King Xerxes promoted Haman, the Agagite, and gave him a seat of honor higher than all the other nobles. All the royal officials knelt down and paid honor to Haman. However, Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor. The royal officials spoke to Mordecai every day to have him kneel and pay honor to Haman, but he would not comply. So the royal officials told Haman, and Haman was enraged. Haman knew that Mordecai was a Jew and sought a way to destroy him and all his people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes. During this time, there were many Jews who already returned to Jerusalem and finished rebuilding the temple because the previous king of the Medo-Persian Empire had made a decree that the Jews could return to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple. Haman was planning to annihilate all the Jews, including those in Jerusalem (Esther 3:1-6).
Haman, the Agagite, had a strong hatred for the Jews because his people, the Amalekite, had been the enemy of the Jews for 1000 years. The Agagite people came from the Amalekite. When Moses led the Jews in the wilderness from slavery in Egypt, the Amalekites attacked the Jews in the wilderness but were defeated (Exodus 17:8-16). When King Saul was still the king of Israel, God told him to kill King Agag, but Saul disobeyed God and spared him, but the prophet Samuel eventually killed him. So there was hostility between the people of Haman and the Jews. And Haman was in a great position to kill all the Jews throughout the kingdom of Xerxes.
There are times in our lives when we are in a disadvantaged position. We feel like we are in a situation where we cannot win or that everything is against us. When we are in a disadvantaged position, let us look up to God because we can trust His sovereign power to help us in our situations. If we walk in God's ways and obey Him, He can turn our disadvantaged position into victory, for nothing is too hard for Him. Jeremiah 32:17 says, "O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!"
Ask yourself these questions for application: (Think through carefully and meditate on the questions while answering them, and let the Spirit of God speak to you) What should I do when I am in a disadvantaged position? Do I trust in the sovereign power of God? Why does walking and obedience in God's way lead me to victory?
Write down all the worries you face today and lift them up to God.
Prayer:
Father in Heaven, thank you that you are a sovereign God. You can change my disadvantaged position to victory that honors and glorifies your name. I praise you that you are for me and not against me. Please guide me today and give me the wisdom to do your will. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.