commanded all the 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:23.640 people that they must bow down and pay homage to Haman. 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:28.200 It says for the king so commanded concerning him, but 0:08:28.240 --> 0:08:31.720 Mordecai didn't bow down or pay him homage. Now, I 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:33.600 don't know if you guys remember who Mordechai was. We 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:36.200 discussed him in the last chapter, but he was Queen 0:08:36.400 --> 0:08:40.880 Esther's cousin and also her primary caretaker. In fact, Esther 0:08:41.160 --> 0:08:44.600 had been orphaned as a young child, and Mordechai actually 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:47.000 took her in and adopted her and raised her as 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:50.120 his own daughter, and so he loved her very much 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:52.439 as a daughter. And it kind of seems like Mordecai 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:55.680 is a man that didn't have any family for his own, 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:59.439 and he could have been relatively old as well. We're 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:01.920 not sure how old he was, but he probably was 0:09:01.920 --> 0:09:04.360 a little bit older because, based upon the last chapter, 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:09.040 his family was from the first generation of people that 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:14.720 had come into Persia or Babylon when King Nebekenzer had 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:17.800 taken it. So it could be that Mordechai was an 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:20.960 older man at this point and didn't have any family 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:24.760 for himself except for Esther, though of course that's all speculation. 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:28.200 It doesn't say that specifically in scripture. So Mordechai, though, 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:30.800 because he loved Esther very much and wanted to see 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:33.920 how the young woman was faring, he didn't live too 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:37.680 far away. He would regularly travel to the courts of 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:40.600 the king and just see how Esther was doing and 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:42.880 kind of hang out in the area. It could be 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:44.840 that maybe he even got a job in the area, 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:47.080 though again that is not stated in scripture. That's just 0:09:47.160 --> 0:09:49.720 my own two cents being thrown in there. Whatever the 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:52.600 case was, Mordecai wanted to be close to Esther, it 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:55.680 seems like, and so he would regularly travel to the 0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:59.320 king's courts. But even though he was in the king's courts, 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:03.240 the next chapter we read makes it kind of clear 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:06.560 that Mordechai wasn't really able to have any face to 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:10.920 face conversation with Esther. In fact, they have to talk 0:10:11.080 --> 0:10:15.320 through messengers, probably because they were kind of trying to 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:18.679 keep their relationship with each other on the down low, 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:22.160 because Esther was not telling anybody who her relatives were. 0:10:22.520 --> 0:10:26.280 Neither was she telling anybody that she was a Jewish woman, 0:10:26.760 --> 0:10:31.679 because the Persians and the Babylonians disliked the Jews obviously, 0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:34.920 and so it could have been dangerous for her if 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:37.440 they found out she was a Hebrew, as we're going 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:39.920 to see in this chapter that we read today, was 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:44.600 dangerous for the Jewish people. So Mordechai specifically told Esther 0:10:44.760 --> 0:10:47.200 to keep it quiet, and she did. She kept it 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:50.640 all quiet, so nobody knows that she is a Jew. 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:54.280 But Mordechai didn't really seem to care if people knew 0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:57.480 that he was a Jew. He didn't seem to care 0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:00.640 at all, because he actually just directly to tell some 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:04.000 people that he was a Jewish man right here, Because 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:07.600 whenever Mordechai would go into the king's court, you know, 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:11.160 this hayman would pass by on occasion and everybody would 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:13.520 have to bow down to him. But Mordecai did not 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:17.559 want to bow down to Haman and give this man 0:11:17.559 --> 0:11:22.520 homage because Mordechai was a Jew. And why would this matter. 0:11:22.840 --> 0:11:26.480 You know, we see Daniel, for example, bowing down to 0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:32.280 the Babylonian kings. We see many Jews actually bowing to kings. 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:35.040 There was no specific law that said you couldn't bow 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:38.320 to a king. So Mordecai had a different reason for 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:41.400 not wanting to bow to Haman. And here's what it is. 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:45.479 In verse one, Haman is mentioned as the son of Himadatha, 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:50.560 the Agagite. Now an Agagite was from the the tribe 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:55.559 of King Agag who was an Amalekite. And the Amalekites 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:59.920 were a notorious group of people known for absolutely hating 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:04.520 the Jews. They are mentioned as far back in Genesis fifteen, 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:08.520 where back then they were known as the Amorites. And 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:13.720 God actually told Abraham in Genesis fifteen that eventually the 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:17.800 Amorites would fill up their sins and God would drive 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:21.760 them out of the nation and allow Abraham's descendants to 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:26.199 actually take the land. Then they're mentioned in Deuteronomy twenty five, 0:12:27.400 --> 0:12:30.240 verses seventeen through nineteen. So let me actually read this 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:32.000 so we get a little bit better of a picture 0:12:32.040 --> 0:12:35.440 of who the Amalekites were. It says, remember what the 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:38.000 Amalekites did to you along the way when you came 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:40.880 out of Egypt, when you were weary and worn out, 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:43.280 and they met you on your journey and attacked all 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:46.360 who were lagging behind. They had no fear of God. 0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:48.560 When the Lord your God gives you rest from all 0:12:48.600 --> 0:12:50.240 the enemies around you in the land that he is 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:53.680 giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot 0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:56.719 out the name of Amelek from under heaven. Do not 0:12:57.240 --> 0:13:03.440 forget then. In First Samuel chapter fifteen, when Saul is 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:07.680 finally the king, God commands Saul to go in finish 0:13:07.720 --> 0:13:11.240 the job of completely wiping out the Amalekites for good, 0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:15.480 because they were a nasty and evil people, both biblically 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:18.360 and historically historically. If you look them up, you can 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:21.959 find a lot about their notorious cruelty. The Israelites were 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:25.720 just traveling through the wilderness and the Amalekites came, and 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:30.400 anybody that was lagging behind, which is what Deuteronomy twenty 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:33.199 five mentions. Anybody who is lagging behind, that would be 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:37.280 the sick people, the elderly people, the children, the pregnant women, 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:41.800 the widows, just anybody who wasn't able to keep up. 0:13:42.880 --> 0:13:48.480 Those people were targeted by the Amalekites, were killed, probably tortuously, 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:51.200 and then their homes were looted. That is what the 0:13:51.200 --> 0:13:54.280 Amalekites did. They didn't start an all out war with Israel. 0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:58.960 They targeted the most vulnerable people because they were cowards 0:13:59.360 --> 0:14:03.880 and because they hated the Jewish people for no specific 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:07.080 purpose or reason. We don't even know why they hated 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:09.559 the Jewish people, but they did so. In First Samuel 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:11.560 fifteen you can read through this. I won't read the 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:15.880 whole thing. But God told Saul to go in and 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:20.400 fully wipe out the Amalekites after hundreds of years of 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:24.800 the brutality of the Amalekite nation. So here's what Saul does. 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:29.880 In First Samuel fifteen seven through nine, it says Saul 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:33.480 struck the Amalekites from Havila as you go to shore, 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:37.480 which is before Egypt, and he took Agag, remember that name, 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:41.640 the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all 0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:43.840 the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul 0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:46.880 and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, 0:14:46.960 --> 0:14:49.560 of the cattle, of the fat calves, of the lambs, 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:51.680 and all that was good. They were not willing to 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:55.000 utterly destroy them. But everything that was vile and refuse 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:59.960 they destroyed utterly, which is the opposite command that got 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:02.520 God told Saul to do. He said, destroy everything. You 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:05.880 are not to take any booty for yourself. This is 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:08.880 not the time to do that. This is my judgment 0:15:08.920 --> 0:15:10.920 being poured out on these people. And you are not 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:14.320 to decide what is considered vile and what is considered 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:19.560 not vile. Because Saul in this story was considering these 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:24.520 animals and the king less vile than the average individual. 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:30.000 God said, no, everybody, everything associated with the Amalekites is 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:34.360 vile in my eyes. Basaul considered the animals less vile 0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:37.520 than the human beings, and also the king, King Agag, 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:40.240 less vile than the rest of the Amalekites. So he 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:45.479 leaves these things alive. And by the way, King Agag 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:47.880 of the Amalekites, it was probably not just the king, 0:15:48.360 --> 0:15:53.480 but the king's entire family that he left alive. And 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:57.440 now we see the ramifications of this, which, by the way, 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:00.880 God was very angry at Saul when he did this 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:03.640 because he didn't listen to the command of God. He 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:06.200 decided to do whatever he wanted to do. And this 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:08.880 was one of the reasons that God rejected Saul and 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:12.680 the Benjamites from the throne and gave it to David 0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:19.359 and the Judites instead, because King Saul's lack of obedience 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:26.600 caused the Agagites or the Amalekites to survive, to continue thriving, 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:30.760 to continue hating the Jewish people. And this is who 0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:35.680 Haman is. He is a direct descendant of King Agag 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:40.440 of the Amalekites. So Haman is an Amalekite man, and 0:16:40.520 --> 0:16:44.120 he remembers his hatred of the Jews because here's what 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:46.520 he does. In Ester III. When he finds out that 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:50.760 Mordechai refuses to bow down to him and worship him 0:16:50.800 --> 0:16:53.520 and pay him homage whatever is going on in this situation, 0:16:54.000 --> 0:16:56.880 he becomes furious. And it says in verse five when 0:16:56.920 --> 0:16:59.960 Hayman saw that Mordechai didn't bow down nor pay him homage, 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:02.880 which Haman was full of wrath, which by the way, 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:07.320 Hayman didn't notice this immediately. It actually says that some 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:10.960 of the king's aides actually went up to Haman was like, hey, 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:13.800 did you see that this Mordechai, this like Jewish guy, 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:17.480 wouldn't bow down to you? And then that's when Haman 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:21.440 looks for it and notices that Mordechai refuses to bow down. 0:17:21.800 --> 0:17:24.360 And Haman was full of wrath, it says in verse six. 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:27.639 But he scorned the thought of laying hands on Mordecai alone. 0:17:27.680 --> 0:17:31.720 So he's like, no, just Mordechai is not enough, it says, 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:35.080 for they had made known to him Mordechai's people. So 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:37.960 the king's servants told Haman, hey, Mordecai is a Jew. 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:40.680 That's why he's not bowing down to you, because you're 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:42.720 like an Amalekite and everything, and you guys have this 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:45.000 whole thing going on with each other. And when he 0:17:45.040 --> 0:17:47.720 finds out that Mordecai, a Jewish man, does not like him, 0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:51.360 he is furious and he's like, laying hands on Mordechai 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:56.080 is not enough. I must kill all of these disgusting Jews. 0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:59.640 And I am sure that Haman thinks, how dare you 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:02.960 think that you are better than me? How dare you 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:07.199 think that your people are better than my people? So 0:18:07.320 --> 0:18:09.800 now in the first month, which is the month Nissan 0:18:10.240 --> 0:18:13.439 in the twelfth month of King Ahasiris. They cast pure 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:17.280 that is the lot before Hayman, and chose the twelfth month, 0:18:17.320 --> 0:18:20.359 which is the month Adar. So the reason Hayman was 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:23.440 doing this was because he was deciding ahead of time, 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:27.840 before even talking to King AHAs Ayris, when he would 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:30.880 strike the Jews, because he's got this whole plan laid out. 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:35.680 So he casts loss to decide which month everybody will 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:38.440 strike the Jews. And it turns out that the lot 0:18:38.600 --> 0:18:42.560 lands on the twelfth month, and Hayman was currently doing 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:44.879 this in the first month, which means that the Jews 0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:49.320 had eleven months to figure out this problem that they 0:18:49.320 --> 0:18:52.560 were dealing with the longest amount of time I suppose 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:56.359 that they could have had in retrospect. So now after 0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:59.560 casting these lots, here's what it says in verse eight, 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:03.760 Hayman said to King Osiris, and this is the same 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:05.840 story over and over and over again. You're gonna see 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:08.600 what I mean in just a second. He says to 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:12.080 King Osiris, there's a certain group of people scattered abroad 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:14.560 and dispersed among the peoples, and all the provinces of 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:18.080 your kingdom, and their laws are different from other peoples. 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:22.040 They don't keep the king's laws. Therefore it is not 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:27.720 for the king's prophet to allow them to remain. It's 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:34.360 always the same story. When someone wants to destroy somebody 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:38.840 in scripture, they go to the local authority and they say, 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:45.600 these people do not follow your laws. It happened to Ezra, 0:19:45.920 --> 0:19:49.400 happened to Nehemiah, It is now happening to Mordecai, happened 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:54.120 to Paul, it happened to Jesus, happened to Daniel, and 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:59.280 also Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego. Every single time, it's the 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:03.240 same story. Oh, King, there's somebody here I don't like. 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:08.280 I'm going to say that they are breaking your laws. 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:11.840 And it's the same thing happening today here in America 0:20:11.960 --> 0:20:17.040 and across the world. In America, it's the whole fear 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:20.760 mongering of the Christian national you know, the person that 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:24.000 wants to change the laws from what the laws actually 0:20:24.080 --> 0:20:28.879 are to these like scary Christian laws and force everybody to, 0:20:29.680 --> 0:20:32.800 you know, do the Christian laws. It's the same thing 0:20:32.880 --> 0:20:35.520 over and over and over. See, these Christians, they don't 0:20:35.560 --> 0:20:38.560 follow the laws of the land. They want their own 0:20:38.920 --> 0:20:43.960 laws to be followed. Satan is smart, but he also 0:20:44.040 --> 0:20:46.800 doesn't have a lot of tricks up his sleeve. So 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:49.360 hey Man goes to King Ahsris and he's like, these 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:51.680 Jewish people, they don't listen to you, King. They have 0:20:51.800 --> 0:20:54.000 their own set of laws. They have this like levitical 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:57.240 law that they follow, and they don't follow the laws 0:20:57.280 --> 0:20:59.720 that the king lays out for them. Therefore, it is 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:02.600 not for the king's prophet to allow these people to remain. 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:05.240 So if it pleases the King, let it be written 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:09.760 that they be destroyed, every single Hebrew living in Persia 0:21:09.800 --> 0:21:13.480 to be destroyed, even though they did nothing. They were 0:21:13.520 --> 0:21:17.280 completely innocent at this point in time. And I will 0:21:17.320 --> 0:21:19.760 pay them ten thousand talents of silver into the hands 0:21:19.800 --> 0:21:21.600 of those who are in charge of the King's business 0:21:21.640 --> 0:21:26.960 to bring it into the king's treasuries. So Hayman tells 0:21:26.960 --> 0:21:29.320 the king, He's like, look, I'll even pay you king 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:32.880 to get rid of these people. But the king, who 0:21:32.920 --> 0:21:35.840 is a good friend of Haman, trusts Hayman explicitly, and 0:21:35.880 --> 0:21:38.000 so he takes the ring off of his hand, which 0:21:38.160 --> 0:21:40.440 would have been like a seal type of a ring 0:21:40.520 --> 0:21:43.480 where they stamp, you know, the envelope, and he gave 0:21:43.480 --> 0:21:45.919 it to Haman, the son of Hamidath of the Agagite, 0:21:46.000 --> 0:21:49.119 the Jews enemy, and the king said to Haman in 0:21:49.240 --> 0:21:52.159 verse eleven, the silver is given to you the people also, 0:21:52.320 --> 0:21:54.280 to do with them as it seems good to you. 0:21:55.080 --> 0:21:58.480 So you can certainly see with that that there could 0:21:58.480 --> 0:22:01.879 have been some greed involve this as well, because Hayman, 0:22:01.960 --> 0:22:06.359 it seems like, would get the silver and the possessions 0:22:06.520 --> 0:22:09.879 the bounty apparently of these Jews that he ended up 0:22:09.960 --> 0:22:12.720 killing throughout Persia. That's what the king says right here, 0:22:12.720 --> 0:22:16.760 that the silver and the people also are specifically for 0:22:16.840 --> 0:22:19.640 Haman to do whatever he wants to do to them. 0:22:20.000 --> 0:22:22.719 So I imagine that Haman is pretty excited to hear this 0:22:22.840 --> 0:22:25.960 because some money is coming his way if he kills 0:22:26.080 --> 0:22:28.439 all of the Jews, because he can just plunder all 0:22:28.480 --> 0:22:31.679 of their possessions as well. You can do whatever you 0:22:31.760 --> 0:22:35.280 want to these people, do with them as it seems 0:22:35.359 --> 0:22:39.000 good to you. That is what this king says. So 0:22:39.040 --> 0:22:43.840 he is one hundred percent fine with mass genocide. And 0:22:43.880 --> 0:22:47.080 he might be like, well, Jen wasn't God okay with 0:22:47.320 --> 0:22:49.640 mass genocide of the Amalekites, So how can you get 0:22:49.680 --> 0:22:54.320 upset with this Amalekite man Haman wanting to commit mass 0:22:54.359 --> 0:22:57.840 genocide against the Jews. Well, the reason I can get 0:22:57.880 --> 0:23:01.720 angry about it is because the Jewewish people were innocent 0:23:01.960 --> 0:23:05.520 from the beginning. The Amalekites started the trouble, so much 0:23:05.600 --> 0:23:09.080 so that God was talking about them back in the 0:23:09.119 --> 0:23:14.440 Book of Genesis and in Deuteronomy. The Amalekites struck first. 0:23:14.680 --> 0:23:20.240 They were the consistent, persistent enemy of Israel, no matter 0:23:20.240 --> 0:23:24.040 what was happening. They hated the Israelites without a cause 0:23:24.400 --> 0:23:28.000 from the beginning. So finally God is about to judge 0:23:28.119 --> 0:23:32.840 the Amalekites, which partially ends up happening, but the Amalekites, 0:23:32.920 --> 0:23:37.840