'After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of
Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all
the princes that were with him. 2. And all the king's servants, that
were in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had
so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him
reverence. 3. Then the king's servants which were in the king's gate,
said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's commandment? 4.
Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened
not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters
would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5. And when Haman
saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman
full of wrath. 6. And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone;
for they had showed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought
to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of
Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai. 7. In the first month, that
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, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar. 8. And Haman
said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad
and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom;
and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the
king's laws: therefore it is not for the king's profit to suffer them.
9. If it please the king, let it be written that they may be
destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands
of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the
king's treasuries. 10. And the king took his ring from his hand, and
gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.
11. And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the
people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.'--ESTHER iii.
1-11.
The stage of this passage is filled by three strongly marked and
strongly contrasted figures: Mordecai, Haman, and Ahasuerus; a sturdy
nonconformist, an arrogant and vindictive minister of state, and a
despotic and careless king. These three are the visible persons, but
behind them is an unseen and unnamed Presence, the God of Israel, who
still protects His exiled people.
We note, first, the sturdy nonconformist. 'The reverence' which the
king had commanded his servants to show to Haman was not simply a sign
of respect, but an act of worship. Eastern adulation regarded a
monarch as in some sense a god, and we know that divine honours were
in later times paid to Roman emperors, and many Christians martyred
for refusing to render them. The command indicates that Ahasuerus
desired Haman to be regarded as his representative, and possessing at
least some reflection of godhead from him. European ambassadors to
Eastern courts have often refused to prostrate themselves before the
monarch on the ground of its being degradation to their dignity; but
Mordecai stood erect while the crowd of servants lay flat on their
faces, as the great man passed through the gate, because he would have
no share in an act of worship to any but Jehovah. He might have
compromised with conscience, and found some plausible excuses if he
had wished. He could have put his own private interpretation on the
prostration, and said to himself, 'I have nothing to do with the
meaning that others attach to bowing before Haman. I mean by it only
due honour to the second man in the kingdom.' But the monotheism of
his race was too deeply ingrained in him, and so he kept 'a stiff
backbone' and 'bowed not down.'
That his refusal was based on religious scruples is the natural
inference from his having told his fellow-porters that he was a Jew.
That fact would explain his attitude, but would also isolate him still
more. His obstinacy piqued them, and they reported his contumacy to
the great man, thus at once gratifying personal dislike, racial
hatred, and religious antagonism, and recommending themselves to Haman
as solicitous for his dignity. We too are sometimes placed in
circumstances where we are tempted to take part in what may be called
constructive idolatry. There arise, in our necessary co-operation with
those who do not share in our faith, occasions when we are expected to
unite in acts which we are thought very straitlaced for refusing to
do, but which, conscience tells us, cannot be done without practical
disloyalty to Jesus Christ. Whenever that inner voice says 'Don't,' we
must disregard the persistent solicitations of others, and be ready to
be singular, and run any risk rather than comply. 'So did not I,
because of the fear of God,' has to be our motto, whatever
fellow-servants may say. The gate of Ahasuerus's palace was not a
favourable soil for the growth of a devout soul, but flowers can bloom
on dunghills, and there have been 'saints' in 'Caesar's household.'
Haman is a sharp contrast to Mordecai. He is the type of the unworthy
characters that climb or crawl to power in a despotic monarchy,
vindictive, arrogant, cunning, totally oblivious of the good of the
subjects, using his position for his own advantage, and ferociously
cruel. He had naturally not noticed the one erect figure among the
crowd of abject ones, but the insignificant Jew became important when
pointed out. If he had bowed, he would have been one more nobody, but
his not bowing made him somebody who had to be crushed. The childish
burst of passion is very characteristic, and not less true to life is
the extension of the anger and thirst for vengeance to 'all the Jews
that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.' They were 'the
people of Mordecai,' and that was enough. 'He thought scorn to lay
hands on Mordecai alone.' What a perverted notion of personal dignity
which thought the sacrifice of the one offender beneath it, and could
only be satisfied by a blood-bath into which a nation should be
plunged! Such an extreme of frantic lust for murder is only possible
in such a state as Ahasuerus's Persia, but the prostitution of public
position to personal ends, and the adoption of political measures at
the bidding of wounded vanity, and to gratify blind hatred of a race,
is possible still, and it becomes all Christian men to use their
influence that the public acts of their nation shall be clear of that
taint.
Haman was as superstitious as cruel, and so he sought for auguries
from heaven for his hellish purpose, and cast the lot to find the
favourable day for bringing it about. He is not the only one who has
sought divine approval for wicked public acts. Religion has been used
to varnish many a crime, and _Te Deums_ sung for many a victory
which was little better than Haman's plot.
The crafty denunciation of the Jews to the king is a good specimen of
the way in which a despot is hoodwinked by his favourites, and made
their tool. It was no doubt true that the Jews' laws were 'diverse
from those of every people,' but it was not true that they did not
'keep the king's laws,' except in so far as these required worship of
other gods. In all their long dispersion they have been remarkable for
two things,--their tenacious adherence to the Law, so far as possible
in exile, and their obedience to the law of the country of their
sojourn. No doubt, the exiles in Persian territory presented the same
characteristics. But Haman has had many followers in resenting the
distinctiveness of the Jew, and charging on them crimes of which they
were innocent. From Mordecai onwards it has been so, and Europe is
to-day disgraced by a crusade against them less excusable than
Haman's. Hatred still masks itself under the disguise of political
expediency, and says, 'It is not for the king's profit to suffer
them.'
But the true half of the charge was a eulogium, for it implied that
the scattered exiles were faithful to God's laws, and were marked off
by their lives. That ought to be true of professing Christians. They
should obviously be living by other principles than the world adopts.
The enemy's charge 'shall turn unto you for a testimony.' Happy shall
we be if observers are prompted to say of us that 'our laws are
diverse' from those of ungodly men around us!
The great bribe which Haman offered to the king is variously estimated
as equal to from three to four millions sterling. He, no doubt,
reckoned on making more than that out of the confiscation of Jewish
property. That such an offer should have been made by the chief
minister to the king, and that for such a purpose, reveals a depth of
corruption which would be incredible if similar horrors were not
recorded of other Eastern despots. But with Turkey still astonishing
the world, no one can call Haman's offer too atrocious to be true.
Ahasuerus is the vain-glorious king known to us as Xerxes. His conduct
in the affair corresponds well enough with his known character. The
lives of thousands of law-abiding subjects are tossed to the favourite
without inquiry or hesitation. He does not even ask the name of the
'certain people,' much less require proof of the charge against them.
The insanity of weakening his empire by killing so many of its
inhabitants does not strike him, nor does he ever seem to think that
he has duties to those under his rule. Careless of the sanctity of
human life, too indolent to take trouble to see things with his own
eyes, apparently without the rudiments of the idea of justice, he
wallowed in a sty of self-indulgence, and, while greedy of adulation
and the semblance of power, let the reality slip from his hands into
those of the favourite, who played on his vices as on an instrument,
and pulled the strings that moved the puppet. We do not produce kings
of that sort nowadays, but King Demos has his own vices, and is as
easily blinded and swayed as Ahasuerus. In every form of government,
monarchy or republic, there will be would-be leaders, who seek to gain
influence and carry their objects by tickling vanity, operating on
vices, calumniating innocent men, and the other arts of the demagogue.
Where the power is in the hands of the people, the people is very apt
to take its responsibilities as lightly as Ahasuerus did his, and to
let itself be led blindfold by men with personal ends to serve, and
hiding them under the veil of eager desire for the public good.
Christians should 'play the citizen as it becomes the gospel of
Christ,' and take care that they are not beguiled into national
enmities and public injustice by the specious talk of modern Hamans.