ESTHER 3 - THE WAR OF THE SEEDS REJOINED

Esther 3

The War of the Seeds Rejoined

3:1-6

The Promotion of Haman

Although chapter 2 seems to portray things as nicely settled, with Esther being queen and Mordecai saving the king, trouble was coming.

The king promoted a man named Haman to be his number 1 advisor and official. This is an unexpected twist, since Mordecai has just saved the king’s life and has not been rewarded for it. 

The writer tells us that Haman was an “Agagite”. Since the writer makes a point of telling us this, we should determine if it means something. This, plus the identification of Mordecai as a descendant of Kish and of the tribe of Benjamin, points us in a specific direction. 

The Amalekites were enemies of the Israelites for centuries. The conflict began during the Exodus, when Israel crossed the wilderness. While Israel camped at Rephidim, the Amalekites came and attacked them. The Israelites fought back under the leadership of Joshua, as Moses stood on the hill and raised his raised his staff with the help of Aaron and Hur. 

Israel defeated the Amalekites and the Lord promised to blot out the memory of them and contest with them throughout the generations. You can read this story in Exodus 17.

Many years later, Israel got its first king, a man named Saul. Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin and the son of Kish. This is the same description given about Mordecai.

The Lord, through the prophet Samuel, commissioned Saul to carry out his word concerning the Amalekites. He told Saul to completely destroy them and their livestock, in other words to blot them out. (1 Samuel 15:1-3) 

Saul was victorious the battle, but kept some of the animals and spared the king, directly disobeying the command of God. The Amalekite king’s name was Agag. Haman is a descendant of Agag and, therefore, he was an Agagite. And so, the ancient enmity between Israel and Amalek will continue with the story of Esther.

It continued because of Haman’s promotion and the king’s command that all would bow to Haman as they bowed to the king. (3) And Mordecai refused to bow, even though he was a servant of the king and sat in the king’s gate.

When the other servants asked Mordecai why he would not bow, Mordecai said it was because he was a Jew. (4) Although he told Esther not to reveal that she was a Jew, Mordecai now does so. We do not get any further explanation in the text of why being a Jew motivates Mordecai to refuse to bow, but given the identification the author gives us of the two men, and Mordecai’s revelation that he is a Jew, it appears that Mordecai recognized this ancient enmity and could submit to an enemy of his people and his God. 

Further evidence of this being the reason is that, when Haman became angry at Mordecai’s refusal, he not only wanted to punish Mordecai, he wanted to annihilate all of the Jewish people in the kingdom, which would have been almost all of the Jewish people. Israel itself was a province of Persia and many Jews lived in Persia.

The question remains, why did Mordecai decide to draw the line here? He had previously hid his Jewishness and told Esther to do the same. He was one who tried to blend in. Where Daniel and his friends drew firm and early lines between themselves and the Babylonia culture, Mordecai did not. He became a government official. He had a non-Jewish name. His name actually means “worshipper of Marduck”. Marduck was the patron deity of Babylon. His statue had been brought to Susa by the Elamites. You certainly would not hear the name Mordecai and leap to the conclusion that he was a Jew. You would probably think he came from an old Babylonian family that had assimilated into Persia after Persia defeated Babylon. 

Mordecai also changed his cousin’s name from Hadassah to Esther. The meaning of Esther is disputed, but some believe it refers to Ishtar, the female goddess worshipped by the Babylonians and Assyrians. He did not object to Esther participating in the contest to become king, even her spending the night with the king. He only told her not to tell anyone she was Jewish. 

These facts show Mordecai more as one who adapted to his culture than one who resisted it. Yet, for some reason, he felt his Jewishness was at stake with Haman. He seemed to react more to a secondary issue than a primary issue. Regardless of Mordecai’s motives, God continued to act to preserve his people and to fulfill his word.

We also see here that sins often have repercussions that last a long time. Had Saul obeyed God and destroyed the Amalekites, there would have been no Haman wanting to destroy the Jews. 

Behind all this, I believe, is the “War of the Seeds”. This war began in the Garden of Eden recorded in Genesis 3. When the serpent led Adam and Eve into sin, God cursed him and said there would be enmity between the offspring of the serpent and the offspring of Eve. The offspring of Eve would bruise the head of the serpent’s offspring, but the offspring of the serpent would bruise the heal of Eve’s offspring. In other words, the children of God would continuously battle with the children of Satan. (Genesis 3:15) 

This war continues throughout the Old Testament as various nations tried to annihilate the Jewish people. It culminates in the battle between Satan and Christ as seen in the New Testament. The story of Esther is just one battle in the war. If Satan destroyed the Jews, he could prevent the coming of the Messiah, the Son of Man who would bruise the head of Satan, defeating him forever.

3:7-11

Haman Attacks

Having determined to wipe out all of the Jews, Haman needed to decide the best time to do it. He and his friends cast lots every day to determine when to move. “Lots” were stones with markings used to ascertain of obtaining divine guidance. The lots were called “Pur” which led to Esther’s feast being called “Purim”. 

We do not know what or whom Haman believed to be divine, but he cast lots daily for 12 months until he got an answer. Somehow the lots determined it was time to move forward with his plan.

Haman went to the king to get permission for this bloody undertaking. He began by maligning the Jews. He pointed out that they had their own laws. That part was true. The Jews had the law of the covenant God had given them through Moses. This tells us that at least some of the Jews in the kingdom observed the law and this was known among the Gentiles. 

They say the best lie is the one that contains some of the truth. That is what Haman does here, because he went on to say that the Jews did not keep the king’s laws. Other than Mordecai refusing to bow to Haman, there is no evidence the Jews were lawbreakers. But the king trusted Haman and believed him, especially when Haman said it was not to the king’s profit to tolerate them. (8) Haman then offered a way for the king to profit by eliminating them, offering to give the king 10,000 talents of silver. 

This was an incredible sum of money. Some believe it may have even been as much as $15 million. Since the king had lost an expensive war with Greece, plus remitted taxes in celebration of marrying Esther, he may well have needed the money. He certainly wanted it, and authorized Haman to act by giving him the royal signet ring and allowing him to use the funds to accomplish his purpose. 

3:12-15

The Edict Issues

Once the king gave permission for Haman to attack the Jews, scribes came and wrote up the edict. It was sealed with his signet ring to authenticate it. Then it was sent to all the provinces commanding the officials to destroy, kill and annihilate the Jews on a certain date and to plunder their goods. (13) The plunder would likely be sent back to the king to replenish his treasury. This is no less than an order of genocide, attempting to annihilate an entire race. 

Showing us how callous these men were with the lives of others, Haman and the king celebrated the edict by sitting down to have drinks. 

The capital city was not celebrating, however. Rather, it was in confusion. The people there did not understand why the Jews should be eliminated, especially since Mordecai had saved the king from assassination. 

Ultimately, Haman would learn that he did not have authority over the Jews, though the king decreed it. The king did not have authority over the Jews, either. God remained in control. Haman would have done well to remember the words of one of his predecessors in the land, King Nebuchadnezzar. After being humbled by the Lord, he said God does his will among the inhabitant of the earth and none can stay his hand or say to him what have you done? (Daniel 4:35)

Hamn also would find that the lots he cast did not control anyone’s destiny. As Proverbs 16:33 says: the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. 

In good times and bad, it is good for us to remember that God is sovereign and accomplishing his will. He knows us, he sees us, and he loves us.