Kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day

Esther 3:7-15

Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.”

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. “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”

These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his own ring. Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so they would be ready for that day.

The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.

In his unreasoning fury, Haman determines on 'ethnic cleansing to rid Persian of the entire Jewish race. Haman lived in a fate-ridden society where the court diary for the year's events was worked out by casting lots. So he must choose a licky day. Fortunately for the Jews, it was 11 months off. The king's assent is easily won by accusing the Jews of rebellion and promising a huge rake-off of 340000kg of silver. Haman plans to raise the money by plundering Jewish goods and confiscating their lands.

Why?

Haman did not say to the king what people are but only said their customs are different from those of all other people and they do not obey the king's law. All of these is the private consideration, for he hated Mordcal did not worship him.

Haman won the trust of the king. So he can do what he wanted to do.

Haman is Amalek people, it is the symbol of flesh, and Mordcal has his own dignity. So Mordcal refuses to worship Haman. 

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1.哈曼抽籤來決定殺猶太人，表示慎重。國王也不查證就同意哈曼的建議。哈曼寧可花錢也要達成目的。信仰、生活、的確和一般人不同，但是並沒有不遵守法律。表面上為國為民，其實為達成私慾。模糊手法打煙幕彈，就是撒旦的手法。讓人覺得好像沒有關係，不嚴謹。如羅得覺得沒有什麼，以致後來進入城內。我們在信仰上如果也是不認真，不嚴謹。要殺一個人都要查清楚了，更何況滅掉一個民族。亞哈隨魯王根本沒有想要弄清楚的心，或是本來就是昏庸君王，昏君通常也是暴君。如果我們也是什麼也弄不清楚，無所謂，與亞哈隨魯王一樣了。

花工款執行工務，表示他覺得這件事很重要，寧可花自己的錢。我們覺得什麼有事重要，必定願意花錢。我們今天做主的工作，還都是花工款，我們只要挪出自己的時間。

正月十三日是逾越節前一天，相當於除夕日。神的救恩是否會適時出手像當初埃及的時候。歡樂的過節，這時看到很難過這個挑戰。我們每次過節再次提醒我們，神愛我們，不是僅僅的宗教節目。

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How?

It is the war of the spirit and flesh, and the war of Jews and Amalek.