Honor to whom honor is due

Honor to whom honor is due

Why would Mordecai refuse to bow to Haman?  The background is complicated so let me try to give the simple version so I can make my point about honor.  In the days of Saul, God instructed him to clean out the Amalakites from the region.  Saul won the battle in 1 Samuel 15, but spared King Agag against God’s instruction.  As Saul was the son of Kish, a Benjamite, so was Mordecai.  Since Saul’s mercy resulted in the survival of this insufferable leader named Haman, Mordecai refused to give honor to a man who should not have survived the purge of God by Saul 500 years earlier.  This gives me three questions I must ask and answer to understand this story.

1)      Should honor have been given? According to Romans 13 we are to be subject to those in authority over us.  We are bound by God’s moral law to be obedient to the laws of the land.  If we are in violation, we face the penalty and make things right!  We are not exempt nor do believers claim that political leaders have no right to govern.

2)      If honor is withheld, why?  So far, all we have seen of Mordecai is submissive behavior and his advice to Esther.  When the plot to assassinate Xerxes was uncovered, it was Mordecai who reported it to save the King’s life!  This does not sound like a man who is seeking revenge or trying to express rebellion. 

3)      If civil disobedience is chosen how do we deal with the consequences?  We will never know, but I can imagine that Mordecai was very well aware that his refusal to bow before Haman had been noticed and reported.  Mordecai knew that Haman held the power of death in his hand and the willingness to exert that power in his heart.  Mordecai did not shrink from his convictions just because the price was high – he felt that honor was not due so he did not give it!            

Since Mordecai did not refuse because he was rebellious or prideful or sullen, we must believe his risk of the King’s displeasure had to be based in something else.  Mordecai faced death at the hand of Haman and only sought the Lord’s deliverance as the wrath of Haman exceeded himself.  Haman sought to reverse the Lord’s instruction regarding Amalakites and instead this descendant of Agag would have the last laugh on Jehovah by annihilating the entire Jewish race! 

However, God will not be defeated!  I don’t care if you are as powerful as a Pharaoh, as angry as Haman, or as big as Goliath!  God will not lose!  We must not be afraid to accept the role of objector and we must not be reluctant to bear the consequences of our choices. 

There may come a day when our choices are:  concede our convictions and bow or remain standing to be counted by God and targeted by men.