In our scripture readings for today, Esther survives her encounter with the king, and invites him and Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to a pair of banquets. Haman takes this as yet another sign of his rising fortune and popularity, but instead of being able to enjoy it, the sight of Mordecai ruins it. Haman, out of envy and hatred, plots to have Mordecai hung on a tall pole. But God triggers the king to remember Mordecai and honor him, while Haman receives justice at the prompting of Esther – justice for his arrogance and pride at pursuing a personal vendetta even though it would result in a huge loss for the Persian empire....
In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Act 3, Scene 4, the prince Hamlet is set to journey to England, accompanied by his old schoolmates Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who carry sealed letters requesting that the king of England put Hamlet to death. But Hamlet is aware of this plot, and he plans to alter the letters such that they request that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern be put to death instead. As Hamlet tells his mother, “For 'tis the sport to have the engineer, hoisted with his own petard.” In other words, it is ironic when the military engineer, hoping to use a bomb to blow a hole in a city wall, is instead blown into the air with his own explosive. This phrase from Shakespeare caught on, and is now used whenever a perpetrator of harm, is harmed by his own method, or in this case, hung on his own pole....
Haman had recently received a huge promotion at work, becoming the king's right hand man. Haman had recently received significant wealth, at least 10000 talents of silver, the price he offered to the king last week. Haman had his wife Zeresh, had his many friends, had his many sons. Haman had everything possible to make him happy and in good spirits, including an exclusive invite to a banquet given by queen Esther. “Yet all this does me no good so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.” What does it say about Haman, that the existence of Mordecai for another eleven months, until the date of the Pur, that Mordecai can negate ALL of the blessings Haman has received?
And what does it say about Haman that he would plan to hang Mordecai on a pole 50 cubits high, about 75 feet, about three times as tall as our church ceiling? The word “overkill” comes to mind, like it does when you consider Haman's plan to rid the entire Persian empire of all of its useful Jewish citizens, all because of a petty personal issue.
And what does it say about Haman that he could not imagine the king wanting to honor anyone but himself, and that he would take the honoring of Mordecai as a tragedy of the highest degree? Haman was full of pride, and he was obsessed by hatred and envy.
When you compare the way we live, to the way our great-grandparents the pioneers lived, we should be happy and in good spirits. We have mechanization to do most of the gruelling labour. We have medical knowledge such that almost all of our children survive to a ripe old age. We have technology for communication such that we can have friends and family on different continents, plus we have opportunities for travel. We have food and consumer goods and energy in abundance. “Yet all this does me no good so long as I see Elon Musk is a trillionaire!” I will march in the streets, and work to destroy the free market system, to the detriment of everyone. I refuse to enjoy any blessings until the object of my hate and envy is eliminated. I pridefully refuse to enjoy any blessings until the situation is exactly of MY choosing, that I and my team are winning, and everyone else is losing.