Esther 3:10–11

Then the king gave him his ring. It was a ring to seal a document. Every ring had a seal. Handing over the king's ring with its seal handed over royal authority and power to the man who received it. So Haman now held royal authority. The haughtiness of the king appears now. Not only does he turn over his signet ring, but he also makes Haman a present of the enormous sum he had offered to the king. In cold blood Xerxes gives over this unknown people into the hands of this wicked enemy.

Haman was the son of Hammedatha the Agagite. Josephus explains his foreign name by calling him an Amalekite by race, and Jewish tradition says the same. So Haman was an Amalekite. This explains why Mordecai refused to bow down before Haman. He belonged to the race the Lord had sworn to fight for ever, and which He told Saul to destroy completely. Ex. 17:16; Deut. 25:19; 1 Sam. 15:3.

Without Moses' prayer on the mountain and without Joshua, he would have destroyed the people. David defeated him at last, yet even then he did not treat the fight as finished. Now the people are captive. Their unfaithfulness has brought them to the lowest point of humiliation. So Satan stirs up Haman the Agagite to wipe out the weak remnant of this people. And let us not forget his hidden purpose: to take Israel away from Christ, the king God had planned and promised. Could there be a more deceitful plan, a more satanic one, than that? This book teaches us that Satan is frustrated in his efforts, yet he does not consider himself beaten. He attacks Israel's very Leader, Christ. At His birth he tries to kill Him through a new Agag, in the massacre at Bethlehem.

The king ought to have realised that Haman had a personal axe to grind. Haman was ready to pay this huge sum out of his own pocket to have this people destroyed. But the king placed great confidence in this scheming Amalekite. Haman cared far more for his own reputation than for the Persian kingdom. The king therefore agreed, and gave Haman liberty to do just as he desired (vv. 10-11). It seems strange that the king consulted his princes about what to do with Queen Vashti (ch. 1:13-15). Yet in this far more serious case he acted like a dictator!

Haman's plea to the king sounded plausible. God's people, just because they are His, are always an offence to the rest of mankind, and most of all to the proud and boastful. This stays true even when their own unfaithfulness has cost them His open favour, as it had here… At first, that ending looked the least likely of all; in the end Satan, as always, defeated himself.

Haman accuses the Jewish people before the king, and this verse names him "the enemy of the Jews" (v. 10; cf. 8:1; 9:10, 24). All of it matters for what we learn about Satan and his agents (cf. Rev. 12:4, 10). A royal decree then makes his plan law: every Jew must die (v. 12-15)… How good to know that the king later passes a second decree which overturns the first. That second decree turns a sentence of death into life and peace.

Then the king gave him his ring. It was a ring for sealing a document. Every ring had a seal. Handing over the royal ring with the royal seal meant handing over royal authority and power to the person who received it. Haman was therefore invested with royal authority. The haughtiness of the king now appears. Not only does he hand over his signet ring, but he also makes Haman a present of the enormous sum he had offered to the king. In cold blood Xerxes gives this unknown people over into the hands of this wicked enemy.

Ahasuerus refuses the silver and hands the people over to Haman, "to do with them as it seems good to [him]." What indifference, what a hardened heart we find in this king! The name of Israel has no significance for him. "Do with them as it seems good to you," he says — in other words, do evil and face no punishment!

Surely the king ought to have realised that Haman had a personal axe to grind. He was ready to pay this huge amount himself to have this people destroyed. But the king clearly had great confidence in this scheming Amalekite, who cared far more for his own reputation than for the Persian kingdom. So the king agreed, and gave Haman freedom to do just as he wanted. It seems strange that the king would consult with the princes about what to do with Vashti, but that here, in a far more serious case, he would act like a dictator!

Satan stirred up the Amalekite to a hatred that wanted God's fallen people wiped out. But He who loved them despite everything would give that hatred the punishment it deserved. It began without cause, against the very people He had openly favoured.

Haman writes "in the name of king Ahasuerus," and appears to act as his humble servant in matters the king himself has decided and decreed. Similar circumstances will come round again at the time of the end. The Antichrist will make himself the servant of the Roman Beast (Rev. 13:14-16) to carry out his own plans. Haman's satanic scheme begins with the pride and ambition of this man. He would rather crush everything under his feet than see it all subject to Christ.

Divine providence delayed the outcome long enough to allow a fresh decree. The first one could not be changed or cancelled. The new decree let the Jews defend themselves and destroy their enemies. But at first no outcome looked less likely; in the end Satan, as always, defeated himself. Haman's argument to the king was plausible. God's people are always an offence to the rest of mankind, just because they are His. The proud and boastful hate them most. This stays true even when their own unfaithfulness costs them His open favour, which is what had happened here.

Haman accuses the Jewish people before the king, and the book exposes him as "the Jews' enemy"... A royal decree then makes his plan law: all Jews must die. This pictures a divine death sentence on the Jewish nation. How good to know that — as we will see — the king later passes a second decree which overturns the first. The sentence of death turns into life and peace.