_After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman._ THE PROSPEROUS WICKED MAN Matthew Henry says: “I wonder what the king saw in man that was commendable or meritorious? It is plain that he was not a man of honour or justice, of any true courage or steady conduct, but proud and passionate and r... [ Continue Reading ]
_But Mordecai bowed not._ DECISION FOR GOD But why did Mordecai not obey the commandment of the king? It may have been because he had a personal dislike to Haman, but that would not have justified him in contradicting the will of the sovereign. Or it may have been that, being a Jew, he regarded him... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not. .. then was Haman full of wrath._ VANITY AND CRUELTY Haman manifests by his behaviour the intimate connection there is between vanity and cruelty. 1. Vanity is a form of magnified egotism. When a vain man looks out on the world it is always through the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore Haman thought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom._ PLOTTING IN VAIN We proceed to consider the scheme of destruction which Haman arranged with the utmost craft. It seemed in its arrangement perfectly secure. Its accomplishment appeared certain and beyond resi... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the first month, they cast Pur, that is, the lot._ THE TIME OF THE LOT The drawing of the lot took place in the month Nisan, or about March of our year, and the day fixed by it was the thirteenth day of Adar, or February--a period of nearly twelve months intervening. The patience of Haman would... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus._ LISTENING TO SCANDAL If we blame Ahasuerus for too readily listening to the invective of Haman, and condemning the Jews untried and unheard, we should be on our guard against committing the same sin, by giving heed to scandal in regard to others, without caref... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will pay ten thousand talents of silver._ HAMAN’S WEALTH: ANCIENT MILLIONAIRES Crassus owned a landed estate valued at more than one million and a half pounds sterling, and Ridorus, after having lost a good deal in the civil war, left an estate worth one million forty-seven hundred pounds. And L... [ Continue Reading ]
_To do with them as it seemeth good to thee._ THE DANGER OF AN EASY TEMPER Ahasuerus appears to have been a man of an easy temper, and ready to confer the greatest obligations, without deliberation, on those whom he loved. But there is no true wisdom without judgment and steadiness. A thoughtless... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then were the king’s scribes called on the thirteenth day._ FRUITLESS PREPARATIONS I. Here is unseemly haste. II. Here are inconsistent precursory measures. Wickedness renders a man inconsistent. Revenge impelled to action, but conscience still spoke in reproving tones. All must be done accordin... [ Continue Reading ]
_To kill, and to cause to perish._ A WICKED MASSACRE The wickedness of the intended massacre does not rest with Ahasuerus and Haman. Great multitudes of the king’s subjects must participate in the guilt. The governors and rulers of every province, and the people under their command, have letters wr... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed._ SOCIETY BROKEN INTO SECTIONS Alas! how society is broken up into sections--one part caring little for another that is closest to it, and at the very moment pressing upon it for sympathy and succour. Stone walls were all... [ Continue Reading ]