Esther 9:18-32 - Celebrating Sorrow Turned to Pure Joy

Esther 9:18-32

The Feast of Purim

18 But the Jews who were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day, as well as on the fourteenth; and on the fifteenth of the month they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. 19 Therefore the Jews of the villages who dwelt in the unwalled towns celebrated the fourteenth day of the month of Adar with gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and for sending presents to one another.

20 And Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, 21 to establish among them that they should celebrate yearly the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, 22 as the days on which the Jews had rest from their enemies, as the month which was turned from sorrow to joy for them, and from mourning to a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and joy, of sending presents to one another and gifts to the poor. 23 So the Jews accepted the custom which they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them, 24 because Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to annihilate them, and had cast Pur (that is, the lot), to consume them and destroy them; 25 but when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letter that this wicked plot which Haman had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

26 So they called these days Purim, after the name Pur. Therefore, because of all the words of this letter, what they had seen concerning this matter, and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews established and imposed it upon themselves and their descendants and all who would join them, that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year, according to the written instructions and according to the prescribed time, 28 that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants.

29 Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter about Purim. 30 And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews, to the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth, 31 to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had prescribed for them, and as they had decreed for themselves and their descendants concerning matters of their fasting and lamenting. 32 So the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim, and it was written in the book.

These celebrated the turning of sorrow facing destruction to the joy of salvation from a certain annihilating death at the hand of the adversary of God’s own chosen people.  They named it Purim as if the lots of chance were cast (Esther 3:6, 7) by the enemy to destroy them all, but God cast His grace in their favor to deliver them instead.  They then celebrated their deliverance from Haman's destruction through queen Esther's heroic actions with a holiday of gladness and feasting and sent each other presents presents to commemorate and honor the present of life given to them through her actions as the hand of God’s providence.  Their sorrow was turned to joy and mourning to celebration at the turning of evil intent turned back on their wicked adversary Haman to his own destruction in place of theirs.  We find a picture of our own salvation, our deliverance from the destruction of sin at the hand of our adversary (Psalm 30:11, John 16:20, Revelation 21:4) in the work of Jesus Christ who turned the lots of the enemy cast against us in the Garden into joy and celebration of our forgiveness on the cross that He reconciled us back to Himself and defeated death set against us as God’s own people.  Just as the first chosen people of the LORD celebrate their deliverance from physical death in Purim, we now celebrate our eternal spiritual deliverance in remembering the work of Christ in the Lord’s Supper as we commune with Him joyfully together, and even exchange presents celebrating His birth at Christmas when God became man (John 1:1, 14, 12) whom we received to save us from the adversary.  Just as they had appointed times to celebrate their deliverance, so we have these times to remember the ultimate deliverance from the greater enemy (1 Peter 5:8, 1 Corinthians 15:24-26, Revelation 12:12, 17) set against us for our destruction because we are the children of the Lord.  We celebrate knowing that we have been and are being and will be ever delivered (2 Corinthians 1:10, 2 Peter 2:9) into His kingdom until His return.  The day set for our destruction cast by the lot of man has been turned into the day of deliverance in God’s Son.  May we therefore face sin’s threat of judgment and inevitable destruction with our certain deliverance through the cross as we celebrate hopeless sorrow turned to everlasting joy and peace in our Lord who saved us from our lot in this world.  Amen! 

Esther 9:1-17 - Overpowering Evil Intent and Actions

Esther 9:1-17

The Jews Destroy Their Tormentors

1 Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, the time came for the king’s command and his decree to be executed. On the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, the opposite occurred, in that the Jews themselves overpowered those who hated them. 2 The Jews gathered together in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could withstand them, because fear of them fell upon all people. 3 And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and all those doing the king’s work, helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. 4 For Mordecai was great in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for this man Mordecai became increasingly prominent. 5 Thus the Jews defeated all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, with slaughter and destruction, and did what they pleased with those who hated them.

6 And in Shushan the citadel the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. 7 Also Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vajezatha— 10 the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews—they killed; but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

11 On that day the number of those who were killed in Shushan the citadel was brought to the king. 12 And the king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the citadel, and the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It shall be granted to you. Or what is your further request? It shall be done.”

13 Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do again tomorrow according to today’s decree, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”

14 So the king commanded this to be done; the decree was issued in Shushan, and they hanged Haman’s ten sons.

15 And the Jews who were in Shushan gathered together again on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and killed three hundred men at Shushan; but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

16 The remainder of the Jews in the king’s provinces gathered together and protected their lives, had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of their enemies; but they did not lay a hand on the plunder. 17 This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. And on the fourteenth of the month they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

When the appointed day arrived for the edict of Haman to destroy and kill the people of the LORD, the second legal ruling allowed the Jews who had been preparing to overcome the evil meant for them, themselves overpowered those who hated them.  They killed those set on their demise instead and had free reign to defeat all their enemies with the sword, with slaughter and destruction, and did what they pleased with those who hated them as it is written here.  They eliminated the enemies of the Jews—but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.  It was not about personal gain, but survival to eliminate the threat.  The king asked what more the queen wanted after that day, and she requested that the next day be allowed to continue the fight, and that the ten sons of the deceased evil adversary Haman be hung as he had been to stop the antisemitism in its tracks.  Thus the Jews across the land gathered together and protected their lives and had rest from their enemies, yet still did not plunder their enemies for personal gain.  Afterwards, they rested and celebrated with gladness in a great feast of thanksgiving.  We can learn from this that God protects His own in the end, bringing destruction on the destroyer of God’s people in the end, but we are not as them in enacting our own vengeance for our survival in the midst of persecution for the gospel’s sake; instead, we rely on the King of kings to enact His vengeance (Psalm 94:1, Romans 12:19, 2 Thessalonians 1:8, 2 Peter 2:12-13, 3:7, Jude 1:7) on the great day of judgment when the adversary and all who side with him, angelic or human beings, are held to account and we the people of the Lord are safe forever in His kingdom to come on earth at last.  The Lord is the avenger of such who will overpower evil intent and actions in the end.  It is He who put His Son in the right place and time to accomplish these things for such a time as this, similar to placing Esther in her place for such a time as that. 

Esther 8:1-17 - Evil Returned on its Head

Esther 8:1-17

Esther Saves the Jews

1 On that day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. 2 So the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman.

3 Now Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet, and implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman the Agagite, and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews. 4 And the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king, 5 and said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. 6 For how can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen?”

7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “Indeed, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he tried to lay his hand on the Jews. 8 You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, as you please, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring; for whatever is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring no one can revoke.”

9 So the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day; and it was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the princes of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all, to every province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language. 10 And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed it with the king’s signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback, riding on royal horses bred from swift steeds.

11 By these letters the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to gather together and protect their lives—to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them, both little children and women, and to plunder their possessions, 12 on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. 13 A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province and published for all people, so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. 14 The couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in Shushan the citadel.

15 So Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. 16 The Jews had light and gladness, joy and honor. 17 And in every province and city, wherever the king’s command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a holiday. Then many of the people of the land became Jews, because fear of the Jews fell upon them.

The evil brought by the adversary of God’s people was turned on its head through the wisdom given to Mordecai.  The initial decree set in stone of the law that could not be revoked was countered by allowing the victims to group together and destroy, kill, and annihilate all those who would assault them, both little children and women, and to plunder their possessions, just as the edict from evil Haman’s hands had set in law against God’s chosen people of whom the king now knew were Queen Esther and her cousin’s countrymen.  The law set in stone was countered by none giving the victims the right to defend themselves and further enact retribution using the same methods against anyone and everyone set against them to destroy, kill, and annihilate (Esther 3:13) them as a people.  This was the justice given by the LORD of His people, even though His name is not explicitly spelled out in this account.  This decree of protection and turning an evil intent upon the Jews was turned around on the adversary and all who hated God’s people with him.  Likewise, in the final day of judgment, all who side with the adversary of all the chosen people of the Lord in Christ will suffer the same fate set in stone by God’s word (1 Peter 4:17, 5:8, 2 Peter 2:4, 17, Hebrews 10:26-27, Jude 1:6) unless they Ruth from sin to Him and have His royal laws written on their hearts (Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 8:10, 2 Corinthians 3:3) by Him.  His law written on our hearts, minds, and souls is irrevocable and defends against all attempts of the adversary to kill and destroy (John 10:10, Revelation 12:10) or attempt to annihilate anyone who belongs to God in Christ.  We are held in His mighty and all-powerful hand of grace by the One who has turned the attempts of the adversary to destroy us by sin through the sacrifice of God’s Son to pay the price of the fall and set the law against him who would destroy us.  The Lord has crushed the evil one (Genesis 3:15, Romans 16:20) and given us freedom (Hebrews 2:14, 15, 1 Corinthians 15:56-57) from the punishment of the Law (Galatians 3:13-14, Colossians 2:13, 14) which was left nailed to the cross, and has given a new decree (Psalm 133:3) of forgiveness and eternal life.  Evil has been returned on its own head by the grace and power of the decree by God in His Son. 

Esther 7:1-10 - The Adversary’s Aim to Kill and Destroy

Esther 7:1-10

Haman Hanged Instead of Mordecai

1 So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. 2 And on the second day, at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”

3 Then Queen Esther answered and said, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. 4 For we have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss.”

5 So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?”

6 And Esther said, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!”

So Haman was terrified before the king and queen.

7 Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. 8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?”

As the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, “Look! The gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.”

Then the king said, “Hang him on it!”

10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided.

We see how Queen Esther had planned the banquets with the King and Haman to expose the wicked adversary who sold the Jews to be destroyed, killed, and utterly annihilated (Esther 3:13) in his hatred for God’s people.  She petitioned the Monarch to meet and hear this revelation with the guilty instigator who falsified accusations against Esther’s people for personal gain (Esther 3:8, 9) and hatred for those like Mordecai who refused to bow down (Esther 3:1-2, 5-6) to this self-important and proud adversary.  When King Ahasuerus heard this, he demanded to know who this scoundrel was and she immediately pointed at the terrified Haman there with them as the evil one, their enemy and adversary.  After the king walked off into the garden to cool off and consider what to do to the man he had elevated to such a high position in the kingdom, he returned to find Haman begging for his life while throwing himself on her.  The king then addressed this assault on his wife with the aim to deal harshly straightaway with him.  A servant pointed out that there was a fresh fifty-foot high cubits gallows ready made for such a time as this, and the king’s wrath moved his command to immediately issue the order, “Hang him on it!”  Only then did the king truly begin to cool down from his indignant rage against the man he had trusted and had planned the evil against his queen and her people, his loyal servants like Mordecai who had found such high honor in his court and been so falsely accused for the adversary’s personal gain and vendetta.  This is how the King of kings will deal with the adversary of all His people on the day of final judgment; He will take the one who once walked in His heavenly court (Job 1:6) and fell from grace by insolent pride (Isaiah 14:12-13, Luke 10:18, John 12:31, Revelation 12:8-9), only to rebel further against the Lord and His Kingdom in his aim to kill and destroy (John 10:10, 1 Peter 5:8, Revelation 12:17) God’s people in Christ.  He will meet his end in the end and God’s people will be spared the everlasting death of torment (1 John 4:18) in the lake of fire prepared like the gallows in this account for the adversary and the angels and others (Matthew 25:41, Jude 1:6) who have chosen to follow in pride against the word of the Lord, the gospel of eternal life.  The King of all will utter the final judgment of eternal condemnation as a consequence of the adversary’s pride and rebellion along with all who continue in his sin without repentance and faith (John 3:36, 5:24, 1 John 5:13, 2 Thessalonians 1:8) in God’s word, His Son.  The adversary thought to hang God’s Son on the tree of our curse (Galatians 3:13), our sin of rebellion instigated by him in Eden, but God has accused our accuser (Revelation 12:9, 10) and sentenced him to this fate just as the earthly king dealt with Haman.  Though the adversary still seeks to kill and destroy God’s people, he is the one to meet the fate intended for us by his futile efforts, since the Lord and King has given us life and spared us from the shared consequences of sin we all deserve for our ancestor’s rebellion instigated the Garden at the influence and aim of the adversary to destroy God’s people.  The irony is that the price has been paid by the King for us to give life and not destroy us in His immense grace! 

Esther 6:1-14 - Honor in the Court!

Esther 6:1-14

The King Honors Mordecai

1 That night the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. 2 And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 3 Then the king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?”

And the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”

4 So the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

5 The king’s servants said to him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.”
And the king said, “Let him come in.”

6 So Haman came in, and the king asked him, “What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?”

Now Haman thought in his heart, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” 7 And Haman answered the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, 8 let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal crest placed on its head. 9 Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then parade him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’”

10 Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king’s gate! Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken.”

11 So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!”

12 Afterward Mordecai went back to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered. 13 When Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him.”

14 While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs came, and hastened to bring Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.

God used a sleepless night to bring the account of Mordecai who warned of a plot and saved the king, but then was buried in the written government records.  He had some chronicled accounts read to him and that is when he first heard of the faithful Mordecai who overheard the plot and warned the king to save his life from two of the king’s eunuchs who were his doorkeepers.  When King Ahasuerus then asked if Mordecai had been honored for his loyal service and discovered that nothing had been done to reward him, the king asked for an opinion from anyone in the court what honor should be bestowed on such a man.  At that precise time, Haman walked in after gloating over his just completed gallows to suggest the king hang the Jew.  The question posed to him by the king stopped him dead.  The ask was what should the king do for a man he wanted to honor, and the arrogant Haman assumed he was the recipient.  He proposed that a royal robe be given the recipient and one of the king’s horses with a royal crown be given to parade the honored recipient through the city center with shouts of how this is due to the one the king shows honor to.  The king then gave Haman the real name of the honoree, Mordecai the Jew, who sat in the king’s gate keeping watch.  Of course, Haman’s heart sank in him at the letdown from that announcement, and he was further humiliated as he had to lead the Jew he hated through town to receive the honor he expected for himself but went to the real one worthy of honor instead.  He afterwards went home and bemoaned his sad estate to his wife who warned him that he would surely fall before Mordecai if he pursued his vendetta further because he was a Jew, showing the people must have known that they were God’s people under His protection.  Just as she finished warning her husband, the king’s servants came to take him quickly to Esther’s next banquet (Esther 5:7-8) as promised where her mysterious request to the king would finally be made known.  There was honor in the court as the king recognized Mordecai for his faithfulness, and the just due coming to Haman was about to come to light in the following chapter.  God shows honor in His royal court to those who are faithful (1 Samuel 2:30, Matthew 25:23, 1 Corinthians 4:2) to Him, but those opposed to Him and His own will face His judgment in the highest court at the last day if not sooner first.  May we count ourselves honored to honor Him and be honored then by our faith and resulting obedience as we hear, “honor in the court!”

Esther 5:1-14 - A Banquet and an Accounting

Esther 5:1-14

Esther’s Banquet

1 Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the house. 2 So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter.

3 And the king said to her, “What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you—up to half the kingdom!”

4 So Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”

5 Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, that he may do as Esther has said.” So the king and Haman went to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

6 At the banquet of wine the king said to Esther, “What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”

7 Then Esther answered and said, “My petition and request is this: 8 If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, then let the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.”

Haman’s Plot Against Mordecai

9 So Haman went out that day joyful and with a glad heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, and that he did not stand or tremble before him, he was filled with indignation against Mordecai. 10 Nevertheless Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and called for his friends and his wife Zeresh. 11 Then Haman told them of his great riches, the multitude of his children, everything in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and servants of the king.

12 Moreover Haman said, “Besides, Queen Esther invited no one but me to come in with the king to the banquet that she prepared; and tomorrow I am again invited by her, along with the king. 13 Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

14 Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows be made, fifty cubits high, and in the morning suggest to the king that Mordecai be hanged on it; then go merrily with the king to the banquet.”

And the thing pleased Haman; so he had the gallows made.

The day of reckoning arrived and Esther stood in the court before the king, boldly uninvited, and she found favor in his sight as the king held out his golden scepter to allow her approach without the penalty of death as the law (Esther 4:11) dictated.  The king loved her so much that he not only instantly let her approach the throne of that grace (as we do now to the King of kings in Hebrews 4:16) and offered anything she desired, even up to half of his kingdom!  He listened to the request to attend a banquet she prepared and had the traitor adversary Haman invited also as part of the request.  While the two of them enjoyed her banquet, the king once more asked what she wanted and the answer was the same, to attend yet another banquet together.  Haman the adversary left with a light step and joy in his heart, supposing to gain something from this, yet was indignant when seeing Mordecai refuse to bow to him of tremble in fear when he passed him in the gate of the king.  He restrained himself in the face of his promotion by the king and the honor of being invited twice to a banquet with him and the queen.  Yet even these things barely made his joy return knowing that the Jew at the gate did not bow or honor him.  He listened to the bad advice of his wife and friends to build a gallows and suggest to the king to hang Mordecai on it at the next banquet, going joyfully to the meeting with this purpose to end the issue of disrespect once and for all.  The best laid plans of men are like tiny mice in God’s sight as Haman was about to find out how the grace of the LORD to Esther by the king would lead to his accountability to the King of the Jews at the end of a rope he intended for a righteous man.  We think then of the adversary trying to end the life of God’s Son on a cross that ended our curse of sin (Galatians 3:13) we are accused of by him, and how the grace to boldly approach the King of kings (Hebrews 4:16) continues now in Him as we await the noose of the lake of fire for the devil and his angels who constantly accuses us (Revelation 12:10, 17, Romans 16:20, Genesis 3:15) now with plans to end us as His people.  He will be cast down in defeat as certainly as Haman for attempting to destroy God’s people.  We will attend the banquet of the Lord (Luke 14:15, Revelation 19:7-8) and he will be held to account in the end. 

Esther 4:1-17 - Defending God’s People

Esther 4:1-17

Esther Agrees to Help the Jews

1 When Mordecai learned all that had happened, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city. He cried out with a loud and bitter cry. 2 He went as far as the front of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. 3 And in every province where the king’s command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

4 So Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her, and the queen was deeply distressed. Then she sent garments to clothe Mordecai and take his sackcloth away from him, but he would not accept them. 5 Then Esther called Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs whom he had appointed to attend her, and she gave him a command concerning Mordecai, to learn what and why this was. 6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square that was in front of the king’s gate. 7 And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries to destroy the Jews. 8 He also gave him a copy of the written decree for their destruction, which was given at Shushan, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her, and that he might command her to go in to the king to make supplication to him and plead before him for her people. 9 So Hathach returned and told Esther the words of Mordecai.

10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a command for Mordecai: 11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days.” 12 So they told Mordecai Esther’s words.

13 And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”

17 So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him.

Esther defended God’s people, laying down her life before the king unannounced as she opposed custom to address the plight of her people put at risk due to a law put in place deceitfully by the adversary.  She had found out from her cousin and guardian, Mordecai, about the plot of Haman who had the law passed and promised to give money to the kingdom treasury to have the Jews destroyed.  He was lamenting their imminent demise when she asked him why and discovered the plot.  He pleaded with Esther to approach the king to explain how the treacherous Haman had played the king to his own hateful ends, and she told him plainly that if she went without being summoned she would face the death penalty unless the king raised his royal scepter to allow the intrusion.  Would we approach our elected leaders to stand for the truth in defense of God’s people in Christ if such a law to legalize murder was plotted against us?  For Esther, she faced this problem with the reality that she herself would also be killed because she was one of the targeted ones.  The Jews might be saved from complete destruction by God using someone else to do what she might refuse to do, but she and her family would certainly die.  She had to see the bigger picture of God’s sovereign choice to put her, a hated Jew, in the place of a queen for such a time as this to make a difference for the kingdom of God and not just the earthly kingdom she was presently living in with her exiled countrymen.  She then determined in her heart to approach the king unannounced and open to the death penalty, only asking that all her people fast for three days before she did so, likely praying to the LORD as they did so, even if not explicitly spelled out here in these verses, for that was the way (2 Chronicles 20:3, Ezra 8:23) of her people to search out God’s will and intervening help.  The LORD God was not mentioned by name, but by explanation and inference He is forefront in His sovereignty by putting Esther in this place for a time like this.  Who knows when or with whom the Lord will place one of us in such a position by grace to influence the powers of the land for the good of His people, not for a political cause, but for the good of others in Christ to worship without fear of death by hate in such a time as this?  He truly works all things in history (Romans 8:28) for the good of those who know and love Him until He returns.  By faith we should therefore lay down our lives (John 10:15, 15:13, 1 John 3:16) for our own when we find ourselves faced with a time like this when put into a place to make a difference as tools of grace and mercy in His mighty hands. 

Esther 3:1-15 - Decree to Kill and Destroy God’s People

Esther 3:1-15

Haman’s Conspiracy Against the Jews

1 After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him. 2 And all the king’s servants who were within the king’s gate bowed and paid homage to Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai would not bow or pay homage. 3 Then the king’s servants who were within the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the king’s command?” 4 Now it happened, when they spoke to him daily and he would not listen to them, that they told it to Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand; for Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew. 5 When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow or pay him homage, Haman was filled with wrath. 6 But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him of the people of Mordecai. Instead, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus—the people of Mordecai.

7 In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur (that is, the lot), before Haman to determine the day and the month, until it fell on the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.

8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”

10 So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 And the king said to Haman, “The money and the people are given to you, to do with them as seems good to you.”

12 Then the king’s scribes were called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and a decree was written according to all that Haman commanded—to the king’s satraps, to the governors who were over each province, to the officials of all people, to every province according to its script, and to every people in their language. In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written, and sealed with the king’s signet ring. 13 And the letters were sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their possessions. 14 A copy of the document was to be issued as law in every province, being published for all people, that they should be ready for that day. 15 The couriers went out, hastened by the king’s command; and the decree was proclaimed in Shushan the citadel. So the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Shushan was perplexed.

We see the hate of the adversary whose aim is to kill and destroy (John 10:10) God’s people, to attempt to annihilate them, when we find he will be annihilated and destroyed in the everlasting lake of fiery torment (2 Peter 2:4, Matthew 13:40, 43, 25:41) prepared for him, the fallen angels who chose rebellion, and all others rejecting the hope of eternal life in the work and grace of Christ by faith.  The adversary moved Haman to deceive King Ahasuerus into signing a death warrant on all God’s people in this passage, and moves throughout history since God’s Son came to deceive and destroy His people until His return and sentencing of the destruction of all who rebel against the LORD.  Mordecai would not bow or pay homage to the evil Haman; instead, Haman in his pride and arrogant hatred of the LORD listened to the destroyer, just as Judas later would do for thirty pieces of silver in an attempt to stop the eternal welfare and deliverance (Revelation 12:9-10, 17) of God’s people.  Letters and laws may go against the people of the Lord for a time as we observe even now in the twenty-first century, but in the end we are delivered and the evil rebellious ones will suffer (Matthew 13:39-40, 41-42, 43, 2 Peter 2:17, Jude 1:6) according to their own devices instead.  The devil’s decree through the laws of the nations to kill and destroy God’s work and people will fail in the end and we will find peace and rest from these present pressing times of adversity (Matthew 24:9, John 16:33) set against us upon His return as promised, and we know that He who promised is eternally faithful.  We need not be perplexed as the Jews in this passage were when the adversary attempted to annihilate them.  We know it is because of the Word of God that we suffer until that Day of Final Judgment, and take heart in knowing the end of us all. 

Esther 2:1-23 - Honoring the King and Kingdom

Esther 2:1-23

Esther Becomes Queen

1 After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus subsided, he remembered Vashti, what she had done, and what had been decreed against her. 2 Then the king’s servants who attended him said: “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king; 3 and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to Shushan the citadel, into the women’s quarters, under the custody of Hegai the king’s eunuch, custodian of the women. And let beauty preparations be given them. 4 Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.”

This thing pleased the king, and he did so.

5 In Shushan the citadel there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. 6 Kish had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been captured with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. 7 And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

8 So it was, when the king’s command and decree were heard, and when many young women were gathered at Shushan the citadel, under the custody of Hegai, that Esther also was taken to the king’s palace, into the care of Hegai the custodian of the women. 9 Now the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor; so he readily gave beauty preparations to her, besides her allowance. Then seven choice maidservants were provided for her from the king’s palace, and he moved her and her maidservants to the best place in the house of the women.

10 Esther had not revealed her people or family, for Mordecai had charged her not to reveal it. 11 And every day Mordecai paced in front of the court of the women’s quarters, to learn of Esther’s welfare and what was happening to her.

12 Each young woman’s turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had completed twelve months’ preparation, according to the regulations for the women, for thus were the days of their preparation apportioned: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women. 13 Thus prepared, each young woman went to the king, and she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the women’s quarters to the king’s palace. 14 In the evening she went, and in the morning she returned to the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who kept the concubines. She would not go in to the king again unless the king delighted in her and called for her by name.

15 Now when the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised. And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her. 16 So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. 17 The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. 18 Then the king made a great feast, the Feast of Esther, for all his officials and servants; and he proclaimed a holiday in the provinces and gave gifts according to the generosity of a king.

Mordecai Discovers a Plot

19 When virgins were gathered together a second time, Mordecai sat within the king’s gate. 20 Now Esther had not revealed her family and her people, just as Mordecai had charged her, for Esther obeyed the command of Mordecai as when she was brought up by him.

21 In those days, while Mordecai sat within the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, doorkeepers, became furious and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 22 So the matter became known to Mordecai, who told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai’s name. 23 And when an inquiry was made into the matter, it was confirmed, and both were hanged on a gallows; and it was written in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.

When the king recovered from his anger at the betrayal and dishonor of his vanquished queen Vashti, he began to interview young woman, something like dating, to find one who pleased him and honored the position and kingdom to become queen instead of Vashti as he had promised to do.  Mordecai was an exiled Jew who had brought up Hadassah (Esther) his uncle’s daughter.  She was both a pleasant person and quite beautiful on the outside as well, and was gathered up by the king’s servants to be presented as a potential queen if pleasing to him and chosen to that place of honor by his side to rule in the role that Vashti had nearly destroyed by her ugly dishonor to her husband and her role.  Esther, the cousin and adopted daughter of Mordecai, of the tribe of Benjamin, was advised not to reveal she was Jewish because of both disdain for her people and for her status as a captive of the realm.  Mordecai was concerned for her and paced back and forth outside the women’s quarters where this beauty preparation was being performed that he might know if she would be the one.  Esther wisely took only the advice of the man in charge of the women’s preparations and it paid off handsomely.  The king loved Esther more than all the others, and she found grace and favor in his sight and in his heart, not just for her outward beauty, but of the hidden person (Proverbs 31:30-31, 1 Peter 3:3-4) of her heart in the LORD of her people.  The king threw a huge celebration while Mordecai overheard a plot to kill the king.  He told Esther who told the king in her cousin’s name and the conspirators were immediately hung when the case was proven to be true.  God used the position of Esther to relay the plot uncovered by Mordecai to bring them both honor in time because the LORD put them there in that kingdom where He had exiled His people to until their restoration in Jerusalem came to pass at last.  The Lord will sometimes do the same with us, putting us in circumstances and places (2 Corinthians 1:8, 9-10, 2 Peter 2:9) of grace to find favor in others to be enabled to bring the good news to others to reconcile and restore them as He foils the adversary’s plot to destroy God’s chosen people in Christ.  King Ahasuerus found his favored Queen who honored the LORD as we find the favored King who has honored His Farther and was honored by Him (Matthew 17:5, 2 Peter 1:17) in heaven and raised us up in His grace to reign with Him.  May we obediently honor the King and His Kingdom in God’s grace as Esther did, and not as Vashti who dishonored the king and the kingdom. 

Esther 1:1-22 - Banished Queen of Dishonoring Disobedience

Esther 1:1-22

The King Dethrones Queen Vashti

1 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus (this was the Ahasuerus who reigned over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India to Ethiopia), 2 in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the citadel, 3 that in the third year of his reign he made a feast for all his officials and servants—the powers of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the princes of the provinces being before him— 4 when he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty for many days, one hundred and eighty days in all.

5 And when these days were completed, the king made a feast lasting seven days for all the people who were present in Shushan the citadel, from great to small, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace. 6 There were white and blue linen curtains fastened with cords of fine linen and purple on silver rods and marble pillars; and the couches were of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of alabaster, turquoise, and white and black marble. 7 And they served drinks in golden vessels, each vessel being different from the other, with royal wine in abundance, according to the generosity of the king. 8 In accordance with the law, the drinking was not compulsory; for so the king had ordered all the officers of his household, that they should do according to each man’s pleasure.

9 Queen Vashti also made a feast for the women in the royal palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus.

10 On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, 11 to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown, in order to show her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was beautiful to behold. 12 But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs; therefore the king was furious, and his anger burned within him.

13 Then the king said to the wise men who understood the times (for this was the king’s manner toward all who knew law and justice, 14 those closest to him being Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who had access to the king’s presence, and who ranked highest in the kingdom): 15 “What shall we do to Queen Vashti, according to law, because she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerus brought to her by the eunuchs?”

16 And Memucan answered before the king and the princes: “Queen Vashti has not only wronged the king, but also all the princes, and all the people who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. 17 For the queen’s behavior will become known to all women, so that they will despise their husbands in their eyes, when they report, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in before him, but she did not come.’ 18 This very day the noble ladies of Persia and Media will say to all the king’s officials that they have heard of the behavior of the queen. Thus there will be excessive contempt and wrath. 19 If it pleases the king, let a royal decree go out from him, and let it be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it will not be altered, that Vashti shall come no more before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she. 20 When the king’s decree which he will make is proclaimed throughout all his empire (for it is great), all wives will honor their husbands, both great and small.”

21 And the reply pleased the king and the princes, and the king did according to the word of Memucan. 22 Then he sent letters to all the king’s provinces, to each province in its own script, and to every people in their own language, that each man should be master in his own house, and speak in the language of his own people.

King Ahasuerus was sitting on the throne of his kingdom in Shushan the citadel and threw an immense party, inviting all under his rule from India to Ethiopia, including also those of Media and Persia under his reign.  For one hundred and eighty days he displayed all the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty before all he invited to demonstrate his prosperity and theirs under him.  It escapes the imagination to visualize such a magnificent event and the importance of his image and reputation of absolute rule, so when he asked his queen to come join him in front of all these guests and she outrightly refused, choosing instead to remain at her own event with the women of the palace, he was outraged at her disobedience to honor her royal responsibilities and made him look powerless and foolish in front of all his citizens and servants.  He was stopped from showing her beauty to the people and the officials and dishonored the crown she wore.  The king consulted with the highest officials who understood the law of the kingdom and they acknowledged that she had severely wronged the king, all the princes, and all the people in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus represented there.  The royal example set by the queen’s behavior would become known to all women and they in turn would find it acceptable that they will despise their husbands as her bad example empowered them.  It would be anarchy in that type of society and cause anger and resentment among all the wives of the people from the princes to the paupers.  Therefore the advice of the wise legal minds was for the king to dethrone her and find a suitable substitute to replace her as queen of the realm before any more disruption occurred.  The edict was set in writing that could not be altered or rescinded, and the king decreed by proclamation throughout all the immense empire that all wives would honor their husbands, whether great and small in standing.  He sent the result to all the provinces in their own languages to keep their position of respect in their marriages and to go on speaking in their own tongues even though under the law of the land with its own language.  Queen Vashti was not heard from again for the near riot of disobedience and disrespect she had stirred up, but the king had stopped it from spreading and would eventually seek to replace her as we see later in this historical account.  Therefore the lesson we have seen from this is not to subjugate or control wives, but to have the roles of respect and honor upheld from both wife and husband to honor God (1 Peter 3:7) in the examples set to the world (Ephesians 5:33, Colossians 3:18-19, 1 Peter 3:1, 5-6) that is looking in at believers who seek to please the Lord and not themselves for control or to meet the expectations of society.  Mutual respect in the roles of marriage is God’s intent, not banishment or divorce for disobedience or dishonor.