The king has a case of insomnia so he wants his chamberlain to read to him the court house records. During the reading it was discovered that one of the gate keepers had prevented his assassination. Upon further inquiry he learns that no reward had been given. He has Haman do the honor of the ticker tape parade. The whole chapter is filled with intrigue and excitement. Let me be your servant and walk you through the worst day of Haman’s life.
1 On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.
Due to the overwhelming providence of God the king could not sleep and so the diary or journal was brought and read to him. I have read that the diary was written in verse and was rather interesting to read.
2 And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.
Not just this chapter but the entire book reveals that the hand of God is still with the Jews and that his plan is coming to fruition.
3 And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him.
The inquiry is made as to what honor had been given to Mordecai.
4 And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king’s house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
The king is still in his pajamas and before he gets busy in his office he wants to know who is in the lobby. It just happens that Haman has come to work early hoping to catch the king before he got busy for the day and request permission to hang Mordecai. The king did not know that there was bad blood between Haman and Mordecai.
5 And the king’s servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.
Haman is proud that the king would permit him to come to his bed chamber before he is up.
6 So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?
Haman strides in strutting like a turkey gobbler in early spring.
7 And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour,
Now Haman thinks that the King is going to honor him so he will lay it on thick.
8 Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head:
Haman wants the man dressed in the king’s royal robe and the royal crown upon his head riding on the kings gelding with the parade trappings on the horse including a saddle with engravings and gold inlays and a bridle with ornate inlays and a garland around the horses neck.
9 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
Haman thinking that he himself is intended desires to give him the greatest honors. He thinks that the king desires honors for no one but him. He wants to do it up with pomp and grandeur. He wants reverence─bowing knees and everyone take notice. And add to this he wants the horse led by the noblest prince and this prince would be proclaiming that the king delights to honor the man in the saddle.
10 Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king’s gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.
The king says “Go” and don’t skimp on any of the details that you just laid out.
11 Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
Furious and fuming he takes the reigns in his hands and parades the horse up main street like a Macy’s thanksgiving parade shouting at the top of his lungs “this is the man the king wants to honor.” By now he knows that his plan to ask the king to allow him to hang Mordecai is not going to work. By the time the parade is over Haman has a burden that is too heavy to carry. He is feeling damned on the inside as he hurries home only to be met with a plague of “looks like something bad is going to happen.”
12 And Mordecai came again to the king’s gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered.
First we observe that Mordecai returns to his post of duty. He is not proud or puffed up from the parade in his honor. But Haman was as sunk as a man heading for the gallows. Nothing is going right─he has spent the day honoring the man he had planned to execute. He is met with miserable comforters like Job when Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar show up. At this juncture he could crawl under the belly of a rattlesnake and never touch him.
13 And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every thing that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.
The same people had not hesitated to advise him to hang the unimportant Jew; but now that the unimportant Jew has become, as by a miracle, a man highly honored by the king. The fact that the Jews are under the special protection of providence is pressed upon them. Scripture tells us that “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:3
14 And while they were yet talking with him, came the king’s chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.
The courier has arrived in his horse drawn carriage to whisk him off to Esther’s banquet where she is about to spring the trap that he has walked into. As the scripture says: “He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, And has fallen into the hole which he made.” Psa 7:15
