"After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and he exalted him and set his position above all the officials who were with him." Est 3
"You were anointed a guardian cherub,
and I placed you on God's holy mountain;
you walked in the midst of stones of fire." Ez 28
Enter the Adversary. Created, not begotten. Magnified by the King. Put in high place. Exalted. Beautiful. Regal. Glorious.
And bent.
"Now the serpent was more crafty than any other animal of the field which YHWH God had made." Gen 3
"You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created,
until wickedness was found in you.
In the abundance of your trading,
they filled the midst of you with violence, and you sinned," Ez 28
"And Haman saw that Mordecai was not kneeling and bowing down to him, and he was filled with anger. But he considered it beneath him to lay hands on Mordecai only, for they told him of Mordecai's people, and Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were in the kingdom of Ahasuerus." Est 3
"And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, in order that whenever she gave birth to her child he could devour it." "And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child." "And the dragon was angry at the woman, and went away to fight against the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and who hold to the testimony about Jesus." Rev 12
But powerful though he is, malevolent and bent on genocide as he is, Satan and Haman both, must seek the permission of the King to do any of the evil they desire to do. Yet, deceivers to the heart, they cannot but work in subterfuge and intrigue, masking their intent and hatred beneath layers of calculated civility.
"And Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered and deparated among the peoples in all of the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from every other people, and they do not observe the laws of the king; it is not appropriate for the king to tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to those who do the job, to bring into the treasury of the king." Est 3
"Then Satan answered YHWH and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a fence around him and his household and around all that belongs to him on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock has increased in the land. But, on the other hand, stretch out your hand and touch all that belongs to him and see whether he will curse you to your face." Job 1
And the King gives the permission. This calls for the patient endurance of the saints! One king does so because he believes the lies and the deception but our King, our Jesus, does so for His own reasons which we can only guess at and usually not to our benefit. Though His intentions can never be in doubt for He is good and He loves us as His own and has chosen us for Himself and means us no harm but only greater glory.
For now though, in the story as in life, we see the Adversary ascendant and the King appears complicit and the slaughter of our people imminent and we, like the city of Susa, are bewildered.
