Pride

When Haman entered, the king asked him, "What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?"

Now Haman thought to himself, "Who is there that the king would rather honor than me?"

Esther 6:6 (NIV)

Thanks to the movie One Night With The King, every time I read Esther and passages about Haman, I see Gaius Baltar from Sci-Fi Channel's Battlestar Galactica. James Callis played both roles splendidly. Because I recognized him from one of my favorite TV shows, it made the part of Haman even more memorable to me.

Haman was an enemy of the Jewish people. He had risen to the top of the heap of advisers to King Xerxes. He was quite proud of himself. When the king sought to honor someone, he turned to Haman. Haman, of course, thought the king wanted to honor HIM and thus recommended the honor that he wanted. Haman was crushed when he found out it was his enemy Mordecai who the king wanted to honor and was humiliated as he had to honor Mordecai.

Imagine if you were up for an Academy Award. Not only were you up for the award, but all of the press are saying that you are a shoe-in for the award. Your bitter rival is up for the same award, but nobody saw that movie and the few who saw it hated it. You actually saw that movie, too, and definitely thought there was no way your rival would win the award. You have your acceptance speech all planned. You call the Academy and ask that since it's such a prestigious award you would like to present it. They agree. You're up on stage beaming with pride and in your best Shakespearan drama voice you say "The Award goes to..." You open the envelope... You see your rival's name. In front of a worldwide TV audience of 99 million you're supposed give the award to your rival, but you don't move because you're in shock. That's probably a little like how Haman felt. He was devestated.

⁸Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

James 4:8-10 (NIV)