They hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s anger subsided.  Esther 7:10 CSB

The story of Esther is a wonderful story of a beautiful young Jewish girl and her cousin, Mordecai. They were taken into captivity, but like Daniel, they were faithful to the Lord and fared well. Esther’s story was somewhat like a Cinderella story. She gained the favor of King Ahasuerus and became queen.

The king had a staff member named Haman. Haman had been promoted and everyone bowed down and paid homage to him as he entered and exited the gates. Everyone, that is, except Mordecai. Now we are not told why Mordecai refused to pay respect to Haman, but only that even after being confronted, he still refused. This infuriated Haman. Haman vowed not only to destroy Mordecai, but all Jews living in the 127 provinces over which King Ahasuerus reigned. He built these gallows that were 75 feet tall and intended to hang Mordecai from these gallows.

Now Mordecai went to Esther and told her about Haman’s plot to destroy all Jews. Esther responded by having her people fast and pray. Then she approached the king. When she told the king what Haman was up to. He was livid. He went out into the courtyard and when he returned Haman had fallen over Esther on the sofa pleading with her. The king thought something else was going on and demanded that Haman be hanged at once. Ironically there were these perfectly good gallows that he had constructed for Mordecai. Haman was hanged from these very same gallows.

This story could be used as an illustration for the new testament verses Matthew 7:1-5. In these verses we are warned against judging others. We are told that we will be judged with the same measure that we use to judge others. If we plot evil against others we may find that evil turned back onto us. The Bible tells us that if we forgive others, God will forgive us (Matthew 6:9).

My friend, if you are plotting evil against someone be very careful. You may just find your evil schemes will be turned back on you. You see, God doesn’t like ugly. Take a cue from Mordecai’s play book. Mordecai was a captive in a foreign land. He honored God. When he learned that Haman was going to destroy not only him, but all Jews living under the reign of King Ahasuerus, he didn’t plot evil against Haman. He went to Esther. Esther ordered that they all fast and pray. She ordered that they turn to God.

When the two vast armies came against King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles chapter 20, he didn’t boast about what he could do. He turned to the Lord. God turned these two vast armies against each other and they destroyed each other.

If you are up against evil, you have three choices. You can fight back under your own strength and power, let me know how this works out for you. You can try to run and hope that you can escape, or you can turn it over to God and allow Him to handle it.

But know this, if you respond to evil with evil, you may suffer the same consequences that you wish upon others. Think about that and let it sink in for a minute.

Haman plotted evil against Mordecai. Mordecai and Esther responded by turning to God. The very same vicious death that Haman had planned for Mordecai was what he suffered himself.

We are told in Romans 12:17 that we are not to repay evil with evil. In Romans 12:21 we are told not to be conquered by evil, but to conquer evil with good.

If someone is coming against you, follow the instructions given in Romans 12:19-20, don’t avenge yourselves, leave that up to God. But, if your enemy is hungry feed them. If he is thirsty give him something to drink, for in doing so you will be heaping hot coals upon his head.

Vengeance is God’s job, let Him do it. Our job is to love our enemies and pray for those that persecute us (Matthew 5:44). If you wish evil upon someone, be very careful my friend, for you may find yourself suffering that very same evil that you intended for someone else.

We should want everyone to turn to the Lord, right? This is what we should be wishing for. I have learned that when this is what I wish for one of two things happens. Either my enemy gets saved and they are no longer my enemy, but my brother or sister in Christ, or they reject God and suffer consequences worse that anything I could have imagined.

When we wish for good for others, we get good in return. When we wish evil, we get evil. I don’t know why, I just know that’s how it works. So, please, be very careful what you wish for!

Have a great day!