GOD WILL DEFEND HIS OWN

God Will Defend His Own He had it all – power, fame, influence. He could do as he pleased; he was second in command to the king. Yet he was insecure. All the power meant nothing as long as the gateman would not bow to him. What did our Prime Minister resort to? An evil plot, to wipe out the gateman and all his kin from the land. How did he plan to carry this out? Simple: a promise to enrich the nation's coffers. After all, the king himself was not a deep person. How else can we explain the lifestyle of a king whose only resume was party and wine? Haman was a descendant of Agag the Amalekite. They had been enemies of the Jews forever. How was it that Haman did not remember that Agag lost his life as a result of hating the Jews? How could he hope to win a fight against the Jews? He forgot that you could not win a battle against covenant people? History was about to repeat itself. What kind of a soul would seek to wipe out a whole generation just because he had a rift with one person? How did he think that God would let that ride? Haman was soon to learn that God would defend His people against all the odds. 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. 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. Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?” 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. When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. 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. 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. Then Haman said to King Xerxes, …. (Esther 3:1-15) Haman went out that day happy and in high spirits. But when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate and observed that he neither rose nor showed fear in his presence, he was filled with rage against Mordecai. Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home. Calling together his friends and Zeresh, his wife, Haman boasted to them about his vast wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honoured him and how he had elevated him above the other nobles and officials… (Esther 5:9-14) Did anyone notice that this king never made any decision on his own? All his choices were as advised. Who were the advisers – ego-tripping fellas, power-hungry blokes? Pray, how could a whole nation be under such base mortals? The signs were there, you did not fight God’s people and win; he could see it, his cronies could see it, but he had gone too far to care. He would not rest until he saw their end. The end, he saw all right, but it was his end. May the lot of your enemies be like that of Haman! How ambitious could anyone be, how power-drunk could they get? Why punish a whole generation because of one man? Haman found out the hard way that God would defend His own. May your detractors find the finger of your God! Beloved, which one are you? Haman or Mordecai? Are you so power intoxicated you would stop at nothing until you got everyone bowing to you? Please desist before you go the way of Haman. It is no use kicking against the bricks. The only one who would get hurt would be you. If you are Mordecai, you need to keep upholding the faith of your fathers. Stand by the truth. Only the truth will stand; according to the word, there is no counsel against the truth.