What just happened?
Haman thought he was going to be sick. His stomach twisted and turned, and he felt a bit woozy in the head.
She was a Jew?! How? What?
King Ahasuerus let out a brutal cry of rage, and stormed down a pathway into the palace gardens.
He's going to kill me. What was he going to do? How did this go wrong? Of all the blasted women Ahasuerus could have married, what were the chances of him marring a Jewish woman? Maybe I can beg the Queen to spare my life!
"Your Majesty please have mercy on your servant. I never meant for harm to come to you! Please understand. There is a evil man among your people. He has fooled the King about his true nature. I needed him gone-to protect the kingdom. Mordecai is the true enemy!"
Queen Esther looked taken aback. Anger clouded her face. For a moment Haman thought the demure queen was going to slap him.
"Mordecai is my cousin."
Haman felt the words punch him in the gut. Oh, kill me now.
He pulled at his hair and groaned. Taking a few wobbly steps towards the couch where Queen Esther sat, he tired again, "Your Majesty, please. I had no idea." Sobs started puncturing his words. "Please spare my life." He dropped to his knees before her, reaching out his hands-
"What is the meaning of this?"
This could not get any worse.
A hand grabbed his hair and yanked him backwards. He stared up into the faces of the king and several guards. Horrific rage contorted the king's face. "You would dare assault the queen in my presence, in my house?" Before he had even finished speaking, they had covered his face with a sack.
He heard a muffled voice say, "My King, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman's house, fifty cubits high."
"Hang him on that," said King Ahasuerus.
"No!" Haman screamed. "I was pleading for my life! Spare my life." He blindly kicked, and flailed his body at the hands holding him. Anything to keep from being hung on the gallows!
But they didn't stop. They didn't listen.
And that very day, Haman was hung on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai.
Based on Esther 7:7-10
Haman thought he was going to be sick. His stomach twisted and turned, and he felt a bit woozy in the head.
She was a Jew?! How? What?
King Ahasuerus let out a brutal cry of rage, and stormed down a pathway into the palace gardens.
He's going to kill me. What was he going to do? How did this go wrong? Of all the blasted women Ahasuerus could have married, what were the chances of him marring a Jewish woman? Maybe I can beg the Queen to spare my life!
"Your Majesty please have mercy on your servant. I never meant for harm to come to you! Please understand. There is a evil man among your people. He has fooled the King about his true nature. I needed him gone-to protect the kingdom. Mordecai is the true enemy!"
Queen Esther looked taken aback. Anger clouded her face. For a moment Haman thought the demure queen was going to slap him.
"Mordecai is my cousin."
Haman felt the words punch him in the gut. Oh, kill me now.
He pulled at his hair and groaned. Taking a few wobbly steps towards the couch where Queen Esther sat, he tired again, "Your Majesty, please. I had no idea." Sobs started puncturing his words. "Please spare my life." He dropped to his knees before her, reaching out his hands-
"What is the meaning of this?"
This could not get any worse.
A hand grabbed his hair and yanked him backwards. He stared up into the faces of the king and several guards. Horrific rage contorted the king's face. "You would dare assault the queen in my presence, in my house?" Before he had even finished speaking, they had covered his face with a sack.
He heard a muffled voice say, "My King, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman's house, fifty cubits high."
"Hang him on that," said King Ahasuerus.
"No!" Haman screamed. "I was pleading for my life! Spare my life." He blindly kicked, and flailed his body at the hands holding him. Anything to keep from being hung on the gallows!
But they didn't stop. They didn't listen.
And that very day, Haman was hung on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai.
Based on Esther 7:7-10
"No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." Luke 13:3
Haman didn't care about the Jewish people. He wanted them dead and gone. He wanted his revenge on Mordecai. He wanted to win. So he devised his plan, and set it in motion. He thought he was golden. Everything seemed to be going perfectly and then Queen Esther drops this bomb: She's a Jew!
Haman knew that he was dog meat. So when the king stormed off, he tried to beg for his life-from one of the very people he tried to kill! Haman walked in sin. He made his choice, his stand for evil. He had reached the point of no turning back. Haman didn't try to repent until it was too late. In fact, he wasn't repenting at all. He got caught, and wanted out of the consequences.
Think about the woman caught in adultery. She was caught in the act, and was being brought out for judgement. Death. Jesus had mercy on her. He gave her grace and new life. Jesus said, "Go and sin no more." Do you think after this encounter with Jesus that she just went back to living her life the same way? Goodness, I hope not!
After all of our encounters with Jesus, do we go back to living life the same way? We should never take God's grace for granted. It is not a license to sin freely. There will be a judgement day. True repentance is turning from our sins. That's when we get God's grace, forgiveness, and healing.
"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
2 Chronicles 7:14
"Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out." Acts 3:19
After all of our encounters with Jesus, do we go back to living life the same way? We should never take God's grace for granted. It is not a license to sin freely. There will be a judgement day. True repentance is turning from our sins. That's when we get God's grace, forgiveness, and healing.
We all have areas in our lives where we've walked in sin. God forgive us! From this day forth, we turn away from those things! Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment