ESTHER 9-10 - THE GREAT REVERSAL

 

Esther 9

9:1-10

The Great Reversal

The decree sent out by Mordecai said the Jews could gather and defend their lives. They could kill anyone who attacked them. (8:10-11). This might have been a clever way to counteract the previous decree without revoking it and thereby breaking the law of the Persians. It did not say the Jews could not be attacked pursuant to the first decree, but did say the Jews could attack their enemies or defend against them. 

So, on the day Haman had decreed for the annihilation of the Jews, the Jews gathered together and fought those who hated them and sought to do them harm. It was a great reversal of fortune. 

The fear of the Jews fell on their enemies as it had when the Jews invaded Canaan. All of the government officials also helped the Jews, because they were all afraid of Mordecai, who was now very powerful. His fame had already spread throughout the kingdom. (3-4) 

The Jews also killed the 10 sons of Haman. (7-10) This is important enough to the writer that he lists all of their names. In the Masoretic text, their names are put in columns as was done in Joshua 12, which listed the names of the kings defeated by Joshua. 

They were evidently the last of the Agagites. Agagites were descendants of Agag, a king of the Amalekites. Mordecai and the Jews accomplished what Saul failed to do when God told him to destroy the Amalekites. By killing Haman and his sons, the Jews also fulfilled that command of the Lord to Saul and the word of the Lord the he would destroy them. 

1 Samuel 15 tells the story of God, through the prophet Samuel, commanding Saul to destroy the Amalekites. They were to kill them and destroy their goods. This, in the Old Testament, was called devoting it to destruction or, literally, placing them under the ban. This was what the Lord had Joshua do when he invaded the cities of Canaan. 

That was a judgment on the Canaanites. You might remember in Genesis 15:16, the Lord told Abraham that his descendants would not actually move into Canaan for 400 years because the sin of the Amorites was not yet complete. And the Lord did not want anything left that might pollute the Israelites or lead them into idolatry.

The judgment on the Amalekites goes back to the early days of the Exodus. After the Israelites left Egypt, and crossed the Red Sea, the Amalekites attacked Israel at Rephidim. (The Amalekites were descendants of Esau.) This is the battle where Aaron and Hur helped Moses hold up his arms and staff so that Joshua would win the battle. The Lord told Moses to write down that he would utterly blot out Amalek, fighting with him from generation to generation. 

That is why the Lord told Saul to destroy the Amalekites and their king, Agag, and I think it is why the writer of Esther took pains to tell us Haman was an Agagite and enemy of the Jews. The word of the Lord is finally fulfilled by Mordecai and the Jews of the Persian empire. 

As another reflection of the story of Joshua, the writer tells us that the Jews killed their enemies but took no plunder from them. (10) The picture is that they were devoted to destruction by the command of the Lord.  

 9:11-15

Humiliating the Agagites

The king appears to have been amazed and impressed at the success of the Jews against their enemies. So, he granted Esther another request. She actually asked for two things. First, she asked for another day of revenge for the Jews. Second, she asked that the sons of Haman be hanged. The king granted her requests. 

So, there was a second day of bloodshed as the Jews in Susa and in the provinces killed their enemies. Still, they took no plunder. 

Additionally, the sons of Haman were hanged on the gallows built by Haman to hang Mordecai. This is not about killing. The sons had already been killed. But it was a degrading act, displaying the bodies of your slain enemies. It also served as a warning to those who might think of attacking the Jews again. The Romans did a similar thing, crucifying their enemies on crosses lining the main roads, leaving the bodies on the crosses for days after death. 

We saw a similar thing when Joshua hung the king of Ai on a tree after defeating the city (Joshua 8:29). We also see it in the defeat of Israel by the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, recorded in 1 Samuel 31. Saul and his sons were killed, and the Philistines fastened their bodies to the wall around the city of Beth-Shan.

Esther, in effect, conducted a holy war against the enemies of Israel, much as Joshua had done in Canaan. 

When the fighting ended, the Jews gathered and held a feast to celebrate their victory and their survival. It became a holiday for the Jews. 

9:20-32

Mordecai declared the day (14th day of Adar - roughly equivalent to March) to be a holiday forever, celebrating their relief from their enemies. They were to feast and give gifts of food to each other.They called the feast “Purim” after the lots, called pur, that Haman cast to determine the day to kill Mordecai. They said Haman’s plan to kill Mordecai and the Jews returned on his own head. (25) 

After Mordecai sent out letters about this, Queen Esther, also sent out a letter commanding the observance of the celebration each year. This is a feast initiated by people, not by God as the other Jewish feasts were. 

Jews still do this every year. They listen to the reading of the book of Esther all the way through on the night before Purim and again on the day of Purim. They call the book of Esther the “Megillah”, or “the Writings”, although it is one of five books in the collection, which also includes Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, and Ecclesiastes. 

They also give to the poor, either through the synagogue or directly, helping at least two people. They also give gifts of food to each other. Finally, they feast. At the feast, children sometimes dress in costume to represent God’s hidden hand in the deliverance of the Jews through Esther.

Ester 10

The 10th and final chapter of Esther is the wrap up, telling us what happened to Mordecai and the king. The king recovered his finances by imposing a tax on the land. He had abated taxes when Esther became king. He is still in charge of the kingdom and largely unaffected by the upheaval caused by the Jews. 

Mordecai was great among the people and especially the Jews, as he continued to look out for the Jews and keep them living in peace. That was a great blessing for them.  

This reversal was only temporary, of course. The Jews would go on to suffer other oppressions, defeats, and persecutions. 

Ultimately, salvation of God’s people came through his Son. That is the great and permanent reversal. Interestingly, that Son would die hanging on a tree, the sign of being cursed. (Deuteronomy 21:23) He bore the curse of sin in our place. God made him to be sin who knew no sin. (2 Corinthians 5:21) Jesus paid the penalty for our sin, allowing us to come to the Father and receive eternal life.

The Jews celebrated deliverance with a feast. Christians celebrate theirs with a supper, but look forward to a greater feast, the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. (Revelation 19:6-9) An angel said ‘blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb”. That invitation is to the Bride, the church, made up of all of those who have believed and committed themselves to Christ. The Jews celebrate one time each year. We will celebrate every day for eternity! 

We are indeed blessed to be in Christ.