Trouble in the Kingdom (Esther 3: 1-15)
The story of Esther takes a dark turn in chapter 3. What started as a tale of a young woman becoming queen now shifts into a dangerous plan that threatens her entire people. A new character named Haman steps into the spotlight—and he brings trouble with him.
A New Man in Power
After some time, King Xerxes promoted a man named Haman to a very high position in the kingdom. The king gave Haman so much authority that he ordered everyone to bow down and show honor to him whenever he passed by.
One Man Refuses to Bow
There was one person who didn’t follow the order—Mordecai, the man who had raised Esther. Mordecai was Jewish, and for reasons we aren’t fully told here, he refused to bow down to Haman.
People noticed this and asked Mordecai why he wouldn’t obey. When they told Haman, he became furious. But he didn’t want to just punish Mordecai. Once Haman found out that Mordecai was Jewish, he decided to get rid of all the Jews living in the empire.
A Dangerous Plan Begins
Haman went to King Xerxes and told him that a certain group of people (the Jews) were different and did not follow the king’s laws. He made it sound like they were a problem that needed to be dealt with. Haman offered to pay a large sum of silver to the king’s treasury to cover the cost of getting rid of them.
The king agreed without asking many questions. He took off his ring—the symbol of royal power—and gave it to Haman, giving him full permission to do as he wished.
The Date Is Set
To decide when this plan would take place, Haman cast lots (like rolling dice). This was called “Pur.” The day chosen was many months away, giving plenty of time to spread the news across the empire.
The Order Goes Out
Haman wrote an official order that went out to every province in the kingdom. It said that on a certain day, people were allowed to attack and kill all the Jews—men, women, and children. Their property could be taken as well.
This message spread quickly, and it caused panic and confusion in the city of Susa. People didn’t understand why such a harsh law was made. But while the city was troubled, Haman and the king sat down to drink as if nothing serious had happened.
A Dark Moment
This chapter ends in a very dark place. A terrible law has been made, and an entire group of people is in danger. It seems like evil is winning. But as we’ll see later in the story, this is not the end.
Even when things look hopeless, God is still at work behind the scenes. And in the chapters ahead, we’ll see how one brave woman will play a big part in turning the story around.
Esther 3: 1-15 (WEB)
3:1 After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes who were with him. 2 All the king’s servants who were in the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai didn’t bow down or pay him homage. 3 Then the king’s servants who were in the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s commandment?” 4 Now it came to pass, when they spoke daily to him, and he didn’t listen to them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5 When Haman saw that Mordecai didn’t bow down nor pay him homage, Haman was full of wrath. 6 But he scorned the thought of laying hands on Mordecai alone, for they had made known to him Mordecai’s people. Therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even Mordecai’s people.7 In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, and chose the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. 8 Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different from other people’s. They don’t keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not for the king’s profit to allow them to remain. 9 If it pleases the king, let it be written that they be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who are in charge of the king’s business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”10 The king took his ring from his hand, and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy. 11 The king said to Haman, “The silver is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.”12 Then the king’s scribes were called in on the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month; and all that Haman commanded was written to the king’s local governors, and to the governors who were over every province, and to the princes of every people, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus, and it was sealed with the king’s ring. 13 Letters were sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder their possessions. 14 A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that they should be ready against that day. 15 The couriers went out in haste by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given out in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Susa was perplexed.