Brethren, the Word of God never ceases to amaze me! First – look at how close the spelling is between Hamas and Haman – both bitter enemies of the Jews.

Secondly, Saul was told by the Lord to Utterly destroy all of the Amelakites and everything they owned. Saul did not obey God, and because he did not, Haman was born and threatened the very existence of the Jewish people.

Let’s look at the book of Esther which is summarized with the Biblical text added:

Book of Esther

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From gotquestions.org

Who was Haman the Agagite?

Haman is introduced in Esther 3:5–6 as an enemy of Mordecai and the Jewish people: “When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.” Haman’s goal was the genocide of the Jews, becoming the opponent of Esther and her people in the book of Esther.

Haman was an Agagite and the son of Hammedatha. Haman was likely a descendent of Agag, king of the Amalekites, long-time enemies of the Jewish people. God had told King Saul to destroy the Amalekites centuries earlier (1 Samuel 15:3), but Saul failed to obey the command. His disobedience led to the loss of his kingdom and, in Esther’s time, the threat of annihilation for all Jews.

Haman was married to a woman named Zeresh, and they had ten sons. Haman was a close confidant of King Xerxes (or Ahasuerus). Haman took personally the fact that Mordecai would not bow down to him, and his personal slight grew into a murderous hatred of all Jews.

Using his connection with the king, Haman was able to pass a law commanding the genocide of the Jews: “Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods” (Esther 3:13). Haman had selected the day for the slaughter by casting lots (in Hebrew, purim). Wanting to make an example of Mordecai, Haman built a special gallows, about 75 feet high, to hang his enemy on (Esther 5:14).

God has a way of turning the tables, though. Much to Haman’s chagrin, King Xerxes (who was unaware of Haman’s vendetta against Mordecai) commanded that Mordecai be honored for thwarting an assassination attempt against the king. To Haman’s utter mortification, the king commanded that Haman do the honors—Haman had the task of walking Mordecai through the city on horseback and proclaiming the king’s admiration for him (Esther 6:10–11). Zeresh and Haman’s advisers saw this turn of events as an ill omen that presaged Haman’s downfall (Esther 6:13).

Queen Esther, a Jewess herself, used her position to intercede for her people. She did this by inviting the king and Haman to two banquets—which Haman (who was unaware of the queen’s ancestry) took as a great honor. At the second banquet, Esther confronted the king regarding Haman’s plot against her people. The king was furious and left the room (Esther 7:7).

Seeing he had incurred the wrath of Xerxes, Haman fell before Esther to plead for his life. The king re-entered the room, saw Haman on the couch with the queen, and said, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?” (Esther 7:8). One of the king’s eunuchs then informed the king that Haman had prepared gallows for Mordecai. “And the king said, ‘Hang him on that.’ So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated” (Esther 7:9–10, ESV). Haman’s hostility toward the Jewish people resulted in his own death. Proverbs 26:27 held true: “Whoever digs a pit will fall into it; if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them.”

On the fateful day appointed for the destruction of the Jews, it was the Jews’ enemies who were destroyed instead (Esther 9:6–9, 16). The ten sons of Haman were also hanged (verse 14).

The Jewish Feast of Purim, a celebration of the deliverance detailed in the book of Esther, is named after the lots that Haman cast. On Purim, the book of Esther is read in the synagogue, and every time the name “Haman” is read, the audience drowns out the sound with ratchet-type noisemakers called graggers (or groggers) or by anything loud and annoying: alarm clocks, toy xylophones, balloons popped with pins, dolls that cry, toy police sirens, whistles, etc.

Haman’s evil name is blotted out symbolically, and Haman’s life is an example of the fate that faces those who oppose God and His people. Setting oneself against God and persecuting His people is futile—it did not work for Haman, it did not work for Antiochus Epiphanes, it did not work for Adolph Hitler, and it will not work for the Antichrist. source

I remember as a child in the synagogue, the festival of Purim. The story of Esther would be read to us. Whenever the name of Haman was mentioned, we had ‘noise makers’ which we would twirl round and round in protest of his despicable name! The girls would dress up like Queen Esther. 

Does it not amaze you that Saul’s defiance and disobedience of the Lord to destroy the Amalekites allowed for Haman to be born?!  But our Esther was placed by the Lord as the new Queen, and saved her people from annihilation!

Right now the people of Israel, and many in power in the Knesset, are calling for the utter destruction of all members of Hamas! They are saying that Israel cannot co-exist with Hamas being in the Gaza Strip.

I believe this is greater than just Hamas. Iran’s proxies are an ever present danger to Israel.

Three presidents – Clinton, Bush and Obama – issued executive orders that empowered them to sanction Iranian proxies. They include:

• Under Executive Order 12947 signed by President Clinton in 1995, the Treasury or State Departments could designate foreign individuals or organizations as Specially Designated Terrorists for disrupting the Middle East peace process. Treasury and State’s powers to sanction terrorist groups were vastly expanded by the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1997 and Executive Order 13224 in 2001. President Trump officially terminated Executive Order 12947 in 2019 and brought these designations under Executive Order 13224.
• Under Executive Order 13224 signed by President Bush in 2001, the Treasury or State Departments can designateforeign individuals or organizations for committing, or pose a risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten U.S. interests or national security. It can also designate individuals, financiers and front companies as Specially Designated Global Terrorists for providing support to terrorist groups. A designation imposes sanctions, which prevents these individuals and entities from engaging in transactions with individuals or companies in the United States. It also blocks any assets that they have in the United States. Its goal is to disrupt terrorist finance networks and increase public awareness of individuals and groups connected to terrorism.
• Under Executive Order 13438 signed by President Bush in 2007, the Treasury or State Departments can designateindividuals or entities that have committed, or pose a risk of committing, violence that threatens the peace and stability of Iraq. Its goal is to disrupt support for terrorists and insurgent groups in Iraq.
• Under Executive Order 13752 signed by President Obama in 2011, the Treasury or State Departments can designateindividuals and entities that are responsible for human rights abuses and repression in Syria. The IRGC-Qods Force and its commanders are sanctioned under this order.
• Under Executive Order 13611 signed by President Obama in 2012, the Treasury or State Departments can designateindividuals and entities that threaten the peace, security and stability of Yemen. Its goal is to disrupt support for individuals and groups threatening the peace and stability of Yemen.
• On September 10, 2019, President Trump amended Executive Order 13224. His order superseded older authorities and included individuals and entities who were previously sanctioned under Executive Order 12947.

Congress has passed two laws to sanction Iranian proxies:

• Under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, passed by Congress in 1997, the State Department can designate organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) for engaging in terrorist activities that threaten U.S. national security or interests. An FTO designation means that these groups cannot engage in transactions with individuals or companies in the United States and any assets they have in the United States are blocked. It also imposes immigration restrictions on organization members. Its goal is to limit terrorist organizations’ financial resources and increase public awareness.
• The Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act, passed by Congress in 2015, and the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Amendments Act, passed by Congress in 2018, exclude banks that conduct transactions with Hezbollah from the U.S. financial system. The 2018 amendment allows the United States to sanction foreign entities that finance or arm Hezbollah.

PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM!!