When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. 6 Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes. (NIV) Esther 3:5-6
The plot is thickening. One man in the Persian Empire refuses to obey King Xerxes edict. Mordecai will not kneel down or pay honor to Haman, Xerxes’ official. In his anger and with revenge on his mind, Haman determines to destroy all the Jews in Xerxes’ kingdom. But, God is on the move in mysterious ways in Persia. He is working behind the scenes. He is rearranging events and changing minds until His perfect plan is in place.
To gain the king’s support for his plan, Haman tells King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom whose customs are different from those of all other people and who do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. (Esther 3:8) Then Haman appeals to the king’s greed. He offers to “put ten thousand talents of silver into the royal treasury for the men who carry out this business.” Esther 3:9. It is estimated that Haman’s offer weighed approximately 375 tons and was estimated to represent the equivalent of two-thirds of the annual income of the Persian Empire.
The king immediately accepts the offer. He removes his signet ring, gives it to Haman and thus grants Haman unlimited authority to carry out his plan. The king is completely unaware that by executing the Jews, that he places his own wife under a death sentence.
Who do you refuse to forgive? Are you nursing a grudge? Do you have someone’s face on a mental dart board? A former spouse? Former boss? Former roommate? Former boyfriend? A former church?
By Haman nursing his anger it becomes a lingering grudge. His deliberate refusal to forgive festers and grows and becomes deadly.
An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered one commits many sins. (NIV) Proverbs 29:22
