Seemingly Insignificant Little Things | Sunday, June 6, 2021

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... But Mordecai would not bow or pay homage. (Esther 3:1–2)

Behind a single overlooked word—"Agagite"—lies a 1,500-year war between God and the enemy of His people.

A Question to Hold in Your Mind

Have you ever been so angry with someone that you wished them harm? Think about that for a moment and hold it. Most of us could imagine being driven to that point by something malevolent done to our family or children. The desire to see someone harmed, to wish ill upon another, has a name: malice.

Now take it further. What if you not only had the malicious desire to wish harm, but also the right, the authority, and the power to bring it to pass—to actually fulfill that wish? Hold that in your mind, because we will return to it as we work through today's text.

Written for Our Instruction

In 1 Corinthians 10:11 Paul writes:

Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

I come back to that verse almost every time I begin a study in the Old Testament. It is unfortunate how little many people—both regular churchgoers and those who never attend—know about the first thirty-nine books of Scripture. We say we value these stories, but we tend to value them very little, spending little time reading or thinking about them. When we do, we often wonder, "What is the relevance of this to my life right now?"

That is actually the right question. We should always be moving toward application: observe what the text says, interpret it rightly, and then bring it into our own moment. Paul says these histories of Israel—Moses, Ehud, Esther—are not merely stories. They happened, and they were recorded for us "upon whom the ends of the ages have come."

Take Heed

Paul does not stop there. He continues:

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:12–13)

Have you ever arrogantly thought, "I've got this—I can handle this temptation, this trial"? Paul says take heed; be cautious. And have you ever been tempted to wish someone harm, as I asked at the beginning? That is common to man. God has written these Old Testament accounts to prepare us, to equip us to persevere and endure when we face such temptations.

A Book Without God's Name

A few weeks ago we began studying Esther, and I'm grateful for Pastor Jason and Pastor Mark, who took us through chapters one and two. Many people are tempted to think Esther has little value or relevance—especially since the book never mentions God once. It is unique in Scripture for that reason. Some throughout history even argued it should not be in the canon.

Yet if you look beneath the surface, you can see God working even where He is not named. Pastors Jason and Mark introduced us to King Ahasuerus, Queen Vashti, Hadassah (Esther), and Mordecai. Today I introduce another central character—and one of the keys to remember is this: just as God's hand is seen though He is unnamed, there is another character whose working you will see behind today's character, though he too is never explicitly named.

After These Things

After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman... (Esther 3:1)

I can't even get past those first three words. "After these things"—the same words that opened chapter two. Time has passed. By examining the dates given in chapters one and two, we learn that Vashti's fall happened, then four years passed, then Esther's rise; now another five years have gone by before chapter three.

It is very easy to overlook what looks like a little thing, especially after big things happen. Vashti's removal was a kingdom-rattling event; if they'd had CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and a 24-hour news cycle, the headlines would have been wall-to-wall about Shushan. But four years pass, people move on, and a "new normal" settles in—we've all experienced that over this last year and a half. Then Esther's rise stirs the kingdom again; five more years pass. And now comes something easily passed over, something seemingly inconsequential: "King Ahasuerus promoted Haman."

"The Agagite"

Haman may not seem like much. His name means magnificent, and he certainly thought himself awesome—a self-promoter who loved himself well. But notice the description: "Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite." It is very easy to overlook little things that are actually really big.

This is one reason I urge you to simply read straight through the Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi. People start strong in Genesis and Exodus, slow down in Leviticus, and bog down in the genealogies of Kings and Chronicles. But that one little word, Agagite, so easy to skip, is a key not only to this story but to history—history happening right now. Because the story of this Agagite continues. To understand it, we must go back nearly 1,500 years before Esther, to Genesis.

Jacob and Esau

In Genesis 25 we meet the twin sons of Isaac, grandsons of Abraham—Esau and Jacob. Abraham is a central figure to the three monotheistic faiths; Jews, Christians, and Muslims all look back to him. In ancient times the birthright and seniority of birth order were extremely important, but from before these twins were born they had a bitter rivalry, a battle even in the womb.

That rivalry shaped Jacob's very name. Esau came out first, red and hairy—so they named him Esau ("hairy") and nicknamed him Edom ("red"). But Jacob came out clutching Esau's heel, so they called him Jacob, "heel-catcher" or "supplanter." How fitting. Esau grew up a man of the field and was his father Isaac's favorite; smooth-skinned, mild-mannered Jacob was his mother Rebekah's favorite.

Years later, the heel-catcher deceptively stole both his brother's birthright and the blessing. After this we read:

So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob." (Genesis 27:41)

Seemingly little things sometimes have really big ramifications. Esau wasn't innocent—Genesis shows plenty of his own problems—but the hatred kindled in his heart remained. There was something deeper going on than a mere sibling rivalry, something unnamed beneath the surface.

The Rise of Amalek

Esau and Jacob parted for about twenty years, both starting families with multiple wives and many children—the Bible reporting, not endorsing. Genesis 36 tells us one of the chief descendants of Esau was a man named Amalek. Centuries pass; the descendants of Jacob (renamed Israel) and the descendants of Esau both multiply into nations. Israel ends up enslaved in Egypt until God delivers them through Moses.

As Israel travels from Egypt toward Mount Sinai, we read in Exodus 17:

Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

Amalek—descendant of Esau, heir to that ancient animosity passed down through generations—attacks. Israel nearly falls but for the mighty power of God. After the victory:

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this for a memorial in the book... that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven."... For he said, "Because the LORD has sworn: the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation." (Exodus 17:14–16)

Why a perpetual war between the people of God and Amalek? This is no mere earthly family feud. There is something more than meets the eye.

Saul and King Agag

Decades later, as Israel prepares to enter the Promised Land, Moses says in Deuteronomy 25:

Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks... Therefore... when the LORD your God has given you rest from your enemies all around... you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.

Hundreds of years later, once Israel has rest in the land, they ask for a king, and God reluctantly gives them Saul. Saul's first mission, in 1 Samuel 15, is to destroy Amalek for what they did to Israel. But Saul disobeyed. He spared the best of the spoil—and he spared the king. And the name of that Amalekite king Saul spared was, wait for it: Agag.

There is so much more to this story, but I hope you are seeing the through-line. People say Esther has no relevance, that it shouldn't be in the Bible because God is not mentioned. But seemingly little things have really big ramifications.

Why Mordecai Would Not Bow

After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite... And all the king's servants who were within the king's gate bowed and paid homage to Haman... But Mordecai would not bow or pay homage. (Esther 3:1–2)

So I ask again the question I began with: have you ever been so angry with someone that you wished them harm?

Then the king's servants who were within the king's gate said to Mordecai, "Why do you transgress the king's command?" (Esther 3:3)

Why wouldn't Mordecai simply bow? It seems an easy thing, no big deal. But Mordecai would not bow because Haman is an Agagite—an Amalekite, a distant cousin caught up in centuries of history. We read those words so quickly that we pass right over them. But there is no little thing here. Underneath the story of Esther is a cosmic battle between God—unnamed, not explicitly seen—and the enemy of God, whom Scripture calls Satan, the devil, Lucifer; the one who deceived Adam and Eve in Genesis 3.

Haman's Disproportionate Wrath

...when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow or pay him homage, Haman was filled with wrath. (Esther 3:5)

Have you ever been so angry with someone that you wished them harm? This seems an incredibly small thing to be so angry about. Thousands bow before Haman everywhere he goes, but he can only see the one who will not. He is filled with wrath—and I'd wager Haman himself couldn't even articulate why, because something more is going on below the surface.

Haman is calculatingly cunning. He has the power to force Mordecai to bow, but he chooses something far more devious:

But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him of the people of Mordecai. Instead Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, the people of Mordecai. (Esther 3:6)

Do you really think Haman conceived this devilish thought entirely on his own? Many of the biggest things in this world happen because of things beyond this world. We see the manifestation here in the realm of humanity, but things are happening under the surface. Why has there been such hatred for the Jewish people in that place for centuries—indeed for millennia? Do you really think this is just an earthly thing?

A Conspiracy Beyond This World

Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people's, and they do not keep the king's laws... If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver..." (Esther 3:8–9)

The king took off his signet ring and gave it to Haman, "the enemy of the Jews," saying the money and the people were his to do with as he pleased. Scribes were summoned; a decree was written in every province and language, sealed with the king's ring, and dispatched by couriers:

...to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day... and to plunder their possessions. (Esther 3:13)

The couriers went out, and the king and Haman sat down to drink—but the city of Shushan was perplexed.

Have you ever been perplexed by this animosity, this disdain for the Jewish people? I suggest to you it is a conspiracy beyond this world. It is not just about Abraham, not just Ishmael and Isaac, not just Jacob and Esau, not just Israel and Amalek, not just Saul and Agag, not just Mordecai and Haman. There is something more going on. Even though you do not see God explicitly named—no title, no figure coming through the clouds—there is still something at work behind the scene. And even though this devilish spirit is never explicitly named in these pages, a conspiracy beyond this world is unfolding. But to see what comes of it, you'll have to come back next time.

Closing Prayer

Father God, I pray that You would give us a hunger to look into these things, and even to begin to understand as we look around at the world and the events of this very moment—the geopolitical things that happen, and the animosity between so many and the Jewish people, between so many and Christian people. What is all of this about? Ultimately, Lord, there is something going on, and even though some people look at the world and do not see You explicitly named, You are working, You are moving, You are doing something. But there is also an enemy, an adversary, fighting against Your work.

I pray that as we study through the remaining chapters of Esther, we would become aware in a way we have not been before of these things that are happening, and begin to understand what they are all about. Help us recognize that You are doing a work You want us to be involved in—just as You were 2,500 years ago, calling Esther to be involved. As we will see, she has a choice about whether she will step into it. Lord, we are in that place right now. How will we step in for such a time as this? Give us a passion to look into these things and to understand that what happened 2,500 years ago has application and implications for today, and that there is a further work You are doing right now that You want us to be a part of. Stir us to step into it and take hold of it. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.