Esther 8
On that same day King Xerxes gave the property of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Then Mordecai was brought before the king, for Esther had told the king how they were related. The king took off his signet ring—which he had taken back from Haman—and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s property. [Another power shift: Mordecai is given the role that was once Haman’s.]
Then Esther went again before the king, falling down at his feet and begging him with tears to stop the evil plot devised by Haman the Agagite against the Jews. [Pay attention to the posture change here. Her first request is calculated, powerful, and direct. Her second is vulnerable and pleading.] Again the king held out the gold scepter to Esther. So she rose and stood before him. [Although Esther has taken the role of queen, her identity is not wrapped up in being the queen. Her identity is in being a Jew, belonging to God’s people.]
Esther said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor with him, and if he thinks it is right, and if I am pleasing to him, let there be a decree that reverses the orders of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, who ordered that Jews throughout all the king’s provinces should be destroyed. For how can I endure to see my people and my family slaughtered and destroyed?” [Esther does not distance herself from her people’s suffering. Her new influence and status do not fog her view on reality.]
Then King Xerxes said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “I have given Esther the property of Haman, and he has been impaled on a pole because he tried to destroy the Jews. Now go ahead and send a message to the Jews in the king’s name, telling them whatever you want, and seal it with the king’s signet ring. But remember that whatever has already been written in the king’s name and sealed with his signet ring can never be revoked.” [Once an edict is signed and in place, no one can take it back, not even the king. Now, the problem is given over to Esther and Mordecai to be responsible for.]
So on June 25 the king’s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Mordecai dictated. It was sent to the Jews and to the highest officers, the governors, and the nobles of all the 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. The decree was written in the scripts and languages of all the peoples of the empire, including that of the Jews. The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. Mordecai sent the dispatches by swift messengers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king’s service.
The king’s decree gave the Jews in every city authority to unite to defend their lives. They were allowed to kill, slaughter, and annihilate anyone of any nationality or province who might attack them or their children and wives, and to take the property of their enemies. The day chosen for this event throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes was March 7 of the next year.
A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all peoples, so that the Jews would be ready to take revenge on their enemies on the appointed day. So urged on by the king’s command, the messengers rode out swiftly on fast horses bred for the king’s service. The same decree was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa. [The unwinding of evil is a long, difficult, process.]
Then Mordecai left the king’s presence, wearing the royal robe of blue and white, the great crown of gold, and an outer cloak of fine linen and purple. And the people of Susa celebrated the new decree. The Jews were filled with joy and gladness and were honored everywhere. [Tension: they celebrate the small victory, but there is still a battle to be fought.] In every province and city, wherever the king’s decree arrived, the Jews rejoiced and had a great celebration and declared a public festival and holiday. And many of the people of the land became Jews themselves, for they feared what the Jews might do to them.
RESPONSE
- Esther did not distance herself from the su ering of her people. How do you engage with suffering? Are you willing to walk through hard times with others, or do you try to create distance from those who are experiencing difficulty?
- The Jewish people were able to celebrate a small victory, even if the battle still had to be fought. In many ways, that’s how believers live on this side of Heaven. There is a lot to celebrate as a believer, but this world is broken and evil still exists. How have you seen this reality in your own life?
FOR A BOOK THAT DOES NOT MENTION GOD’S NAME, THERE ARE MANY WAYS ESTHER REFLECTS THE GOSPEL.
THE BOOK OF ESTHER
- The Jewish people sentenced to death
- Esther is a courageous mediator
- The gift of life where death seemed certain
- A sovereign God
THE GOSPEL
- Humanity sentenced to death
- Christ is our courageous mediator
- The gift of life where death seemed certain
- A sovereign God