In times of greatest horror and unbelievable torture of groups of people who simply look, believe, and behave differently because of their love and loyalty to God is when the Prince of Darkness is seen for who he really is—death, masquerading as light. Satan is God’s Number One Enemy of all He has created in His image.

Throughout the history of humanity; Satan, the fallen angel, kicked out of heaven because he wanted to be God, still seethes with anger and hate. His hate breeds all the characteristics that are not God such as ego-driven pride, envy, arrogance, and greed. Since Adam and Eve fell; we all have fallen at one time or other to behaving in ways that are characteristic of Satan and his demons who hate God and all related to God. The Enemy still strives to be a god even though God will not allow it.  We are caught in the crossfire; but not without God’s intervention of protection when we call on His Name.

Satan has no bounds of holding back when it comes to the war with God. Satan, driven by his own selfish desires, even tempted the Son of God, Jesus Christ, for 40 days and night as Jesus fasted and prayed alone in the desert. God’s enemy thinks that by preying on the weaknesses of God’s people long enough and hard enough he will win and sometimes it works on humans who are hopeless because they have walked away from God for a time.  But God, from beginning to end, has always had all supreme power over His Enemy. God wins. Read the final chapter.

God was at the beginning, is now, and always will be God. This is Truth whether we believe or not.  God is God!  There is nothing that happens on earth that escapes the notice of God. God is sovereign.  He reigns! God knows before things happen what will happen. God is always at work behind the scenes with a prepared and arranged plan with purpose to defeat evil’s efforts and turn all that was meant for evil to good—by the Goodness of God. We can count on His promises to always be with us, helping us!

Remember and take to heart—Satan’s plots of calculated distractions, deceptions, and manipulations have limited power!  His purpose of destructing the faith of God’s people and capture their souls as his to live in the burning fires of hell forever are thwarted daily by God has all authority over all He has created and all who believe in Him. God wins. Because God wins, we who believe Him win! Those whose hearts, minds, and souls are committed to Him, in Jesus’ Name wins.  Forever!

The Plot against God’s people thickens!  Everything about Haman is hateful; you can’t find one thing about this man worth praising. In fact, everything Haman was, God hated.  However, Haman is not the real enemy here; it is Satan working through him. Hold that thought.

Esther 3

Haman’s Plot to Destroy the Jews

After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles. ² All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor.

³ Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?” ⁴ Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.

⁵ 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.

⁷ In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the pur (that is, the lot) was cast in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar.

⁸ Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. ⁹ If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.”

¹⁰ So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. ¹¹ “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”

¹² Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language of each people all Haman’s orders to the king’s satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his own ring. ¹³ Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. ¹⁴ A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so they would be ready for that day.

¹⁵ The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Haman was not content with merely having a high office and using it, Haman wanted all the public recognition and honor that he could secure. Although the ancient people of the Near East were accustomed to giving public displays of homage, the king had to issue a special edict concerning Haman, or the people would not have bowed down to him. Sounds like the story of the fallen angel who wanted to be honored over and in place of God, doesn’t it? 

God works through imperfect people for His purposes to save them.  Mordecai may have had shortcomings in his religious practices, but we must admire him for his courageous stand. It is evident that God had put Mordecai and Esther into their official positions so that they might save their people from annihilation. Their neglect of the Jewish law is incidental when we consider their courage in risking their lives because of their relationship with God.

Haman’s hatred for Mordecai, because he would not bow down to him, soon developed into hatred for the whole Jewish race. Haman could have reported Mordecai’s crime to the king, and the king would have imprisoned Mordecai or perhaps even had him executed, but that would not have satisfied Haman’s lust for revenge. No, his hatred had to be nourished by something bigger, like the destruction of a whole ethnic group.  The devil is at work, instilling his character full force into Haman.  With the enemy, hatred doesn’t have to make sense.

Satan lost as Jesus rose for the grave in victory over death.  How his anger burned as Jesus appeared, scars and all, before his followers to prove God’s victory over him!  God’s done it before, throughout history, and He’ll do it again.  In my small world; He is doing it now with all His power and authority. Our God reigns!

Evil plots of arranged and driven by the Prince of this dark world may take our physical bodies; but it is not possible to take our souls dedicated to God.  We will live on in eternity with God with a new body!  How do I know? The Bible tells me so!

“So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.”—Jesus, Matthew 10:26-33

This passage alone emphasizes that earthly persecution cannot sever a believer’s connection to God or destroy their eternal life. 

Warren Wiersbe writes;

“God has divine purposes to accomplish in this world. God’s purposes involve the Jewish nation as well as the Gentile nations of the world. They also involve the church. Within those groups, God especially accomplishes His purposes through individuals. His purposes touch the lives of kings and queens and common people, godly people and wicked people. Nothing in this world is outside the influence of the purposes of God.” –Wierbe Study Bible

Thank you, Lord

Lord,

Thank you for teaching us Truth with your confidence with blessed assurance flowing through us.  Thank you for saving us and providing eternal for us through your sacrifice.  Words are not enough to thank you for all you continue to do in and through us.

In Jesus Name, Amen