Esther 6:1-14 - Mordecai is honoured

6:1-14

God was working in the situation. The king could not sleep and decided to read the book of the chronicles. There he read about how Mordecai had exposed a plot to kill the king, and then found out that nothing had been done to reward Mordecai. Haman happened to be around and the king called him in to ask how a man who the king wants to honour should be honoured. Haman thought the king was talking about him. Pride distorts our thinking. So Haaman answered thinking that he was choosing a reward for himself. The king then tells Haman to do all these things for Mordecai. Haman followed these orders. However he was distraught and went home and told his wife and friends what had happened. His advisors and wife warned him against doing anything stupid, for it was futile to oppose the Jews. 

Esther 6 - Haman gets angry

5:1-8

So Esther went to see the king. He was pleased to see her, and asked what her request was, indicating that he would be willing to grant it. She did not ask directly for the Jews to be saved, but to have a banquet, and that Haman should be there. The king was agreeable. So the banquet went ahead, the king knew that Esther the banquet was not the real request. She said she would make known her “real” request at the banquet,

5:9-14

Haman was happy, but this changed when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate. As usual Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman, but Haman restrained his anger. He felt honoured to be invited to the king’s banquet, and boasted about it to his family and friends, he also vented his anger about Mordecai. His wife urged him to set up an enormous gallows for Mordecai. Haman was pleased with the suggestion.

Esther Chapter 4 - For such a time as this

4:1-8

While Esther is the star of the show, Mordecai is perhaps the real star, working in the background. He became aware of what was being planned and was naturally deeply upset. In fact all the Jews became aware of the edict and were equally upset, fasting and weeping. Esther learnt about Mordecai and was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to wear, not realising why he was in sackcloth and ashes. She cared for Mordecai, but did not understand the bigger situation. So she sent one of the king’s eunuchs to find out why he was so distressed. Hathak was the one who went out and Mordecai told him everything. \he also told \hathak to tell \esther to go to the king and plead for her people.

4:9-14

Hathak did this. Esther did not think it was possible for her to go to the king without being summoned, for she could be put to death. Now Esther was also a Jew so she too would be liable to be killed under the edict. Mordecai understood that God had placed her in this position for such a time as this. Haman had been planning, but God also had been planning, and Esther was part of that plan. We also are part of God’s plan.

4:15-171

Esther listened to this, and asked Mordecai to get all the Jews to fast and pray. She would indeed go to the king, “If I perish, I perish”. Mordecai carried out Esther’s instructions.

Esther Chapter 3 - The order goes out to kill all the Jews

3:1-15

The other key event leading up to all that happened was the honouring of Haman the Agagite, this happened about four years after the installation of Esther. The king had also commanded that everyone bow down to Haman. Maybe he was a bit like the Peter Mandelson of his day. Mordecai, however, would not bow down to him This caused talk among the royal officials, they encouraged him to comply, but he refused. tHis was reported to Haman.

Haman was enraged. He was a very proud and hateful man. He also learnt that Mordecai was Jewish, and so he was determined to destroy all the Jews. Haman sought the King’s permission to pursue his vendetta against the Jews, even offering to pay money to the royal treasury. Xerxes agreed, but declined the money. So an order was written out to go to all the provinces to kill all the Jews, and the order was sealed with the king’s seal. So the fate of the Jews seemed to be all set.

Esther 2 - A beauty contest won, and an assasination plot foiled

2:1-18

After he had calmed down a little, Xerxes decided he needed to look for a replacement queen. The prime characteristic of this new queen was that she was to be beautiful. So he appointed commissioners to gather together a harem of beauties, they were to be somewhat pampered, and then Xerxes would choose the one he liked best as the new queen. Mordecai was a Jew who had been carried into exile by Nebuchadnezzar; he was in charge of bringing up a cousin, Esther, who happened to be very beautiful. Esther was one of the bimbos taken to the palace. Esther ended up winning the beauty contest. She had kept her ethnicity secret, under Mordecai’s instruction. While she was in the palace Mordecai did his best to keep an eye on her.

Esther followed the guidance of Hegai, the king’s Eunuch who was in charge of the harem. Xerxes made Esther queen and held a great banquet in order to show off his new queen. A national holiday was declared.

2:19-23

So Esther was installed in the palace. While Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate he became aware of a plot to kill the king. He told Esther and she reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai, so the plot was foiled and the plotter were put to death, details of the matter were recorded in the official records.

Esther 1 - Rebellious women!

1:1-22

The book starts by setting the scene for how the situation arose.Xerxes was the ruler over a vast empire, based in Susa. He was proud of his wealth, and held a vast banquet demonstrating his wealth. Today we still see many proud rulers. It seems that this banquet was just for men, and Queen Vashti held her own banquet for the women. It seems that Queen Vashti was something of a “trophy wife” and Xerxes wanted to show her off, but she refused to come. This made the king furious. He consulted his advisers and they agreed that she had done a terrible thing, and there was a danger that the women in general would become rebellious. So Vashti was effectively deposed from her position, and he sent out an edict to all the people that “every man should be ruler over his own household”. Women could not be allowed to get too uppity!

Esther - Introduction

Introduction

Esther, like the Song of Songs, does not mention God explicitly. However, the hand of God is definitely present. The Jews’ very existence is threatened, by people who hate them, just as many today still hate Israel and the Jews. God rescues them through Esther winning a beauty contest! God moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform. Just because there is no obvious move of God (i.e. no prophet, no godly leader) it does not mean that God is not at work.

We don’t know who wrote the book, It is set in the period 483-473 BC. As well as God not being mentioned, the book of Esther is not quoted in the New Testament either. Nor have any copies been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Moreover, there is no reference to practices of the Law, though I guess it would have been difficult for them to follow Jewish practices in Persia.

Then there is the question of why the book was written. It was probably written in Israel based on reports of what had happened, or by someone who was actually an eye-witness. The purpose may have been to encourage the people in Israel that God was still working among their fellow Jews in far off lands.