The King Plans to Honor Mordecai
6 During that night [a]the king could not sleep so he gave an order to bring the book of records, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. 2 It was found written what Mordecai had reported concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who were doorkeepers, that they had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 3 The king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” Then the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” 4 So the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace in order to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows which he had prepared for him. 5 The king’s servants said to him, “Behold, Haman is standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.” 6 So Haman came in and the king said to him, “What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?” And Haman said [b]to himself, “Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?” 7 Then Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king desires to honor, 8 let them bring a royal robe which the king has worn, and the horse on which the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown has been placed; 9 and let the robe and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble princes and let them array the man whom the king desires to honor and lead him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him, ‘Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor.’”
Haman Must Honor Mordecai
10 Then the king said to Haman, “Take quickly the robes and the horse as you have said, and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate; do not fall short in anything of all that you have said.” 11 So Haman took the robe and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor.”
12 Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried home, mourning, with his head covered. 13 Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is [c]of Jewish origin, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him.”
14 While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hastily brought Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.
Poor Haman didn’t even stand a chance when he decided to take down Mordecai. Here he is, finally executing on his plan to rid himself of the one problem in his life, and all of a sudden it all goes wrong. What are the odds, that the king can’t sleep, happens to hear the account of how Mordecai had saved him, and the only person available to consult on how to reward Mordecai is the one seeking to kill him?
They’re really, really low, only God knows how low. But he also knew exactly what was coming, and that’s the most important bit of this story. Relatedly, we see Haman’s advisors and even his wife make an interesting statement, “If Mordecai… is a Jew, you will not overcome him…” Why in the world would they say that?
For all their shortcomings, and even after being carried into captivity, the Jews still had a reputation as the chosen people of God. Even those who worshipped and served idols and other deities, they knew the Jews were special. But it wasn’t really because the Jews were “chosen” or “special”, it was because of the God who had made them so. They might just as well have said, “hey, if you’re going to go up against the God of the Jews, there’s no way to win that battle.”
He doesn’t change, and He still has a plan for our lives too. He created every person on this planet with a purpose. You can choose to accept that and the adventure that follows, or you can choose to be like Haman and fight against God. The odds weren’t good for Haman, and they aren’t good for anyone who opposes God either.
But it isn’t about giving in to the inevitable, it’s about giving in to your best possible life with God. That’s not just a mediocre existence, that’s the ultimate calling, and something (and someone) worth living for.