Have you ever come across someone that just despises the very air you breath and the ground you walk on ? Well we are going to look at 3 people, 2 are Godly and one, not so much ! We are going to be looking at some Scriptures in the book of Esther to see the shortened version of how these 3 people crossed paths and what were their individual outcomes. First we'll look at Mordecai who was a relative of Esther's who took her in when her parents both died Esther 2:7. She was no plain Jane as we would say, she was beautiful, inside and outside. Now there came a day when the current Queen Vashti upset the King by not coming to one of his feasts and made one for herself and other women Esther 1:9 -12. This was told to the King and he was also reminded that the refusal of the Queen to attend the Kings function would become known to all and he would be humiliated in the kingdom. Also other noble women would decide not to listen to their husbands and this will incite discord in the realm. So a decree went out that Vashti would no longer be the Queen and they were to search for another to take her place Esther 1:17 - 22 To fast forward beautiful Esther was brought to the King to see if she was the one and she pleased him and he made her his Queen. Now Esther was a Jew and so was Mordecai, but her heritage was kept a secret and it was not told to the King. Esther 2:9 - 10 Now comes in Haman, not a very nice man at all but the King must have liked him because in Esther 3:1 the King promoted Haman and all the Kings servants bowed down and paid homage to Haman, all except Mordecai. This would go against GOD's law no bowing down or giving homage to anyone other than the ONE TRUE GOD. Days went by and they kept insisting that he bow before Haman, but Mordecai would not. Esther 3: 1 - 6. Now Haman was afraid to lay hands on Mordecai so he hatched an evil plot to destroy him, through the complete destruction of a people, the Jews. So he brought the decree to the King and the King signed the decree. Remember he did not know that his own new and beautiful Esther was one of the Jews and neither did Haman. Now when the decree went out into all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews with fasting and Mordecai, along with many of the Jew, tore their cloths and put on sackcloth and ashes. Esther 3:7 - 4:3. To fast forward, Haman had a huge gallows built to hang Mordecai on and it was visible from the palace and Haman's home. He thought that he had finally got the upper hand over this Mordecai that would not pay him the respect that he thought he deserved. Just think of it, a single persons hatred for another person,Haman was willing to have an entire nation destroyed because of his hatred for Mordecai. Now there was a law that forbid the Queen to come into the King unless he calls for her. Well Mordecai told Esther that she had to go in and plead for her people, and she said that the King had not called her and if she went in and he did not put out his scepter for her to enter, she would be killed. Now I will tell you that I am leaving a lot out and it would be good if you would read the entire book to fill in some of the blanks. Esther Chapter 4 was the discussion of Mordecai with Esther and vss. 12 thru 17 are quite useful for us today in our attitude to our Christian walk. The verses are as follows: Then Mordecai told them to answer Esther. " Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the King's palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this ? " Then Esther told them to return this answer to Mordecai: Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the King, which is against the law, and if I perish, I perish !" Then Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him. Now there was a little known thing that Mordecai had done that was only known by the King's historian. Mordecai had heard of a plot to kill the King at the beginning of the book of Esther. The plot was foiled but Mordecai had not taken any credit nor was he ever rewarded for this heroic act. Just keep that in the back of your mind, because wicked Haman was about to get his. As I said, you really need to read the entire story to fill in the rest of the important info that I am skipping over, and I don't like to do that, but I am trying to make a specific point. Many things transpired and Queen Esther was given the scepter to allow her entry into the King and she had 2 private parties with the King, wicked Haman and herself. During the 2nd feast with the King and Haman, Esther broke down in Chapter 7:1 - 10 and told the King that her people and herself were being destroyed by the wicked plot of Haman and Haman was taken out and hanged on the gallows that was meant for Mordecai, and Mordecai was given Haman's house because of his relationship to the Queen. BUT there was still a problem, once the King put his signet on any decree it could not be undone, so they came up with another decree that basically said that " In every city where the Jews lived that they were allowed to band together and defend their lives against anyone who would try to kill them Esther 8:11 - 17 and because of this decree many gentiles were converted as proselytes to the Jews so that they would not kill them. As I said, I hate to skip or run through GOD's WORD and not write it all down, but my point in this post is to show the difference between Haman's god and the GOD of Mordecai and Esther. Haman's god was himself, he wanted all the praise and honor for himself and because of this he put an entire nation of the Jews in jeopardy and he lost his life and eternity for him was sealed in the flames of hell. But the GOD of Mordecai and Esther was watching out for the Jews and would not allow them to be annihilated. Esther, in her selflessness, came into the King when she had not been called for, at great risk to her life. And as she said, " If I perish, I perish !" This is the same kind of selfless love our LORD and SAVIOR has for us. When GOD the FATHER sent GOD the SON, JESUS CHRIST down to earth, to eventually die on a Roman cross for the sin of all mankind, even for wicked Haman's and for your sin and mine, HIS love was complete. It covered all sin from the sin of Adam to the last person who will be born at the end of time, whomever that may be. But as a sinner you need to take responsibility that you as a sinner have no way of saving yourself and need the SAVIOR's forgiveness. As the Jews above, could do nothing to save themselves from wicked Haman's murderous plot against them, we have no way of saving ourselves from the debt that we owe for our sin. JESUS came and died on the cross, was buried and rose from the dead on the 3rd day, to pay our sin debt. If you believe that you are a sinner and need the SAVIOR's forgiveness, bow your head in prayer, and believe that JESUS came and died for your sin. Ask JESUS to forgive you of your sins and to come into your heart and life and save you. HE WILL, HE will never turn a seeking heart away !!! Your servant in CHRIST, Julie