He wants people to bow down to him – but one Jew, Mordecai, refuses. Immediately the power-hungry Haman is “filled with fury”. So, he seeks to destroy him and “all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus” (Esther 3).

Unbeknownst to Haman, his boss, King Ahasuerus, is married to a Jew – Queen Esther. In his hot anger, Haman listens to counsel to build gallows 50 cubits high to hang Mordecai (Esther 5:40) – who just happens to be Queen Esther’s older cousin.

Most of us have faced a bully at some time in our lives. Today parents are even taught to look for signs of bullying in their children: The child is unwilling to go to school (headaches or stomach aches); a change in the child’s emotional behavior; a change in sleep patterns; a change in grades; or a loss in interest in school friendships.

It is, for this reason, we find it so satisfying when our bully, Haman, sees his heartless genocidal scheme backfire. At her own peril, the young Queen Esther agrees to help her people (Esther 4).

In an incredible turn of events, Mordecai is honored, and the bullying Haman is humbled (Esther 6) and then hung on his own gallows (Esther 7).

Friend, people who cause emotional and physical trauma in the lives of others never get away with it. Imagine God seeing His only Son, Jesus being bullied. Even though Jesus was innocent, He had to endure reviling, spitting, beating, and an inhumane execution.  In silence, Jesus entrusted “himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:22–23).

_____________________________________
If you or someone you know is being bullied respond immediately & consistently.