Mordecai was still a gatekeeper even though Esther, who was like a daughter to him, had become queen. Even though his job may have seemed insignificant, he was still devoted to it.

Mordecai would not kneel to Haman (1-6)

Haman so pleased the king that he became second in command. After he was elevated to this position, the king ordered the people to kneel and pay honor to Haman (2). However, Mordecai neither kneeled nor honored him (5). Day after day, the royal officials talked to him about it, but Mordecai would not listen. Ultimately, he had no choice but to reveal that he was Jewish (4). When Haman found out about this, he wanted to kill not only Mordecai, but all the Jews. Mordecai kept the integrity of his faith, which in turn was being faithful to God.

Christians should be faithful to their superiors. At the same time, we should be faithful to God, who saved us. We should be faithful to our superiors, but if it goes against God’s command, we need to know how to refuse (Pro 29:5). We need to fear God, who can destroy both our body and soul in hell (Mt 10:28).

The Jews faced Annihilation (7-15)

Not only was Haman very proud, he was also very devious. He knew that Mordecai didn’t kneel and pay him honor because of the Jewish laws (8). He told the king that the laws of the Jews were different and that the authority of the king’s laws was being diminished (8). With permission from the king, Haman wrote an edict in the king’s name to annihilate all the Jews on the 13th day of the 12th month and to plunder their goods (13). The edict was also issued in the citadel of Susa (15). The Jews faced annihilation.

In order to protect their power and to increase their authority people will kill innocent people. Similarly Hitler wanted to annihilate a whole nation. Jesus was crucified and many Christians spilled their martyred blood because of humankind’s greed (Mk 15:15; Acts 12:1-3). However, the blood that they spilt became a seed that blossomed into the flower of the gospel. No matter how vicious the enemy tries to be, there is never failure in God.