From the very beginning God made evil real, first of all in the mention of it in the ‘Knowledge of Good and Evil tree’ in the Garden of Eden, and then in the manifestation of evil in the crafty serpent, and again, later on, in the Amalekites, and even more specifically in Haman the Amalekite in the book of Esther.
Haman represents all that is worst in our society, and how difficult it is to dislodge it. Haman is like those in our world today who are so rich and powerful they can do whatever they like, destroy people’s lives along the way without caring, and there’s nothing us poor plebs can do about it.
Like the rich today, Haman got what evil loves too. The king of the land, King Xerxes of Persia, “elevated Haman and gave him a seat of honour higher than that of all the other nobles,” Esther 3:1, so that “all the royal officials knelt down and honoured him” (2). Except one: Mordecai.
Haman “was enraged” (5), much like leaders today who fume and arrest anyone who dares to even think an opposing thought. Which makes what Haman did next a little worrying, because in his rage he “scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai; he looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people” (6).
He convinced the king that “it wasn’t in the king’s best interest to tolerate” Mordecai’s people (8), so out went the royal order to kill them. And what could anyone do? They were living in a police state, which makes one wonder, “What does it take to destroy such evil?”
The answer was the willingness of Esther to put her life on the line. The only way she could stop Haman’s evil plan and save her people was to approach the king and beg for mercy (4:8), but to approach him without his invitation meant she’d die (11). That was the price she was willing to pay, however, “And if I perish, I perish” (16).
And the same with Jesus. God had made it possible that in his physical body dying, or perishing, Hebrews 10:5, Jesus could destroy the power of evil. And his response to that? “Here I am, I have come to do your will, O God” (7). As with Esther, what it took to destroy evil was the willingness to put his bodily life on the line too.
And Esther fasting, as well as her willingness to approach the king, was symbolic of that, so did God destroy the evil? Oh yes, but first: “Setting the trap”….(next blog)
Buck To Basics 