In the first chapter of Joshua, after Moses had died and Joshua has succeeded him as the leader of Israel who would take Israel into the promised land, God gives Joshua this promise…
Scripture shows that God blesses and honors those who obey Him. Do you want to be blessed by God? Do you want this church to be blessed by God? Do you want your family to be blessed by God? Do you want to be protected by God from your fears, worries, and doubts?
God promises that if you obey Him, He will protect and provide for you. This is the truth we see developed for us in Esther 8. But too often, we look for loopholes that only make us partially obey. While they haven’t been perfect, Esther and Mordecai have tried to live in obedience to the Word of God and have been attempting to live in a way that honors God.
So let’s start this post by looking at Esther 8, and see how God, in turn, honors them and allows them to prosper, just as He has promised.
A Change of Luck
If you remember from previous weeks, Haman’s plot against the Jews was not just revenge but also a business move for him. The Persians had a law that if you brought an accusation against someone, and it turned out to be true, and as a result, that person was put to death for their crimes, you, as the one who revealed the crime, were rewarded by gaining the land and possessions of the criminal.
Haman had tried to use this law to his advantage by bringing accusations against the Jews. He would have become a very rich man if his plan had been carried out. But here, in verse 1, we see this law turned against him. Esther brought accusations against Haman, which turned out to be true, so the King gives to Esther all of Haman’s land and possessions.
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. Now, remember a few weeks back. Haman had saved the King’s life and was hurt about not getting the promotion. This is proof that God will take care of you and promote you in the right way at the right time.
Mordecai is honored even more here than he would have been if he had got things the way he had wanted them…
He receives the position and title that previously belonged to his worst enemy. Quite ironically, Haman’s plot to destroy Mordecai leads to Mordecai [gaining] both Haman’s position and property.
The king gives his signet ring to Mordecai and, along with it, the position of second in command in the empire.
Esther, being queen and having no use for Haman’s estate, also gives it to Mordecai. The role reversal between Haman and Mordecai is now complete.
What Haman had planned for Mordecai — death on a gallows — has become Haman’s fate. And all that belonged to Haman now is in the hands of Mordecai.
You know this is going to happen to us as Christians. Our archenemy, the devil, is currently the ruler of this world. He is evil like Haman and is bent on our destruction. But we know from various places in Scripture that at the end of time, the one seeking our destruction will be destroyed, and all that belonged to him will become ours.
We, as faithful children of God, may not be honored yet. Satan may still rule over this world, but do not despair, remain faithful, and the time is coming when all will be set right. Our faithfulness to God and commitment to Christian living will be rewarded according to God’s infinite benevolence.
But, even though Haman is now out of the way, and even though Mordecai has been honored and is now rich and is second in command in the empire, there is still the matter of that irreversible law to annihilate the Jews.
Undoing An Irreversible Law
Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet, and implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews.
Xerxes then holds out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king,
Ok, now what happened here? Why did the King extend his scepter to Esther? He only did this when someone went before him without being summoned, right? Right, and that is what Esther has done again here. This might be confusing but bear with me as I explain what happened in the text.
Apparently, after the events of Esther 8:1-2, Mordecai and Esther waited for about two months to see if the King would figure out some way to reverse an irreversible law. So you say, “How do we know it was two months?” If you look at all of the dates/times from Esther 3-7, we see that it all took place in the time span of about one week in the first month, the month of Adar.
If you look back at Esther 8:9 you would see that we are now in the third month, the month of Sivan. So about 70 days have passed between Esther 8:2 and 8:3. Here is what must have happened. Haman is killed at the end of chapter 7. Mordecai is honored in 8:2, and everyone goes home happy, thinking that the king has enough common sense to think up a way to save the Jews from destruction.
Two months pass, and nothing is heard by way of the royal edict. Esther, Mordecai, and the Jews begin to worry. So finally, Esther decides to go before the king again. She goes before him un-summoned in verse 3, and verse 4 tells us that he again extends his scepter to her. He again spares her life and, in so doing, allows her to make her request.
She knows that the law cannot be reversed, so she proposes another law that overrules the first law. Now, this kind of seems like a silly way to run a country, making laws that counteract other laws; what a mess their legal system must be if this happened very often, but that was how they did things. And look at her reason why the king should do this in Esther 8:6. It is very intriguing.
Then 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.”
The king basically says, “What did you come to me for? You’re asking me why I have done nothing for two months. I was wondering the same thing about you and Mordecai. Mordecai is second in command. He has my signet right. It’s a blank check. It’s my personal credit card. Write up a law — whatever you want — sign it with my signet ring, and proceed as you wish.”
By the way… the month of Sivan would correspond to our Mid-May to Mid-June. This is the same time that Holy Spirit came at Pentecost in Acts 2, and as a result, many people believed in Christ for salvation. Remember this. Keep this in mind as we look at the rest of the chapter.
So Mordecai and Esther write out their new law, and while the legal terms and the methods are similar, the law itself is not similar to what Haman had allowed.
It’s easy to look at the law Mordecai creates and see the same law. They say that Haman wanted to eradicate the Jews, and now Mordecai wanted to eliminate the enemies of the Jews. They say Mordecai was acting no better than Haman.
But notice, this is NOT what the law states. The wording is very specific. Mordecai, as we see from verse 11, wrote a law that simply gave the Jews the right to defend themselves if they were attacked. They could not provoke or go on the offensive to kill their enemies. The Law created here by Mordecai is very different from the law Haman devised. So Mordecai is not behaving like Haman.
The reason for the wording of this new law by Mordecai was so that it counteracted Haman’s horrible decree at every point,
In this way, Mordecai is simply making a law for the Jewish people to defend themselves against attackers. So after this new law is sent out across the empire, we catch up with Mordecai in verse 15.
And the last verse of the chapter says that many declared themselves Jews for fear of the Jews. So now, this would be a much larger grouping, and the threat from before would be neutralized.
Wait On God
Mordecai then goes out from the king's presence 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.
We have two sets of contrasts here. Previously, after Haman’s edict, Mordecai was in sackcloth and ashes; now, he is dressed like a king. He has gone from rags to riches. That is the first contrast.
The second contrast is the city of Susa. When the first edict went out under Haman, do you remember? The city was bewildered, but now, they held a joyous celebration.
Before, they were shocked that Haman would make a law allowing the wholesale slaughter of tens of thousands of people. Now they are rejoicing that Mordecai has found a way to protect these people from such slaughter.
They are also rejoicing that Mordecai rules them instead of Haman. Because of Haman’s pride and arrogance, we can be sure that he was not a just and fair ruler. He most assuredly abused his power and position frequently. His public opinion was probably not very high. But, likely, the city also knew of Mordecai’s honesty and fairness and was glad that someone of his stature was second in command instead of Haman.
Not only was a Jew in a prominent position of authority but the threat of destruction had also been lifted. Esther’s Mission is accomplished. Therefore, all mission objectives are complete.
You know, when people of God live as they should, and as a result, according to the promises of God, God works mightily among them, two things happen. First, people are afraid, and second, many join in following God because they see that what is going on is not just circumstances; it is the hand of God at work among his people.
We see it happen here. And remember, I told you that this all happened about the same time of year as Pentecost in Acts 2? Do you remember what happened after the Holy Spirit came? Acts 2:41 says that about 3000 were added to their numbers, just like Esther.
This is a Foreshadowing of what is to come. The Jews are destined for destruction, but due to a fast and Esther risking her life at the time of Passover, the Jews are rescued. A new law is then written, and people come to faith in God during Passover.
We then fast-forward to Jesus. Due to what Jesus did on the cross during Passover, all of humanity is saved. A new law, a new covenant, is written, and people come to faith during Passover.
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