Esther 3:1
After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.
After these things the king advanced Haman to high authority above all his princes, and that promotion set the stage for his decree against the Jews. Haman's hostility began when Mordecai refused to gratify his vanity with the reverence that belongs to God alone. He then secured the king's decision for extermination by false pretenses and misrepresentation of the Jews.
Behind the plot stood Satan himself, seeking through Haman to destroy the people who preserved among men the knowledge of the true God. God's protecting angels worked to defeat the scheme and to turn its consequences back upon its makers and adversaries. The episode stands as a pattern for a future decree to be issued against God's people. In that coming crisis Satan will move religious powers to condemn and put to death those who refuse to worship the idol sabbath. Those who put their trust in God will then see his devices defeated, just as they were defeated in the day of Mordecai.