Esther 8
I hear the word of the Lord with
me. This is Esther chapter one, chapter eight, beginning at verse
one. It says, on that day, King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther
the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came
before the king for Esther had told what he was to her. And
the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from
Haman and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over
the house of Haman. Then Esther spoke again to the
king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to
avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite and the plot that
he had devised against the Jews. When the king held out the golden
scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king. And
she said, if it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in
his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king and, I
am pleasing in his eyes. Let an order be written to revoke
the letters devised by Haman the Agagite, the son of Hamadatha,
which he wrote to destroy the Jews who were in all the provinces
of the king. For how can I bear to see the
calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to
see the destruction of my kindred? Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen
Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, behold, I have given Esther the
house of Haman and they have hanged him on the gallows because
he intended to lay hands on the Jews. But you may write as you
please with regard to the Jews in the name of the king and seal
it with the king’s ring for an edict written in the name of
the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.
The king’s scribes were summoned at that time in the third month,
which is in the month of Sivion, on the 23rd day, and an edict
was written according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning
the Jews to the satraps and the governors and the officials of
the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces to each province
in its own script and to each people in its own language, and
also to the Jews in their script and in their language. And he
wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s
signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding
on the swift horses that were used in the king’s service, bred
from the royal stud. saying that the king allowed
the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives,
to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people
or province that might attack them, children and women included,
and to plunder their goods on one day throughout all the provinces
of King Ahasuerus on the 13th day of the 12th month, which
is in the month of Adar. A copy of what was written was
to be issued as a decree in every province being publicly displayed
to all peoples and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take
vengeance on their enemies. So the couriers mounted on their
swift horses that were used in the king’s service. They rode
out hurriedly, urged by the king’s command, and the decree was issued
in Susa, the citadel. And Mordecai went out from the
presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white and with
a great golden crown, and a robe of fine linen and purple, and
the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. The Jews had light
and gladness and joy and honor. And in every province and in
every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached,
there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of
the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had
fallen on them. Now in the twelfth month, which
is in the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when
the king’s command and edict were about to be carried out
on that very day, when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the
mastery over them, the reverse occurred. The Jews gained mastery
over those who hated them. The Jews gathered in their cities
throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands
on those who sought their harm. And no one could stand against
them, for the fear of them had fallen on all the peoples. All
the officials of the provinces and the satraps and the governors
and the royal agents also helped the Jews for the fear of Mordecai
had fallen on them. For Mordecai was great in the
king’s house and his fame spread through all the provinces for
the man Mordecai grew more and more powerful. the Jews struck
all the enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them,
and did as they pleased to those who hated them. In Susa, the
citadel itself, the Jews killed and destroyed 500 men, and also
killed Parsindatha, and Dauphin, and Aspatha, and Paratha, and
Adelia, and Eredatha, and Parmashta, and Eresai, and Eredi, and Vesvatha,
And the ten sons of Haman, the son of Hamadathah, the enemy
of the Jews, but they laid no hand on the plunder. That very
day, the number of those killed in Susa the citadel was reported
to the king. And the king said to Queen Esther,
in Susa the citadel, the Jews have killed and destroyed 500
men and also the 10 sons of Haman. What then have they done with
the rest of the king’s provinces? Now, what is your wish? It shall
be granted you. And what further is your request? It shall be
fulfilled. And Esther said, if it pleased the king, let the
Jews who were in Susa be allowed tomorrow also to do according
to this day’s edict. and let the 10 sons of Haman
be hanged on the gallows. So the king commanded this to
be done. A decree was issued in Susa, and the 10 sons of Haman
were hanged. And the Jews who were in Susa
gathered also on the 14th day of the month of Adar, and they
killed 300 men in Susa, but they laid no hands on the plunder.
Now the rest of the Jews who gathered in the king’s provinces
also gathered to defend their lives and got relief from their
enemies and killed 75,000 of those who hated them. But they
laid no hands on the plunder. This was on the 13th day of the
month of Adar and on the 14th day they rested and made that
day a day of feasting and gladness. But the Jews who were in Susa
gathered on the 13th day. and on the 14th and rested on
the 15th day, making that a day of feasting and gladness. Therefore,
the Jews of the villages who live in the rural towns hold
the 14th day of the month of Adar as a day of gladness and
feasting, as a holiday and as a day on which they send gifts
of food to one another. Mordecai recorded these things
and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces
of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, obliging them to keep
the 14th day of the month of Adar and also the 15th day of
the same year by year as the days on which the Jews got relief
from their enemies and as the month that had been turned for
them from sorrow into gladness. and from morning into a holiday,
that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days
for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the
poor. So the Jews accepted what they had started to do and what
Mordecai had written to them, for Haman the Agagite, the son
of Hamadathah, the enemy of the Jews, had plotted against the
Jews to destroy them and had cast Pur, that is, lots, to crush
and destroy them. But when it came before the king,
he gave orders in writing that his evil plan he had devised
against the Jews should return on his own head and that he and
his son should be hanged on the gallows. Therefore, they called
these days Purim after the term pur. Therefore, because of all
that was written in this letter and of what they had faced in
this matter and of what had happened to them, the Jews firmly obligated
themselves and their offspring and all who joined them that
without fail they would keep these two days according to what
was written at the time appointed every year, that these days should
be remembered and kept throughout every generation and every clan,
province, and city, that these days of Purim should never fall
into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these
days cease among their descendants. Then Queen Esther, the daughter
of Abihel, and Mordecai the Jew gave full writs and authority
confirming this second letter about Purim, Letters were sent
to all Jews to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Asurus in words
of peace and truth that these days of Purim should be observed
at their appointed seasons as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther
obligated them and as they had obligated themselves and their
offspring with regard to the feast of the fast and their lamenting. The command of Queen Esther confirmed
these practices of Purim in writing and it was recorded in writing. King Ahasuerus imposed tax on
the land, and on the coastlands of the sea, and all the acts
of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor
of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written
in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Persia, of Media
and Persia? For Mordecai the Jew was second
in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews,
and popular among the people of his brothers. For he sought
the welfare of his people, and spoke peace to all his people. Amen. Every January in the United
States, well, every fourth January, there’s this changeover of leadership,
right? We elect a new president, a new
vice president. There’s an inauguration day.
But behind the scenes in D.C., in Washington, in the White House,
Over in the Naval Observatory, there is what they call the transfer
of families. That’s a very interesting thing
to read about. For about four hours, maybe five
hours, during the inauguration celebration, hundreds of people
under the watchful eye of the chief steward of the White House
are emptying, scraping and puttying and painting and cleaning and
scrubbing and replacing carpet, changing out furniture and putting
all the next first family’s items in place. It’s quite a sight,
quite an undertaking. And so after all the inauguration
festivities, the first family, they don’t return, they go to
their home for the first time and they walk in and see their
things. Their food is in the pantry,
their clothes are in the closets and all the rest. Well, there’s
a sudden change in vice presidency here in our passage, and there’s
a transfer of families. I don’t know if you caught it,
but Hayman is still on public display on his own gallows in
this story of twists and turns. settling what to do with Haman’s
house. There’s the settling of what to do with Haman’s power,
the signet ring of the king has been removed from Haman’s hand. And it says in verse one of chapter
eight, on that day, one family is evicted and another family
is put into place. The tables have turned on Haman,
his sons, his wealth, his prestige, his wife, all that he bragged
about in recent chapters. is taken from him. But most of
all, his life is taken and all see because of his body on the
gallows that folly does not pay. And so in this passage, there’s
a lot of probably behind the scenes moving and scrubbing and
painting and all the rest. But don’t forget, there’s an
edict in force. And in months to come, it’s the
third month now, I believe, in months to come, about eight months,
nine months, the edict of Haman, which is sealed with the king’s
signet ring, it will still come to pass. It cannot be revoked.
And so the evil plan of Haman, the Agagite, the destruction
and the calamity on the people of God cannot be revoked. The king comes to Esther, we
haven’t gotten to your wish yet, all this Haman business. He needed
to be hanged. He had fallen on her on the couch.
He had come to the meal. All those things clouded the
request several chapters back. What do you wish up to half the
kingdom? Well, Haman’s Edict can’t be revoked. Y’all catch
that, right? When the King’s signet is stamped on the paper,
it can’t be revoked. So what does he say? Well, I
give you a blank check. You write whatever you wish the
Jews to be able to do, which ends up being a defense. Chapter 8, verse 11, I think
says it well. Write an edict. The king allows
the Jews in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy,
to kill, to annihilate any armed force of any people or province
that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder
their goods. So Haman’s edict can’t be revoked,
but a new edict can be written, and that’s exactly what they
do under Mordecai’s instruction. A new edict is written, all the
pomp and circumstances, Did you catch all that? Esther’s plea? I heard a chuckle when we were
reading it. You know, Esther comes if it
pleases the king. Esther comes if it finds favor
in your sight. Did you catch Esther’s last little
dig at his character? Yeah, if I’m looking good today. You’ll listen. But also the pomp
and circumstance of the writing, 127 provinces. Can you imagine how many more
languages, how many more tongues, how many, how many scribes it
took? It must’ve been hundreds. This
was a massive undertaking to write this law, to translate
this law, to copy this law, to put it in the Pony Express satchels.
And did you catch even down to The description of the pedigree
of the horses, they come from the king’s best studs. How interesting this language
is. Under the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit, we see how
God is at work through the excesses of this king. All the pomp and
circumstance aside, Ahasuerus is at work through Esther, through
Mordecai, but God is superintending over this whole thing. The edict
has been written. And did you notice the other
triumph? Mordecai’s reputation. He goes
out into the city with his robes and his crown and the people
love him. They cheer for him. Doesn’t that remind us of some
of the Proverbs? When a righteous King is on the throne, the people
have joy. Uh, they have life and, and not
to be political, but, um, there’s not a lot of joy in life in our
nation now, right? The, the approval ratings are
low. The gas pump prices are high. Um, uh, every good thing,
at least many of us believe has been undone and just months.
Uh, it’s a different country. Freedom’s being taken away. Our
pocketbooks are unable to support normal life that was just fine
months ago. And so what? Well, the people
don’t rejoice in that. But here’s Mordecai. He’s a man
of character, a man of reputation. And did you notice what it said?
As soon as this edict is printed and passed around and distributed,
there is light. among the Jews. There is gladness
among the Jews. There is honor and joy. They
who were burdened have been relieved. And did you catch? Everybody’s
kind of got that bumper sticker. Remember after 9-11, we’re all
New Yorkers. Now it’s we’re all Jewish. That
was kind of the thing in Persia. We’re all Jewish. Fear of Mordecai,
the fear of the Jews had fallen upon. Well, the day finally comes. It’s 11 months have passed since
this edict has been written. A month or two have passed now,
well, eight months or so have passed since Haman’s death, Haman’s
hanging, and the Jews and the enemy of the Jews, they’re at
war, it’s a holy war. They intend to annihilate them,
to wipe them out. They intended to have mastery
over them, but what does the Bible tell us? It tells us in
chapter nine, verse one, actually, the reverse occurred, the Jews
gained mastery over those who hated them, no one could stand
against them. You kind of get echoes, don’t
you? As you read through this passage of Joshua, no weapon
formed against you shall prosper. You kind of get echoes of, well,
the Sunday school lessons y’all been listening to these last
many weeks, Romans chapter eight, what can separate us from the
love of God in Christ? Can a pestilence, can a devil,
can a demon, can an enemy, can a sword, can death, and the worst
that takes place in life, nothing can separate us from the love
of God and Christ. Even the government officials
are serving the Jews because they fear Mordecai. And so the
end results into day one in Susa, the capital, 500 enemies dead,
75,000 across the other provinces. And the king comes to Esther,
got any more requests? Well, just so happens she does.
And I don’t know if you caught this in the reading, She says,
basically, we need to have a surge. Remember the surge? I forget
what city in Iraq it was in, but, you know, the surge, there’s
more enemies. We need to go house to house.
And they need a surge. They need an extra day in Susa,
the capital city. There’s apparently pockets of
more gods. people haters. And so what do
they do the next day? King’s permission, they kill
300 more enemies of the people of God. And so God has delivered
them. And we come to a place of celebration
here. And we have to ask this question,
is it okay to rejoice at the death of our enemies? Some of
y’all remember after 9-11, you know, we invaded Iraq in 2003
March maybe in April or May the big image on the news was the
toppling of that statue of Saddam Hussein I remember watching that
and seeing all the people dancing and jumping up and down on it
and hitting it with their Hammers and things whatever Probably
saw that in another generation with the fall of communism. We
probably have seen it in other generations throughout history
where Some wicked despot, some enemy was crushed. Is it ever
okay to rejoice when there’s triumph over our enemies? Well,
the answer is yes. Two things to think about. Remember
the imprecatory Psalms, the Psalms of imprecation. Oh Lord, my enemies
are against me. You do your worst to them. Y’all
do know generally during sermons, and I know Sunday morning, we’re
far away from each other, bigger room, but Sunday night, we’re
a little closer. Rhetorical questions, right?
Don’t mess with the preacher’s train of thought, that kind of
thing. You’ll be here longer. Well, I remember about five years ago,
we were going through an imprecatory psalm, and somebody just said
out loud, I can’t believe in a God who says it’s okay to wish
ill on your enemies. Well, dear brothers and sisters,
have you read the book of Revelation? Have you read what is to come? Or I think of Exodus 3. Here’s
the other example. When Moses and Miriam saw the
Egyptians fall into the sea, they sang a song. I will sing
unto the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and the
rider have been thrown into the sea. And so is it okay to rejoice
at the death of enemies? Well, the Bible seems to lead
us so. But we let God do justice. We
let God repay vengeance. The Old Testament affirms this.
Paul says it well. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord.
But there’s this two-day festival called Purim. Purim for the casting
of lots. There’s relief. There’s sorrow
from joy. There’s gifts offered not only
to one another, but also to the poor. And they obligated themselves
to keep this feast, this festival for generations to come. There’s
two key words that pop up here. I remember hearing a Jewish person
present why they do certain things certain ways. And there’s two
words to remember and observe. or here it’s to keep and remember.
But there is something about keeping traditions. We don’t
wanna forget the milestones of something happening. Maybe a
child has died in your family. Maybe a loved one has gone on
to be with the Lord. You remember their birthday.
You remember their death day. We still read the names of 9-11.
victims. It’s good to keep and remember
certain days for solemnity, but also for joy. And so for generations
to come, I don’t know if you caught this at the end of the
passage, a couple of days of celebrating, but life goes on.
What does Ahasuerus get back to? He gets back to governing. And what does he do? He taxes
the people. His wine cellar is empty. And
we understand why. He’s been, you know, little gaps
in time here. He’s been on some wars and some
campaigns. You know, he’s had to fund the
harem. He’s had to pay for all this
excess. And so he taxes the people. It’s
what wicked kings do. They tax and they spend and they
get rich off the… people. But then there’s God’s
man, there’s Mordecai, and he’s honored. And in fact, the more
he lives, the more he’s honored. And it says at the end of our
study, the end of the book here, he brought welfare and peace
to his people. So happy ending, right? But here’s
the dilemma. There’s a happy ending in this
story. There’s privilege, there’s power, there’s triumph, there’s
reversals, there’s folly on the head of of Haman. And you could say, are there
other happy endings in the Bible? Yes, there’s Joseph sold into
slavery, but what you brothers meant for evil, God meant for
good. But what about the Nazi era? Where was their Esther?
What about the drunk driver who takes your child’s life or your
loved one’s life? What about the supervisor at
work who rules over you and really does so with an iron fist and
you never receive that promotion? Well, what was due you through
your hard work and honesty? What about the Christians in
the early Christianity under the Roman Empire or the killing
times in the Church of Scotland or Christians today in dark corners
of the world where they are harassed and even killed? You have to
run all of life through our theology. Who is God? You have to run all
of life through our theology. What is God’s character? What’s
he like? And it’s easy to say this, all things are worked out
according to the wisdom and counsel of God. That’s easy to say theologically,
right? But let’s take it another step.
Everything’s for our good and God’s glory. Well, that helps
some, doesn’t it? How about running good things
through the cross? Good Friday. Why do we call Good
Friday? That’s the day Christ died. all
the powers of hell descended on Jesus and committed him to
the cross and crucified him. Well, that’s what the world will
tell you, but who put Jesus on the cross? Isaiah 53, it was
the will of the Lord to crush him. And so while evil kings
tax, righteous kings bless. And we know more of the story
of Bible history after the book of Esther, more reversals are
to come. More celebrations are to come
and so we don’t keep Purim I’m sure most of you’ve never really
heard of it don’t many of the details of it But what do we
what do we do? We we serve a superior King? Who yes was killed on Good Friday,
but was raised on the Lord’s Day. And so every Lord’s Day
We get to gather, you know, we Don’t think so much of Sunday,
but we ought to Every Sunday we get the chance to come and
into the Lord’s house on the Lord’s day with the Lord’s people
and to celebrate our deliverance from Satan who wished us dead,
from Satan who had us in chains, from Satan who had us in his
bondage and we would have been eternally lost and apart from
God. But good Friday, first Sunday,
Lord’s day, evil turned to great joy. So, lots of lessons from
the book of Esther. God is in control. Jesus wins. The people of God thrive. Let’s
pray together. Lord, bless us as we end our
study and think on these wonderful truths. Help us not to think
too little of Sundays, to think too small of the Lord’s day,
but to see it, even in the words of the Feast of Purim, a day
of rest and gladness. day of everlasting joy, not for
one special deliverance of the people alive at a certain time,
but the whole deliverance of your whole people for eternity. Help us to think on this in the
name of Christ, we pray, amen.