Esther 3

3:1-2 There is no explanation given for Haman’s rise in power, but there is some foreshadowing in his lineage. That he was an Agagite, Most likely is mentioned as an allusion to the ancient enemy of the Jews, King Agag of the Amalekites.This ancient grudge would soon break into new mutiny, for so the king had commanded that those who worked in the king’s gate, of which Mordecai was one (2:5, 19-20), would bow and pay homage to Haman. Other Persian kings did not demand worship from subjects, nor did Ahasuerus. It didn't violate Judaism's religious regulations to bow for due respect. Nevertheless, probably because of their people's ancient grudge, Mordecai would not bow or pay homage. 

3:3-4 Mordecai’s coworkers at the gate questioned him daily. It was his tactic to keep his ethnicity and religion a secret (2:10). They tried to convince him to give in, but he ignored them for a time. Eventually, and probably reluctantly, Mordecai told them he was a Jew. They passed the information about Mordecai’s stubbornness on to Haman, who was loath to discover he wasn’t getting his share of homage. 

3:5-7 Haman was filled with so much wrath that killing Mordecai wouldn’t satisfy him. He planned to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom.  This would include even those Jews who were faithful to the Lord in the land of Israel.

It is amazing how often, throughout history, the idea of killing the Jews creeps into the dark crevices of the minds of those in power. Its historical ubiquity means it must be one of the chief aims of Satan. After all, eradicating the Jews would dash God’s promises to preserve them (Gen 12:3). Anti-semitism has reappeared in almost every generation since the first planned genocide of the Jews, which this likely is.

Many years earlier, Saul, the then king of Israel, was commanded to execute their enemies, the Amalekites and their king Agag. Saul disobeyed that order (1 Sam 15:3, 8-9), and years later, King Agag's descendant Haman began plotting to kill all the Jews in the world. When God commands something, He always has His reasons, many of which we can’t understand at the time. 

3:8-10 King Ahasuerus is such a manipulatable leader. He was persuaded to enact an empire-wide genocide with only a tiny amount of information. When Haman said the Jews, “do not keep the king’s laws,” it was only a partial truth designed to obfuscate reality. Haman, being the enemy of the Jews, readily employs the hallmark strategy of satanic deception, twisting the truth (Gen 3:1, Matt 4:6). The genocide of the Jews will be one of Satan’s chief aims even until the end of the ages. (Rev 12:13). 

3:12-15 A second incredibly irresponsible decree, much worse than the first, was written into law. The bureaucratic machinery produced an imperial command 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. 

One can imagine the moment these royal letters arrived in the provinces, as they certainly did even in Israel. An empire that had been satisfied to allow the Jews to return to their land, to rebuild, and attempt to thrive, suddenly and seemingly without warning, put out a universal kill-order. The horror experienced by those Jews who read the letter is nearly unimaginable. 

When the inhabitants of his kingdom were receiving their own death sentence, the king and Haman sat down to drink. These two men are a kind of archetype for future enemies of the Jews who would attempt Jewish genocides. This mold would be repeated through history, again and again, the most famous duo being that of Hitler and Himmler. This satanic attempt to eradicate the Jews will culminate in the emergence of the Beast and the False Prophet during the tribulation (Rev 16:13-14). 

The chapter concludes by explaining that even Ahasuerus’ own hometown, the city of Shushan, was perplexed. They did not see the satanic forces at work behind the scenes and could not imagine that such a minor infraction as Mordecai's refusal to give Haman his respect could elicit such a violent and worldwide response. Such is the bizarre nature of Satan's genocidal plans.