Haman and his plan were
exposed, and now the king was angry. Queen Esther held two banquets
wherein the king asked her for anything she desired up to half his
kingdom and all she plead for was her life and the life of her
people. When the king asked who and where the man was who devised
this wicked plan, she named Haman as the culprit. King Ahasuerus rose
angrily from his banquet table to retreat to his palace garden only
to return to find Haman begging for his life upon the bed of his wife
Queen Esther. That act was Haman's last because the king's
chamberlains rushed in, covered his head, and in chapter seven and
verse nine we see the rest of Haman's fate. We read:
And Harbonah, one of
the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows
fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken
good for the king, stands in the house of Haman. Then the king said,
Hang him thereon.
The
verse begins, “And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said
before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which
Haman had made for Mordecai,...” Harbonah which means “donkey
driver” was one of the seven original chamberlains we read about in
chapter one and verse ten. Isn't it interesting how he knew about
Haman's gallows? More than likely the gallows stood out in the town
when it was built, but there seems to be some indication that what
was meant to be specially revealed mechanism for death was quite
conspicuous. It is quite possible that since Harbonah worked so
closely serving the king that he was aware of Haman's plot to kill
Mordecai even before the king was. We remember that Haman had not
even told the king about his plan for the gallows as yet.
Nonetheless, the very execution chamber that was meant for Mordecai
was offered as the devise upon which Haman would die.
The
verse goes on to say, “who had spoken good for the king, stands
in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.”
Notice that Harbonah also knew about the “good” that
Mordecai did for the king. Perhaps he was with the king on the
sleepless night when Mordecai's brave act of saving the king was
exposed. Whatever the case, Harbonah knew that Mordecai did good for
the king, and although Haman built the gallows “in his own
house” for Mordecai to hang on, once he was aware of the
gallows the king gave the command for Haman to hang upon it.
The law
of reciprocity seems to have fully applied in the case of Haman. In
the book of Galatians in chapter six and verse seven we read:
Be not deceived; God is
not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.
Haman's
anger at Mordecai for not bowing down to him and giving him obeisance
led him to extreme anger and a plot to take his life and the life of
his people. However, the very plot to hang Mordecai upon a fifty foot
gallows became his own demise. That which he had sown, he reaped.
When we consider this for our own life, perhaps there are seeds of
discord, seeds of disunity, and places of plotting against another
within our own lives. After discovering what occurred with Haman, we
may want to retract some of our seed and be sure not to sow any in
the first place from now on. God Almighty will protect His people,
and although Haman thought he was in the place of advantage and
privilege, Esther soon revealed that he was not. Let Haman's fate be
a steady reminder to us that God is always in control, and even when
it doesn't look as though He is, He always has a plan in mind.
Next
time we will see Haman's sentence carried out, so read ahead, and we
shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation” and the new marriage book “So, You Want
to Be Married” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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