Hitler was not the first…
We all know about the tragic things that were perpetrated by Germany’s leader, Hitler during the well documented Holocaust period. Did you know there could have been a major Holocaust a lot earlier in history? There have been many attempts to annihilate the Jews which have all been unsuccessful. Let me tell you about the very first attempted Holocaust in history as recorded in God’s word.
This event occurs in the book of Esther. In this book is the description of what happened to the majority of Jews (roughly 80 percent) that decided to remain and not return to Jerusalem after the decree of Cyrus the Great, the king of Persia after the Persian conquest of Babylon.
I don’t think there is another book in the Bible where God is any more evident as he works in behind the scenes during this horrible attempt at destroying the Jewish people.
The part I want to point out today is the recording in this book of the most horrible example of anti-Semitic hatred in the entire Bible. This occurs at the hands of Haman the Agagite. Haman was the Adolf Hitler of the Old Testament.
Esther was selected by the king at the time to be his queen because she was the most beautiful girl in the land. She was from the tribe of Benjamin and she was indeed a very, very beautiful girl. (Esther 2:7) She was raised in the city of Susa in Persia by her cousin Mordecai. I wanted to introduce Mordecai because he has an important part in the attempted holocaust. The king at the time, King Ahasuerus, held a beauty contest of sorts to find the most beautiful woman in the land and Esther won the contest hands down. The King was smitten! It is written in Esther 2:17, “And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti. (KJV) So like many men of today he threw out his old number one wife, Vashti and replaced her with a hottie named Esther. (Also called Hadassah in her younger years.) It is important to point out that Esther is really a Jewish girl, however, she did not at the time, reveal herself as Jewish. (Esther 2:10, 20)
Mordecai, Esther’s cousin had become a palace official and was in good favor after he and Esther prevented an attempted assassination of King Ahasuerus.
Soon after Esther became queen, the king appointed a vicious and heartless politician named Haman. Haman has been described as being an unwitting servant of Satan himself. He has been also referred to with nicknames like Haman the haughty, Haman the heartless and Haman the shameless. He was incredibly arrogant and self-centered. Know any politicians like that? I prefer the heartless as a name for him. The name of haughty was tagged because he swelled with pride after being elevated to prime minister by the king. (Esther 3:1)
Let’s go back to Mordecai. Mordecai always infuriated Haman because he refused to bow down and honor Haman whenever he walked by. In Esther 3:5-6 it says, “And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath. And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that [were] throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, [even] the people of Mordecai.”
So Haman was out to kill Mordecai and he wanted to go even further and destroy all the Jews in the Kingdom. Remember this is representing 80 percent of the Jews at the time. He began by lying about the Jews to the king. He claimed to the king that they were disloyal and must be destroyed. He also offered to pay 10,000 talents to have them destroyed in a bloodbath which in today’s money would exceed $30 million dollars. He got the king to sign the death warrant and then they sat down together and enjoyed a drink. (Esther 3; 15) So out went Royal orders announcing all Jews would be executed on February 28 the following year which was 473 B.C. (3:12-15)
Mordecai informed Esther of this and advised her to visit the king but Esther could not do this because nobody, not even the Queen, can enter the king’s inner court without certain instant death.
Esther began to work on figuring out some way to get to the king. (Her husband) She said, “And if I perish, I perish!” (Esther 4:16). Esther got to see the king at a banquet and suggested to him that there be a second banquet she will prepare just for the three of them. Esther, King Ahasuerus and Haman which was quickly agreed to. Haman was so proud and puffy about all these fantastic happenings that involve him. It would be just him and the king and queen showing that he was special. Haman’s wife suggested he build a gallows and have Mordecai hanged upon it the very next day. Haman had the gallows built.
Now the king will learn what is going on. Esther the queen has prepared the banquet that she so carefully orchestrated. We turn to Esther 7: 1-6 to find what is happening as Haman and the king arrive. “So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What [is] thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what [is] thy request? and it shall be performed, [even] to the half of the kingdom. Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request: For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage. Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so? And Esther said, The adversary and enemy [is] this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.”
Now the tables are turned and what happens next actually has a little humor. King Ahasuerus was so upset he was unable to speak and went outside to his palace garden for a few minutes. Haman was filled with fear as he should be. He very cowardly ran to Esther and begged her to intercede with the king and save him. In his cowardly fright he was so agitated that he accidentally fell on the sofa where Esther was relaxing (7:8).
Just then, in walks king Ahaseuerus and he interpreted that Haman was trying to rape his wife. Haaaa! The king learned that a gallows had been built. (Built for Mordecai) The king was so filled with wrath that he ordered Haman himself to be hanged that very night on those gallows. So Haman was hanged on Mordecai’s gallows and the king’s wrath was pacified. Justice is served and the very first holocaust attempt is thwarted.
Mordecai was appointed the new prime minister and this led to the institution of a new feast. Mordecai and Esther instituted the new memorial feast to commemorate yearly that glorious salvation from Haman the heartless (9:20-32). The feast is called Purim.
Earlier in Esther 4 verse 14 Mordecai had told Esther that “thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this”. Now who can argue with that? Esther had come to the kingdom to save the Jew’s from holocaust.
This end to Haman the heartless is one of the most vivid object lessons of the fulfillment of the prophecy in Genesis 12:3: “And I will…curse him that curseth thee”.
The Tubthumper