plans

Oh, the delicious irony.

Haman had big plans. In addition to his master plan to first impoverish, then destroy, the Jews, he had another plot against his arch-enemy Mordecai. That plot was hatched by his wife and friends, as told in Esther 5:14:

“His wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, ‘Have a pole set up, reaching to a height of fifty cubits, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai impaled on it. Then go with the king to the banquet and enjoy yourself.’ This suggestion delighted Haman, and he had the pole set up.”

Then, early the next morning, Haman had a chance to add to all that a scheme to elevate himself. When the king asked Haman’s advice on how to honor someone, here’s how Haman took it, in Esther 6:6-9:

“Now Haman thought to himself, ‘Who is there that the king would rather honor than me?’ So he answered the king, ‘For the man the king delights to honor, have them bring a royal robe the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head. Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them robe the man the king delights to honor, and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, “This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!”’”

But God had his own plans, intended to foil Haman’s. God kept the king awake, and used that insomnia to remind Xerxes of the debt he owed Mordecai. And thus the exquisite plot twist, from Esther 6:10-13: “‘Go at once,’ the king commanded Haman. ‘Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended. . . .’ Afterward Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief, and told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him.”

Haman’s plot against the Jews is about to be undone too, but that’s a tale for another day. This morning, I’m smiling at how easily and completely God turns the tables on Haman the schemer. In human terms Mordecai was in for a very bad day. God, however, always has his own plans, and they never include allowing evil to triumph over his people.