Haman: Another Victim of Victory Disease (1)

In the past, there was a disease that would afflict many armies. During World War 2, the Japanese succumbed to this disease. After the Pearl Harbor attack, American soldiers could not defeat the Japanese army in battles at the Pacific and Southeast Asia. It was at the Battle of Midway that this disease overcame the Japanese and allowed America the victory. Going further back in time we can look at Napoleon and his army. He was a great tactician and his army was unbeatable. It was unbeatable until his army tried to invade Russia. 500,000 soldiers entered Russia but only 20,000 left alive. United States victories in the Mexican–American War and the Indian Wars made Union forces over-confident going into the American Civil War, losing their first battle. They expected quick victory. The Confederates similarly stereotyped the Union, at times leading to military disaster.

These are just a few examples of Victory Disease. This is a disease that affects an army when they allow pride to get in the way. They suffer from arrogance, overconfidence, complacency, a refusal to come up with new attack plans, stereotyping the enemy, and refusing to see the true  intelligence that their army is up against. This causes their army to suffer a humiliating defeat. “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18).

If one decides that he will be self dependant and forgets that he is dependant and in a lower position than God, he will fail. Pride is mentioned 46 times throughout the Bible. While it is not mentioned once in the book of Esther, there is one person, while he fought no battles to our knowledge, who came down with Victory Disease. His name was Haman, the son of Hammedatha. Haman was the type of man who, if they had phones during that time period, would have called his mother on her birthday just to remind him of how great of a son he was. He was the type of person, who literally thought that there should be a parade thrown in his honor.