“The Great Reversal”
Esther 9:1-10:3
Tonight we finish the great story of Esther. It a rich book and I wish I could have done it justice. Esther was the young orphan girl; we grew up to be chosen as queen of the Persian Empire. The book of Esther is built around a great reversal of for-tunes.
There is a word that is in common usage in our day it is the word “karma” – people use it indiscriminately to refer to people getting what they have coming to them. I don’t use the term “karma” because in reality it comes from Hinduism and Buddhism and refers to reincarnation. There is of course the Biblical principle of “you reap what you sow” (Gal. 6:7). Things have certainly had a turn-around for the Jewish people. Haman had deceived the King into issuing a decree calling for the destruction of all the Jews in the Persian Empire (3:8-14). Esther 9:1 is a perfect portrait of the reversal in the lives Jewish people in Persia under King Xerxes. “…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 occur-red, in that the Jews themselves overpower-ed those who hated them.” The biblical record says “the opposite occurred” or as the NIV translates it “the tables were turned.”
First, A Reversal Described. (9:1-10)
“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 pro-vinces, 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 Mord-ecai became increasingly prominent.”
On the day that was set by the decree issued by Haman, the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but the opposite occurred. The Jews did not go on the attack but rather they simply defended themselves.
Like in the 1973 (Yom Kippur War) in which Syria attacked Israel on the Holy Day of Yom Kippur thinking that it would catch the Jews at home relaxing and not ready. When in fact, this was the key to their defeat. Since the Jews were at home, one phone call to a soldier’s home and they were able to contact all family members on active and inactive duty. The result was that the Israelis were able to force Syria back almost to Damascus.
• Successful But Not Vengeful. (vv. 5-10)
“Thus the Jews defeated all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, with slaughter and destruct-tion, and did what they pleased with those who hated them.6 And in Shushan the citadel the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. …10 the ten sons of Haman … the enemy of the Jews—they killed; but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.”
It is my opinion that the sons of Haman who had been spared up until this point (the fact that they had not been automatically killed as was common practice - for the sons to be executed along with their father in anticipation of future problems
- was itself a sign of mercy). Their being killed now seems to indicate that perhaps they participated along with the 500 (v.6) in seeking to avenge their father’s death.
Much emphasis is given to the fact that the Jews “…did not lay a hand on the plunder.” This is such an important point that it is emphasized three times (vv. 10, 15, 16) even though the decree allow-ed it. The Jews, perhaps understood that there response was governed by God’s command to the Israelites carry out a Holy War against the Amal-akites.
Today we cringe at the mention of “Holy War” because it reverberates with “Jihadist” – Moslem terrorist attacks at anyone (people like you and I) that do not that is not a follower of Moham-med. Yet there is a concept of Holy War in the Old Testament in God’s command to remove all the inhabitants of the land of Canaan.
One of the rules of ancient holy war was that the plunder must not be taken. “There was to be not personal profit in holy war because the destroyers were acting not on their own behalf but as agents of God’s wrath.” [Karen H. Jobes. “Esther” The NIV Application Commentary. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999) p. 196]
Through history there have often been times when Israel did not follow this command to their own grief. As Joshua led the twelve tribes in the conquest of Canaan the first city to be attacked was Jericho with the strict prohibit against taking any-thing in plunder (Josh. 6:17). The victory at Jericho was followed by a devastating defeat at Ai (Josh. 7:11-12) it was ultimately learned that one man, Achan, had disobeyed and taken plunder at Jeri-cho. Israel’s first king, Saul, was also guilty of keeping plunder although specifically warned not to (1 Sam. 15:18-19) and of failing to destroy com-pletely the Amalekites. Saul kept the best of the animals (he later stated he intended to sacrifice them) and he spared the life of King of the Ameli-kites, King Agag. The Bible offers this justification for the destruction of the Amalekites, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ” (1 Sam. 15:2-3)
Second, The Report to the King. (9:11-17)
• An Extension Granted. (vv. 11-14)
“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 pro-vinces? 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 Shus-han to do again tomorrow according to today’s decree, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”
Esther does have a request; she wants the king to grant a one day extension only in Susa, the capital. Esther is criticized as being cruel and vindictive in asking the king for a second day for the decree to be in force and for the bodies of the sons of Haman to be hanged. Perhaps though it was that Esther was apprehensive that the family and friends of Haman in the rest of the city would immediately want revenge for their losses and that the next day might find them seeking to avenge themselves on the Jews.
• A Prophetic element? (vv. 14-17)
“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 seven-ty-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.”
It is an interesting fact that the ten sons of Haman had been killed on the first day of the ful-fillment of the decree, but they then were hanged on the second day (v. 14). For scores of years the Jews have believed that there is a reason for this oddity.
The Jews believe that there are many things encrypted within the text of the scripture itself. In verses 6-9 here, there is an interesting detail that the Jews have believed for decades contains a future prophesy that is encoded. The names of the ten sons of Haman are list vertically in the original text. Four of the letters in the seventh name appear smaller than the rest. When those letters are added up they are equal to 707 (400, 300, and 7). The Jewish calendar did not start over after Jesus died, and thus that date could represent the Jewish date of 5707.
According to the Julian calendar we use
today that is year 1946. The Nuremberg Trials were held after WWII to try German defendants accused of atrocities committed against the Jews and others. On October 1, 1946, 12 of the German defendants were sentenced to death by hanging for their part in the atrocities committed against the Jews and others. One of those convicted was Mar-tin Bormann, who was sentenced in absentia. A second was Hermann Goering, who committed suicide in his cell just hours before the executions by taking cyanide poison. The remaining 10 Ger-mans were hanged to death on October 16, 1946.
The significance of the sentence to be hanged was that this was a military tribunal, the handed down should have been death by firing squad, or by electric chair as practiced in the USA. However, the court specifically prescribed hanging, exactly as in Esther's original request: ". . . let Haman's ten sons be hanged."
Though doubts may linger about the connec-tion between the Book of Esther and the Nazi war criminals, one of the men hanged that day, Julius Streicher, known as the "Beast of Franconia,” cer-tainly had none. He evidently knew about this encoding in the scripture and that the Jews thought it prophetic. As he went to the gallows he yelled out with hatred in his voice, “Purim Fest 1946,” in acknowledging its fulfillment. [https://forum.davidicke.com/showthread.php?t=143559]
Third, A Celebration Proclaimed. (9:18-28)
• A Spontaneous Celebration. (vv. 18-19)
“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 glad-ness. 19 Therefore the Jews of the villages who dwelt in the unwalled towns celebrated the four-teenth day of the month of Adar with gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and for sending presents to one another.”
The celebration of Purim was different from the other feasts prescribed by the Law of Moses. Rather than being imposed upon as an obligation , Purim began as a spontaneous response of God’s people to God’s faithfulness to his covenant with His people. Purim is a celebration of God’s contin-ual overruling of Fate. We must understand the superstitious dread with which this people and pagan people in our day live. Imagine a life in which one is simply a pawn at the hands of a mysterious higher force.
• A Permanent Celebration. (vv. 20-25)
“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 four-teenth 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 feast-ing 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 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.”
We must remember not to forget. If the official celebration of Purim had not been estab-lished, what do you think would have happened? In a generation or two no one would remember. Only a few of you remember actually going through the horror of World II. Within another generation Vietnam will just be another place on a map in Southeast Asia. There will be no understanding of what this period played in our nation’s history. That is why we have national holiday, like Fourth of July, Veteran’s Day, and even Thanksgiving. We remember lest we forget.
• A Explanation Of The Celebration. (vv. 26-32)
“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 esta-blished 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 instruc-tions 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.”
One translation make verse twenty-six clear saying “for which reason” (HCSB) a holiday was set up to remember this god-given deliverance and it was to be called Purim. The name is derived from the word “Pur” which was originally a Persian word; it refers to the lot or die (singular of dice) that Haman had used to determine the day of the death of the Jewish race. The plural Hebrew suffix –im was added. Thus the name Purim signified that the lot or destiny of God’s people would not be determined by Haman’s casting of lots before his pagan gods. God determines the destiny of His people.
And in verse twenty nine we read, “Then Queen Esther, …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 king-dom 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 con-cerning matters of their fasting and lamenting.
32 So the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim, and it was written in the book.”
There are a couple things I will mention as the reasons these things were “written down in the book” (v. 32).
First, “It is fitting that the fulfillment of God’s promise to the Jews in Persia be written down and commemorated. When the LORD promised to wipe out the memory of the Amalekites, he told Moses to write it down on a scroll “as something to be rem-embered” (Ex. 17:14). This gave the promise both divine authority and timelessness. The events of the Esther story show a fulfillment of this promise many centuries later and far away from the place that it was made, illustrating the efficiency of God’s word.” [Jobes. p. 213]
Secondly, it is important because the Jews wanted to….always remember their salvation – so should we! They wanted to remember the reason for their joy –don’t let your joy be stolen. Not only did they want to remember their salvation, but they took some very deliberate steps to insure that no one would ever forget!
Fourth, The Rewards of the King. (10:1-3)
• Mordecai’s Advancement.
“And King Ahasuerus imposed tribute on the land and on the islands of the sea. 2 Now all the acts of his power and his might, and the account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chron-icles of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 For Mord-ecai the Jew was second to King Ahasuerus, and was great among the Jews and well received by the multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.”
Notice what these verses say about Mordecai
• He had Position – “second in rank” to the
king; “great (or preeminent) among the Jews”. The king had elevated him to his political position in the kingdom.
• He had Power – Mordecai’s word was law,
because he, like his evil predecessor Haman still held onto the king’s signet ring. He carried almost as much power as the king did. He was so powerful that the other officials in the kingdom refused to go against his wishes and did whatever they could to help the Jews because of their fear of Mordecai.
• He had Popularity – he was “well received”
or “held in high esteem”. With power comes popul-arity or least for a while. We told that Mordecai “spoke peace to all his countrymen” or he “spoke up for the welfare of the people.”
Conclusion- God’s Promises to His People.
To Israel - It is said that the book of Esther was treasured by Jews imprisoned in the Nazi death camps precisely because it promised the survival of their race despite Hitler’s attempts to annihilate them. The Nazi’s final solution killed more than 6 million Jews more than 1/3 of the total population. They did not succeed.
Echoes of Purim can be seen can be seen over and over in history. For example only a few years after WWII in 1953 Stalin was planning to deport most of the Jews in the Soviet Union to Siberia. But before his plans could be carried out, Stalin suffer-ed a stroke and died a few days later. He suffered the stroke on March 1, 1953, the night after the Purim holiday.
God’s word promises that His beloved Israel would never be destroyed. Its security is forever settled in the heavens. The prophet Jeremiah wrote “This is what the LORD says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD Almighty [literally El Shaddai] is his name: 36 “Only if these decrees
vanish from my sight,” declares the LORD, “will Israel ever cease being a nation before me.” 37 This is what the LORD says “Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descen-dants of Israel because of all they have done,” declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 31:35-37-NIV)
The prophet Jeremiah wrote, that the LORD had told Israel, “I have loved you with an ever-lasting love.” (Jeremiah 31:3)
To His Church – The greatest reversal in the history of the world was accomplished when God the Father laid on His own Son the weight of our sin. “As 2 Corinthians 5:21 puts it, “[God] made him [that is Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin.” Having laid our sin on his shoulders, God the Father then poured out the full weight of His wrath against sin upon Him. All the ugliness and pain of the entire history of the holy war were concentrated into the six hours of awful agony and the burning darkness of the cross. His body was not merely tortured and brutalized by the Romans to the point of death, but he was exposed to cosmic shame by being hung on the cross.” [Ian Dugaid. “Esther & Ruth.” Reformed Expository Commentary. (Philipsburg, NJ: P & R Pub., 2005) p. 123]
The complete enjoyment of that cosmic rever-sal for the children of God is yet to be realized. The day is coming when Our Great King will return to claim the throne that rightful belongs to Him. The day is coming when the Earth will resound with angelic voices proclaim, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:15) One that day we will join the elders in heaven in declaring, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!” (Rev. 5:9) And all of creation will simply add “Amen.”
“The Great Reversal”
Esther 9:1-10:3
First, The Reversal Described. (9:1-10)
• Successful but not vengeful. (vv. 5-10)
The concept of “Holy War” (1 Sam. 15:2-3)
Second, The Report to the King. (9:11-17)
• An Extension Granted. (vv. 11-14)
• A Prophetic Element. (vv. 14-17)
Third, A Celebration Proclaimed. (9:18-28)
• A Spontaneous Celebration. (vv. 18-19)
• A Permanent Celebration. (vv. 20-25)
• A Explanation Of The Celebration. (vv. 26-32)
The celebration of Purim was different from the other feasts prescribed by the Law of Moses. Rather than being imposed upon as an obligation, Purim began as a spontaneous response of God’s people to God’s faithfulness to his covenant with His people. Purim is a celebration of God’s continual overruling of Fate.
Fourth, The Rewards of the King. (10:1-3)
• Mordecai’s Advancement.
God’s Promise to His People.
Israel - (Jeremiah 31:35-37, 31:3)
The Church – (Rev. 11:15, 5:9)
“The Great Reversal”
Esther 9:1-10:3
First, The Reversal Described. (9:1-10)
• Successful but not _________. (vv. 5-10)
The concept of “Holy War” (1 Sam. 15:2-3)
Second, The Report to the King. (9:11-17)
• An _________ Granted. (vv. 11-14)
• A _________ Element. (vv. 14-17)
Third, A Celebration Proclaimed. (9:18-28)
• A ___________ Celebration. (vv. 18-19)
• A ___________ Celebration. (vv. 20-25)
• A Explanation Of The Celebration. (vv. 26-32)
The celebration of Purim was different from the other feasts prescribed by the Law of Moses. Rather than being imposed upon as an obligation, Purim began as a spontaneous response of God’s people to God’s faithfulness to his covenant with His people. Purim is a celebration of God’s continual overruling of Fate.
Fourth, The Rewards of the King. (10:1-3)
• Mordecai’s Advancement.
God’s Promise to His People.
_________- (Jeremiah 31:35-37, 31:3)
The ______ – (Rev. 11:15, 5:9)
