Please carefully read Esther 5:12-14 and answer the following questions.
1. What was Haman’s latest and biggest brag to his wife and friends (v. 12)? What does Proverbs 16:18 warn about such bragging?
2. Perhaps Haman became quiet for a minute, and his guests watched the self-satisfied facial expression of a braggart turn to the bitter one of the wretched man he really was. Why was this (v. 13)?
3. No matter what he had, Haman felt it was availing him nothing, meaningless, not even being worth comparing to[1][xi] the hatred he felt every time he saw Mordecai sitting there in a place of influence. What suggestion did Zeresh make so Haman could go on his merry way to the Queen’s banquet (v. 14)?
NOTE: Remember that a gallows isn’t like the thing we see someone hanging by the neck from as in Westerns. The word for gallows meant a tree, wood, timber, plank; it was a tree or pole on which a slain person was hanged.[1][xii] The criminal would be either impaled to death or hung on it after being killed to be displayed for all to see. Some have scoffed at the idea of a 50 cubit, 75 foot tall (about eight stories high) gallows being put up over night, but this was possibly a smaller structure placed upon a hill or building to reach that height, and the victim would be impaled and hoisted to the top[1][xiii] for all to take warning from. The Phoenicians came up with impaling, the Persians adopted it and expanded it, but the Romans “perfected” this torture into the form of crucifixion.
4. Why was Haman so bothered by Mordecai? Probably it was because Mordecai was a source of conviction of sin for him. As we saw above, Esther was a “fragrance of Christ” to Ahasuerus, although history would seem to indicate he never turned to God. How would Mordecai differently impact Haman (see 2 Corinthians 2:14-16)?
What did Jesus warn His followers about this (John 15:18-23)?
Scripture Memory: Can you write out this week’s passage by memory here below? Give it a try, and keep reviewing the passage several times throughout the day.
Hebrews 11:6
© 2005 by Harvest Christian Fellowship. All rights reserved. Written by Thomas Klock for Men’s Bible Fellowship, 2004-2005. www.Harvest.org