Deadly Pride: Haman

0:59What is the answer to this riddle? It's pride. The past two weeks, we've been looking at the characteristics of active faith that were on display in great ways in both Mordecai and Esther, the two heroes of the book of Esther that we've been studying. Well, today, in the third and final installment of this series, we're going to be looking at the person of Haman. Now, unlike Esther and Mordecai, Haman does not. Display active faith. In fact, he doesn't display any faith in God at all. He is actively opposed to both God and to God's people.

1:41His pride ultimately is going to lead to his destruction. That's the same place that, apart from the grace and mercy of God, pride will lead every single one of us. And so we want to look this morning at these characteristics of deadly pride and how this leads ultimately to destruction and to humiliation and take warning from Haman and his life. And so let's pick up here at the beginning of chapter 3 in the book of Esther, where we just read.

2:12As you saw, we're introduced to this man named Haman. He's called the Agagite, the son of Hamadatha. Well, we don't know much about Hamadatha, but we do know who Agag is. Many, many years before, Abraham was given a child in his old age named Isaac, and Isaac fathered two sons, twin boys, Jacob and Esau. Well, Esau was bitter toward Jacob for a whole lot of reasons. And in his bitterness, he married an unbelieving woman. And the child of this unbelieving woman, he gave the name Amalek. Amalek became the father of the people group known as the Amalekites. And the Amalekites were opposed to Jacob's descendants from the very beginning. In fact, when the Israelites left Egypt, If you've ever read the book of Exodus or if you've seen the Ten Commandments, the movie back in the day, there's that great scene where Aaron and her are holding up Moses' arms, and the people, the Israelites, are fighting for victory. They are fighting against the Amalekites in Exodus chapter 17.

3:17And so this is an age-old feud that has continued since the days of Esau. In fact, generations later, King Saul, the first king of Israel, is commanded to put King Agag and his people, the Amalekites, to death. But he disobeys, he refuses. And as a result, the prophet Samuel is forced to step in and do what Saul would not do. But because Saul did not put all of the Amalekites to death, as God had commanded him, their descendants continued to live on. Their descendants continued to oppose the people of God for generations.

3:57And so that's what we find today. Haman is introduced as an agagite, a descendant of this Amalekite king who was opposed to God and God's people. Well, friends, as we've seen in the story so far, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman within his kingdom and elevated him to the position of second in command. It's like what we would call the prime minister in many countries today. Well, the king commanded that everyone had to bow down and pay homage to Haman, and Mordecai.

4:30Esther's cousin, who had adopted her and cared for her, he refuses to do this. Now, the text does not tell us why Mordecai won't bow to Haman. Perhaps it's because Haman was demanding something more than honor. He was actually demanding to be worshipped as a god. And that's how he saw that bowing and that paying homage: that everyone who was doing this was actually worshiping him. So maybe that's why Mordecai refused. But I think it's more likely that the reason that Mordecai refused to bow to him was because he is an Amalekite. He is of this people group that was opposed to God and to God's people from the very beginning. And so Mordecai will not bow to him, and that becomes the main problem, or at least the circumstance for the main problem and the conflict in the story. Because you see, Haman does not like this one bit. He doesn't like that Mordecai will not bow down to him. If you look at verse 5, it says, And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury.

5:38He was filled with fury. He's raging mad. He's overflowing with burning anger. He is experiencing hot displeasure at the fact that Mordecai will not bow down to him. This one man in this enormous kingdom will not bow down to him, and that makes him furious. Now that seems a little crazy, doesn't it? I mean, if you're Haman, you're this wealthy man who's been promoted to the position of prime minister, everyone else is bowing to you and giving you honor and respect, you would think that you could let this one thing go. Doesn't seem like it's that big of a deal.

6:22But, friends, Haman can't let it go, and he can't let it go because he's proud. Pride is like a deadly disease. It is impossible to see, but it presents symptoms that if you know what you're looking for, you can see its invisible presence in someone's life, including in our own lives. The first symptom of deadly pride is anger. The very thing we see on display in Haman right here. You see, friends, anger is symptomatic. We often try to fight anger in our lives as Christians, as followers of Jesus, and that's a good thing. We should battle against anger. But one of the things that we rarely understand is that anger is not a root issue. Anger is not the primary problem. Anger is a symptom of something else that is going on in our life. We don't get angry for no reason.

7:30We get angry because of something else. We feel anxious. We feel sad. We feel afraid. And many times, one of the reasons that we become angry is because we feel slighted. We feel like we're not getting the respect, the honor that we believe we deserve. Which is to say, we often get angry because we're proud. I want you to look at this quote from C.S. Lewis. He writes this in Mere Christianity. In fact, if you want to find out how proud you are, the easiest way is to ask yourself, how much do I dislike it when other people snub me or refuse to take any notice of me or shove their oar in or patronize me or show off?

8:28I mean, I personally can't stand it when people shove their oar in. Haman was mad for the same reason that he was angry much of the time. He didn't feel like he was getting what he deserved, and so he got mad. His pride manifested itself as anger. You wouldn't be able to see it in his life in many other ways, but because he gets angry when he is slighted, when people don't pay attention to him, when they don't give him the honor, That he thinks he deserves, he gets upset, and the very same thing is true in our lives. We feel this way at work, we feel this way at home, we feel this way out in the community when people don't pay attention to us, when they slight us, when they don't acknowledge us, when they don't promote us, we get angry, and we're not angry for no reason, we're angry because we're proud, and the pride is manifesting itself as anger.

9:29And pride, as we're going to see as we go on, is deadly. So, in his anger, Haman begins to plot how to destroy the Jews, and he dupes the king into granting him permission to carry out this genocidal plan to put all of the Jews in the entire kingdom to death, not just Mordecai, but Mordecai and all of the Jews. Well, as we've seen the last couple of weeks, and as you know, if you've ever read this book before, Esther and Mordecai are working together behind the scenes to stop this, to expose Haman and to save God's people. But of course, Haman doesn't know this.

10:05And at the beginning of chapter 5, Esther invites only the king and Haman to a special feast that she has prepared. This is part of her plan to expose Haman and what he's doing. So let's flip over to chapter 5 and let's pick up in verse 9. Haman 5:9. Haman 5, 9. Haman is not a book of the Bible. This is why you should actually check out what I say. Who knows if any of this is true? Esther 5-9. Esther is totally in the Bible. 5-9. And Haman went out that day, joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home. And he sent and brought his friends and his wife Zaresh. And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he advanced him above all the officials and the servants of the king. Then Haman said, Even Queen Esther, let no one but me come with the king to the feast she prepared. And tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king. Yet, all this is worth nothing to me, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.

11:41Well, Haman walks away from this feast that he's been invited to, it says, joyful and glad of heart. He just could not be happier that he has been invited to a private feast with the king and the queen. And in Haman's mind, of course he was invited, and of course he was the king. Only one invited to the feast. No one was more worthy or deserving in his mind than he was. But as he is walking out of the palace, as he's heading home, there's Mordecai, just like always, sitting at the king's gate, and he neither rose nor trembled before him.

12:22Well, that fills Haman with fresh fury. And so he gets home and he asks all of his family, all of his friends to come over. He calls this council together because one man in this enormous, powerful kingdom won't bow down to him and give him the honor and the respect that he thinks he deserves. And what happens next is almost embarrassing to read. He gathers all of his family and his friends together and he recounts for them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all of the promotions that the king has granted him. And he has to throw in there: I alone was invited to dine with the king and queen, and not only that, I alone was invited back tomorrow.

13:19I mean, you think they don't know that stuff? You think they don't know that he's rich, that he's the prime minister? You think his wife doesn't know how many sons? He has she's like, honey, I gave birth to those boys. I know. I can add. This whole thing brings up the second symptom of deadly pride, which is comparison. You see, pride can't exist in isolation from other people. Did you ever see that movie about 20 years ago that Tom Hanks was in called Castaway?

14:06He's stranded on this deserted island for years. Just him. Do you think there was ever a day where Tom Hanks sat down on the sand and thought to himself, you know what? I am the smartest, most athletic, best-looking guy on this entire island. Of course not. That would be ridiculous. He doesn't have anybody to compare himself with. What does it matter? Look again at what C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity. Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich or clever or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer or cleverer. Or better looking than others. If everyone became equally rich or clever or good looking, there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes you proud, the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.

15:23Isn't that true? See, comparison is a symptom of pride. We see it everywhere around us, even sadly among professing Christians. We compare ourselves with one another. Who has the nicest house, the nicest clothes, the nicest car? Who takes the best vacations? Who gets to eat at the most exclusive restaurants? Who has the most successful career or marriage or children? And in the social media age that we find ourselves in today, we can compare ourselves with others 24 hours a day. Of course, we're comparing ourselves with edited, filtered versions of each other. But nevertheless, we can compare ourselves with others all the time. Friends, comparison is a symptom of deadly pride. Because when we compare ourselves with others, we're showing that what we really want is not to be wealthy or to be successful or to be good-looking. But to be wealthier or more successful or better looking than other people in our lives. That's what we really want.

16:38And when you look at Haman and his life, you would think that he'd be content. The man is wealthy, he has a huge family, he's been very successful in his career, he is enormously influential, with the king of the biggest, most powerful nation on the earth at the time. But you see, pride is never satisfied. Pride is a zero-sum game where you believe it's all or nothing. And pride is so deadly because even after you've acquired everything you ever wanted and you have more than everyone else around you, there will still be someone with more. God Himself.

17:27And eventually it won't be enough that even God is revered and worshipped more than you. That's where that ends up. Now, if you look at verse 14, right at the end of this section, Zarish, his wife, the wicked counselor that she is, she suggests that if Haman can't force Mordecai to acknowledge his greatness through legislation, then he should just put him to death. And so Haman has this gallows constructed, some seven Feet high, on which to hang Mordecai. And that brings us to chapter six. Let's pick up in chapter six, verse one.

18:12On that night the king could not sleep. And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Terish, two of the king's eunuchs who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. And the king said, What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this? The king's young men who attended him said, Nothing has been done for him. And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him. And the king's young men told him, Haman is there standing in the court. And the king said, Let him come in. So Haman came in, and the king said to him, What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor? And Haman said to himself, Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?

19:11And Haman said to the king, For the man whom the king delights to honor, let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set. And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble officials. Let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor. To honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor. Then the king said to Haman, Hurry, take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.

19:52So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he dressed Mordecai and led him through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor. Well, Haman, of course, is going to the king's palace with one purpose in mind. He wants to speak to the king about having Mordecai, his enemy, hanged. But in God's providence, the king can't sleep, and so he has the book of the Chronicles brought out, and he is there reminded that nothing has been done for Mordecai, this man, this Jewish man that has uncovered this plot to kill and assassinate the king. And in God's providence, at that very moment, Haman is walking in, giving the king an opportunity to ask his counsel on how to honor this person. I just love the end of verse 6.

20:38Whom would the king delight to honor more than me? And friends, that brings us to the third and final symptom of deadly pride, which is self-absorption. Self-absorption. See, Haman is so self-absorbed that he thinks that if the king is going to. Honor someone, it has to be him. He can't think of anyone more worthy for the king to honor because the reality is, Haman doesn't really think about other people at all. See, the self-absorbed person is the center of his or her own universe. Other people exist to serve them, they do not exist to serve other people. And we've all known people like this: roommates, co-workers, family members. They seem to have this uncanny ability to focus every conversation, every interaction on them and their achievements or on their children's achievements.

21:49Even when they're not talking about themselves or their children or anything else, they are directing the conversation to the subjects that they want to talk about. No one else, no one else's needs, wants are ever considered. We've all known people like that, and maybe some of us are that way or were that way at some point. But we have to understand that pride manifests itself in this way, in self-absorption. But here's the twist: plenty of self-absorbed people don't come across as prideful at all.

22:28In fact, There's a lot of self-absorbed people who seem initially very humble. When you talk to them, they're always bringing up their faults, their mistakes, their failures, their insecurities. But over time, it becomes clear that what you initially thought was humility is actually pride because we're still always talking about them. Always talking about them and what's going on in their life. They were offended at something someone said or the way that it was said. They're offended because they don't feel like they were considered in a decision or they weren't considered enough.

23:17They want something from you, and it has to be done in their way on their timetable without any thought of how it's going to affect you and your needs, your wants, your plans. You see, friends, a person can appear to be humble because they are sensitive or needy, but over time it becomes clear that they're actually self-absorbed, which is a symptom of pride. Now, please don't misunderstand me. All of us are hurt from time to time. All of us are offended from time to time.

23:50All of us need each other to bear difficult burdens through certain seasons of our lives. But, friends, there's A difference between helping someone bear a burden, a heavy load that no one could bear on his or her own, and constantly carrying the load for someone else that biblically every one of us is called to carry as a human being living on this earth. There's a difference between a burden and a load. And the self-absorbed person is always asking people around them to bear their load rather than helping them carry genuine burdens.

24:35If we find ourselves or if we find others in a state of self-absorption, that's a warning sign. Self-absorption is a symptom of deadly pride. And deadly pride, whether it manifests itself as anger or comparison or self-absorption, all leads to the same place: humiliation. Let's pick up now in verse 10 of chapter 6. The king says to Haman, Hurry, take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned. So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he dressed Mordecai and led him through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor. Then Mordecai returned to the king's gate. Haman returned to his house mourning and with his head covered. And Haman told his wife Zuresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and his wife Zuresh said to him, If Mordecai, before whom you have become to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him. While they were yet talking with him, the king's eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman to the feast that Esther had prepared.

25:57Poor proud Haman. Here he is plotting Mordecai's execution, thinking that the king is surely going to honor him because nobody deserves it like he does. And he ends up doing for Mordecai the very things that he wanted done for himself. The king hilariously commands, leave out nothing that you have commanded. Do it all for him. So Haman is forced to parade Mordecai, his great enemy, through the city streets, talking about his honor rather than being honored himself. Well, Haman, obviously, is completely humiliated. He runs home with his head covered, but he had no sooner arrived at home than the king's eunuchs arrive to take him to the second feast that Esther has prepared. And as we saw last week, it is at this second feast that Esther reveals Haman to be the one plotting her destruction and the destruction of all the Jews in the kingdom. Haman has now been exposed and he sits terrified. Before the king and the queen. So join me now in verse 7 of chapter 7.

27:08And the king arose in his wrath from the wine drinking and went into the palace garden. But Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king. And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. And the king said, Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house? As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman's face. Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, Moreover, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman's house fifty cubits high. And the king said, Hang him on that. So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.

28:03What a turn of events. Haman saw this whole thing going down very, very differently. He saw Mordecai dead, the Jews destroyed, and himself honored before everyone in the kingdom. And if you've read the book before, you'll see that Mordecai ends up in Haman's position as prime minister, honored by Jews and Persians alike, whereas, as we just saw, Haman ends up having. Hanged on the very gallows that he prepared for Mordecai, dishonored before everyone in the kingdom forever.

28:39Friends, Haman's story is a powerful picture, a vivid and uncomfortable reminder that pride, no matter how it manifests itself, is deadly. The proud always end up humiliated. Proverbs 16:18 says this: Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Pride is deadly, and it's not just something that lived in Haman's heart. It's not just something that lives in the people's hearts that we know are struggling with pride. You see, because of the fall, pride resides in every human heart. Look at what Andrew Murray wrote: When the serpent breathed the poison of his pride, the desire to be as God, into the hearts of our first parents, they fell from their high estate into all the wretchedness in which man is now sunk. In heaven and earth, pride, self-exaltation, is the gate and the birth and the curse of hell.

29:58See, in the garden, Satan. Satan lied to Adam and Eve. He told them that God was holding out on them, that he does not want them to have something that they want and indeed are entitled to, to know good and evil. And our first parents took the bait. They bought into that temptation. They believed that God, in fact, was holding out on them. And in their pride, just like Satan, they said, We deserve better. We deserve more. And so they rebelled against God. But their rebellion did not lead to freedom and life as Satan promised that it would. No, instead, it led to slavery and death.

30:44Now, every one of their children, including you and me, we are born with rebellious hearts, hearts that say, God is holding out on you. You deserve better than what God has given you. Thankfully, God is gracious and merciful, and He desired reconciliation with every one of us. And so He sent His Son Jesus to achieve that reconciliation for us. You see, because Jesus is God's own Son, He is actually worthy of all the honor that we want for ourselves. He is actually worthy of all the worship that we want for ourselves. He is the one that is actually worthy of being honored.

31:30And yet, he took on flesh. He humbled himself, and he became obedient to death, even death on a cross. He lived this perfect life of obedience that we were supposed to live, and then he took all of our sin, including that of deadly pride, on his own shoulders, even though he had never committed sin. He died, and on the third day he rose from the grave victorious over sin and death, and now sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

32:10Because he humbled himself in our place, God exalted him. And through faith in Jesus, when we put our trust in his sinless life, death, and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins, friends, we can be forgiven for all of our sins, including that of deadly pride and all of its manifestations in our lives. And just as wonderful, we can be set free from the power of pride. That power of pride that ensnares every one of us and manifests itself in the same ways that we see in Haman's life.

32:48And by God's grace, we become more and more like Jesus, our humble, exalted Savior, as we continually submit to him and as we are filled with his Spirit. Friends, pride dwells in all of our hearts, and pride is deadly. But thanks be to God, we have in Jesus our Savior, one who can set us free from both the power and the penalty of pride. Let's pray, God, how ironic it would be if we sat here today in judgment over Haman and we looked at his sin and all the manifestations of his sin in his life.

33:58And we thought to ourselves, like Pharisees, I'm so glad that's not me. I'm so glad I'm not a proud person. But, Father, we know that because all of us are born with those sinful hearts, all of us are proud people. The pride may not be easy to spot, but the symptoms are there. And so, this morning, God, we humble ourselves before. You. We confess that we are prideful. And we look to Jesus, the one who can forgive us of our pride and set us free from its power.

34:45Thank you for sending Jesus, our Savior, for us. We pray that you would continue to humble us so that, like Him, one day we could be exalted. In Christ's name, we pray all these things. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.