Esther 3:15, commentary and pictures

The decree to destroy the Jews was sent out in haste by the king's commandment and was given in Shushan the palace. While it went out, the king and Haman sat down to drink, unconcerned, but the city of Shushan was perplexed. The decree grew out of Haman's hatred and malice toward Mordecai. Mordecai had refused to give Haman the reverence that belongs only to God.

Haman secured the king's decision by false pretenses and misrepresentation, by a false account of the Jews. The decree threatened suffering and oppression for a people who acknowledged and served God and who preserved the knowledge of the true God. In the plot Satan was working through wicked people to bring suffering upon God's people and to destroy them. The enemies' attempt to destroy God's people was ultimately thwarted and defeated.

God's protecting power defeated the scheme and turned the adversaries' plans back upon themselves. The verse thus provides an ancient example and pattern of a decree aimed at God's people. The episode foreshadows a future decree against God's people, who will refuse to worship the sabbath idol, whose struggle is ultimately against spiritual powers, and whose trust in God will bring Satan's devices to defeat. God's subjects must therefore remain true to Him whatever the cost.