ESTHER – A STUDY IN DISOBEDIENCE
For more than thirty years I read this book much the same as many others. Esther, the young Jewess, obedient to her kind hearted guardian, Mordecai, saves the Hebrew people when she bravely confronts the King and overturns the plans of the hated enemy, Haman. I have preached on it, and explained how Mordecai challenged his young ward with the words, “Who knows that you have come into the Kingdom for such a time as this?” All seemed well until one day I saw a simple question: “Why had Mordecai not returned to Jerusalem?” Suddenly it dawned on me.
With that one question came a whole series of other questions. The book of Esther needed to be looked at it the light of his disobedience. The man had not obeyed God in the first place so maybe there are other actions which needed to be looked at again. I trust that as you read, you will see that the book of Esther is not about the greatness and faith of Esther and Mordecai, but solely about the goodness, kindness and mercy of God.
INTRODUCTION
When we look at the Book of Esther we think of how wonderful she must have been and what a great man of faith Mordecai was.
However, when it comes to the writer to the Hebrews we find no record of Mordecai’s greatness when it records stories of great men of faith in chapter 11. There is nothing about the Queen and her part in bringing deliverance to the Jews and the establishing of the Feast of Purim. We have to ask ourselves a question. Why?
Why is Daniel regarded as a hero who by his obedience became the Prime Minister whereas Mordecai is noted only by silence in the New Testament? Why is Solomon mentioned “in all his glory,” and yet the beauty of Esther never appears? The name of the Lord is never mentioned in the Book of Esther and the names of neither Mordecai nor Esther are found in the New Testament.
Now, the Name of the Lord may not be mentioned in this book, but the author was very clever. He wrote the book using an acrostic as his base. Hidden away from the ignorant but plain to see for all those who could read Hebrew was the Name of Yahweh. The author intended to say that whatever was going on in history there was the One, behind the scenes pulling some strings.
And so it is with us. Whatever we may face, the Lord will face it with us. Whatever we may be looking at in the physical we should open our spiritual eyes and see that the Lord is also working for us. The devil may have some plans for us, but the Lord has a greater plan. And even the wrath of man will praise Him. He will turn our captivity. The end will be so much better than the beginning.
Perhaps some of us have been guilty of misreading this book and thinking things are there when, in fact, they are not. It is amazing how this book which never mentions the Name of God, also has no mention of prayer, no reference to the covenants which God had made with His people and no references to anything overtly spiritual. We make assumptions about it because it is easy to do so. But are our assumptions anywhere close to the truth? My answer is: Probably NOT!
THE PROBLEM
With just another short question we can say what the great difficulty with Esther and Mordecai is. Why were they still in Persia?
The Lord had recently given an instruction to His chosen people to return to the Land He had given to them. However, these thousands of Jews remained in Persia enjoying the life of a foreigner rather than helping with the reconstruction of Jerusalem and dwelling in the Promised Land. These two are the leaders of the rebellious, compromising Jews who could have been wiped out, but for the grace of God shining through. The Lord used these two people, Mordecai and Esther to manifest His astonishing grace to a wayward and disobedient people.
Esther should have returned to Israel and married some nice and honourable Jewish boy. Instead she is married to a pig of a man who has no qualms in treating his former wife like a common stripper. The man she has married is also a thug who will employ other thugs to do his monstrous business. He has no problem with signing the death warrants of thousands of people without a thought concerning their plight, let alone what such an action might do to the economy of his empire. He was a precursor to the Nazis and would have fitted in very ably with the likes of Hitler and Himmler.
We do see the Lord respond to the danger His people were in by honouring His covenant with them, but it was not because of any great spirituality on the part of the Jewish people. Like so many others these people only got spiritual when the dark hour came. We know that this will also be the case when the Lord returns to receive His chosen people once again.
ESTHER – “STAR”. Her Hebrew name was Haddasseh which means myrtle. She received a Persian name, Esther, when she was chosen as a participant in the contest to find a new wife for the King. She is certainly the star of the story; and to some extent that is a problem. The Lord should have been the star. For it is He who protected His children even though they did not deserve it. He was true to His word, even though they had not been true either to His or to their own.
But there are some things which remain questionable. Why did she not reveal her identity to either the chief eunuch or the king? Why did she obey everything Mordecai told her to do, when she knew that some things he was telling her to do were against the Law of her God. Why was she prepared to allow herself to go into the King knowing him not to be a Jew, and an extremely immoral personage?
VASHTI – THE MODEST AND HONOURABLE QUEEN
Here is a good woman who followed the laws of her own land properly. She held a great feast for the women in the privacy of her own palace rather than in the streets of the city, Shushan. That was always the way it was supposed to be for the women of the empire. When King Ahasuerus called for her so that he could show her off to a drunken gathering, he was breaking the rules of his own nation. Women were to be modest and private and certainly not flaunted in public.
By refusing to come to a feast where the men were now drunk and lewd she put her life, much more than her crown on the line.
When she lost the crown as the result of all this, the King chose to hold a beauty contest to replace her. Esther, who should have been a God-fearing Jewess entered into the competition. She was happy to be put into such a position where she would marry an obnoxious heathen king who worshipped idols and had made love to dozens of young women in the process of finding himself a second queen.
You see, it is not Esther who is honourable in all of this. It is Vashti. A woman who had no covenant with God had put her life on the line to maintain some standards, some dignity in the hell-hole which was Persia. A woman who should have known better is prepared to compromise her standards, forget the covenant she has with Almighty God and demean herself by entering into a Miss Persia competition which would include a test drive by the one and only judge! And the women who failed the test would live solitary lives without hope of ever having a husband or children in the future.
MORDECAI – THE GUARDIAN WHO DOES NO GUARDING
This man was also not the gentleman we have often thought he was. He is nothing short of being a scoundrel. He is supposed to lead his young cousin and teach her the ways of the Lord. The book of Proverbs was still available to him. He knew what they said. But what does he do? He allows Esther to enter the palace and sell herself to the king. Mordecai seems to have very low standards and can hardly be called a practicing Jew. He seems to have no concern that his ward would lose her virginity and then might live the life of an old maid.
Mordecai was allowing this young woman to take a great risk. And, she could not really win. If chosen by the king she is sentenced to a life of servitude to a vain and ignorant man. If not chosen she is sentenced to a lonely and empty life. And all this, notwithstanding her failed relationship with the King of kings to whom she ultimately belonged.
Mordecai’s name means “contrition; bitter; bruising”.
THE PARTY
Feasting is a very important part of the Book of Esther. There are ten recorded! Usually, it was a Jewish custom to eat with a person he was forgiving. In this book, this custom is turned on it’s head. So many of the feasts lead to something sinister.
Ahasuerus has been king of Persia for three years and has enjoyed success in his empire. He decides to celebrate. Initially the festivities, which were to last for 180 days, are well administrated. At the end of the period a week is given to feasting. Men are in the open air. The women are having a modest banquet in the palace grounds hidden away from the men.
The men are not forced to enter into excess drinking and for a while all is well. But the king over indulges and soon wants to prove himself above the princes of his kingdom. It was probably a mistake to have invited so many other so-called important people because he now needs to show that he is so much better than they. The only way of doing that is to present them with the beauty of the queen. This was not only morally reprehensible it was also against the laws of the empire. Women were to be modest and were not to show themselves off in public. The king who is so serious about keeping other laws is so inebriated he is happy to break this one.
The queen disobeys her husband, quite rightly. What an example she is. When the high and mighty king tells her to do something immoral she refuses. She is brave and puts her life in danger.
THE COMPETITION
Josephus tells us that Ahasuerus would have liked to have been reconciled to his wife. But the sins of his drunkenness were public. He thinks he would humiliate himself if he was seen to let his wife get away with her disobedience. We hear nothing more about this great woman. Perhaps she was pensioned off quietly. We hope so.
With the king manifesting his grief, as if his wife had died, his courtiers are left to appeal to his vanity. Why did the thing please the king so much? Maybe it was because he could have lots of beautiful girls at his whim, and all with a seemingly righteous end. After all, the kingdom needed a queen. But it is pathetic. This man spends a fortune on satisfying his lust when he already had a beautiful queen who was extraordinarily pure inwardly as well as externally.
MORDECAI WARNS THE KING
“In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king’s gate, two of the king’s chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen; and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai’s name. (Esther 2:21-22)
Mordecai realized that if the traitors who intended to assassinate the King succeeded that it would cause a great catastrophe in the Kingdom. Even though Xerxes was an ungodly heathen to replace him by whoever Bigthan and Teresh chose would be folly indeed.
HAMAN
This man was almost certainly a descendant of the Amalekites. We cannot be a hundred per cent sure but it fits in with so much else biblically that we will assume that it is so. If he was then Israel had every reason to despise him. They had made unprovoked attacks upon the wandering Israelite tribes in the wilderness and God had commanded that they be totally exterminated.
His name means “noise” or “tumult” so we can see that there is trouble on the way!
Haman, for a reason we don’t know, was exalted above the other princes of the empire and made Grand Vizier or Prime Minister to Xerxes.
Now, in this position, Haman would expect to be treated with high regard. It was normal for lesser mortals to bow before such a position and such a person. We may think that Mordecai’s failure to do so was because he was a good, loyal Jew. Well, Jews would placate princes in this way under normal circumstances. We see evidence of this in the woman of Tekoa, Ahimaaz and Bathsheeba all bowing or prostrating themselves before King David. It was not that it was not a godly thing to do. As a man in a high position himself in the court of King Ahasuerus, Mordecai must have bowed to the king, himself, or it would have been noted and he would have been dealt with. No, I believe that Mordecai did not bow because Haman was a despised Amalekite. Most of us would have no problem with bowing before the Queen of England. Even the non-English among us would probably take pleasure in doing so. However, even many non-believers or non-practicing Jews would have had a problem bowing before a man like Hitler or one of his lesser acolytes like Goebbels.
Mordecai’s actions sparked the problem which would probably have come anyway. Haman, as an Amalekite, would have looked for a reason to get rid of the Jews somehow.
Haman was so angry because one man failed to bow to him. Isn’t it amazing how we are so troubled by such things? Everyone else in the kingdom of Ahasuerus was bowing to this buffoon but the failure of one man to do so caused him such consternation. We can be distressed over the seeming failure of something quite trivial when so much else is going our way. Haman’s anger would lead to his destruction. And where did that anger come from? It came from his pride:
“Pride goes before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)
When Haman went to the King, Ahasuerus was very quick to agree to his request. Again we ask, “Why?” Well, the Bible tells us. It was the love of money. The King, already a multi-millionaire cannot resist ten thousand talents of silver. What an absolutely ridiculous thing to do. The King could have raised that much in tax from the Jewish people every year! He was prepared to destroy the hardest working people in his empire for the short term gain of what was really quite a trifling sum.
Haman’s plan to destroy all the Jews would have had wide ranging repercussions. Even the Jews in Jerusalem would have not been exempt from the edict. Perhaps that is why the Lord was so gracious in protecting them. They who had been obedient to His call to return would be safe once the Lord had intervened.
In his effort to see the Jews destroyed Haman resorted to the usual propaganda that has so often been used against the Jewish people throughout history. He lied: “And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from those of every people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them.” (Esther 3:8 ASV)
This was so untrue. Ahasuerus could have found out the truth if he had bothered to investigate. But the King was quick to believe a lie. Such is the way of wickedness. It would rather believe a lie than to search for the truth. The Jewish people had actually compromised on many of the laws of God to remain in good favour with the people of the empire. Of course, there are some Jewish people who are crooked in their dealings, but basically they are as law abiding as any other race.
The King then gave Haman the signet ring so that the Prime Minister could sign the documents in the King’s name. Let’s be clear about this: The King had not been innocently duped by some clever schemer. No, he is a man who through his own lust had destroyed His queen. Now, he is a man who by similar lust for money is prepared to destroy another queen and her entire people.
The Jews were given nearly a years warning of their impending doom. Not all non-believers are given such a lengthy warning. But when you consider the way the world does its business you have to wonder why a lot more people are not questioning the meaning of existence. The deceiver does his job well. The art of deceiving is to ensure that the one you are deceiving does not know that he is being deceived.
After Haman and the king had conspired together so wickedly to destroy a large number of the citizens of the kingdom they sat down to drink together. King Ahasuerus had no excuse for his wickedness this time. He could not blame his stupidity on too much alcohol because it was only after he had planned his evilness that he drank. His eagerness to agree with Haman proves once again the words of Jesus: “Out of your heart come evil thoughts, murder, unfaithfulness in marriage, vulgar deeds, stealing, telling lies, and insulting others.” (Matthew 15:19 CEV)
Whilst the King was happy, his people were perplexed. It must have come as something of a shock to the ordinary people in the empire to read such an edict. They were from many lands and had been mixed together deliberately. If Ahasuerus was prepared to destroy one entire people who would be next. Like the Nazis who followed him, Ahasuerus could have then decided that other peoples were also a threat. With Hitler it didn’t stop with the Jews. He eventually began to want to wipe out all who were not perfect in his eyes: Gypsies, Christians, the aged, the sexually deviant.
MORDECAI MOURNS
When Mordecai heard of the royal edict he began to mourn. He sits in sackcloth and ashes, the traditional way for a Jew to show repentance and sorrow. And he walks about the city crying and weeping. Now, he probably regrets, on behalf of himself and so many of the Jews, not obeying the Lord and returning to Jerusalem after the previous king had given them permission to do so. He probably realized that he had been very wayward in his obedience to God not only on this matter but in many areas of his life. The Jews were in jeopardy because of his disobedience. But, because of his lack of spirituality he has to find a way to outwit his opponent rather than to totally rely upon the Lord.
Many of the Jewish people followed his example. They were probably distressed at the way things were taking place. They too were regretting their failure to obey the Lord and return to the Promised Land.
The Lord in His mercy allowed Mordecai to triumph because the Lord believes in an even wider picture than just the preservation of His chosen people.
ESTHER’S RESPONSE
When the Queen heard that Mordecai was in sackcloth and ashes she sent messengers to him with clothes to put on. He, in turn, replied with the message of what was going on. He also instructed her to talk to the king.
Esther’s further reply is very informative: “All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.” (Esther 4:11)
What sort of husband was this? His wife for whom he had been so urgent about finding is now left on the shelf. Why? Was he continuing his lecherous ways? It seems so. He was certainly making her nervous using some ridiculous law when as a good husband he should have been treating her well and putting her mind at ease.
This is one of the dangers of entering into an unwise relationship. Esther would have been aware of the way this slob dealt with his previous wife and his method of choosing a replacement.
The law which was supposed to protect the king was actually putting him into a rather ridiculous position. It meant that he was rarely seen in public, much like many of the modern day dictators. It also meant that he was out of touch with reality. He really did not know what was going on. Like many modern day politicians he relied on his close circle of advisors for knowing what was going on and therefore he was subject to them rather than them subject to him!
It was never meant to cut him off from having a personal life, especially among his family. But this king has believed his own propaganda that he is something akin to a god. And the more he is cut off from reality the more he believes such foolishness.
It is so easy to believe that we are doing right when we attempt to justify ourselves without recourse to proper advice. The advisors we need are those men who wrote the Word of God. We need to be careful that we don’t believe the propaganda of the devil. He will seem to be very authoritative and authentic. But he also is cut off from reality. Jesus is real. He is the only solution to the ways of life. He needs to be continually our focus. As some of my friends would say, “It is time for a reality check!”
The golden scepter which was a long tapered staff was a symbol of the authority of the King. It was frightening that this man could hold a person’s life in his hands in such a way because he was such a morally bereft person.
But we know that there is another King who also has a scepter. He also has the power of life and death in His hands. And He can be trusted always to do what is right: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” (Genesis 49:10) “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.” (Psalm 45:6) The Lord’s scepter is a righteous sceptre. He will not allow unrighteousness to prevail, and has provided righteousness, Himself, so that it will win.
THE KINGDOM
Mordecai responded to Esther’s message with one of the most important prophetic messages recorded in the long history of the Jewish people:
“Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:13-14)
We do not need to remind ourselves that a prophecy does not show us that the prophet is spiritual. Saul prophesied when totally out of God’s will. Caiaphas was High Priest who believed nothing of the Old Testament let alone the truth of the Messiah, but he was able to prophesy. Mordecai’s words are not only a prophecy they are also poignant and pregnant with God’s great love for His people.
We look at the will of God as if it is set in stone. But God, it seems to me, has plan B, plan C right through to plan Z and beyond. If Esther had failed to do what was right then the Lord would have brought about deliverance in another way and we might have found that there was a completely different book in the Bible about how the Lord did it.
Mordecai also saw that in spite of the way Esther had reached the high position she held God could now use just that position. She had much easier access to the King. Even though she might endanger her life in approaching His Majesty she was a dead woman anyway. Unless she called upon the name of Ahasuerus she would merely confirm what was already written in the law.
And so it is in this world we live in. The law quite clearly establishes that only those who call upon the Name of the Lord, King Jesus can be delivered from the death which already belongs to them.
IF I PERISH, I PERISH
Esther’s response is also moving into the territory of faith. The Lord is gracious to His wayward daughter, not just in bringing about deliverance for her and her people, but also in allowing her to pray such a prayer.
“Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16)
Of course, prayer is not mentioned. But she is getting to see that there is a need for some spiritual exercise. And her acceptance that she also faces death without some drastic action on her part is a good reality check.
Notice also that Mordecai is now being commanded by the Queen. She is taking control of the situation because she is the one with access to the King. How easy it is for us when we have access to the King of kings. When we pray it is US who are taking control of the situation. That is because when we truly pray in line with the Word of God the Lord cannot resist us. He is so thrilled when we think His thoughts, see what He sees and speak the words which He speaks.
THE APOCRYPHAL ESTHER
Now, if you by some chance have in your bible the apocrypha you will see that Esther has many extra verses. Some later writers ascribed a spiritual life to Esther and Mordecai which really did not exist. They could not leave well alone and let the Word of God do its work. They decided to embellish it with prayers and statements which would throw our two heroes into a much better life. But that is the problem. Too many of us try to show how our faith and our attitude was what brought about a dramatic change in circumstances. Often this is anything but the case. Our faith was weak but the mercy and deliverance of God was strong.
God did not deliver Esther, Mordecai and the Jews because of their actions and their spirituality. He delivered them because He had a covenant with Abraham and because He had a covenant with David. Much of what He does for us is because He, the Father, has a covenant with Jesus.
The Apocrypha even dramatizes the Queen’s visit to King Ahasuerus by saying that he was, at first angry or “very dreadful”. He looked at her fiercely and she fainted. It was at this point that the Lord changed the king’s heart to one of softness blah, blah, blah! It is sheer tosh!
The story has enough drama without such tomfoolery. When Esther went into the King he might well have been surprised, but he also recognized what she had done. She had been as bold as Vashti had been. Like the previous Queen she had risked her life and her position for one reason or another. As it says: “And it happened when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she received favor in his sight. And the king held out to Esther the golden scepter in his hand. And Esther drew near and touched the top of the scepter.” (Esther 5:2) Any of us who draw near to the King of kings, of whom it was said in the Old Testament that if seen we should surely die, immediately receives favour in His sight and His mercy and grace. “Therefore let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)
ESTHER’S FIRST BANQUET
“And the king said to her, What do you desire, Queen Esther? And what is your wish? It shall be given to you even to half of the kingdom.” (Esther 5:3)
The Queen was not so foolhardy to believe that she could immediately receive her wish. The edict was now written down, and as such, a Law of the Medes and Persians could not be so easily rescinded. Even half of the kingdom, which was undoubtedly a figure of speech, would not cancel the law.
Esther showed some wisdom in inviting the King and Haman to a second banquet. It gave the King time to have his dream and exalt Mordecai, whilst it gave Haman time to build his own gallows!
HAMAN’S BOASTING
Haman left the banquet in exultation. He was the favourite of the King, now he felt that he was a favourite of the Queen as well. Perhaps she was delighted at the prospect of the Jews being annihilated. Such is the foolishness of pride. The lady was planning the defence of her people and the destruction of her enemies!
He began to brag to his family and friends: “Yes, Esther the queen let no man but me come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared. And also tomorrow I am invited to her banquet, with the king.” (Esther 5:12)
He should have been happy, but greedy men are more and more greedy. Why does a millionaire cheat on his tax? Why does the Mafia boss who has already become wealthy through his lying, cheating, stealing and conniving then do even more to take money from the poor to give him wealth he no longer has any need of?
HAMAN’S UNHAPPINESS
And so he says: “Yet all this avails me nothing as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.” (Esther 5:13)
Just one man causing him so much trouble. And Haman cannot wait a few more months to see Mordecai die. So Haman heeds the advice of his wife: “And Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, Make a wooden gallows, fifty cubits high and tomorrow speak to the king that Mordecai may be hanged on it. Then go in merrily with the king to the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman, and he caused the wooden gallows to be made.” (Esther 5:14)
The word “gallows” is probably a poor translation. We are uncertain as to what form of execution would have been used. There are two main choices: (1) The victim is strangled and then hanged as a public spectacle. (2) The victim is impaled on a stake. The tree used is 50 cubits or 75 feet high to increase the ignominy.
Whatever it was Haman was certain that the king would readily agree with his request. Perhaps even the queen would enjoy seeing the hated Mordecai meet his comeuppance.
THE KINGS DREAM
But God was at work!
God made sure that the king had a restless night. He remembered how close to death he had been, but Mordecai’s loyalty to the king had saved his life. The king would need others to protect him in the future so he must show the people that it was a good thing to be on the king’s side. Perhaps even now people were aware that there had been no reward for the one who had helped to save the king. God, however, knew what Haman had prepared to do to Mordecai and He had no intention of letting it happen.
“What honour and dignity has been done to Mordecai for this? And the king’s servants who served him said, Nothing has been done for him.” (Esther 6:3) The king is not so much interested in uplifting his saviour, but in ensuring that others would help in other times of distress.
“And the king said, Who is in the court? And Haman had come into the outer court of the king’s house to speak to the king to hang Mordecai on the wooden gallows which he had prepared for him. And the king’s servants said to him, Behold, Haman stands in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.” (Esther 6:4-5)
Haman had thought it would be a singe! The king was so easily prepared to do all that Haman asked. After all, it was only bringing forward Mordecai’s death by a few months. But Haman’s timing was all wrong! And God’s timing was all right. How soon Haman would have wished that someone else had been ion the court at that time. But Haman was very quickly compromised by his own vanity and pride. Only he would be honoured by the king. He was so sure of himself, he was like many a politician, or football star who thinks that he is without peer. No one else is more gifted. Only he can do the job. But they soon learn that their honours perish in a day!
“So Haman came in. And the king said to him, What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor? And Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to myself? And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delights to honor, let the royal clothing be brought, which the king wears, and the horse that the king rides on, and the royal crown which is set on his head. And let this clothing and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes so that they may dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and bring him on horseback through the streets of the city, and proclaim before him, This is what shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor. “(Esther 6:6-9)
Haman was stark, raving bonkers. Once a man had put on royal apparel he would start to manifest the power of royalty. He could have asked the king what he had in mind, or more precisely, WHO he had in mind. But no, his mouth runs away with itself, and Haman prepares himself for his own execution!
“And the king said to Haman, Make haste! Take the clothing and the horse, as you have said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Do not fail to do any of all the things you have spoken.” (Esther 6:10)
And so the king begins to exalt Mordecai and Haman’s position will rapidly slide downhill. But it is God who is behind all this. Not because He wishes to exalt Mordecai so much, but because He is seeing the wider picture. His people, in spite of their failure to live according to His covenant, would not be forgotten.
Imagine how Haman must have felt as he led Mordecai through the streets honouring His enemy. He knew that he was now in big trouble. Afterwards Modecai temporarily returned to his old position at the king’s gate, “But Haman hurried to his house mourning, and having his head covered.” He was hiding his face because it must have told a story. The face which had left for the palace earlier that morning so full of eagerness to be about the business of destroying his enemy now was contorted with fear and confusion.
HAMAN CONTINUES TO FALL
When Haman tells his family what has happened they can give him no assurance. They have no covenant with God. There are no promises for him which they can claim. All the words they have confirm that Haman is without hope and that Mordecai has the ascendancy: “If Mordecai is of the seed of the Jews, before whom you have begun to fall, you shall not prevail against him but shall surely fall before him.” (Esther 6:13) And poor Haman has no way of making alternative plans. There will be no escape: “And while they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs came. And they hurried to bring Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.” (Esther 6:14)
Haman had little hope left. But he might have thought that he could find a way to defend himself. But now the thing has begun it is escalating completely out of his control. He might have thought that the visit with the Queen would be a short interlude where he could perhaps say some things to the King in order to protect himself. But he still did not know that the Queen herself was cousin to the man who he hated so much. This man should have done his homework. It had been in his power to find out that Esther was a Jew. He should have easily been able to find out the relationship between the Queen and Mordecai. But he was so busy falling in love with himself, and trying to destroy his enemies, he forgot to look at the closeness of his own demise.
THE BANQUET
The banquet is hardly underway when the Queen begins to make her petition.
“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. For we are sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to perish. But if we had been sold for men-slaves and women-slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could not make up for the king’s damage.” (Esther 7:3-4)
Esther is trying to be humble, but is actually very foolish. Why did she not say to the King that the God of heaven blesses those who bless the seed of Abraham and curses those who curse it? To declare that she would have been content for them to be enslaved was not the words of a child of faith. She has not been taught very well, has she? It is so similar to this present day where Christian people are content to be enslaved to the enemy because one day, “when they get to heaven”, everything will be alright. Complete tosh! Of course, there might be suffering. There will be persecution. But we are not supposed to embrace it as a friend. Many are the afflictions of the righteous. But, the Lord delivers the righteous. It is not His desire for us to be under the yoke of the devil. The New Testament tells us that Jesus Christ destroyed the works of the enemy. It is our job to enforce the victory.
Believers, so often find it hard to believe. And yet it should be simple. They will endure sickness without any effort to resist it because “it is God’s will for my life.” They will tell you how much the devil is attacking their marriage, their family life, the finances et al. But when you ask them what they are doing to resist these things they will not be able to give an answer.
Obedient children of Abraham were supposed to be blessed in the city and in the field. They should have been blessed in Shusan not under the curse of Haman and his bosses King Ahasuerus and the devil, himself. A woman of faith might have said that the Lord would deliver His people in spite of the King’s command, and that Haman would fall. We should remember that when Nehemiah broke the law by being sad in the presence of the previous king Artaxerxes (also known as Darius the Mede!), the King had mercy and actually commissioned the restructure of Jerusalem. Darius had learned his lesson. He had wanted to receive self worship but Daniel had continued to pray to the God of Israel. Ahasuerus had not learned the lessons of his father, had he?
But he is having to learn from his own mistakes:
“Who is he, and where is the one who dares presume in his heart to do so? And Esther said, The man who is our adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. And Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.” (Esther 7:5b-6) The King was a bit of an idiot really wasn’t he? He had signed the death warrants of a massive part of his kingdom and yet knew nothing of what was going on. He had obviously been cut off from reality for far too long.
Haman may have been the enemy of the Jews, but more importantly he was the enemy of Jehovah, the Lord of Heaven and Earth. This makes me think that when someone opposes God’s people they are storing themselves up for the wrath of God. When we oppose Israel, or when we criticize God’s servants in His church we do ourselves great damage. It is because we are not opposing them; we are actually opposing the Lord, Himself. That doesn’t mean that Israel is right in all her actions. It does not mean that all men and women of God are wise and righteous in all their dealings. But we should be praying for them not trying to pull them down.
“And the king, arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath, went into the palace garden. And Haman stood up to beg for his life from Esther the queen, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king.” (Esther 7:7)
The King needed to think. He felt that he had been deceived and, of course, he had. But he never needed to have got himself into this position. When someone asks to destroy an entire people surely something is wrong. But Ahasuerus had been in love with money.. money he did not actually need. In fact, he could have just taxed the Jews more heavily than anybody else. They would have survived and paid the taxes. After all, a people who could build houses without straw could easily pay extortionate tax rates.
Whilst the king is regretting his folly, Haman is beginning to beg for his life. But he has approached the wrong person. Esther has no power to give or take life; she is, in fact, under the sentence of death herself. That is the foolishness of any of us following a sinful man whether that person be a so-called prophet, a Joseph Smith, a Mary Baker Eddy or anybody else. They are also under the sentence of death and have no power to save us. There is only one who was sinless and could pay the price of our sin, and that was Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Son of the Living God.
When the king returned from the garden Haman has fallen onto the couch the queen is reclining on. The king was now given a much greater excuse to rid himself of Haman: “Will he also force the queen before me in the house? As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.” (Esther 7:8)
The covering of the face was a tradition to remove a guilty person from the King’s face. The king could not look upon guilt, in much the same way as God cannot look upon sin.
THE TRAGEDY OF HAMAN
“And Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said before the king, Also look! the wooden gallows fifty cubits high which Haman made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, stands in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him on it! And they hanged Haman on the wooden gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. And the king’s wrath lay down.” (Esther 7:9-10)
Let us realize what a tragedy this was. Haman had been raised up to a great position. He had been given tremendous responsibility, and he could have been a great man in Persia. He could have persuaded the king to do good and be just. But what he did was to use his position for his own personal gain and to take out his spite on the people of God. Haman’s sins also caused great destruction in his own household. Shortly all of his sons, his entire dynasty, would also be dead. He held office for such a short time, and brought about his own demise. We may say that the man got his just desserts, as he surely did, but he died an ugly death and faces eternity cut off from a God who loves him. Whilst we may rejoice that the Jews had been spared, we weep that a life could be so wasted.
And so it is with our modern day scoundrels. Men who have achieved high office only to carry out their own perversions will, one day, face the Living God, the Judge of all the earth and have to account for themselves. They may be a political leader, a terrorist, a gangster, a minister of the church or some such, but their life is short and the day will come.
MORDECAI PROMOTED
Now, the King who has been guilty of making hasty decisions makes another one. This man had made so many poor decisions previously, I suppose he has to get one right eventually!
“On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews’ enemy, to Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her.
And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.” (Esther 8:1-2)
Haman’s family is now homeless. His widow will soon see her ten sons killed. It has been suggested that seventy of her family survived and lived out their lives begging. This, however, is far from certain.
Mordecai is made “Grand Vizier” or Prime Minister of the kingdom. He was given great authority to do business on the king’s behalf. That is very similar to what happens to us when we turn our lives over to Jesus. He gives us authority to do His business.
The king trusted Mordecai; the Lord trust us! Amazing!
Esther and Mordecai are saved, but their people, the people of God, are still in great danger. And so Esther makes another plea for their salvation. But there is still a lot to be desired concerning the plea she makes. She is now in such a strong position: Why not say that the God of heaven is also the God of the Jews? Why not admit that she must honour God, for God’s sake, not that she will be desperately unhappy if all her people are killed? She says “For how can I bear to see the evil that shall come on my people? Or how can I endure to see the slaughter of my kindred?” Well, the King made a right decision, but not from right motives. He saved the Jews to please his wife, not because he would please the Lord. His heart was for his wife not for God’s people. Whilst it is important to please your wife it is much more important to be motivated out of respect and love for the Lord.
And so: “the king granted the Jews in every city to gather themselves, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to kill and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province who desired to attack them, little ones and women, and to take what they owned for a prize,” (Esther 8:11)
The edict which had previously been signed could not be overturned. That was a particularly daft law! However, another rule was written: The Jews could defend themselves. And they, in turn, could destroy those who wanted to destroy them.
“And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal clothing of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple. And the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.” (Esther 8:15)
Mordecai might not be perfect, nobody is. But he was certainly going to be a better counsel to the King than Haman ever was. And because of this the Jews had reason to rejoice. “The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. And in every province, and in every city where the king’s command and his order came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell on them.” (Esther 8:16-17)
Remarkably there was something of a revival among the people and many converted. This would never have been allowed under the rulership of Haman, but now it is widespread among the Persians.
THE DELIVERANCE
And so the thirteenth day of Adur came and the Jews were able to defend themselves and defeat the enemy. “And the Jews struck all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would to those who hated them.” (Esther 9:5)
There were probably far fewer enemies of the Jews than there would have been if Mordecai had not become Prime Minister. The fear of the Jews had made a dramatic impression throughout the realm. The slaughter was awful, but not as great as it might have been.
And the Jews used great wisdom: “But they did not lay their hands on the spoil.” (Esther 9:16) They had been given permission to do so. However, the spoils went to the King. He was recompenced for what he missed when he had initially made his agreement with Haman. That would have made the King realize that the Jews were not a rebellious people, but loyal to the King, the Queen and the new Grand Vizier.
THE FEAST OF PURIM
It is interesting that GOD did not establish this feast. It is not a covenantal feast. It was ordained by the Jews themselves as an extra celebration.
“Therefore, they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore, for all the words of this letter, and which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come to them, the Jews ordained, and took on them and on their seed, and on all such as joined themselves to them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their time every year,” (Esther 9:26-27)
Pur means “lots”. In Esther 3:7 Haman had drawn lots to decide the date for the murder of the Jews. They named the feast as a result of this. It was to be a day of celebration and rejoicing. During the feast the entire Book of Esther would be read. Some have suggested that it became something like a pantomime with Mordecai and Esther being cheered and Haman being booed and jeered at whenever their names were mentioned. It is certain that it is the least holy of all the feasts. There is no solemnity at all.
Mordecai is honoured among the Jews for his wise counsel to the King and must have made a good impression. But he is not mentioned outside of this text and most tellingly not by Jesus. “For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus and great among the Jews, and pleasing to the multitude of his brothers, seeking the wealth of his people and speaking peace to all his seed. (Esther 10:3) It would seem that God used this man to bring about the salvation of the Jewish race, but does not hold him in great esteem.
CONCLUSION
Well, there it is. Looking at the book of Esther from a different angle makes us wonder. God has included in His word some very interesting people. Those He uses are rarely great people in their faith and obedience to His word. They are often very sinful and quite fragile. But the point is He still uses them. Of course, He wants us to use our faith properly and have an understanding of His covenant. But even when we do not He can still bless us.
You may not be the best material in the world’s eyes, but you are still material God can use and bless if you will allow Him.
For further information regarding Word of Truth Ministries International and the ministry of Lindsey J Mann please contact www.wotim.com or write to him personally at ljmannuk@hotmail.com
