Esther 7

So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king's wrath subsided.

(Est 7:10)

Did you just see Haman’s life completely disintegrate when you read that chapter? Like jumping from the frying pan into the fire, Haman goes from public humiliation to being the object of the king’s wrath. When the king finds out about Haman’s plot he storms out in anger, attempting to compose himself. Haman makes a desperate attempt to beg for his life, and in the ensuing drama, he throws himself across Esther and the couch she is on. His timing couldn’t have been more perfect, for just as he lunges across Esther the king walks in, and from his perspective it looks like assault. HE IS FURIOUS, AND HAMAN IS TOAST.

Here is the detail that only God could have come up with. One of the eunuch’s comes forward and says, “look, see that gallows over there at Haman’s place? He planned on hanging our new buddy Mordecai there”. The kings answer is predictably wonderful. “Hang Haman on it”, he says.

And so, we see that Haman literally hung himself out to dry. Hate, pride, self-seeking… these things ultimately destroyed Haman. The very things he thought would fulfill him, ended up being his undoing.

About 2000 years later, Jesus said something that seems quite fitting as an epitaph to the life of Haman. He said this: “If you seek to save your life you will lose it…”