Thursday, March 8, 2018

Year 8, Day 67: Esther 7


Theological Commentary: Click Here



Haman dies.  Haman dies by being staked to his own pole. Haman dies on the very thing that he had erected in order to kill Mordecai.  Yesterday I talked about irony.  Today we see its tragic end.



The deeper part of this story, though, is why Haman dies.  He is truly his own undoing.  He dies because he forces wrath upon him.  In his anger, he had the king make an edict against a whole race of people, none of whom save Mordecai had ever really done anything to him.  Even Mordecai’s great sin was simply not deferring to him.  It’s not like Mordecai actually did anything to him.



In this light, Haman dies because of his pride.  Haman dies because he takes a reasonably small offense and turns it into a far more significant deal than he deserves.  Haman dies because he takes a small sin of one person and magnifies it into a personal hatred against a broad spectrum of people.  Haman allows his pride to turn into prejudice.



Haman makes bad decisions because of his pride.  He makes errors in judgment because he refuses to look past a small offense.  He ends up dying because he won’t take the time to even find out why Mordecai won’t behave like the people around him.  In the end, Haman dies because he is so focused on himself, his pride, and his glory that he doesn’t even see the enemies that his pride and his quest for glory is making.



To be honest, I think this is a flaw that most of us can learn from.  I know it is a flaw that I can learn from.  Sometimes I get so focused on myself and my life that I don’t realize how the people around me are reacting.  We should always consider the people around us and how our actions might affect them.  We should always stop to consider why the people around us act the way that they do.



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