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In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. The king took off his signet ring, which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman’s estate.
Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews. Then the king extended the gold scepter to Esther and she arose and stood before him.
“If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces.
For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?”
King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have impaled him on the pole he set up. Now write another decree in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal it with the king’s signet ring —for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.”
At once the royal secretaries were summoned—on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. They wrote out all Mordecai’s orders to the Jews, and to the satraps, governors and nobles of the 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush. These orders were written in the script of each province and the language of each people and also to the Jews in their own script and language. Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king’s signet ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king.
The king’s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children, and to plunder the property of their enemies. The day appointed for the Jews to do this in all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.
The couriers, riding the royal horses, went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa.
When Mordecai left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration. For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor. In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them.
On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them. The Jews assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them. No one could stand against them, because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because fear of Mordecai had seized them. Mordecai was prominent in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful.
The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not lay their hands on the plunder.
The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.”
“If it pleases the king,” Esther answered, “give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman’s ten sons be impaled on poles.”
So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they impaled the ten sons of Haman. The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.
Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of them but did not lay their hands on the plunder. This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.
Esther 8:1-17, 9:1-17
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
I joined the Navy in 1983 and would serve on my first ship in 1987. All Navy ships have a motto and my ship, the USS SAN JACINTO, was no different. Our motto was “Victory is Certain” and we took those words to heart in carrying out our mission each and every day.
As we have studied Esther, you can see that Mordecai and, after some mentoring from Mordecai, Esther also believed that victory was certain for them. Why? Because God was with them.
When things looked bleakest for the Jews, you’ll recall Mordecai’s confidence that God would deliver him and the Jews from destruction, if not by way of Esther then by some other means. (Esther 4:14) And God did just that.
As Chapter 7 closed, the archenemy of the Jews, Haman, had been impaled on the pole he had erected to kill Mordecai on. But there was still unfinished business to ensure that the Jews would be saved.
This is because the edict issued by Haman and sealed by the king’s ring was still in effect. The Jews were to be killed on “the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar”. And so Esther, now went to work to reverse the edict as Chapter 8 opens.
As the chapter opens, we learn that King Xerxes gave Haman’s estate over to Esther who in turn appointed Mordecai to manage it. Mordecai had been presented Xerxes’ signet ring, the same ring he had given to Haman and would assume his position of power.
Esther then “pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping” as she begged him to “put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews”. Esther asked Xerxes to “let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman…devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces.” Esther shared that she couldn’t bear to see her people destroyed.
The king granted Esther’s request and ordered that “another decree” be written “in the king’s name on behalf of the Jews”, sealed with “the king’s signet ring” which would ensure the decree could not be revoked. The “royal secretaries were summoned” and they “wrote out all Mordecai’s orders to the Jews, and to the satraps, governors and nobles of the 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush.” The orders were “written in the script of each province and the language of each people and also to the Jews in their own script and language” as “Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king’s signet ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king.”
What did the king’s edict authorize?
Scripture tells us the “edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children, and to plunder the property of their enemies.” All this would be allowed on the “thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar.” The same date that the prior edict was to begin.
We read where “a copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. This was done by way of the “couriers riding the royal horses” who went out and issued the edict “in the citadel of Susa.” And with that, the Jews were saved.
What a time of joy this must have been! Mordecai, who was once in sackcloth and wailing in mourning, was now wearing “royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen.” The “city of Susa” was in the midst of a “joyous celebration”…a “time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor.” And it wasn’t just in Susa. Scripture tells us that “in every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating.”
And if that wasn’t enough, we read where “many people of other nationalities became Jews because (the) fear of the Jews had seized them.” God has a way of convincing people to follow Him…the only one true God. After what the people had seen happen, they were ready to follow and serve this God of the Jews.
Fast forward to the “thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar”…the day the “edict commanded by the king was to be carried out.” On that day, the Jews “got the upper hand over those who hated them”, assembling “in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them.” Scripture tells us that “no one could stand against them” and “the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them.” And the Jews weren’t fighting alone because “all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators” helped them.
And so the “Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did what they pleased to those who hated them.” We read that “the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men” in the city of Susa. They “also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, the ten sons of Haman” who were then impaled on poles by order of King Xerxes after the recommendation of Queen Esther.
And so there was great success by the Jews against their enemies on the day set prescribed by the king. But more time was needed. Esther asked the king to allow the edict to be carried out one more day…and her request was granted with three hundred more men being put to death in Susa. Elsewhere in the king’s provinces, the Jews also “assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies”, killing “seventy-five thousand” on the “thirteenth day of the month of Adar”. Unlike in Susa, they did not fight on the fourteenth day, instead resting and making the day one of “feasting and joy.”
Indeed, the Jews were victorious…and that victory was certain because God was with His people.
Once again, He was the Deliverer of Israel.
Friends, the same God that was with Israel is with you and me today. He assured you and me that no one can be against us if He is with us. He promised us that He would never leave us nor forsake us. He guaranteed us He would never allow us to have a burden we couldn’t bear.
So why do we so often live like we’re a defeated people? Why do we waver in faith when life’s circumstances start to go against us? Why do we fail to trust the only One we truly can trust…the only One who can deliver us…just as He delivered the Jews over and over?
We simply must remember that God is indeed with us…ever ready to help us. The God of Creation is ready to use His almighty divine power to help us through life in accordance with His will and way for us.
Believe this…never forget it…and always hold onto the fact that victory is certain with God on our side.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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