Esther 9:20-10:3
Today we recap Esther for the final time
and look at the Feast of Purim. We have
done a lot of reviewing during this series, but the short book of Esther takes
place in a very short amount of time, making review necessary with our extended
study format. Most of the story occurred
in a span of only 11 months. The book
starts around 483 BC and ends in 473BC.
Chapter 3 verse 7 through the middle of chapter 9 happened in a span of
about 4 Hebrew months beginning in the month Adar 474BC. There is a span of 8 silent months before we
get to the point that Carl brought us to last week which was the 13th
and 14th day of the month of Adar 473BC. To put it in the context of other books of the
Bible, the events of Esther would have taken place between Chapters 6 and 7 of Ezra,
and before the entire book of Nehemiah.
There is a lot of negativity cast on Esther and Mordecai by some
scholars for not going back with Zerubbabel, but most of the Jews hadn’t
returned to Israel yet. Only a few had
gone back to begin rebuilding the temple.
I’m going to use the chiasm Carl showed us
last week to remind us of what happened up to this point, and then fill in the
final 2 points. But since this week is
titled Commemoration, we need to know what we are commemorating.
A. The greatness of Xerxes
Xerxes, as we know, was the king of the
Persian Empire. He is described as the
ruler over 127 provinces from India to Cush.
He ruled the entire known world with a few exceptions, the most notable:
Greece. He and his father both had tried
to capture Greece without success.
B. Two banquets of the Persians
The first banquet was given by Xerxes for
his officials and servants and lasted 180 days. The second was given
immediately afterward and lasted 7 days.
It was for all the people of the capital city, while a parallel feast
given by his wife, Vashti, was held for the women. Feasts and banquets were an essential part of
displaying one’s honor. The introduction to the Honor-Shame Paraphrase that we have been using explains:
“Hospitality – the sharing of food with others – creates opportunities to
displays one’s status. A host’s lavish generosity toward guests enhances their
honor. Sharing food converts material
wealth into social prestige. In many
cultures a person’s reputation depends upon their generosity and
hospitality.” Xerxes threw a massive
feast to display his wealth and possibly as a way to restore or grow his
reputation to the citizens of his capital.
C. Vashti removed
Vashti refused to come when the king
drunkenly commanded her to come so he could show her off. Again, this was a
status power-play on the part of Xerxes.
He was trying to show off his wife as a way to say “Look at me and the
trophy wife I have.” This rebellion cast
shame on Xerxes and led to an edict pronouncing Vashti’s banishment. Xerxes,
history tells us, had a pretty violent temper.
I won’t go into gory details, but after a friend made a request for his
son to be released from military service, Xerxes was quick to slaughter the
soldier in front of the friend. It’s no
real surprise that when his own wife refused to do his bidding, he flew into a
rage and banished her.
D. Esther identified as a Gentile/months
of waiting
The king realized he wanted another wife. (Several scholars believe this happened right
after his defeat by the Greeks.) Someone
gave him the idea to gather young women for a beauty pageant of sorts. The
women had to wait for months as they first underwent training and beauty
preparations. Esther, a Jewess, was one of those taken. Ultimately, she won
Xerxes favor and became queen, yet still hid her ethnic identity. One possible reason that I came across was
that she and other Jews may have been afraid because of political pressure by
those opposed to the temple being rebuilt.
The Jews were cast as a rebellious people, and it was argued that a
completed temple would further fuel this insurrection spirit. Xerxes had just had to put down an
insurrection in Babylon and Egypt. He
wouldn’t tolerate a third.
E. Haman honored
Haman worked for the king. He was a
descendant of Amalek. The Amalekites had for generations hated the Jews. They had attacked them savagely in Exodus. They were an evil nation, and God had
commanded Saul to destroy them, but he disobeyed God. As a result, for years they continued to
harass Israel and defy God. But, Xerxes
honored Haman by making him second only to the king himself.
F. Edict issued against the Jews
Haman wanted everyone to bow to him, but
Mordecai refused. Infuriated, Haman, without telling the king who, convinced
the king to give him the power to do whatever Haman wanted to the Jews. He issued an edict decreeing that all people
are to kill all the Jews throughout the empire on a future date months away. He
decided on this specific date by casting pur,
the Hebrew word for lots.
G. Mordecai asked Esther to help
Mordecai and the other Jews mourned
publicly. Mordecai asked Esther to speak to the king; but she was nervous,
because showing up unsummoned was punishable by death. She bravely agreed to
go, saying “If I perish, I perish.”
H. Esther’s first banquet/Mordecai soon to
be impaled
Esther went to the king. She miraculously
found favor in his eyes, and he offered her anything she wanted. She invited the
king and Haman to a banquet, where she invited them to return for another banquet
the next day. As he was leaving the palace and feeling pretty proud of himself
for being invited to an exclusive banquet with only the Persian King and Queen,
Haman saw Mordecai again and his anger burned within him. Haman immediately had
a giant pole erected to impale Mordecai on.
X. The great reversal: Mordecai honored
instead of Haman
This is the middle of the chiasm and is
arguably the climax of the account. Up until this point, the news for the Jews
only became worse and worse. Suddenly, it reversed.
That same night after the first banquet, the
king couldn’t sleep. He had someone read from the royal chronicles and was
reminded of a man (Mordecai) who saved his life by overhearing a plot against
him. He asked if Mordecai had been rewarded and learned that he had not. Haman
just so happened to show up about this time to speak to Xerxes about speeding
up Mordecai’s execution. So the king asked
Haman what should be done for someone who deserved to be rewarded. Egotistical
as ever, Haman was certain the king was referring to himself and suggested a
grand parade. The king agreed and told Haman to go get Mordecai and personally
escort him throughout the capital being the one who shouted “This is what
happens to the person the king wants to honor!” Haman had no choice. He was completely
humiliated and even more enraged.
H’. Esther’s second banquet/Haman impaled
At the second banquet, Esther explained to
the king how Haman was seeking to murder her and her people, including Mordecai
who had just been honored. The king stormed out in his typical fit of rage, and
Haman begged for his life with Esther, but in doing so fell onto her. The king came
back at just that moment and assumed that Haman was trying to molest his queen.
One of the king’s servants mentioned the huge pole that Haman had just built
for impaling Mordecai, and the king commanded them to impale Haman on it!
G’. Xerxes asked Mordecai to help
Xerxes promoted Mordecai to replace Haman,
and Esther reminded Xerxes of the edict against her people. He knew he couldn’t
simply undo the decree, as no decree could be reversed. He gave Mordecai the
authority to draft a new law to help resolve the situation.
F’. Edict issued against the enemies of
the Jews
Mordecai sent out a decree that allowed
Jews in every city to gather and protect themselves. His decree also allowed them to plunder the
attacker’s possessions. The date on which this was allowed was the same date as
that of the previous edict that had commanded the death of all Jews.
E’. Mordecai honored
Jews throughout the Persian Empire
rejoiced when they heard the news, and Mordecai was honored.
D’. Gentiles identified as Jews/months of
waiting
Many people began to identify as
Jews. They did this for one of several
reasons: 1) they didn’t want the Jews to attack them; 2) they wanted to help
defend the “underdog;” or 3) they saw the hand of God in all of this and truly
converted.
Meanwhile, there was a lot of waiting as
the date of the two edicts (the 13th day of Adar) came closer and
closer. The gap between the end of chapter 8 and the beginning of 9 is about 8
months on the Hebrew calendar.
C’. Enemies of the Jews removed
We saw last week how many enemies of the
Jews were removed, but the Jews never took their possessions.
B’. Two days of feasts of the Jews
Apparently, in the capital city, there
were still several who wanted to try to kill the Jews, so Mordecai told the
Jews they could defend themselves on the 14th of Adar as well. So in 9:19, we see the precedent for two days
of feasts. Those within cities
celebrated on the later date, while those in smaller villages celebrated on the
earlier date.
A’. The greatness of Mordecai
We’ll see this continued today. Xerxes promoted him to Prime Minister, and he
was highly respected by the Jews.
Mordecai
recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the
provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, to have them celebrate annually the
fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar as the time when the Jews
got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned
into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. –Esther 9:20-22a NIV
After the two days of victory, Mordecai declared the 14th
and 15th of Adar to be a Jewish holiday. These days memorialize the time when
God turned their sadness into exultation and reversed their shame into
exultation. – Esther 9:17-22a HSP
It’s possible based on this passage that
Mordecai wrote Esther, or at least made it far easier for someone else to write
it by putting all “these events” into one document.
He
wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents
of food to one another and gifts to the poor. So the Jews agreed to continue
the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them. For
Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted
against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the Pur (that is, the lot) for
their ruin and destruction. But when the plot came to the king's attention, he
issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews
should come back onto his own head, and that he and his sons should be impaled
on poles. (Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word pur.) Because
of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what
had happened to them, the Jews took it on themselves to establish the custom
that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail
observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time
appointed. These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by
every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim
should never fail to be celebrated by the Jews--nor should the memory of these
days die out among their descendants.
So
Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full
authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim. And Mordecai sent
letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of Xerxes' kingdom--words of
goodwill and assurance-- to establish these days of Purim at their designated
times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they
had established for themselves and their descendants in regard to their times
of fasting and lamentation. Esther's decree confirmed these regulations about
Purim, and it was written down in the records. –Esther 9:22b-32 NIV
The victory celebration permanently enshrined the Jews’
newfound honor. Every year Jews celebrated with feasting and sharing gifts of
food. This holiday is called the feast of Purim. (Pur refers to the “lot” that Haman cast to destroy Jews, but from
the beginning the lot was cast against Haman the Edomite.) Mordecai
made sure that Purim would be celebrated every year, by everyone, everywhere.
He and Queen Esther made Purim an official holiday for the Jewish people. They
sent personal letters to Jews in every province to wish them shalom and to institute the new
holiday of Purim. For generations, this tradition preserved the memory of God’s
faithfulness to exalt his people from the threat of shame. –Esther 9:22b-32 HSP
King
Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores. And all
his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of
Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, are they not written in the book of the
annals of the kings of Media and Persia? Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to
King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many
fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the
welfare of all the Jews. –Esther 10:1-3 NIV
Throughout Persia the reign of Ahasuerus expanded and the
prominence of Mordecai increased. Court historians have chronicled the king’s
mighty power and Mordecai’s great honor. The
Jewish people acquired a new status and prospered thanks to Mordecai’s great
stature, which was second only to the king himself. Mordecai loyally helped his
people, so was honored among Jews as a generous patron. The social hierarchy of
Persia was now in its proper order. Even in exile, God’s enemies were cursed
with shame and God’s people were blessed with honor. – Esther 10:1-3 HSP
Mordecai commanded the people to hold an
annual day of commemoration. He wanted
them to mark a festival of remembrance for the day that the nation of Israel
was once again spared. It was to be a
day of reflection on “God’s providential preservation of the Jewish people” and
is known to this day as Purim. They were
to remember God’s care with feasts and gifts.
They’ve since added public readings of Esther, plays, and songs to
commemorate that day.
For modern believers, every Sunday is a
day of commemoration. We meet on the
first day of the week in deference to the day of the week that Jesus rose from
the dead. We sing songs commemorating
God’s character and the things God has done for us, especially our redemption. Our
songs of worship are a way of commemoration.
We are compelled to sing!! God’s amazing love and kindness towards us
should cause us to desire to sing praise to Him and each other. Something marvelous has been revealed to us,
and we want our praise to be known. “The
gospel is the revelation of the most glorious truth in history” (Robert Bell,
Ph.D.). We sing because we are
free! We were slaves to sin, dead in
trespasses. But Jesus died for us, and
redeemed us from our sin. Consider these lyrics from Charitie Bancroft that she
wrote in 1863:
When Satan tempts me to
despair
And tells me of the guilt
within
Upward I look and see Him
there
Who made an end to all my
sin
Because the sinless
Savior died
My sinful soul is counted
free
For God the just is
satisfied
To look on Him and pardon
me
On top of being compelled to sing, we are
commanded to sing. Behind the most
common command of “do not be afraid” the second most common command in
scripture is to sing. But what I find
interesting is what we are told to sing.
Praise
the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of his
faithful people. Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be
glad in their King. Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him
with timbrel and harp. For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the
humble with victory. Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor and sing for
joy on their beds. May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged
sword in their hands, to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the
peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron,
to carry out the sentence written against them--this is the glory of all his
faithful people. Praise the LORD. –Psalm 149:1-9 NIV
Let
the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one
another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit,
singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. –Colossians 3:16 NIV
Do
not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the
Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.
Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God
the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. –Ephesians 5:18-20
We are commanded to sing, and Colossians
and Ephesians gave us several things to sing: Psalms, hymns, and spiritual
songs. In light of Colossians 3:16,
Keith Getty says that “we are commanded to sing the Word of God – the truth
revealed in Scriptures, the story of redemption. Fundamentally, we’re to sing about God,
revealed in Christ and supremely in His suffering and His glory, since that’s
what the Word of God is all about.” We
are to sing to one another as a way to encourage and admonish one another. It’s interesting that in the Ephesians
passage, we are commanded to be filled with the Spirit, and in the same
sentence commanded to speak to one another with song.
One of the ways we remember things is by
song. I was told years ago by my music
pastor that “things learned in song are remembered long.” Every time you recite the alphabet, I’ll bet
you’re either singing it or the tune is playing in your mind. I’m sure we’ve all used little songs to help
us remember something for a test. I
rarely remember the exact wording of something the speaker each Sunday says,
but I almost always walk away from church singing a song for the rest of the
week.
Keith Getty wrote that “God designed our
psyche for singing. When singing…so much
more than just the vocal box is engaged.
God has created our minds to judge pitch and lyric; to think through the
concepts we sing; to engage the intellect, imagination, and memory; and to
remember what is set to a tune.” I’m
sure that almost anyone, sadly, knows more lyrics set to music than
Scripture. This particular church body
may not be an accurate representation of that because we often sing passages of
scripture set to music. But, God wired
our minds to think of things in rhythms and patterns. Music is just one way to do that. If something is set to music, the likelihood
of it being remembered longer is exponentially higher.
When Janet and I lead worship, I’ve often
encouraged us to consider the lyrics of a song.
Instead of mindlessly harmonizing, we should be focused on what the song
is trying to communicate. Does it cast
new light on something about Jesus that I haven’t considered before? What truths are being taught? How will I sing
these to myself and others through the week?
We are compelled and commanded to sing, but
finally, we are also created to sing. Every
society in history has music. Just
because you may not be able to carry a tune in a tanker truck doesn’t mean you
weren’t created to sing. God gave each
of us the exact same vocal apparatus; He just allowed some people to sound
better than the rest of us. But after
all, the Psalmist commanded us to make a joyful noise; he didn’t say it had to
necessarily be pretty. Even little
children love music. My nephew was
enthralled with music from a young age.
Elise was quickly calmed as a baby by music. They’ll both dance when music is playing, and
Elise is even starting to try to sing along with some of her favorite songs. God
has several times used her love of a particular song to remind me of His
truths. I used to sing “Be Still My
Soul” when I would put her to bed just as a way to calm her, but God would calm
my soul with the lyrics and teach me to rest on Him.
The Bible is full of songs sung for
different reasons, all in praise of God and His marvelous deeds!
Let’s get back to Esther. I heard a message last fall on Esther and the
sovereignty of God, and it actually gave me the idea to suggest it as a series
to Carl. When I spoke six weeks ago, I
focused on this a lot. But I want to
expand it to the entire story.
I think the writer of the book of Esther
intentionally left God out of the text as a way to highlight His hand in the
everyday affairs of man. He never used a
miracle to preserve the Jews. But He
used people not unlike how He operates today.
The story of Esther is almost unbelievable as it is written, so there
has to be some outside force acting on these circumstances to save the
Jews. The Theological Messages of the Old Testament Books by Robert D.
Bell, Ph.D. lists 12 events that are “remarkable coincidences with a very small
chance of happening under normal circumstances.”
1. Vashti refused to grant the king’s
request for her appearance before his guests (1:12).
2. Mordecai put Esther into the contest
for the queen’s replacement (2:8, 10-11).
3. The king chose Esther out of hundreds
of contestants (2:17).
4. Mordecai was not given any recognition
or reward for saving the king’s life (2:22-23).
5. Haman’s reaction was extreme in regard
to Mordecai’s refusal to bow before him (3:5-6). This is so remarkable that the
reader has to suspect that another unnamed personality has involved himself
into this story – that old serpent Satan, who has always been at work to
eliminate the Seed of the woman.
6. By casting lots for the time of the
Jew’s [sic] destruction, Haman ended up with a day almost a year away (3:7).
7. Haman hurried to build gallows for
Mordecai right before he met with the king and queen (5:14).
8. The king had insomnia on the very night
before Esther’s second banquet (6:1a).
9. The king’s servants chase to read the
section of the chronicles that mentioned Mordecai (6:1b-2).
10. Haman appeared in the king’s court at
the very time the king was wondering about how to honor Mordecai (6:4).
11. The king phrased his question to Haman
in such a way that Haman did not know he was speaking about Mordecai (6:6).
12. While the king was out of the room,
Haman reacted to his condemnation by Esther in such a way that on returning the
king misinterpreted his act (7:8).
We’ve seen time and again God use humans
acting with integrity within the position He placed them to affect His
will. But these people were submitted to
seeking Him in everything they did.
God doesn’t need miracles to affect our
daily lives. He can alter the heart of
the king whenever He wishes. Proverbs
21:1 “The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns
it wherever he will.” However, He still
used Esther, and Joseph, and Daniel to influence the high ranking officials
around them.
I take that as encouragement to pray for
my leaders, political, managers, and pastors.
I’m not sure about the other 5 who teach, but I know the weeks that I
teach are especially hard. Satan lays
new snares and struggles each time. We
as a body should pray more each week for the one who is teaching that following
Sunday. It burdens me even more for
churches that for one reason or another only have one pastor.
Let’s praise God for His abundant mercy
and sovereign control over every aspect of our lives. Remember, we have in us the power of the One
who created the universe. Do you recall
the story of the storm that had the apostles scared to death? Many of them were veteran fisherman. They had endured storms on the water
before. They were incensed that Jesus was
asleep during this storm that was about to kill them. He got up, looked at the storm and said
“Peace, be still.” I picture the little
boat rocking on a glassy smooth sea as 12 men stared at Jesus in total
bewilderment. He can still quiet our
storms, but we are also commanded to be still and know that He is God. It’s a lot like a parent trying to get a
child to listen by saying, “Be still!”
Even as adults, we have to tell ourselves to be still. We get so caught up in our daily lives that
we sometimes miss Him. Let’s make a
point to seek Him always so that when the trials come, we don’t have to try to
go find Him in the storm.
