Esther 6:10-14

C. Abasement

TEXT: Esther 6:10-14

10

Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.

11

Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and caused him to ride through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor.

12

And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But Haman hasted to his house, mourning and having his head covered.

13

And Haman recounted unto Zeresh his wife and all his friends every thing that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai, before whom thou hast begun to fall, be of the seed of the Jews, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.

14

While they were yet talking with him, came the king's chamber loins, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Today's English Version, Esther 6:10-14

Then the king said to Haman, Hurry and get the robes and the horse, and provide these honors for Mordecai the Jew. Do everything for him that you have suggested. You will find him sitting at the entrance of the palace.
So Haman got the robes and the horse, and he put the robes on Mordecai. Mordecai got on the horse, and Haman led him through the city square, announcing to the people as they went: See how the king rewards a man he wishes to honor!
Mordecai then went back to the palace entrance while Haman hurried home, covering his face in embarrassment. He told his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then she and those wise friends of his told him, You are beginning to lose power to Mordecai. He is a Jew, and you cannot overcome him. He will certainly defeat you. While they were still talking, the palace eunuchs arrived in a hurry to take Haman to Esther's banquet.

COMMENTS

Esther 6:10-11 Humiliation: What a shock for Haman to hear the emperor's order that the highest honors imaginable are to be given to Mordecai, the man he most hated. Haman had not only to see that these great honors were done for Mordecai, he must do them himself! How humiliating! Many of the noblemen of the emperor's court no doubt knew of Haman's contempt for the Jew, Mordecai. Now Haman is about to be publicly abased. It was a bitter degradation but inescapable. To disobey the emperor after he has spent a sleepless night worrying about rectifying a serious default of royal. Persian protocol would undoubtedly mean immediate death for Haman. He was instructed to make all haste to carry out every detail suggested. Nothing was to be omitted. He must be Mordecai's valet; he must go in front of Mordecai throughout the streets of the great capital city proclaiming the honor of the Jew who rides upon the emperor's own horse, dressed in the emperor's own robes.

Esther 6:12-14 Hysteria: It is worth noticing that Mordecai, after the parade, put off the royal robes and returned to his lowly place of service at the king's gate. Most men would have been so intoxicated with the excitement they would have sought more recognition or, at least, promotion. It is interesting, in retrospect, that Mordecai, after saving the emperor's life, did not seek reward or recognition. This sharpens even more the contrast in the characters of Haman and Mordecai.

Haman, mortified and ashamed, fled to his own home expecting to find some solace or security there. He was so destroyed that he put a covering over his face so he would not be recognized as he fled to his house. He had no sooner told the sordid details of his humiliation than his counselors and his wife advised him that Mordecai, the Jew, would ultimately cause his complete fall from power. These wise men were probably Haman's official advisors. The TEV translation has chosen irony to characterize the wise men, as if they were self-professed wise men. We prefer to assume they were more like the Chaldeans of the book of Danielofficial advisors to kings and noblemen.

Why would these Persians conclude that Mordecai's being a Jew would make it impossible for Haman to prevail in his struggle against him? As a matter of fact, Haman had already secured an edict from the emperor that all Jews are to be massacred (cf. Esther 3:10 ff). Perhaps these advisors and Hainan's wife were wise enough to see that since Mordecai had been singularly honored (given the highest honors) by Xerxes himself, it would be unreasonable to allow the man so gloriously honored to be massacred. The LXX translated the last phrase of Esther 6:13, ... and thou wilt not be able to withstand him, for the living God is with him. Some commentators think the miraculous nature of Mordecai's victorious exaltation over Haman impressed the truth upon Haman's advisors and wife that the Jews must be under special divine protection. Such an impression is not altogether improbable. Pharaoh's magicians were compelled to explain: This is the finger of God. and the Egyptians cried: Let us flee before Israel, for the Lord fighteth for them (Exodus 8:19; Exodus 19:25). Jewish history and scriptures were well known by the wise men of the cultures of Mesopotamia and Persia. So the warnings of Haman's wise men and his wife are based on more than a fear of the shrewdness and expertise of the Jews. The very fact that the Jewish people still existed in spite of all the captivities and persecutions which they had endured must have impressed many thinking people with the conviction that there was some higher power providentially caring for them.

These predictions of Haman's fall before Mordecai must have pierced Haman's heart with great trepidation. Insecurity breeds paranoia. Insecure people persistently fantasize that others are determinedly out to get them. Haman was probably near hysteria from his paranoia. His friends certainly did not give him any relief.

We may learn the following lessons from this chapter:

1.

The good that we do, though unrewarded at first, will always have its rewards.

2.

Evil has a way of obsessing the whole man.

3.

Flattery is dangerous; it usually blinds the one being flattered.

4.

Inordinate pride is self-destroying.