Do Not Bow!

In Esther 3, the King promoted Haman and advanced him over all the princes who were with him. The king gave a command concerning Haman that all the servants who served at the gate were to bow to him to pay him homage. Mordecai who was the Uncle of Queen Esther, refused to bow to Haman. The other servants tried to appeal to Mordecai and told him that he was disobeying the king’s order. He told them that he was a Jew and so it was against his custom to bow to anyone, other than God. He was obeying the laws written by Moses to the Jews which warned against idolatry. “you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me” ‭‭(Exodus‬ ‭20‬:‭5‬). Haman was angry when he learnt that Mordecai didn’t bow to him, because of his religion. He made up in his mind to destroy him and everyone like him, who served the true and living God. 

In the book of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who were captives in Babylon were also tempted with idolatry. In Daniel 3, the king Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide. He called all of his officials to come for a dedication of the image. He arranged for musicians to play as part of the ceremony and the instruction was that everyone should bow when the music played. “and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace” (Daniel‬ ‭3‬:‭6‬). The Chaldeans went to the king to report the behaviour of the Jewish men who refused to bow to the image. The king sent for them and asked them if the reports which he heard was true. They confirmed what the king heard and explained that they would not bow to the image which the king had set up. They were confident that God would save them and even if he didn’t, they would still not bow.  Their refusal infuriated the King so that he had the furnace heated seven times hotter and commanded that they be thrown in. 

In Matthew 4, Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and nights and he was hungry and more than likely tired and weary. Satan first tempted him with food and asked him to turn stones into bread. Jesus reminded him that the bible says, that we should not live by bread alone. The final temptation was for Jesus to bow down to satan and worship him. The promise was to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve’ ”” ‭‭(Matthew‬ ‭4‬:‭10‬). Worship was made for God alone and is an act of intimacy with him. It centres on our relationship with God, our understanding of who he is and his sovereignty. From creation until today, the devil has always strived to take our worship away from God and place it unto himself. Haman had become aggrandised and incensed by the devil to challenge Mordecai.

The devil wasn’t satisfied with destroying Mordecai, but wanted to take out all of the Jews, because of their conviction to worship God alone. Nothing takes God by surprise and before Haman could think up his plot, God had strategically positioned Esther in the palace. She gained favour with the king and instead of the Jews and Mordecai being annihilated, Haman was hanged and the Jews given the right to defend themselves against their enemies. God stepped into the fire with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and they didn’t even smell like smoke. Jesus was never going to bow to satan, even in his moment of hunger and weakness. Although the devil is the god of this world, God is supreme over all the earth and everything belongs to him. We may never be asked to bow to a golden statue, a prince or another person. Satan is crafty and deceptive and he is always looking for ways to take our worship away from God and put it on himself. Idolatry can creep into our lives in many ways and anything or any person that takes away our worship and devotion from God has caused us to bow. 

There is nothing on this earth that is worth coming between us and God. God is all powerful, all knowing, omnipotent, omniscient and he knows the end from the beginning. Don’t compromise your relationship with God for clout, fame, money, popularity or any material possession. The things on this earth have no lasting value and we cannot take anything with us in the grave. The only thing that will last beyond this life is our relationship with God. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul” ‭‭(Mark‬ ‭8‬:‭36‬-‭37‬)?

Anneta Pinto-Young