After King Xerxes had approved Haman’s declaration that all of the Jews would be exterminated across the Persian empire, Mordecai began to weep and mourn, both for himself and for his people there within the empire. As Esther heard about Mordecai and what was causing him to cry out in this way, she courageously put a plan into action to reverse the course of the declaration, risking her own life in order to save her people.
Esther threw a banquet for both the king as well as for Haman, making Haman feel great about himself and his position within the empire. He was close to the king, and now he was even being honored by Esther, who was, unbeknownst to him, one of the Jews that he intended to have killed.
Upon returning home after the first of the banquets that Esther would hold for the two men, Haman was, on the one hand happy, but on the other continued to fume with anger because of what he perceived as Mordecai’s insolence, his refusal to honor and bow down to Haman as he passed. His wife suggested that he set up a pole so that Haman could soon place Mordecai on the pole when the time came to execute the Jews. In this way, not only would the Jews be killed, but Mordecai would be set up as a symbol that the Jews had been exterminated, but would also be an example to anyone else who might dare to not recognize Haman’s greatness.
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.
Esther 5:14
Of course, as we follow the story, we find that not only was Mordecai not placed on the pole, but instead, Haman finds himself parading Mordecai around, honoring Mordecai instead in front of all of the people there in Susa. It is an incredible display of irony that won’t end there. Haman’s plan, and the motivations behind it, as a result of Esther’s wisdom, is exposed before the king and Haman himself will be placed on the pole, the very pole that he had set up to hang Mordecai.
It reminds me of a beautiful song that I’ve heard, and I believe have also noted before. A lady named Jess Ray sings it, called Gallows, which I believe was originally found within the video called Sheep Among Wolves II. Here is the song:
In this song, Jess is singing about the way in which Haman not only acts in satanic ways, but also shows himself to be a type of Satan within the story of Esther.
Why?
Satan’s hope was to destroy the Messiah in an effort to completely thwart the plans of God. If he could exterminate the Jews, the Messiah could not come as the Messiah would come only through the Jews.
Yet Jesus did come, and a “pole” was set up for him in the same way that the pole had been set up for Mordecai. Satan directed the actions of the Jewish leaders and intended to use the Romans to kill Christ, but he played directly into God’s plan. By killing Jesus, Satan himself lost the war that he had been waging with God. All of Satan’s power was stripped from him because upon Jesus, God placed all of punishment for the sins of the world. All of Satan’s power was found in the fact that he was able to accuse people for the sin that they had committed, yet on the same cross where he directed people to hang Jesus, Satan lost all of his power because Jesus took all of the punishment.
As Jess sings in the song above:
The devil is gonna hang on his own gallows.
That is exactly what happens with Haman in the context of the story of Esther, and the same thing has happened also with Satan through Christ’s death on the cross.