Don’t You Care?

7 In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, they cast the pur (that is, the lot) in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar.

8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom whose customs are different from those of all other people and who do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will put ten thousand talents of silver into the royal treasury for the men who carry out this business.”

10 So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”
Esther 3:7-11

It seems like a strange meeting. Two men, one a king and the other a trusted advisor and noble, decide the fate of a race of people. And their decision is that all the people of that race should die. In keeping with the customs of the ancient world, the date for this to happen is decided by lot, or by chance.

Why do they decide this? Haman is driven by emotion, perhaps pride that has become bitter, but what drives the king. Maybe it is greed. And King Xerxes? He has just led a huge army and navy into a war with tiny Greece, and he lost the war. Wars are expensive, so if he kills a race of people and takes their property, he can get a lot of money. In the scripture, he doesn’t even ask who the people are. He simply hands the people over to be killed. We look at this and all we can say is that this world is sinful and troubled.

It seems that the king and his advisor don’t care about people’s lives. But God cares. Although they decide the date for the killing of the Jews by lot, God is in control. It will be almost a full year before the Jews are to be killed. This leaves time for the situation to change.

Prayer:
• Do you see the sin in the world around you?
• Does it seem that God doesn’t care?
Pray that God will always remind you of the cross – that He cares so much that he sent His son to die for us.
Pray for this trouble world and for its leaders.