The Enemy Plots With a Bitter Heart - Part 1

" Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai.

Nevertheless Haman refrained himself: and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife.
And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children,and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.

Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself;

and to morrow am I invited unto her also with the king.
Yet all this availeth me NOTHING

so long as I see Mordecai the Jew

sitting at the king's gate.

Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made."

Esther 5:9-14

"The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.
The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged"

Psalm 37:32-33

"Then from that day forth they took counsel together

for to put him to death."

John 11:53

"Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,
And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you?

And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.
And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him."

Matthew 26:14-16

"And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;"

John 13:2

About a month ago at Bible Study, one of my dear friends started crying.

She was crying hot, angry tears.

You couldn't help but cry tears with her.

She recently has gone through an unexpected and unwanted divorce.

She's really been so brave through it all.

This particular week,

she was being hit hard with waves of feelings of injustice.

We all listened to her, because that's often the best medicine.

But, when we got to the study of The Word, I showed her somethings in Psalms 37,

because I have been comforted through it.

It bears reading on your own.

I showed her that no matter what it looks like, those who do wrong,

who pursue a selfish agenda,

though they might look like they succeed for a time, it won't last.

Pay day comes.

Our God IS a just God.

While we count on His mercy, we do well to remember that He is just as well.

The scripture is very clear in pattern after pattern, and assurance after assurance

that those that are haughty, those that plan and plot evil against the righteous,

they will end up caught in their own trap.

We are all familiar with this feeling of betrayal.

When we feel betrayed.

When we feel like those that betrayed us

are doing better than we are. Like the ones who betrayed us, (us as the children of the Most High God), aren't suffering at all.

We struggle with our flesh burning, and pride hurting,

because we want to see ourselves vindicated.

Since that night, the scriptures have just opened up into a panoramic,

2,500 piece jig-saw puzzle.

A puzzle that shows God has, God will and God does vindicate.

And He does mete out justice to those that plot to do evil.

We see above Haman so taken with envy and hate against Mordecai the Jew,

that he plotted to have a gallows built.

He had the favor of the King. That wasn't enough.

He already had plotted to have all the Hebrews killed.

That wasn't enough.

Judas had the favor of the King.

It wasn't enough.

Judas envied and resented the gift of the alabaster box,

the precious ointment bestowed on our Lord. (John 12:3-6)

Haman hated the Hebrew people. He is both an individual and also a "type" of Judas.

Judas envied and begrudged Jesus and the attention bestowed Him.

They both devised a wicked plot to "hang" the person of their animosity.

Both of their plans came to naught.

Haman ends up hung on the very gallows that he had made for Mordecai.

Talk about poetic justice!

Judas? Hangs himself.

I am going to leave you with a bit more scripture,

because it can say it much better than I.

But in the morning I am going to post the punchline, the joy! Please don't miss it!

"Fret not thyself because of evildoers,

neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
"For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb....Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
For evildoers shall be cut off:

but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be:

Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. "

Psalms 37:1-2,8-10