I hope you have enjoyed reading this book. It is a short and interesting story. The story line is easy to follow and the main
characters are easy to relate to, even the evil Haman. A
brief character study of Queen Esther would reveal her wisdom, courage, and patience. We are to conclude also that she was a Godly
woman, as she must have been attuned to God and His guidance as she carried out
the difficult task of having the king of Persia override his own decree in
behalf of the Jews. Our last post ended chapter
7 with Haman being hanged on the gallows he had specially made for Mordecai the
Jew.
Chapter 8
Verses 1-2 - The king gave all of Haman’s property to
Esther (it was a substantial estate, as we know Haman was very good at
gathering valuable possessions for himself).
Esther appointed Mordecai as proprietor of the estate. Also, the king gave to Mordecai the position
of authority that Haman had, making him second in command in the entire Persian
Empire. He also gave him his signet
ring. In a matter of hours, Mordecai went
from a man sentenced to death, to a man of wealth and prominence. Verses 3-8 address a problem that still
existed: The decree from the king that
on an appointed day, all Jews were to be killed throughout the empire which included
127 provinces. Esther pleaded with Xerxes
to resend the order, which by law, could not be done. However, he gave Esther and Mordecai the
authority to make and post another decree, which would override the first one. In verses 9-14 tells how the new decree was
issued with desperate speed. Royal
horses (the fastest) were used by the couriers to post this new decree throughout
the empire. This decree allowed the Jews
to defend themselves. It also gave them
permission to kill their enemies and plunder their possessions. This law was effective the same day that
Haman appointed for the Jews to be killed, which was the fourteenth day of the Jewish
month of Adar. {Adar is the last month
on the Jewish calendar. It falls during
our traditional months of February and March.
It is still known as the month of celebration, dating back to Esther and
Mordecai.} In the last three verses of
chapter 8 we see Mordecai dressed in royal colors, showing his position in the
empire, which was second only to the king himself. It restates the celebrating that took place
both because of Mordecai’s vindication and that the Jews were freed from their
fate of death caused by Haman.
Chapter 9
This chapter opens with the Jews acting on their new-found freedom
to engage their enemies. Verses 5-10 tell
of the Jews killing many people on that day.
{I believe they counter-attacked all of those who were acting in
response to Haman’s original decree.
Remember, the new decree did not indicate the Jews were to be aggressors,
but rather gave them permission to defend themselves.} It is interesting to note in this passage
that, although the king gave them permission to plunder the possessions of
their enemies, the Jews did not do that.
That was a decision which turned out to be a good investment, as all the
people of the land gained much respect for the Jews because of this, thus
treating them with more respect from that time forward. {If these Jewish leaders were students of Israel’s
History, they might have made this decision because of the disobedience of Israel’s
first king, Saul. This comes from I
Samuel 15. Saul’s battle was with the
Amalekites, Haman’s ancestors. Saul
disobeyed God two ways: He took some of the
plunder for himself and his troops, and he allowed king Agag to live. Haman was a direct descendant of Agag.} This passage states specifically that they
killed all ten of Haman’s sons, which leads us to the next passage in which the
king asks Esther what more she would ask of the king. She told him that she wanted him to hang the
bodies of Haman’s ten sons on gallows for the citizenry to see, thus suppressing
any further aggression against the Jews.
In the next four verses we see that the king granted an additional day
that the Jews were allowed to attack and kill their enemies in the province of
Susa only. After these two days, the
Jews rested, then celebrated their freedom and military victories. Also note in verse 19 that this would be a
time every year marked as a date for celebrating and giving gifts to each
other. {I believe the purpose of this
was that people would give gifts to the poor: Gifts mainly being food, so the poor could celebrate along with those
more well off.
Verse 20-32 - Purim
{Note the word Purim was used because Haman used Purim
stones (like rolling dice) to determine the day for killing Jews.}
Mordecai was aware of the importance of all that had taken
place, and the celebration of the Jews was appropriate; so much so that he and
Esther decided this should be an event to be remembered throughout future
generations. So they sent out an
official announcement that this celebration would take place every year on the fourteenth
day of Adar, to commemorate God’s deliverance from their enemies. And the celebration would include the giving
of gifts. {Although it might be
considered one of the “lesser” of the Jewish holidays, it is still celebrated
to this day during the month of Adar. On
the 13th, Jews fast, calling it the “Fast of Esther”. The 14th and 15th are
considered happy days of celebration. The
book of Esther is read aloud to the children, gifts are exchanged among friends,
generous gifts of food are presented to the poor, and everyone enjoys a
feast. This holiday is considered a “favorite”
among Jews, especially the Jewish children, as there are costumes worn and many
children-like plays performed, making fun of the evil Haman.}
Chapter 10
The final chapter of this wonderful book of Esther consists
of only three verses. It’s telling us
that things in the empire somewhat returned to normal. The king continues to levy taxes on the citizens. But there is one thing different than in the recent
past: The Jews were no longer persecuted
by the government or its citizenry.
Mordecai remained as second in command in the Persian Empire, and he
continued to honor his calling to serve and protect his people within the
empire. It mentions in the second verse
that Mordecai’s whole story was to be placed in the annuls of the kings of
Media and Persia, sealing it in its proper place for generations to come.
Next Post - The book of Job
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