Ever built a trap only to find yourself caught in it? There’s something deeply ironic about a schemer’s own devices becoming their undoing. Perhaps this is why it is seen in cartoons so often.

The name Haman often brings various connotations to mind of a prideful man, nursing grievances, plotting destruction, and of course his famously failed attempt to annihilate the Jewish people throughout the Persian Empire.

Haman was truly a man who knew how to live his life from grudge to grudge, insult to insult. A high-ranking official who couldn’t tolerate the one man who refused to bow before him.

Interestingly enough, he is also characterized by the spectacular reversal of his fortunes. During his lifetime, Haman rose to become second only to King Ahasuerus, yet his obsession with Mordecai’s perceived disrespect, whereas he refused to worship anyone other than God, consumed him entirely (Esther 3:2-5). He was a larger-than-life villain who thrived off the adoration and submission of others.

As much as I’m captivated by this biblical account, there is a reason that I mention this real-life figure from Scripture.

In my years of ministry, I’ve found that it is often way more enticing to take the Haman model of life—building platforms to elevate ourselves while planning the downfall of others—than to live in the wisdom and humility that God offers. This model of life often makes people live plotting session to plotting session, insult to insult, revenge scheme to revenge scheme, with the time in between confused and asking questions such as, “Why don’t I feel satisfied?” or “Why does my hatred consume me so?”

We see in Esther 5:14 that Haman built gallows fifty cubits high—approximately 75 feet tall—specifically for Mordecai. Yet through divine providence working through Queen Esther’s courage, Haman himself was hanged on those very gallows (Esther 7:9-10).

There came a point in my understanding of Scripture where I had to come to grips with what Solomon teaches us in Ecclesiastes 10:8, “He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.”

When we read Proverbs and Ecclesiastes alongside the narrative of Esther, something rather marvelous occurs. At this point, we have a position of clarity.

We see God’s sovereign hand guiding events even when He seems absent from the narrative. This is affirmed in Proverbs 26:27 where it can be read, “Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him.”

Likewise, Ecclesiastes 10:12-13 tells us about the self-destructive nature of foolishness: “The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.”

We are no longer surprised when we see throughout Scripture and life that the schemes of the foolish often become their own undoing. The gallows we build for others often become the instrument of our own destruction.

Let this be an encouragement as you move through your days. Be encouraged that in your plans and your decisions, in your relationships and your conflicts, in your successes and your failures, God’s wisdom offers a better path than foolish pride. As Solomon reminds us in Ecclesiastes, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom—and the end of the snare of foolishness.