Today, I am reading and commenting on  Esther 4-7.

Usually when I read this passage I like to focus either on the fact that Esther had been put in her position in order to bring about salvation for the Jews from Haman’s plot, or about how the Jews of Susa prayed and fasted for Esther before she approached the king.  However, today I want to look at how Haman’s lack of humility led to his evil behavior and downfall.  Until today I only ever really saw part of what the story about Mordecai being honored had to do with the overall story.  Previously, I had seen how Haman’s arrogance led to him being humiliated, in his own perception if in no one else’s, when the king chose to honor Mordecai.  However, I had not realized how the writer included it to show us how Haman’s lack of humility led to all of his evil.  It was arrogance and lack of humility which led Haman to become so angry at Mordecai’s failure to bow before him that Haman decided it was insufficient to punish Mordecai, but it was necessary to kill him and all of his people.  It was Haman’s arrogance and lack of humility which led him to become so angry when he once again saw that Mordecai would not honor him that he decided to build the pole upon which he would himself be impaled.  It was Haman’s arrogance and lack of humility which led him to propose honoring Mordecai in a manner which led to his own humiliation.   So, let us learn the lesson that arrogance and a lack of humility will lead to our own humiliation and downfall.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.