“When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage. But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus” (Esth 3:5-6).
In terms of the compositional strategy of the book of Esther, Mordecai’s refusal to bow down to Haman and Haman’s desire to destroy all the Jewish people are directly related to key passages in the Torah and the Former Prophets, most notably Genesis 27 (Jacob’s stolen blessing and Esau’s desire to kill him) and 1 Samuel 15 (Saul’s failure to obey God’s command to destroy the Amalekites).
That said, Haman’s behavior can just as easily be explained by his Satanically motivated narcissism. Haman was not only convinced that he was worthy of worship (Esth 3:1–2), but he also had secret ambitions to supplant the king (see Esth 6:6–9; 7:8). Read in this light, it’s not difficult to understand why Haman wanted to kill all the Jews. For Haman knew that Mordecai’s refusal to worship him was tied directly to the Jewish laws and customs (Esth 3:8). As long as there was still one Jew left in the world, Haman knew there would still be one person who refused to worship him. And no matter how much success a narcissist enjoys, he or she will never be content if there is at least one person in the world who sees right through their facade and refuses to worship them (Esth 5:13).
We must fill our thoughts with the beauty, majesty, sovereignty, and love of God. To the extent that God grows bigger and more beautiful in our own personal theology, the self-loving narcissist’s grip on our thought life will begin to shrink and over time completely disappear.
To be completely honest, it is difficult not to allow ourselves to be consumed with worry and/or fear when dealing with an angry narcissist (see Esth 3:5; 5:9), someone whose goal in life is either to force us into submission or to destroy us if we don’t. What should we do?
Since narcissism is idolatry (self-worship), we must never allow ourselves to engage in any behavior that permits the narcissist to entertain the notion that he or she is at the center of our universe. When we worry, fear, seek revenge, etc., we are simply feeding the narcissist’s delusions of grandeur that they are truly important.
And because false worship is the core problem of narcissism, true worship must be our response. This means we must engage in behaviors that put the true God back at the center of our universe. We must fill our thoughts with the beauty, majesty, sovereignty, and love of God. To the extent that God grows bigger and more beautiful in our own personal theology, the self-loving narcissist’s grip on our thought life will begin to shrink and over time completely disappear.
“Of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread? When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear; though war arise against me, in spite of this I shall be confident. One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD and to meditate in His temple” (Psa 27:1-4).
