Haman’s Plot (Esther): Bad leaders corrupt organizations. How? One way is by promoting all the wrong people. In Esther, this is when the plot thickens. When King Xerxes made Haman his second in command, Mordecai refused to bow to him. Haman’s wounded pride led to a plot to kill and plunder all the Jewish people of Persia. Would they survive this existential threat? Recorded on Jul 20, 2025, on Esther 3 by Pastor David Parks.
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This sermon is part of our series, For Such A Time As This, from the book of Esther in the Bible. Twenty-five hundred years ago, a courageous young Jewish woman named Esther became queen of Persia. Far from home, Esther and her cousin Mordecai had to navigate palace politics, power, and danger to prevent the annihilation of their people. They needed humility, wisdom, and extraordinary courage. Esther’s story is dramatic, inspiring, and surprising. Because while God’s name is never mentioned, His fingerprints are everywhere. In our series, we’re reminded that God has faithfully worked behind the scenes in a lot of messed-up situations with messy people for a long time now. He did it then. He can do it again. But will we have the courage to do the right thing, whatever the cost?
Sermon Transcript
Well, this summer we’re going through a sermon series called For Such A Time As This, from the book of Esther in the Bible. Twenty-five hundred years ago, in Susa, the capital of the Persian Empire, the greatest kingdom on the planet at the time, a courageous young Jewish woman named Esther became the queen of Persia. And we saw the morally ambiguous way that came about last week with King Xerxes throwing a nationwide beauty contest, which Esther won. But despite her beauty, Esther and her older cousin Mordecai, who had raised her since Esther lost her parents, were very far from home. So, despite the dramatic turn of events that made a young, orphaned Jewish girl a queen, they were still vulnerable in some ways, as we’ll see today. Last week, we were introduced to our main protagonists, Esther and Mordecai. Today, we’ll meet the villain of our story, Haman the Agagite (boo!). So far, in the first two chapters of Esther, we saw that King Xerxes had some serious character flaws. And one thing we have about a million examples of down through history is that when you have a leader without godly character, wisdom, or maturity, they tend to corrupt the culture of whatever they are leading. A bad person is certainly not a good situation, but bad leaders are so much more dangerous because they will have a negative impact on others by virtue of their role. Now, you might find this kind of leadership crisis in a family, business, or church, but it’s especially damaging in something as big and complicated as the Persian Empire. One way this happens is that a bad leader tends to promote all the wrong people, people who aren’t necessarily known for their character, competency, or commitment to the greater good. This becomes a vicious cycle as the corrupt leader can’t or won’t hold their corrupt people accountable. But, how do we deal with situations like this that are (sadly) so common in a broken world? Is there anything we can do as followers of Jesus? This is the question of the day. Well, if you have your Bible/app, please open it to Esther 3:1. We’ll read through the whole chapter today and unpack it as we go.
Esther 3:1–6 (NIV), “1 After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles. 2 All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor. 3 Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?” 4 Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew. 5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. 6 Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.” Ok! Totally the appropriate response from Haman, right? In the next section, we learn that four years had passed since Esther was made queen. Whether or not she initially had a choice in the matter, she had probably settled into life in the palace of Susa. It was then that her husband, King Xerxes, decided to honor a man named Haman, son of Hammedatha, the Agagite. Remember that names in the Bible often matter more than just what someone was called. They often have deeper meanings. Last week, I mentioned that Mordecai appears to have been a descendant of King Saul of ancient Israel. Here, Haman appears to be a descendant of a man named Agag, who was an ancient king of the Amalekites, whom King Saul had defeated and captured some 500 years earlier. Going back even further, you might remember from our series on the Exodus this past year that when Israel was freed from Egypt, they were attacked in the desert by the Amalekites. When the Israelites won, Moses said, “Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the LORD, the LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation” (Ex 17:16). Because of this history, ancient Israelites, when they heard the story of Esther, would’ve immediately understood that Mordecai and Haman were enemies. And we’re not told why Haman was promoted, but King Xerxes put him above everyone, second only to himself. But, and here is where the plot thickens, Mordecai refused to bow to Haman. He would not kneel down or pay him honor. It caused a stir. The royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai why he would disobey the king. They kept speaking to him about it, but he only said that it had something to do with him being Jewish. Uh oh. The secret was out. Mordecai and Esther had taken Persian names while living in exile. Mordecai had forbidden Esther from telling anyone about being Jewish. He wanted her to blend in. He was afraid her family heritage would be used against her. Maybe Haman’s response to Mordecai is proof that his fears were warranted. Because when Haman heard about Mordecai’s refusal to bow before him, and he discovered he was Jewish, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Haman wanted a genocide. But could he pull that off? We’ll see. But before we continue, we must ask the question: Why did Mordecai refuse to bow to Haman? What was it about his being Jewish that prevented him from doing something like that? Well, that is a tough question, because the narrator doesn’t explicitly say. Over the ages, several theories have been offered. First, and what I assumed, was that it was the Law of Moses that prevented him from bowing to Haman. Specifically, the first two commands of the Ten Commandments. You shall have no other gods before me. And you shall not make idols or images and bow down in worship of them. In other words, you shall not worship anything or anyone other than God. This would be the most noble reason why Mordecai refused to bow. And would make Haman’s over-the-top response only a result of his wounded pride. But would bowing in honor of Haman be considered worship? Maybe. But apparently, it also wasn’t that rare in the ancient Near East. Bowing to Haman could’ve been something more like giving a salute to a higher rank in the military. Nothing in the Law of Moses would necessarily prevent that. Another theory is that Mordecai was upset because Haman won the promotion that he felt he deserved. That Mordecai was jealous and refused to bow to Haman as a result. That could be, but it doesn’t say in the text. This theory also doesn’t make sense of Mordecai’s excuse that he was Jewish. The last theory connects the family backgrounds of Mordecai and Haman (which is in the text) and the fact that their people had been enemies for something like 800 years by this point. Was this why Mordecai refused the king’s order? As a Jew, he couldn’t bow down to an Amalekite? This does make a little more sense out of Haman’s response. He didn’t hate Mordecai alone for his wounded pride; he hated Mordecai’s whole people and wanted them all dead. How do we decide? One theory gives Mordecai the moral high ground. He’s trying to obey the commands of his God! But the other gives Mordecai a morally neutral motive at best and might even reveal the hatred in his own heart toward the Amalekites and his own pride in his people. This is messy.
Esther 3:7-11 (NIV), “7 In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the pur (that is, the lot) was cast in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar. 8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.” 10 So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.” So, the pur, or lot, was cast. This was something like rolling the dice or flipping a coin to make a decision. But, just what would happen during the month of Adar? We’ll find out. But Haman casually brought up this troublesome people group in the vast empire of Persia. Basically, he’s like, “These people keep separate from other people groups. They have strange customs and beliefs and do not obey the king’s laws. Well, at least one of the Jews, this guy named Mordecai, who refused to obey at least one of the king’s laws, that is to bow down before me. Anyways, they should all die. How about this? What if I donated a huge amount of money? If it pleases the king, then would you let me destroy them?” Now, here would’ve been a great opportunity for King Xerxes to start asking some hard questions of his second in command. Who are these people that you want to destroy? What did they all do to deserve to die? But Xerxes again reveals his shallow character. He approves of Haman’s plot without any question or discussion. The signet ring of the king guaranteed that the king was behind any message that was sealed with it. Haman got a blank check. What would he do with it?
Esther 3:12–15 (NIV), “12 Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language of each people all Haman’s orders to the king’s satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his own ring. 13 Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. 14 A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so they would be ready for that day. 15 The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.” This is God’s word. And what a mess this has become! Haman cast the pur to determine the day all the Jews in Persia were to die: the thirteenth day of Adar. When the royal edict, under the seal of the signet ring of the king himself, was translated into every language and sent out to the four corners of the kingdom, the Jewish people were given notice that in just eleven months, their neighbors and the people of their communities had the legal right to attack, kill, and plunder them, man, woman, and child. I can’t imagine how much fear and anxiety they must have felt that year. I’m sure there was anger at the injustice of it all, but what could they do? This was the worst-case scenario. But as fear, chaos, and uncertainty spread with the message of the couriers, the king and Haman sat down to drink, presumably to celebrate the wisdom of their leadership and governance. But the city of Susa was bewildered. Does it make a little more sense that Xerxes would later be assassinated by the captain of his own bodyguard? He was a king people like Haman could use, but not respect. Now, there are a number of parallels between this scene and chapter 1 that are helpful to notice. In chapter 1, King Xerxes became enraged because Vashti refused to honor him in the way he wanted to be honored. In chapter 3, Haman became enraged because Mordecai refused to honor him in the way he wanted to be honored. But there’s a serious escalation here. In chapter 1, Vashti was deposed as the queen, and a warning was sent to all the wives of the kingdom. In chapter 3, Haman didn’t just want Mordecai deposed or even killed; he wanted all the Jewish people in Persia to be put to death, and the decision was sent to everyone in the kingdom. We’re going from bad to worse. But this proves the Greek proverb, “Bad company corrupts good character.” (1 Co 15:33). When a bad leader like Xerxes promotes Haman and gives him a blank check to do whatever he wants to do with all the vast resources of the biggest kingdom on the planet, what do you think is going to happen? They’re going to make great decisions and work for the good of all people? No. You’re going to get corruption, decadence, injustice, and death. This chapter also serves as something like the opposite of the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. Commentator Anthony Tomasino writes, “The irony here is that Joseph used his position to secure the preservation of the Israelites; Haman would use his position to attempt their destruction.” (Tomasino, Anthony. Esther. Lexham Press, 2016, p. 216.) Maybe Mordecai wasn’t wrong for refusing to bow to Haman? It’s hard to say. Again, it’s not black and white. It’s a morally ambiguous situation for Mordecai. However, it has quickly become a moral nightmare because of Haman. How will Mordecai and Esther, two Jewish people who would be killed in just eleven months, respond? Could they somehow reverse the edict of the king? We’ll see. But for now, how might we apply this passage to our lives today? How do we deal with not this situation, but situations like this that are (sadly) so common in this broken world? Is there anything we can do as followers of Jesus? Don’t be like Haman. I think we can confidently say that. Don’t be like Haman. Whether he was offended and started this whole murderous plot because only his personal pride was wounded by Mordecai, or whether his pride in his people group started this whole mess, either way, it was his pride that was the problem. And, as the Jewish proverb says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Pr 16:18). Pride is carbon monoxide; it’s a silent killer because it’s often the sin under other sins. Hatred was the fruit, genocide was the fruit, of pride, not the root. A simple definition of sinful pride is this: You believe you matter more than others. You believe your time matters more than other people’s time or your agenda matters more than other people’s agendas. If someone is slowing you down, it makes you angry. Why? Because how dare they have the audacity to get in your way? Don’t they know how much more important you are? Anyone ever felt that way besides me? Pride says your opinions/preferences matter more than other people’s opinions/preferences. Pride says you matter more. Period. So you deserve more, you’re entitled to more, and you need to make sure everyone is treating you in a way that meets your higher value. Friends, God hates this. The Apostle Peter writes, “‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (1 Pe 5:5–6). This has been something of a life verse for me for the past few years. Will pride be our downfall? Will pride be Haman’s downfall? It was for our adversary, the devil. It was pride that made him aspire to be God. So, what do we do? Don’t be like Haman! Well, who should we be like, Mordecai? Well…we’ve seen that that’s questionable. We’re not exactly sure if his motives were pure; in fact, probably his motives were somewhat of a mixed bag, like ours often are. Well, it’s chapters like this in the Bible that should cause us to long for something more. And we’ve seen this in the first three chapters. Chapter 1, in Esther, with the way Xerxes tossed his wife Vashti aside so easily/quickly, didn’t that make you long for a better king? Or in chapter 2, with the answer to Vashti being a nationwide beauty contest, and we’re not even sure if Esther had a choice in whether she could participate or not, doesn’t that make you long for a better kingdom? Well, chapter 3 ought to make us long for a better leader, a better system of governance, and someone who can reign and rule according to what is right, good, true, and beautiful. Ultimately, for followers of Jesus, this should make us long for Christ and his kingdom. You see, when Jesus came, the Son of God sent from heaven, he could’ve come down in glory and demanded that we bow before him. But instead, he came humbly, becoming a human being and then further humbling himself by being willing to give his life on the cross for the sins of the world. And when Jesus saw his followers/disciples start to jockey for positions of power in his new kingdom, he rebuked them, saying the way up is down. The first in my kingdom will be last and the last will be first. If you want to be great in my kingdom, you need to be a servant of all. Pride is a killer, but humility is the path to life. And this is the way of Jesus. So what should we do as a church today? Well, I think we need to try and be like Jesus. And this really is what it means to be a Christian, to try and learn to follow his way. To see how the root of pride goes down deep in our hearts and affects things in ways that do not bring more life, love, joy, and peace. It brings corruption; it brings destruction. What if we were a church that was a humble church? What if we were a church that did not value pride? Instead, we were able to build up trust, and we were able to be honest with each other that when we see someone acting out of pride, we could say, “Hey, friend, your pride is showing.” Ultimately, I think we would be a little bit more like Jesus. So let’s do that. Let’s not be Haman. Let’s learn to follow the way of Jesus. And maybe, just maybe, in due time, the Lord will lift us up. Let us pray.
