Esther 10: 1 – 3
I read the whole chapter
1 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 chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 For Mordecai 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.
In counseling I always like to see weather or not people are serious about change. For sadly, many come in to talk about their troubles but will not do the work to turn their situation around.
Many individuals who attempt to assist others with their emotional and spiritual issues play the game like they are a professional. They establish a session for about 50 minutes. Whatever is not accomplished is picked up in another meeting. I cannot follow this same logic for the people that I deal with many times they are so jammed up that it takes them an hour just to unwind. Painfully my longest counseling session took 6 hours. The best way to describe this situation was like I was attempting to talk a person off a ledge.
Many people like to come in a just vomit all their problems. After regurgitating all the garbage they feel great – I feel overwhelmed.
Often, they ask when they can come back. To have a person cleaned out something must come and fill this person. It is our Precious Holy Spirit. Faith comes by hearing by the word of God.
I assign the person some homework. I tell the person that once they complete the assignment then they can give me a call and we will establish another appointment.
Many will call and want another appointment. In the session they will tell me that they did not have time to read what I have given them as homework. To show them the importance of spending time with the Wonderful Counselor, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I point out that the book of Jude which was the homework assignment. The whole book of Jude is one chapter.
Just like today we end our time in studying the book of Esther. We can all say that we read a whole chapter.
The book ends as it began with a description of the greatness of King Ahasuerus and a description of his source of advice.
1 And King Ahasuerus imposed tribute on the land and on the islands of the sea.
In those days tribute was the main aim of conquest. Tribute was demanded from all lands over which a king ruled. Thus, the fact that Ahasuerus laid tribute on ‘the land (the Middle East) and the isles of the sea (the numerous Mediterranean islands)’ indicated the extent of his rule. Tribute was a very heavy, often crushing, burden on these areas demonstrating his total control. And they also had to provide sustenance for the king’s table, a further heavy burden. Persia itself faired far better.
While the word for ‘tribute’ originally indicated forced labour, it probably now had the wider meaning of anything extorted from conquered people. They were the king’s source of military forces, of Laboure’s for building projects, and of the wealth that was required to keep the empire, and especially Persia, prosperous. But there is in the use of the word a sense of the heavy burden under which people lived. This will shortly be contrasted with the wellbeing that was now being enjoyed by the Jews (verse 3).
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 chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?
He also demonstrated his power and greatness by his powerful and mighty acts (his failures being overlooked) which were suitably recorded for posterity. Thus as at the beginning in chapter 1 we are once more assured of the greatness and power of Ahasuerus.
But now there was another to be taken into account. For recorded alongside the king’s greatness was the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him. He too was great. For he was the king’s chief adviser and second in command. And the record of their combined greatness was written in the book of the affairs of the days of the kings of Media and Persia. Thus, giving due deference to the king, Mordecai is seen as being the power in the land.
3 For Mordecai 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.
The scripture carefully indicates that Mordecai’s greatness was dependent on the king. He was ‘next to the king’, that is the second man in the kingdom, standing at his side. But he was also ‘the Jew’, a description not used in verse 2. It is introduced here because attention is now being bought to the benefits that he brought to the Jews. He was also ‘great among the Jews’, not just by virtue of his official position, but because of the standing he had gained among them by what he had achieved and what he was achieving on their behalf. He found continual acceptance among the Jews as a whole, as he sought the good of his people, (in great contrast to Ahasuerus and Haman), and spoke peace and wellbeing to all his seed (i.e. the Jews). Thus, the book ends with the implicit assurance that God was watching over His people through the hands of Mordecai His servant. The Jews were no longer the plaything of the empire but had a secure and promising future.
