Esther 3:1-15

In this section we have a picture of the procedure of government in the court of the king. Haman was promoted to supreme authority, and the portrait of the man is naturally and vividly presented to us-haughty and imperious, proud and cruel. Mordecai's refusal to bow down to him and do him reverence may in all probability be accounted for by the simple fact that he was a Jew, or perhaps it may be that Mordecai was familiar with facts concerning Haman which made it impossible for him to do him any honor. Be that as it may, the malice of the man was stirred, not merely against Mordecai, but against all his people, and he made use of his influence with the king to obtain authority practically to exterminate them. In the acts of evil men strange and inexplicable factors arise which can be accounted for satisfactorily only by belief in the government of God. The delay of months in carrying out his cruel intention was, in all likelihood, prompted by his desire to make the work of extermination thorough. Yet how wonderfully it gave time for all the events which ended in the deliverance of the people of God.