Mordecai Promoted
8 On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had disclosed what he was to her. 2 The king took off his signet ring which he had taken away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
3 Then Esther spoke again to the king, fell at his feet, wept and implored him to avert the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite and his plot which he had devised against the Jews. 4 The king extended the golden scepter to Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king. 5 Then she said, “If it pleases the king and if I have found favor before him and the matter seems proper to the king and I am pleasing in his sight, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. 6 For how can I endure to see the calamity which will befall my people, and how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?” 7 So King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given the house of Haman to Esther, and him they have hanged on the gallows because he had stretched out his hands against the Jews.
What does the king do when his right-hand man betrays him? He finds someone that he can trust, someone who has his best interests at heart, and the interests of his queen. Mordecai had saved both of their lives, so once the king found out Mordecai was Esther’s cousin, he put him in Haman’s place of authority.
Even the king needed people he could rely upon. Sure, he could tell anyone to do anything, but the heart was a different matter, and no king can command that. God made us to be relational, and we need people in our lives we can depend upon. So be careful not to put your trust in people who are looking out only for themselves.
Likewise, we need to do some soul searching, and see if we are the type of people who think of our friends first? Or are we more like Haman, and looking first to our own best interests? Jesus gave us the perfect model of friendship, “laying down his life for his friends”. Though we are not perfect, and our friends will not be perfect, we need to strive for that same selfless love in our relationships.