Week 7 - Closing

Last week's lesson was all about exposing Haman's plan to kill Mordecai and the Jews. This week, we learn how that plot was revealed and see Haman die. The Life Application Bible that I use to study this lesson has a summary of Haman's life, his strengths, weaknesses and lessons we can learn from him. I'm going to copy that summary for you to read.

"The most arrogant people are often those who must measure their self-worth by the power or influence they think they have over others. Haman was an extremely arrogant leader. He recognized the king as a superior, but could not accept anyone as an equal. When one man, Mordecai, refused to bow in submission to him, Haman wanted to destroy him. He became consumed with hatred for Mordecai. He was already filled with racial hatred for all the Jewish people because of the long-standing hatred between the Jews and Haman's ancestors, the Amalekites. Mordecai's dedication to God and his refusal to give homage to any human person challenged Haman's self-centered religion. Haman saw the Jews as a threat to his power, and he decided to kill them all.

God was preparing Haman's downfall and the protection of His people long before Haman came to power under Xerxes. Esther, a Jew, became queen, and Mordecai's role in exposing an assassination plot indebted the king to him. Not only was Haman prevented from killing Mordecai, he also had to suffer the humiliation of publicly honoring him. Within hours, Haman died on the gallows he had built to hang Mordecai, and his plan to wipe out the Jews was thwarted. In contrast to Esther, who risked everything for God and won, Haman risked everything for an evil purpose and lost.

Our initial response to the story about Haman is to say that he got was he deserved. But the Bible leads us to ask deeper questions: "How much of Haman is in me?" "Do I desire to control others?" "Am I threatened when others don't appreciate me as I think they should?" "Do I want revenge when my pride is attacked?" Confess these attitudes to God, and ask him to replace them with an attitude of forgiveness. Otherwise, God's justice will settle the matter."

Strength and accomplishment:
* Achieved great power, second in rank to Persia's King Xerxes

Weaknesses and mistakes:
* The desire to control others and receive honor was his highest goal
* Was blinded by arrogance and self-importance
* Planned to murder Mordecai and built a gallows for him
* Orchestrated the plan to slaughter God's people throughout the empire

Lessons from his life:
* Hatred will be punished
* God has an amazing record for making evil plans backfire on the planners
* Pride and self-importance will be punished
* An insatiable thirst for power and prestige is self-destructive

I also have summaries on the lives of Xerxes and Esther, which I will post within the next 2 weeks. The reason I shared this is because I want us to look at our lives and think how our lives would be described in this summary. What are our strengths and accomplishments? What are our weakness and mistakes? What lessons can others learn from our lives?

At the end of our life, will others say we've chosen to follow God and that we were an example of faithfulness, or did we chose to live life for the status and possessions we could gain?