Esther

Book Outhne

Key theme: God’s providence in protecting His people

Key verses: ,

I. Esther’s Coronation ()

A. The dethroning of Vashti ()

B. The crowning of Esther ()

II. Haman’s Condemnation ()

A. Haman’s intrigue ()

B. Mordecai’s insight ()

C. Esther’s intercession ()

III. Israel’s Celebration ()

A. A new decree ()

B. A sure defense ()

C. A great distinction ()

Book Overview

One of the major themes of the Book of Esther is the providence of God. Kings may issue their unalterable decrees, but God overrules and accomplishes His purposes.

But God is not mentioned directly in this book. Why not? The word king is found over one hundred times in the Book of Esther, and the name of the king nearly thirty times; but God’s glorious name is not mentioned once. Is this because the Jewish nation was displeasing to God at that time and under His discipline? Perhaps. The events described in this book took place between 483 and 473 B.C. when the Persians were in control. The Book of Esther fits between chapters and of the Book of Ezra. Xerxes ruled from 485 to 465, and Esther became queen in 479. At that time a Jewish remnant was struggling to rebuild their nation in the Holy Land (), but the people were not totally committed to God.

This much is true: Though God is not named in this book, He is present and active. He was not hiding; He was only hidden. The book of Esther is one of the greatest illustrations in the Bible of the principle of . God faithfully works “He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, “What have You done?’ ” (). This means we can trust Him without fear and obey Him without hesitation, “For the kingdom is the Lord’s, and He rules over the nations” ().

The book also reminds us that God was caring for His people Israel and fulfilling His promise to Abraham (). Every enemy that has ever tried to exterminate the Jewish nation has been defeated. Mordecai comes closest to identifying God’s work behind the scenes in history on behalf of His chosen people when he tells Esther, “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place” (). God has made an everlasting covenant with His people, and He will keep His part in that agreement.

“Be Transformed”

Did the Esther living out the events we read in the story named after her ever feel like the Esther of history? Or was she so busy responding to the unfolding events in her life that she didn’t think that much about her legacy? How did her dreams as a young girl growing up and hearing stories about her homeland look different in the reality of the change that came when she was drafted into the king’s harem and then, against all odds, became his chosen queen?

Most of the details about how Esther felt are absent from her story. She may have felt helpless on occasion, since choices were being made about her life that she couldn’t control. But every choice she did make was wise—like following Mordecai’s counsel () and taking the advice of the eunuch (). We get glimpses of her inner life through her concern for Mordecai (), her natural hesitation to take matters into her own hands (), and her cautious action in accepting the assignment to approach the king and put her life at risk (, ) on the condition that “all the Jews who are present in Shushan” fast for her. Here we see Esther’s understanding and her desire not to work alone but to acknowledge the significant role of others. Is it not reasonable to suggest that she expected the “fasting” to be fervent prayer to the God of Israel?

We can easily get frustrated over decisions made around us that are out of our control. We may even resent God for not stepping in and arranging things the way we want them. But every day is filled with choices we still have to make. Even the decision to trust God in the middle of circumstances that seem out of control is a choice. Esther provides an excellent example for us for making wise choices and leaving the results in God’s hands—even when it involves our lives ().

The King Dethrones Queen Vashti

Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus (this was the Ahasuerus who reigned over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India to Ethiopia),

2in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the citadel,

that in the third year of his reign he made a feast for all his officials and servants—the powers of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the princes of the provinces being before him—

when he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty for many days, one hundred and eighty days in all.

5And when these days were completed, the king made a feast lasting seven days for all the people who were present in Shushan the citadel, from great to small, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace.

6There were white and blue linen curtains fastened with cords of fine linen and purple on silver rods and marble pillars; and the couches were of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of alabaster, turquoise, and white and black marble.

7And they served drinks in golden vessels, each vessel being different from the other, with royal wine in abundance, according to the generosity of the king.

8In accordance with the law, the drinking was not compulsory; for so the king had ordered all the officers of his household, that they should do according to each man’s pleasure.

9Queen Vashti also made a feast for the women in the royal palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus.

On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus,

11to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown, in order to show her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was beautiful to behold.

But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs; therefore the king was furious, and his anger burned within him.

Then the king said to the wise men who understood the times (for this was the king’s manner toward all who knew law and justice,

14those closest to him being Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who had access to the king’s presence, and who ranked highest in the kingdom):

15“What shall we do to Queen Vashti, according to law, because she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerus brought to her by the eunuchs?”

And Memucan answered before the king and the princes: “Queen Vashti has not only wronged the king, but also all the princes, and all the people who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

17“For the queen’s behavior will become known to all women, so that they will despise their husbands in their eyes, when they report, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in before him, but she did not come.’

18“This very day the noble ladies of Persia and Media will say to all the king’s officials that they have heard of the behavior of the queen. Thus there will be excessive contempt and wrath.

“If it pleases the king, let a royal decree go out from him, and let it be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it will not be altered, that Vashti shall come no more before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.

20“When the king’s decree which he will make is proclaimed throughout all his empire (for it is great), all wives will honor their husbands, both great and small.”

21And the reply pleased the king and the princes, and the king did according to the word of Memucan.

22Then he sent letters to all the king’s provinces, to each province in its own script, and to every people in their own language, that each man should be master in his own house, and speak in the language of his own people.

Esther Becomes Queen

After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus subsided, he remembered Vashti, what she had done, and what had been decreed against her.

2Then the king’s servants who attended him said: “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king;

“and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to Shushan the citadel, into the women’s quarters, under the custody of Hegai the king’s eunuch, custodian of the women. And let beauty preparations be given them.

4“Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This thing pleased the king, and he did so.

In Shushan the citadel there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite.

6Kish had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been captured with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.

And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

8So it was, when the king’s command and decree were heard, and when many young women were gathered at Shushan the citadel, under the custody of Hegai, that Esther also was taken to the king’s palace, into the care of Hegai the custodian of the women.

9Now the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor; so he readily gave beauty preparations to her, besides her allowance. Then seven choice maidservants were provided for her from the king’s palace, and he moved her and her maidservants to the best place in the house of the women.

Esther had not revealed her people or family, for Mordecai had charged her not to reveal it.

And every day Mordecai paced in front of the court of the women’s quarters, to learn of Esther’s welfare and what was happening to her.

12Each young woman’s turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had completed twelve months’ preparation, according to the regulations for the women, for thus were the days of their preparation apportioned: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women.

13Thus prepared, each young woman went to the king, and she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the women’s quarters to the king’s palace.

14In the evening she went, and in the morning she returned to the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who kept the concubines. She would not go in to the king again unless the king delighted in her and called for her by name.

15Now when the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised. And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her.

16So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

17The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Then the king made a great feast, the Feast of Esther, for all his officials and servants; and he proclaimed a holiday in the provinces and gave gifts according to the generosity of a king.

Mordecai Discovers a Plot

When virgins were gathered together a second time, Mordecai sat within the king’s gate.

20Now Esther had not revealed her family and her people, just as Mordecai had charged her, for Esther obeyed the command of Mordecai as when she was brought up by him.

21In those days, while Mordecai sat within the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, doorkeepers, became furious and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

22So the matter became known to Mordecai, who told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai’s name.

23And when an inquiry was made into the matter, it was confirmed, and both were hanged on a gallows; and it was written in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.

Haman’s Conspiracy Against the Jews

After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.

And all the king’s servants who were within the king’s gate bowed and paid homage to Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai would not bow or pay homage.

3Then the king’s servants who were within the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the king’s command?”

4Now it happened, when they spoke to him daily and he would not listen to them, that they told it to Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand; for Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew.

When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow or pay him homage, Haman was filled with wrath.

But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him of the people of Mordecai. Instead, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus—the people of Mordecai.

In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur (that is, the lot), before Haman to determine the day and the month, until it fell on the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.

Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain.

“If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”

So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.

11And the king said to Haman, “The money and the people are given to you, to do with them as seems good to you.”

Then the king’s scribes were called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and a decree was written according to all that Haman commanded—to the king’s satraps, to the governors who were over each province, to the officials of all people, to every province according to its script, and to every people in their language. In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written, and sealed with the king’s signet ring.

And the letters were sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their possessions.

14A copy of the document was to be issued as law in every province, being published for all people, that they should be ready for that day.

15The couriers went out, hastened by the king’s command; and the decree was proclaimed in Shushan the citadel. So the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Shushan was perplexed.

Esther Agrees to Help the Jews

When Mordecai learned all that had happened, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city. He cried out with a loud and bitter cry.

2He went as far as the front of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.

3And in every province where the king’s command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

4So Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her, and the queen was deeply distressed. Then she sent garments to clothe Mordecai and take his sackcloth away from him, but he would not accept them.

Then Esther called Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs whom he had appointed to attend her, and she gave him a command concerning Mordecai, to learn what and why this was.

6So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square that was in front of the king’s gate.

And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries to destroy the Jews.

8He also gave him a copy of the written decree for their destruction, which was given at Shushan, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her, and that he might command her to go in to the king to make supplication to him and plead before him for her people.

9So Hathach returned and told Esther the words of Mordecai.

Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a command for Mordecai:

11“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days.”

12So they told Mordecai Esther’s words.

And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews.

“For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai:

“Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”

17So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him.

Esther’s Banquet

Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the house.

2So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter.

3And the king said to her, “What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you—up to half the kingdom!”

4So Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”

5Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, that he may do as Esther has said.” So the king and Haman went to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

6At the banquet of wine the king said to Esther, “What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”

7Then Esther answered and said, “My petition and request is this:

“If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, then let the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.”

Haman’s Plot Against Mordecai

9So Haman went out that day joyful and with a glad heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, and that he did not stand or tremble before him, he was filled with indignation against Mordecai.

10Nevertheless Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and called for his friends and his wife Zeresh.

Then Haman told them of his great riches, the multitude of his children, everything in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and servants of the king.

12Moreover Haman said, “Besides, Queen Esther invited no one but me to come in with the king to the banquet that she prepared; and tomorrow I am again invited by her, along with the king.

“Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows be made, fifty cubits high, and in the morning suggest to the king that Mordecai be hanged on it; then go merrily with the king to the banquet.” And the thing pleased Haman; so he had the gallows made.

The King Honors Mordecai

That night the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.

2And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

Then the king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” And the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”

4So the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

5The king’s servants said to him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.”

So Haman came in, and the king asked him, “What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?” Now Haman thought in his heart, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?”

And Haman answered the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor,

8“let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal crest placed on its head.

9“Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then parade him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’ ”

Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king’s gate! Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken.”

So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!”

12Afterward Mordecai went back to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered.

When Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him.”

14While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs came, and hastened to bring Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.

Haman Hanged Instead of Mordecai

So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther.

2And on the second day, at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”

3Then Queen Esther answered and said, “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 have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss.”

So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?”

And Esther said, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!” So Haman was terrified before the king and queen.

7Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king.

When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?” As the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.

Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, “Look! The gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.” Then the king said, “Hang him on it!”

So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided.

Esther Saves the Jews

On that day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her.

So the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman.

3Now Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet, and implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman the Agagite, and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews.

4And the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king,

and said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces.

“For how can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen?”

7Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “Indeed, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he tried to lay his hand on the Jews.

“You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, as you please, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring; for whatever is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring no one can revoke.”

So the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day; and it was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the princes of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all, to every province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.

10And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed it with the king’s signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback, riding on royal horses bred from swift steeds.

11By these letters the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to gather together and protect their lives—to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them, both little children and women, and to plunder their possessions,

12on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.

A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province and published for all people, so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

14The couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in Shushan the citadel.

15So Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.

16The Jews had light and gladness, joy and honor.

17And in every province and city, wherever the king’s command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a holiday. Then many of the people of the land became Jews, because fear of the Jews fell upon them.

The Jews Destroy Their Tormentors

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.

2The 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.

And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and all those doing the king’s work, helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them.

4For Mordecai was great in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for this man Mordecai became increasingly prominent.

Thus the Jews defeated all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, with slaughter and destruction, and did what they pleased with those who hated them.

6And in Shushan the citadel the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men.

7Also Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

8Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

9Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vajezatha—

10the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews—they killed; but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

11On that day the number of those who were killed in Shushan the citadel was brought to the king.

12And 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 provinces? Now what is your petition? It shall be granted to you. Or what is your further request? It shall be done.”

13Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do again tomorrow according to today’s decree, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”

14So the king commanded this to be done; the decree was issued in Shushan, and they hanged Haman’s ten sons.

15And 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.

16The remainder of the Jews in the king’s provinces gathered together and protected their lives, had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of their enemies; but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

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.

The Feast of Purim

18But 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 gladness.

19Therefore the Jews of the villages who dwelt in the unwalled towns celebrated the fourteenth day of the month of Adar with gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and for sending presents to one another.

20And Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus,

21to establish among them that they should celebrate yearly the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar,

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 feasting and joy, of sending presents to one another and gifts to the poor.

23So the Jews accepted the custom which they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them,

24because Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, 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;

25but 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.

26So 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,

the Jews established 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 instructions and according to the prescribed time,

28that 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.

29Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter about Purim.

30And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews, to the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth,

31to 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 concerning matters of their fasting and lamenting.

So the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim, and it was written in the book.

Mordecai’s Advancement

And King Ahasuerus imposed tribute on the land and on the islands of the sea.

2Now 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?

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.

Annotations for Esther

Eastern rulers enjoyed hosting lavish banquets because each occasion gave them opportunity to impress their guests with their royal power and wealth. Three banquets at the Persian winter fortress of Susa, hosted by King Ahasuerus (this is the name in Hebrew; the Greek translation is Xerxes), are mentioned in this chapter: one for the key military and political officers of the empire (vv. ); one for the people of Susa (vv. ); and one for the women, presided over by Queen Vashti (v. ).

What was the purpose behind the banquets for the nobles and the people of the empire? Impressed by the gorgeous drapes hung from silver rings on marble pillars, the gold and silver couches on beautiful mosaic pavements, the golden table service, and the flowing wine, what else could they do but admire the king’s wealth and power? Like the salesperson who takes you out to an exclusive restaurant for an expensive dinner, the king broke down their resistance. A proud man himself, he knew how to appeal to the pride in others.

People in authority need to remember that all authority comes from God () and that He alone is in complete control. Every man or woman in a place of authority is second in command, for Jesus Christ is Lord of all.

As you study the book of Esther, you will discover that this mighty monarch could control everything but himself. His advisers easily influenced him; he made impetuous decisions that he later regretted; and when Ahasuerus didn’t get his own way, he became angry. Susceptible to flattery, he was master of a mighty empire but not master of himself. The king could control neither his temper nor his thirst. Consider the combined effects of anger and alcohol—two powerful forces that have brought more destruction to our society than even the statistics reveal.

The Bible doesn’t command total abstinence from wine for everybody, but it does command restraint. The nation of Israel didn’t drink strong drink during their wilderness pilgrimage (, ), the priests were instructed not to drink wine or strong drink while serving in the tabernacle (), and those who took a Nazirite vow were forbidden not only to drink wine but even to eat the skin or seeds of the grape (). Though our Lord Jesus drank wine while here on earth, He is today a total abstainer (). We ought to consider our Savior’s example in other areas of life, such as praying, serving, and sacrificing.

The anger that King Ahasuerus expressed toward his lovely queen was ignorant, childish, and completely inappropriate. Had the king been sober, he would never have asked his wife to display her beauties before his drunken leaders. In his angry pride, the king decided he had to do something to save both his ego and his reputation.

To be sure, a holy anger against sin ought to burn in the heart of every godly person (). Even our Lord became angry at sin (), but we must be careful that our anger at sin doesn’t become sinful anger (). Sometimes what we call “righteous indignation” is only unrighteous temper masquerading in religious garments. Jesus equated anger with murder (), and Paul warns us that anger can hinder our praying ().

The Persian king had seven counselors who advised him in matters of state and had the right to approach his throne. They also knew well how to flatter the king to secure their positions and get from him what they wanted. Eastern monarchs in that day depended on such men to give them instructions in matters personal, governmental, and military.

The men exaggerated the importance of the event: Queen Vashti had done wrong, not only to the king but also to the entire empire! When the guests returned home, therefore, they would tell everybody that the queen was disobedient to her husband, and the consequences would be disastrous. The women in the empire would hold the men in contempt, and a general rebellion of wives against husbands and women against men would follow.

, According to the counselors, the act of banishing Queen Vashti would put fear in the hearts of all the women in the empire and generate more respect for their husbands. But would it? Are hearts changed because kings issue decrees or congresses and parliaments pass laws? How would Vashti’s punishment make the Persian women love their husbands more? Are love and respect qualities that can be generated in hearts by human fiat? What a contrast to Paul’s counsel to husbands and wives in !

The gospel of Jesus Christ has helped to liberate and elevate women in society wherever it has been preached and obeyed throughout the world. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (). We still have a long way to go in our recognition of the importance of women in the church, but thanks partly to the influence of the gospel, society has made progress in setting women free from cruel bondage and giving them wonderful opportunities for life and service.

The king’s advisers may have been concerned that Vashti not be restored to royal favor, because if she regained her throne, their own lives would be in danger. After all, they were the ones who had told the king to remove her! But more was involved than the lives of the king’s counselors; the survival of the Jewish nation was also at stake. Queen Vashti would probably not intercede on behalf of the Jews. She might have even cooperated with Haman.

, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes” (). This doesn’t mean that God forced Xerxes to accept the plan, or that God approved of the king’s harems or of his sensual abuse of women. It simply means that, without being the author of their sin, God so directed the people in this situation that decisions were made that accomplished His purposes.

Today, the decisions made in the high places of government and finance seem remote from the everyday lives of God’s people, but they affect us and God’s work in many ways. It’s good to know that God is on His throne and that no decision is made that can thwart His purposes.

Mordecai is named fifty-eight times in this book, and seven times he is identified as “the Jew” (; ; ; ; , ; ). His ancestor, Kish, was among the Jews taken to Babylon from Jerusalem in the second deportation in 597 B.C. (). Cyrus, King of Persia, entered Babylon in 539 and the next year gave the Jews permission to return to their land. About 50,000 responded (). In subsequent years, other Jews returned to Israel, but Mordecai chose to remain in the Persian capital.

Esther was Mordecai’s cousin and adopted daughter (v. ). Her Persian name, Esther, means “star,” and her Hebrew name, Hadassah, means “myrtle.” (Interestingly, the myrtle tree bears a flower that looks like a star.) A beautiful woman, she was one of those taken into the king’s harem.

, Had Esther not been born into the Jewish race, she could never have saved the nation from slaughter. Apparently the two cousins’ silence about their nationality was directed by God because He had a special work for them to accomplish.

The fact that Esther and Mordecai hid their Jewish heritage presents us with some problems. First, if Mordecai and Esther were passing themselves off as Persians, they probably weren’t keeping a kosher home and obeying the laws of Moses. Had they been following even the dietary laws, let alone the rules for separation and worship, their true nationality would have quickly been discovered. Second, had Esther practiced her Jewish faith during her year of preparation (v. ), or during the four years she had been queen (v. with ), the disguise would have come off.

Even though the ceremonial laws of Moses were temporary and would end with the death of Christ on the cross, they were still in effect at this time, and the Jews were expected to follow them. Daniel and his friends were careful to obey God’s law while they lived in Babylon, and the Lord blessed them for their faithfulness (). Why would God overlook the unfaithfulness of Mordecai and Esther and still use them to accomplish His purposes?

Mordecai eventually held an official position in the government and sat at the king’s gate (v. ). He probably was given this position after Esther’s coronation, because we see that he had to walk back and forth in front of the house of the women in order to find out how his adopted daughter was doing. If he had been an officer of the king, he would have had access to inside information.

The king’s generosity even touched the common people, for he proclaimed a national holiday throughout his realm and distributed gifts to the people. This holiday may have been similar to the Hebrew “Year of Jubilee.” Taxes probably were canceled, servants set free, and workers given a vacation from their jobs. Ahasuerus wanted everybody to feel good about his new queen.

This assassination attempt may have been connected with the crowning of the new queen; Vashti’s supporters in the palace may have resented what Ahasuerus had done. Or perhaps these two men hated Esther because she was an outsider. Although not consistently followed, tradition said that Persian kings should select their wives from women within the seven noble families of the land. These conspirators may have been traditionalists who didn’t want a commoner on the throne.

To be “hanged on a gallows” (or impaled) was a form of capital punishment used by the Persians, who were not known for their leniency to prisoners. The usual form of capital punishment among the Jews was stoning, but if they really wanted to humiliate the victim, they would hang the corpse on a tree until sundown (, ).

Mordecai is now in a position of honor and authority, sitting at the king’s gate (; ). In the East, the gate was the ancient equivalent of our modern law courts, the place where important official business was transacted (; ). Quite possibly Queen Esther used her influence to get her cousin this job.

Haman was an “Agagite,” which could mean he came from a district in the empire known as Agag. But it could also mean that he was descended from Agag, king of the Amalekites (). If the latter is the case, then we can easily understand why Haman hated the Jews: God had declared war on the Amalekites and decreed that their name and memory should be blotted off the face of the earth (; ). Everything about Haman is hateful; you can’t find one thing about this man worth praising. In fact, everything Haman was, God hated (cf. )!

Not content with merely having a high office and using it, Haman wanted all the public recognition and honor that he could secure. Although the ancient people of the Near East were accustomed to giving public displays of homage, the king had to issue a special edict concerning Haman, or the people would not have bowed down to him.

Mordecai may have had shortcomings with reference to his religious practices, but we must admire him for his courageous stand. Certainly God had put him and Esther into their official positions so that they might save their people from annihilation. Their neglect of the Jewish law is incidental when we consider their courage in risking their lives.

Why did Mordecai refuse to bow down to Haman? What about being a Jew prohibited him from doing what everybody else was doing? Even if Mordecai couldn’t respect the man, he could at least respect the office and, thus, the king who gave Haman the office. If Haman was an Amalekite, and the Amalekites were the avowed enemies of the Jews, Mordecai could not show homage to the enemy of the Jews and the enemy of the Lord.

Haman’s hatred for Mordecai soon developed into hatred for the whole Jewish race. Haman could have reported Mordecai’s crime to the king, and the king would have imprisoned Mordecai or perhaps even had him executed, but that would not have satisfied Haman’s lust for revenge. No, his hatred had to be nourished by something bigger, like the destruction of a whole ethnic group.

As the astrologers cast lots over the calendar, month by month and day by day, they arrived at the most propitious date: the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (v. ). This decision was certainly of the Lord, because it gave the Jews a whole year to get ready, and it gave Mordecai and Esther time to act.

Catalyst

God has divine purposes to accomplish in this world. God’s purposes involve the Jewish nation as well as the Gentile nations of the world. They also involve the church. Within those groups, God especially accomplishes His purposes through individuals. His purposes touch the lives of kings and queens and common people, godly people and wicked people. Nothing in this world is outside the influence of the purposes of God.

For reasons we don’t fully understand, God permits wicked people to do evil things in this world, but He can and does work in and through unbelievers and His own people to accomplish His purposes. While He was not the author of Xerxes’ sins, God permitted the king’s drunkenness and His foolishness in deposing Vashti. He used the king’s loneliness to place Esther on the throne, and He will use the king’s sleeplessness to reward Mordecai and start to overthrow the power of Haman (ch. ). In great things and little things, God is sovereign.

God will accomplish His purposes even if His servants refuse to obey His will. If Esther rejected the will of God for her life, God could still save His people, but Esther would be the loser. When ministers and missionaries appeal to the church for volunteers for Christian service, they sometimes give the impression that God’s work is at the mercy of God’s workers, but this isn’t true.

If we refuse to obey God, He can either abandon us and get somebody else to do the job—and we will lose the reward and blessing—or He can discipline us until we surrender to His will. Two examples come to mind. When Jonah ran from God, the Lord kept after him until he obeyed, even though he didn’t obey from his heart (). After John Mark left the mission field and returned home (; ), God raised up Timothy to take his place (). When God isn’t permitted to rule, He overrules, and He always accomplishes His purposes.

God isn’t in a hurry and will fulfill His plans in due time. God waited until the third year of the king’s reign before taking Vashti off the throne (). Then He waited another four years () before putting Esther on the throne. Not until the king’s twelfth year () did God allow Haman to hatch his evil plot, and He decreed that the crisis day for the Jews would be almost a year away.

The fact that God is sovereign, in control, doesn’t suggest fatalism or blind determinism, both of which would make life a prison. Only a sovereign God is great enough to decree freedom of choice for men and women, and only a sovereign God could fulfill His wise and loving purposes in this world and even make evil cooperate in producing good ().

Go to the

Haman was correct when he described the Jews as a people whose “laws are different from all other people’s.” Their laws were different because they were God’s chosen people who alone received God’s holy law from His own hand. Believers ought to consider their laws in comparison with the laws of the land. And we ought to consider what makes the difference between us and the world in which we live.

Haman’s coup de grace came at the end of his speech, when he offered to pay the king 10,000 talents of silver for the privilege of ridding the empire of these dangerous people. Haman must have been a fabulously wealthy man. Of course, he hoped to recoup some of this amount from the spoils taken from the Jews.

, Without asking any questions, the king gave Haman his royal signet ring (see , ), which granted him the authority to act in the king’s name. He could write any document he pleased and put the king’s seal on it, and the document had to be accepted as law and obeyed.

If, in an ancient kingdom, a message of bad news could be so quickly prepared, translated, and distributed, why does it take the church so long to disseminate the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ? To be sure, we have more people in our modern world than Ahasuerus had in his empire, but we also have better means of communication and transportation. The problem must be with the couriers. The message is ready to go, but we don’t have enough people to carry it and enough money to send them.

Before we condemn wicked Haman, let’s examine our own hearts. Lost sinners in today’s world are under a sentence of eternal death, and most Christians do very little about it. We can sit at our church banquets and Sunday dinners without even thinking about helping to get the message out that “the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world” ().

Mordecai’s appearance and actions were those of a person showing great grief (, ; ) or deep repentance (, ; , ). Mordecai was neither afraid nor ashamed to let people know where he stood. He had already told the officers at the gate that he was a Jew; now he was telling the whole city not only that he was a Jew but also that he opposed the murderous edict.

What could Mordecai hope to accomplish at the gate with his sackcloth and his wailing? Well, perhaps somebody from the palace would take notice of him and get a message to Queen Esther. The queen’s ladies-in-waiting knew Mordecai () although they didn’t know the relationship between him and the queen, and Mordecai had already transmitted information to the queen through some of her attendants ().

So often in the work of the Lord, He uses obscure people to accomplish important tasks. What was the name of the young boy who gave Jesus his loaves and fishes? Who were the men who rescued Paul by lowering him over that Damascus wall in a basket? What was the name of the little servant girl who told Naaman to go see the prophet? We don’t know, but God used these people to accomplish His purposes. Here the eunuch Hathach is named, but we know nothing else about him.

, When Mordecai told Hathach to tell the queen to ask for mercy “for her people,” he divulged to him the fact that Esther was a Jewess. Did it shock Hathach, or was he perhaps a Jew himself, and that’s why Mordecai entrusted him with this secret?

Because they were sending messages through a third party, Esther had no way of sensing how Mordecai felt, nor could Mordecai fully understand how Esther was expressing herself. Communication improves greatly when we can see the faces and hear the voices of the people with whom we are communicating. Hathach certainly had a great responsibility placed on him as the living link between two distressed people who held in their hands the salvation of the Jewish nation.

Perhaps Mordecai misinterpreted Esther’s message. It sounded to him as though she was trying to hide her nationality and avoid the responsibility of presenting herself to the king. Had he seen and heard her in person, he may have judged her differently.

Mordecai emphasized that Esther being in the palace was not an accident, for she had “come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” He didn’t say that God had put her there, but that’s what his statement amounted to. If Esther would just take the time to review her life, she couldn’t help but see the divine leading all the way.

This was a matter of life and death both for Esther and for her people, and God used the crisis that Haman had created to bring a spiritual revival to His people scattered among the Gentiles. Often God’s people have to experience trouble before they will humble themselves and cry out to God.

From the human point of view, everything was against Esther and the success of her mission. The law was against her, because nobody was allowed to interrupt the king. The government was against her, because the decree said that she was to be slain. Her sex was against her, because the king’s attitude toward women was worse than chauvinistic. The officers were against her, because they did only those things that ingratiated themselves with Haman. In one sense, even the fast could be against her, because going three days without food and drink would not necessarily improve her appearance or physical strength. But “If God is for us, who can be against us?” ().

What Esther did ranks among the great deeds of faith in Scripture and could have been recorded in . The Jews needed to pray and have faith that God would work, but somebody had to act, for “faith without works is dead” ().

, Esther wasn’t operating on the basis of blind faith. She knew that God had covenanted with the Jews to deal with their enemies (). She also knew that the God of Israel was a forgiving God who would hear His people when they humbled themselves and prayed (). Furthermore, God had allowed a remnant of Jews to return to their land and rebuild the temple. Surely God wouldn’t want them to perish and their work to stop. Unlike Esther, when we come to the throne of grace, we don’t have to wonder what our Father thinks about us, because He always loves His people and welcomes them into His presence.

The fact that Esther invited Haman to the second banquet only increased this evil man’s confidence, and that’s exactly the response the queen wanted. As long as her enemy was overconfident, she knew he would fall. “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered” (). Like the rich fool in our Lord’s parable (), Haman was confident that he was set for life, when, in reality, he was just a few hours away from death. The only safe place to put your confidence is in the Lord.

Fresh from an intimate dinner with the king and queen, and anticipating a second banquet the next evening, Haman launched himself on an ego trip. Many theologians are of the conviction that pride is the very essence of sin. Believers need to be careful of allowing pride to gain a foothold. What does a sinful person have of which to be proud? Paul, in , lays aside all things for the sake of Christ and calls them worthless garbage (, ).

Catalyst

Why didn’t Esther immediately inform the king about Haman’s evil plot? We can find at least four reasons.

For one thing, it wasn’t the right time. The king was unprepared to receive the shocking news that his number one officer was a scoundrel. In the midst of kingdom business, Xerxes might have considered her accusation an act of treason if not just a piece of palace gossip.

Neither was it the right place for her to intercede. No doubt attendants were serving the king in the throne room, and for the queen to make her plea publicly would have been a breach of palace etiquette. The sight of a weeping, pleading woman before the throne might have annoyed the king and made matters worse. Better she should speak to the king in the privacy of her own apartment than in the throne room.

The third reason was that Esther wanted Haman, and only Haman, present when she told the king about his prime minister’s evil plot. With womanly intuition, Esther was confident that Haman, caught off guard, would in some way admit his guilt and do something foolish that would anger the king. She was right on both counts.

But there was a fourth reason—one that Esther herself was unaware of at that time. One more event had to intervene before she could share her burden with the king, and it would take place that very night. The king would discover that he had never rewarded Mordecai for saving his life five years before, and he would rectify that mistake immediately. He would honor Mordecai, but at the same time humiliate Haman, and this experience would help prepare the king to hear Esther’s petition.

Go to the

Malice is that deep-seated hatred that brings delight if our enemy suffers and pain if our enemy succeeds. Malice can never forgive; it must always take revenge. Malice has a good memory for hurts and a bad memory for kindnesses. In , Paul compared malice to yeast, because, like yeast, malice begins very small but gradually grows and finally permeates the whole of life.

Haman’s plan was obvious: He wanted to use Mordecai’s execution to frighten the Jews and convince them that the king had meant business when he approved the edict. The execution of a prominent Jew such as Mordecai would paralyze the wills of the Jewish people in the empire, and Haman would have them at his mercy.

We see the sovereign hand of God invisibly at work in the life of King Ahasuerus. God was working out His purposes, whether the king knew it or not. Some or all of these worries may have played a part in the king’s wakefulness, but behind them was the sovereign hand of the living God who watches over His people and never slumbers or sleeps (, ). God wanted the king to stay awake because He had something to tell him. Can God direct us even in such minor matters as our recreations? He certainly can.

It has often been said that “God’s delays are not God’s denials.” We sometimes get impatient and wonder why the wicked are prospering while the righteous are suffering, but God is never in a hurry. He is longsuffering toward the wicked because He wants them to repent, and He is patient with His people because He wants them to receive the right reward at the right time for the right purpose.

To enter the king’s throne room was a great privilege, but Haman was invited into the king’s bedchamber. This new honor only increased Haman’s pride and false confidence; he thought that he was in control of events and that Mordecai’s doom was sealed. And when the king asked for Haman’s advice on a personal matter, Haman’s ego inflated even more.

Thinking that the king was describing the honors he himself would receive, Haman asked for the very best: The man to be honored should be dressed in the king’s own apparel; he should ride on the king’s horse with the royal emblem on its head; and one of the noble princes should lead the horse through the city and command the people to honor him. Such an event would almost be like a coronation.

Note that King Xerxes called Mordecai “the Jew.” One might get the impression that the king had completely forgotten that he had permitted Haman to issue an edict to destroy the Jews. One day the king is an enemy of the Jews, and a few weeks later he honors one of the leading Jewish citizens. But Ahasuerus had a debt to pay, for Mordecai had saved his life.

How did this pageantry and prominence affect Mordecai? When it was over, he simply returned to his place at the gate and continued to serve the king. Applause doesn’t change truly humble people, for their values are far deeper. God can entrust His blessings to the humble, because they seek to honor only the Lord.

At this point, Haman’s wife and counselors made an interesting statement: “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him.” God was warning Haman, but the proud prime minister wouldn’t heed the warning. Had he sincerely repented and asked for mercy, he might have saved his own life and the lives of his ten sons ().

, Ever since the previous evening’s banquet, Ahasuerus had been waiting to hear the queen’s petition. So when the wine was served, he broached the subject. Of course, the statement “up to half the kingdom” was a royal promise that wasn’t to be taken literally (see , ; ). It simply meant that the king would be generous.

Esther continued by pointing out that the king had been paid to issue this decree (). If he had sold the Jews as slaves, such a payment might have been just. But to sell them into death and total destruction was something for which nobody had enough money.

Perhaps Ahasuerus concluded that Haman’s crime was in wanting to slay the queen and that he had decided to accomplish it by killing all the Jews. For that matter, he may have supposed that Haman was part of the Bigthana-Teresh conspiracy that Mordecai had exposed (see ), and that Haman was getting rid of Mordecai by getting rid of the Jews.

We can better understand why God directed Esther to delay her pleas: He wanted to give Ahasuerus opportunity to learn what Mordecai had done, that Mordecai was a Jew, and that he deserved to be honored. If a Jew had saved the king’s life, why should the king exterminate the Jews?

What a paradox! Haman had been furious because a Jewish man wouldn’t bow down to him, and now Haman was prostrate before a Jewish woman, begging for his life! When the king entered the room and saw the scene, he accused Haman of trying to molest the queen. In his anger, the king would have exaggerated anything Haman did, and besides that, molesting the queen was a capital crime. Forget about the conspiracy; everybody could see for themselves that Haman was guilty of attacking the queen. For that crime alone, he deserved to die. Had Haman covered his head in true humility and repentance, the situation would have been different, but he refused to listen to the warnings of the Lord. He was so controlled by pride and malice that he was blind to the dangers that lay ahead.

, This unchanging principle of sowing and reaping is illustrated throughout the Bible, and it applies to both believers and unbelievers. Jacob killed an animal and lied to his father, pretending to be Esau (), and years later Jacob’s sons killed an animal and lied to him, pretending that Joseph was dead (). Pharaoh gave orders to drown the Jewish baby boys (), and one day his army was drowned in the Red Sea (). But keep in mind that this law of sowing and reaping also applies to doing what is good and right. If we sow to the flesh, we reap corruption, but if we sow to the Spirit, we reap life everlasting ().

Not only is a personal lesson here but also a lesson about the nation of Israel: Every enemy that has ever tried to destroy Israel has been destroyed. “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you” is God’s promise to Israel (), and He has always kept it. God takes His promises seriously, even if the nations of the world ignore them or challenge them.

, More than an act of generosity, this gift was probably the king’s way of atoning for his foolish decisions that had brought so much pain to Esther and her people. Later, Esther may have shared some of this great wealth with the Jews so they could prepare themselves for the coming crisis.

Everything that Haman had acquired from the king by his scheming, Mordecai received as gifts, because Mordecai was a deserving man. At the beginning of this story, Esther and Mordecai were hardly exemplary in the way they practiced their religious faith, but now we get the impression that things have changed.

God doesn’t always give this kind of a happy ending to everybody’s story. Not all faithful Christians are promoted and given special honors. In fact, some of them get fired because of their stand for Christ! God hasn’t promised that we’ll be promoted and made rich, but He has assured us that He controls all circumstances and will write the last chapter of the story. If God doesn’t promote us here on earth, He certainly will when we get to glory.

, Esther’s example encourages us to come to God’s throne and intercede on behalf of others, especially the nations of the world where lost souls need to be delivered from death. One concerned person devoted to prayer can make a great difference in this world, for prayer is the key that releases the power of God.

Some believers today ignore the needs of a lost world while they search for new ways to spend money and have fun. Some think that attending church and bringing their offerings fulfills their Christian responsibilities and gives them the freedom to do whatever they please with the rest of their time and money. We need more people like Esther, whose burden for condemned people was greater than anything else in her life.

Since Adam and Eve, “the law of sin and death” () has been in force in this world. God followed that law when He gave His Son, Jesus, to bear our sins and die on the cross. But then God raised Jesus from the dead and put a new power into effect that makes it possible for sinners to be saved. Now God wants us to put that good news into every tongue and take that good news to every nation.

Mordecai’s decree was in complete harmony with God’s covenant with Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (). Isaac also would have agreed with Mordecai, for when Isaac blessed Jacob, he said, “Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you” ().

The first decree was issued on April 17 (). Thus, about seventy days had passed since Haman had declared war on the Jews. D-day for the Jews was March 7 of the next year (); therefore, the people had a little over eight months to get ready.

The Jews were not the aggressors but were prepared to defend themselves. (See .)

, The Jewish men were organized and armed, ready to meet any enemy who would attack them and their families and try to take their possessions. But the Lord had given them a greater weapon than their swords, because “fear of the Jews fell upon [their enemies]” (). This was a fear that God had sent into the hearts of the Gentiles to keep them from fighting His people. Is there such devotion to God among God’s people that an outsider attending one of our meetings would fall down on his face, worship God, and report that “God is truly among you” ()?

The princes, deputies, governors, and officers of the king throughout the Persian empire were in such awe of Mordecai that they even helped the Jews defend themselves against their enemies. God had given Mordecai his high position and his great reputation, and Mordecai used his authority to do God’s will. Christians today can live their faith in such a way that the power of God is seen in their lives, and the enemy will think twice before attacking. Yet, instead of the godless world being in awe of the church, the church is afraid of the world, imitating the world to the point that it’s difficult to tell the difference between the two.

When the ten sons of Haman took up arms and attacked the Jews, all ten of them were slain. The bodies of the ten sons were hanged on Haman’s gallows as a warning to the enemies.

The Jews established the Festival of Purim to remind their children year after year that God had saved Israel from destruction. But a new generation can easily come along and take for granted the blessings that previous generations struggled and sacrificed to attain.

Christians certainly ought to rejoice with their Jewish friends, because every spiritual blessing we have has come through the Jews. The Jews gave to the world the knowledge of the true and living God, the Scriptures, and the Savior.

Godly patriotism goes beyond mere nationalism and civic pride and gives glory to God for what He has done. To see the hand of God in history, to praise Him for His goodness and mercy, and to ask God to forgive us for our sins are perhaps the best ways for the Christian patriot to celebrate a national holiday.

The story of the victory of the Jews over their enemies was celebrated in an annual festival, recorded in two official letters, written in a journal, and ultimately included in the Old Testament Scriptures. What a reminder for believers to recall history and the hand of God in the world.

This brief chapter tells us that Mordecai, unlike his predecessor Haman, used his office to serve the king and help the Jews. Sometimes when people are elevated to high office, they forget their roots and ignore the needs of the common people. Mordecai wasn’t that kind of person. Even though his political deeds were recorded in the official annals of the empire, what he did for his people has been recorded by the Lord and will be rewarded.

The exciting drama of Esther is over, but the blessings go right on. God preserved the Jewish nation so that we can have a Bible and a Savior. Now our job is to tell the whole world about this Savior and seek to win as many as we can to the Lord. We are the King’s couriers, and we dare not fail.

Esther 1

1:1

1:1 Generally identified with Xerxes I (485–464 B.C.)

1:2

1:2 Or Susa, and so throughout this book

1:3

1:6 ;

1:7

1:10

1:13

1:14

1:17 []

1:19

1:20 []

1:22 ;

1:22 []

Esther 2

2:1 ,

2:3 Hebrew Hege

2:5

2:6 ,

2:6 Literally Who

2:6 Same as Jehoiachin, and elsewhere

2:7

2:8

2:9 ,

2:10

2:15 ;

2:15 ,

2:17

2:18

2:20

2:22 ,

2:23

Esther 3

3:1

3:2 , ;

3:2

3:3

3:5 ;

3:5

3:6

3:7

3:7 Septuagint adds to destroy the people of Mordecai in one day; Vulgate adds the nation of the Jews should be destroyed.

3:7 Following Masoretic Text and Vulgate; Septuagint reads and the lot fell on the fourteenth of the month.

3:8 ,

3:10

3:10 ,

3:10

3:12

3:13 ,

3:13

3:13 ;

3:13 Septuagint adds the text of the letter here.

3:14 ,

3:15

Esther 4

4:1

4:7

4:8 ,

4:11 ;

4:11

4:11 ;

4:11

4:16

4:17 Septuagint adds a prayer of Mordecai here.

Esther 5

5:1

5:1 ;

5:1 Septuagint adds many extra details in verses and .

5:2 []

5:2 ;

5:3

5:6

5:8

5:9 []

5:9

5:10

5:11

5:14

Esther 6

6:1 ;

6:4

6:6 [; ]

6:8

6:9

6:12

6:13

6:14

Esther 7

7:2

7:4 ;

7:4

7:6

7:8

7:9

7:10 [; ]

7:10

Esther 8

8:1

8:1 ,

8:2

8:4 ;

8:5

8:6

8:7

8:8 , ,

8:9

8:9 ;

8:10

8:10 Literally sons of the swift horses

8:11

8:11 , ,

8:12 ;

8:12 Septuagint adds the text of the letter here.

8:13 ,

8:15

8:16 ;

8:17

Esther 9

9:1

9:2 ;

9:2 ,

9:2

9:4

9:6 ; ;

9:10 ;

9:10

9:12 ;

9:13 ;

9:13 ,

9:15 ;

9:15

9:16

9:17 Literally it

9:18 ,

9:18 Literally it

9:19 ,

9:22

9:22 []

9:24 , ;

9:25 ; ; ,

9:25

9:25 Literally she or it

9:25 Literally his

9:26

9:27

9:29

9:29 ; ,

9:30

9:31 ,

Esther 10

10:1 ;

10:2 ;

10:2

10:3 , ,

10:3

10:3 Literally seed. Septuagint and Vulgate add a dream of Mordecai here; Vulgate adds six more chapters.

↑ Back to top