Sermon: To Bow or Not To Bow? (Esther 3:1-6)

To Bow or Not To Bow
Sunday, January 26th, 2025
Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WA

Esther 3:1–6
1After 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. 2And all the king’s servants, that were in the king’s gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence. 3Then the king’s servants, which were in the king’s gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king’s commandment? 4Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath. 6And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.

Prayer

O Father, Your Word says that “great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them.” We ask now for such peace, for such delight in your commandments, that nothing may cause us to stumble. We ask for your Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Introduction

The title of our sermon this morning is “To Bow or Not To Bow.” And here in our text we are confronted with the question, “Should Mordecai bow to Haman?” We know that he refuses to bow, and we know that Haman’s reaction is an evil and unjust over-reaction, but was Mordecai right in the eyes of God to not bow and give reverence to Haman? That is the question we will take up in this sermon.

• Now before we search the Scriptures to try to answer that question, let us begin with a brief survey of our text, and gather all the facts.
• We might think of ourselves in this sermon as judges sitting in the gate, and we want to give Mordecai a fair hearing. So that means hearing his testimony as described in this text, and then judging it by the law of God (as we did with Vashti), comparing Scripture with Scripture.
• And it is always good in matters of judgment to recall some important proverbs.
  • For example, Proverbs 18:17 reminds us, “The first one to plead his cause seems right, Until his neighbor comes and examines him.”
  • And against rushing to judgment before hearing both sides it says in Proverbs 18:13, “He who answers a matter before he hears it, It is folly and shame to him.”
  • So before we attempt to render any judgment on what Mordecai should or should not have done, and by extension what we ought to do in similar circumstances, let us hear the facts of the case.

Verse 1

1After 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.

• So recall that Mordecai has just saved the king’s life, Bigthan and Teresh have been executed, but instead of Mordecai getting promoted, we are told that Haman is promoted, the king “set his seat above all the princes that were with him.”
  • We said last week that the temptation for Haman will be to let this newfound status and power go to his head, and the temptation for Mordecai will be to get bitter and/or to envy Haman. So how does Mordecai respond?

Verses 2-3

2And all the king’s servants, that were in the king’s gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence. 3Then the king’s servants, which were in the king’s gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king’s commandment?

• Note here that Mordecai is numbered amongst the king’s servants, and we saw last week that to sit in the king’sgate it is to serve as a governing official and lesser magistrate. And perhaps the closest modern equivalent would be to serve as a Senator or member in the House of Representatives. You might not have immediate access to the king, but you are under his authority and exercise authority on his behalf.
  • Thus far we have seen in this book references to many different kinds of governing officials. There are princes, servants, nobles, chamberlains, lawyers, wise men, officers, and of course the queen. So the king is portrayed as being surrounded by a host of lesser powers,and when Haman is promoted, the king issues a commandment that those lesser servants bow and reverence Haman.
  • We might think of Haman as functioning like a Vice-President or Prime Minister who has the highest civil office after the king. Given that he still operates in the king’s gate, he is likely the “Speaker of the House” amongst that governing body.
• We should also note what the other servants say to Mordecai, they ask him “Why transgressest thou the king’s commandment?”
  • So from a human and civil perspective, Mordecai is breaking the law (there is no dispute there), and as we saw with Vashti’s refusal to obey the king’s commandment, things usually do not go well for those who go against the king.
  • We see then in verse 4 that Mordecai’s fellow servants are concerned about this violation.

Verse 4

4Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew.

• Now notice first that Haman has to be told that Mordecai is not bowing. Haman has not yet noticed any personal slight against him.
  • And given the size of the king’s gate, which we saw last week was a building larger than an NBA gymnasium, we can imagine that it would be fairly easy in a large crowd for Mordecai to go unnoticed in his lack of bowing and reverencing of Haman.
    • Or perhaps given what we will learn about Haman later, he is just so full of himself that he is hardly aware of anyone else’s existence.
  • Whatever the case, the people who do notice are Mordecai’s fellow servants, and it is those servants who report this to Haman to, “see whether Mordecai’s matters would stand.” Well, what are these matters?
• We are not told what exactly those matters/reasons (דִּבְרֵ֣י, λόγοις) are, but given that the next phrase is, “for he had told them that he was a Jew,” the most likely explanation for Mordecai not bowing has something to do with his Jewish beliefs or heritage.
  • This lack of an explanation is a major omission in data that we will have to reckon with when we try to determine whether Mordecai was sinning or being faithful. His own personal reasons and intentions do matter.
• However, given that these servants “spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them,” we can at least rule out at this stage any ignorance as an explanatory for his actions. Mordecai knew what he was doing, and he knew he was violating the king’s commandment. So that leaves us with two basic explanations for his disobeying the king: either he was being faithful to God’s law, or he was being obstinate against it. Whichever it is, his refusal to bow and do reverence is deliberate and ongoing.
• So, Mordecai will not bow, but will his matters stand before Haman?

Verse 5

5And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.

• Now that Mordecai has been put on Haman’s radar, Haman finally notices and is enraged, “full of wrath.”
• In Hebrew there is a wordplay here between Haman’s name and the Hebrew word for wrath (hemah). So the text sounds like this: haman hemah (הָמָ֖ן חֵמָֽה׃).
  • We might also note here that in Hebrew Haman’s means something like rager or rioter, and he is also called an Agagite, and in Hebrew Agag means flaming or burning.
  • So given Haman’s name and lineage, we might expect to see some burning rage and fiery wrath from him, and indeed we do.

Verse 6

6And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.

• Now this phrase, “and he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone” gives us some insight into the kind of person Haman is.
  • Haman thinks that to punish Mordecai alone, would either make Haman appear petty, or be insufficient to satisfy his wrath.
  • So while Haman could ask the king to hang Mordecai for insubordination right now (he will attempt this later in the story),he decides it would be better (and perhaps more becoming his own honor and dignity) to destroy all the Jews with one stroke. For Haman, the blast radius to destroy Mordecai has to include all the Jews throughout the empire.
  • Perhaps he thinks that if Mordecai the Jew will not bow and reverence him, neither will any other Jews, and therefore these lawbreakers need to be dealt with.
  • Next week we’ll see how he attempts to pull this off.

So those are the basic facts we are given, now we need to see what the rest of Scripture says about bowing and giving reverence to rulers and then try to determine where Mordecai’s actions fall and what his motives might have been.

• There are three principles that can help us answer this question.

Principle #1 – No Bowing Down to Idols

• According to the 2nd commandment, we read in Exodus 20:4-5, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.”
  • What is forbidden here is the making of some image in order to bow down and worship it.
  • And we know this is not a prohibition on the mere drawing or sculpting of such images, because God Himself commands that certain images be made for his temple (cherubim, palm trees, pomegranates, bronze oxen, etc.).
  • So the second commandment forbids bowing and giving worship to any idol or lifeless creature.
• But is Haman a graven image? No. But the reason I start with this principle is because in some of the Jewish commentaries they argue that Mordecai did not bow to Haman because Haman was wearing a little idol somewhere on his person. So would it be idolatry to bow to someone who has a little figurine on their necklace? (I don’t think so). But that is at least one later Jewish defense of Mordecai’s refusal to bow.
  • Everyone agrees that if the choice is between committing idolatry or being thrown into the fire like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we must suffer the fire. The question is, given what we are told in the inspired text, is Mordecai being commanded to bow to an idol? To this I think we have to say no.

Principle #2 – God Commands Subjection to The Higher Powers

• In Psalm 82 and Exodus 21:6 we see that God gives the name gods (lower case g) to judges and civil rulers.
• And in Romans 13:1-2 we read, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.” And then he says in verses 6-7, “For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.”
• So Mordecai is required by God to render to Haman the tribute, custom, fear, and honor that is due to him. And then the question becomes, Is bowing and reverencing Haman a lawful custom or honor?
• The answer to this is yes, so long as the action is not intended to treat the person as God, but as one under God’s authority. In proof of this we have numerous examples of godly men and women bowing and giving reverence (the same Hebrew words, כרע and חוה, or in Greek: προσκυνέω) to people who are not God.
  • For example, in Genesis 23:7, 12 we read that when Abraham buried Sarah he, “stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth…And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.”
    • Note that Abraham is bowing before Hittites, who will later be dispossessed when Israel enters the promised land. So these were not godly people, they were idolaters who you did not want your sons to marry. A few chapters later we read that Esau marries two Hittite women to Isaac and Rebekah’s grief (Gen. 26:34-35).
    • So even if Haman was an idolater, Abraham himself had no scruple about bowing before the Hittites. Abraham the man of faith knew God’s promises, and that one day their land would be his.
  • We see also in Genesis 37 that Joseph dreams that his brothers will one day bow down before him. And indeed, that dream comes true when we read in Genesis 42:6, “And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.”
    • So to bow before Joseph was a lawful honor and custom, and one that the original twelve sons of Israel observed.
    • In Exodus 18:7 we read that Moses “did obeisance” and gave reverence to Jethro his father-in-law. And this same custom of bowing continued in the time of David.
  • We read in 1 Kings 1 that both Bathsheba and Nathan the Prophet bow and give reverence to King David.
    • It says in 1 Kings 1:16, “And Bath-sheba bowed, and did obeisance unto the king.”
    • And in 1 Kings 1:23, “Behold Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.”
  • More examples could be given but note that bowing and giving such reverence to civil rulers is a lawful and permissible custom, not an instance of idolatry. And by this standard, it would be no violation of God’s law to bow and reverence Haman if that is what the king commanded, and indeed it would be disobedience to Romans 13, 1 Peter 2, etc. to refuse to give such honor.
• Now there is one qualification to this rule which we will consider under Principle #3.

Principle #3 – Divine Worship Belongs to God Alone

• Recall that when Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness,Satan’s bargain was, “If You will worship [bow down, προσκυνήσῃς] before me, all will be Yours.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” (Luke 4:7-8)
  • The Greek verb for serve here is λατρεύω (the noun form is λατρεία), and in the New Testament God alone receives this special service/λατρεία.
    • Paul says in Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable λατρείαν (service).
  • So while the New Testament commands that we serve one another in love, and servants are to obey their masters, λατρεία is a special form of worship that it is reserved for God alone.
• And this is where we make one exception to the kind of bowing and reverencing we may give to other creatures (whether angels or men). We must not give the bowing of λατρεία to anyone but God, either inwardly in our heart, or externally through sacrifice.
  • So when the early Christians like Polycarp (martyred 155 AD) were being persecuted and under compulsion to offer sacrifice to Ceasar, they were right to not comply. And that is because Ceasar was not merely calling himself lord, but he was also demanding sacrificial worship, and blasphemy again Jesus Christ. To comply with that kind of command would be to transfer λατρεία to Ceasar. In those cases, we must obey God rather than men.

So given those three principles, what should Mordecai do or have done?

• I think it is safe to conclude that Haman was not claiming divine worship (λατρεία) for himself, nor could he have since Ahasuerus is the one who issued the command.
• If we wanted to argue that Haman was wearing an idol, you could do that but there’s no basis in the text.
  • So I don’t think Mordecai can claim any exception here on 1st or 2nd commandment grounds. And if that is the case, we would have to conclude that Mordecai was disobeying Romans 13, and the example of Abraham and other Old Testaments saints who bowed and gave reverence to civil rulers.
  • Ahasuerus had issued a lawful command to honor Haman, and Mordecai was stubbornly disobeying it. That is one possible judgment of the facts.
  • Under this interpretation, Mordecai is repeating the sin of Vashti’s rebellion, Haman is a Satan figure who tries to condemn all God’s people, but God mercifully turns it for good.
    • Another support for this reading is that Mordecai’s refusal to bow is essentially the same sin that the Jewish leaders were committing in Jerusalem before, during, and after the exile, refusing to submit to the foreign governments that God commanded them to serve.
    • Also recall, one of the etymologies for Mordecai’s name is “my rebellion.”
• However, if we wanted to try to defend Mordecai, we could do so a few different ways.
  • If we limited ourselves to only what is in the text of Esther, we count point out that the story ends with Mordecai as the great hero. The final verse is Esther 10:3 and it says, “For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.”
  • And so wouldn’t it be odd for God to elevate Mordecai and reward his disobedience (if indeed that is what it was)?
  • We might also add that in chapter 5, after the first feast Esther throws for Haman and Ahasuerus it says, “Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai” (Esther 5:9).
    • So if Mordecai sinned by not bowing, and then he repents and fasts and prays to God, then wouldn’t true repentance look like bowing and reverencing Haman here? And yet he doesn’t, so perhaps it was not sin in the first place.
    • Now the counter argument would be that Mordecai has not had anything to eat or drink for three days and so he cannot get up or move, he’s symbolically dead. Perhaps he does not even notice Haman because he is in mourning.
  • But we could still try to vindicate Mordecai by pointing to the fact that eventually he replaced Haman, the decree against the Jews is reversed, and he gets to that position without ever bowing or reverencing him.
  • Under this reading, Mordecai is not Vashti, instead he is a new Joseph or Daniel figure, faithful to God in a foreign palace and rewarded for not compromising.
• Another way we could try to vindicate Mordecai is by an appeal to the ancient war between Israel and Amalek, Saul and Agag.
  • On this view, Mordecai (son of Kish) gets a divine exemption because it says in Exodus 17:16, “The Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
  • And again in Deuteronomy 25:17-19, “Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.”
  • So perhaps we could argue that Mordecai has a special dispensation from the Lord to wage war on Haman because he is an Agagite, a descendent of Amalek. And that justifies his refusal to bow before an enemy.
• A third way to defend Mordecai is by appealing to the Greek additions to Esther, which we Protestants rightly consider Apocryphal. We don’t know exactly who wrote these Greek additions, but they clearly felt the need to vindicate Mordecai’s actions.
  • I’ll read you a quotation from those additions. Mordecai prays to God and says, “Thou knowest all things, and thou knowest, Lord, that it was neither in contempt nor pride, nor for any desire of glory, that I did not bow down to proud Aman. For I could have been content with good will for the salvation of Israel to kiss the soles of his feet. But I did this, that I might not prefer the glory of man above the glory of God: neither will I worship any but thee, O God, neither will I do it in pride.”
  • So if that was the inspired Hebrew text, we would certainly want to vindicate Mordecai. However, since it is not, we can only take it as one early Jewish opinion.
• A fourth option which tries to split the difference between these views, is that Mordecai intentionally disobeyed the king’s commandment, but it was in order to provoke a lawsuit between him and Haman that would come before the king. So Mordecai is intentionally challenging the king’s commandment and trying to get an exemption based on his status as a Jew.
  • At this moment in the story, Mordecai has two aces up his sleeve.
    • One is that he saved the king’s life and has not yet been rewarded.
    • And two, is Esther the Queen. Mordecai is the king’s father-in-law but the king does not know it yet.
  • So on this theory, Mordecai is a shrewd man, playing politics, and this refusal is part of his plan to overtake or depose Haman and win a position above him. However, as we will see next week, this plan backfires. He was trying to make himself the target, but ends up endangering all the Jews instead.

Conclusion

So whatever you think is the best explanation for Mordecai’s actions, each can have their own opinion. But what is beyond dispute, and of far greater importance, is whether you are giving to God the latria, the worship, the bowing and reverencing that God demands and deserves.

• It says in Psalm 95:6, “O come, let us worship and bow down: Let us kneel before the Lord our maker.”
• God says in Isaiah 45:23 says, “Unto me every knee shall bow, Every tongue shall swear.”
• He says in 1 Samuel 2:30, “Them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.”
• So are you giving to God the honor and reverence that is due to Him? Do you ever get down on your face and bow before Him? Because that is the external sign of what your heart’s posture must become. And when your heart is proud, it is great remedy to put your face in the dust and remember from what the Lord made you.
• The Apostle Peter says in 2 Peter 1, that the Christian who lacks virtues like temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity, is a person who is “nearsighted even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.”
• In other words, we forget that God is the potter, and we are the clay. We forget the hell God saved us from and the heaven God saved us to. So give the supreme honor to the Supreme One, and then marvel at His promise that “Them that honour me I will honour.”
• May we attain to such honor by His grace, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.