The Night the King Couldn’t Sleep

The Story

Haman was the most powerful official in Persia, and he hated a Jewish man named Mordecai, because Mordecai refused to bow down to him. Haman’s hatred grew so large that he arranged a law to wipe out every Jewish person in the empire.

One evening Haman went home in a rage after seeing Mordecai at the king’s gate. His wife and friends had a suggestion: build a gallows seventy-five feet high, and in the morning, ask the king to hang Mordecai on it. Haman loved the idea and had it built that night.

But that same night, King Ahasuerus couldn’t sleep.

To pass the time, he asked for the royal records to be read to him. And of all the pages in the book, the servant read the one about the time Mordecai had uncovered a plot to assassinate the king. Years earlier, Mordecai had saved the king’s life, and he had never been rewarded.

“What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this?” the king asked. “Nothing,” his servants said.

Just then, Haman walked into the court, coming to ask for Mordecai’s death. Before he could speak, the king asked him, “What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour?” Haman thought the king meant him. So he described a royal robe, a king’s horse, and a parade through the city.

“Make haste,” said the king, “and do even so to Mordecai the Jew.”

Haman spent the morning leading Mordecai through the streets in royal robes, shouting his praises. Before long, the gallows Haman had built for Mordecai would be used for Haman himself.

Reflection