This episode introduces Haman—the highly promoted official whose Amalekite ancestry makes him hate the Jews and drives him to plot their destruction throughout the empire. We see his rise to power, how by stealth he secured the king’s signet ring, and how he used it to issue an edict for the Jwish genocide. But God uses Haman's superstitious search for an auspicious date for action, to delay and ultimately frustrate his plans, demonstrating divine sovereignty over apparent chance.