Haman's Hubris in Esther 3

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Hello everyone, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, Esther, chapter 3, and today's title is Haman's Hubris Haman's Hubris. Hopefully that'll all make sense here in just a few moments, but, as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you're leaving us comments on the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure that you're also leaving us a five-star review. It really does help us out a lot and, as always, we all gather together at the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. The more we dig, the more we find, and we are building a great community of people that are surrounded with the idea of reading God's Word together. So make sure you're joining us there. Okay, all right, we have your Bibles. I want to open up with me to Esther, chapter 3. Remember, remember the overall title of Esther three is God uses a mess to make something beautiful. God can use a mess to make something beautiful, and it reminds me of you. Ever watch these people who will take paint, and they will just take paint and they will just splatter it up against the canvas. So just just just making a mess. And and I'll watch these things and I'll go well, I could do that, I mean, you know. But what's amazing is is they know what they're doing. So they don't just splatter paint, they splatter it, but in a very particular way, and then they'll take a paintbrush and they'll start looking like they're smearing it and it looks like such a mess. But if you keep watching, they're doing it in a very particular way and it is very slowly making a beautiful painting and by the time they're finished, it's a work of art. Well, what we're going to learn over the course of Esther is that's exactly what God is doing. So right now, he is just splattering paint on a wall. So, chapter one, poor Vashti got deposed for horrible reasons. Then, chapter two, esther becomes queen for horrible reasons, and Malachi, malachi, mordecai is doing the best he can. Well, now, chapter three, he's gonna splatter some more paint on that wall with this jerk named Haman, haman's hubris. Now what does hubris mean? Hubris means pride. So I was just trying to be a little cute there with two things beginning with an H. But Haman, he's not a nice guy, right? He is a villain. He is a villains, villains, villains, villains. Okay, he's no good. We're going to learn about Haman the jerk. Haman's hubris in chapter three just more of a mess that now God's got plenty to work with as he creates something beautiful. You ready, here we go. Esther, chapter three, verse one says this Sometime later, king Xerxes promoted Haman son of Hamadathah the Agiite over all the other nobles, making him the most powerful official in the empire.

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All the king's officials would bow down before Haman to show him respect whenever he passed by, for so the king had commanded, but Mordecai refused to bow down or show him respect. When the palace officials at the king's gate asked Mordecai, why are you disobeying the king's command? They spoke to him day after day, but he still refused to comply with this order. So they spoke to Haman about this, to see if he would tolerate Mordecai's conduct, since Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew. Now pause. So it's almost like you ever had those friends who were instigators and someone's like you're going to let him get away with that. You going to let him talk about you like that man, don't you talk about my mom? And there it goes right. Well, that's exactly what these people did. This guy is going by, and Mordecai refuses to show him respect, and so they go to Haman and be like you going to, let him do you like that. And it doesn't actually say in here why Morde.

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When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down and show him respect, he was filled with rage. He had learned about Mordecai's nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead he looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes. So in the month of April, during the 12th year of King Xerxes' reign, lots were cast in Haman's presence, a lot called Purim that's where they get the Feast of Purim to determine the best day of the month to take action. And the day was selected March 7th, nearly a year later.

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Then, haman approached King Xerxes and said there is a certain race of people scattered throughout all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king's interest to let them live. If it pleased, the king issue a decree that they be destroyed and I will give 10,000 large sacks of silver to the government administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury. The king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his signet ring from his finger and giving it to Haman, son of Hamadatha the Agiite, the enemy of the Jews. And the king said the money and the people are both yours to do as you see fit.

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So on April 17th, the king's secretaries were summoned and the decree was written exactly as Haman dictated. It was sent to the king's highest officers, the governors of the respective provinces and the nobles of each province in their own scripts and languages. The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king's signet ring. That's why, by the way, he did that, so that that showed that it had the authority of the king. Verse 13,.

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This was scheduled to happen on March 7th of the next year. The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them. A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all the peoples, so that they would be ready to do their duty on the appointed day. So it was going to be their duty to slaughter somebody, to slaughter their neighbor. What a duty, right? It's like no. At the king's command, the decree went out by swift messengers, so it was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa, and the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa fell into confusion. Wow.

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So you see now why Mordecai wouldn't bow before this jerk. It's because his heart was just rotten and ruined, and when he felt disrespected by Mordecai, he was like it's not enough that I punished Mordecai, I'm going to kill everybody who's the same nationality as him. And he had the power to do it, and that's why we call this chapter Haman's hubris. And so what I love about this overall book of Esther is that God can take a mess and make something beautiful, and he's got a lot of mess to work with. And so what does this mean for us? This means that sometimes bad people are just bad. I don't know what happened in Haman's life, but he is a great example for us of what not to do. And sometimes there's bad people who've just been so broken and they're so hurt that they are going to try to hurt you. It just is what it is. I've heard people that say that they've gotten tired of the phrase hurting people hurt people but it's still true, and I don't know what it is that's broken in his life, but he is now dead set. He is gonna hurt Mordecai and said he is going to hurt Mordecai and Mordecai. I mean he's not respecting this guy, but he has his reasons, he has good reasons for it and it's now become a mess.

God's Plan in Esther

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And in your life there are going to be times when not everybody's going to like you, not everybody's going to go the right way. But here's the thing Make sure it's for a good reason. In 2 Peter it says that not everybody's going to like you and you're going to be persecuted and you're going to suffer. But make sure you're suffering for the cause of Christ, not because you're doing bad things right Now. If you have people who stand against you because you're not being, you're not following Jesus, well, that's on you. But if you're doing the best you can and following Jesus the best you can and people stand against you, then you know God is with you. And so I want to say this to you today Do against you, then you know God is with you. And so I want to say this to you today Do you have enemies?

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Do you have people in your life that don't like you very much? Why Is it? Because you're following Jesus, because you're doing the best you can. If so, then guess what? God can make something beautiful out of a mess. But are they against you? Are they whatever? Because of maybe something bad? Are you Mordecai or are you Haman? Be so very careful. You know which is which and depending on which is which, take the next step.

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God, thank you so much for today. Thank you for being with us and being for us. Thank you, god, for moving in our lives in so many ways that we see and that we don't see. And, god, there's times when we can get so off course that we end up being the one hurting people. And if that's us, I pray, holy Spirit, you reveal it to us so we can take that next step. But, lord, if we're in the other seat and we've been hurt by others, I pray that we'll do like Mordecai, we'll stand for what's right and we'll keep moving forward and we'll trust. Amen, amen. Well, god's word says in Esther, chapter four, verse 14,. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place. But who knows, if perhaps you were made queen for such a time as this, god has a plan for your life. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Esther, chapter four.