In a couple weeks, the Jewish holiday of Purim will be celebrated around the world. In honor of this joyous occasion, today’s post is about the book of Esther and the history of Purim.
Esther lived in a historically dark time. Following the Persian Empire’s destruction of Babylon, many Jews had been displaced to Persia. Their king, Ahasuerus, ruled a kingdom of 127 provinces extending from India to Ethiopia. He was extremely wealthy and very astute in worldly matters.
As a demonstration of his worldly wealth, Ahasuerus called all the leaders of his provinces together for a six-month celebration. Can you imagine holding a six-month party? Talk about guests who made themselves at home! After these six months, he held a seven-day feast for everyone in the palace. The palace was elaborately decorated with gold and silver. Even the wine was served in golden vessels, each differing from the next. It was one of the most extravagant celebrations the world has ever known.
During that time in history, it was not customary for men and women to mingle at feasts. Therefore, Ahasuerus’s queen, Vashti, hosted a special feast elsewhere in the palace for the women. During the feast, the king became drunk with wine and bragged about what a knock-out his queen was, and sent word for Vashti to come into the court so that he could show her off. Some historians and Bible commentators say that he asked her to come in and expose herself indecently. “But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs; therefore the king was furious, and his anger burned within him” (Esther 1:12). Vashti had the guts to exercise some class and say, “I’m a human being, and I refuse to be exhibited like one of your golden vessels.”
Ahasuerus consulted his seven princely “wise men” about Vashti’s behavior. One wise man, Memucan, was particularly upset with Vashti. My guess is that Memucan was henpecked at home, and he probably thought this was a great opportunity to take out his frustration on women. He advised the king, “You had better handle this woman because she’s too gutsy. If you let her get away with this, all the women in the empire are going to rebel against their husbands. They won’t cook meals, wash the clothes, or take care of the children! You have got to do something about her!” Memucan then recommended that the king divorce Vashti, saying:
“If it pleases the king, let a royal decree go out from him, and let it be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it will not be altered, that Vashti shall come no more before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.” (Esther 1:19)
In a moment of anger, King Ahasuerus took Memucan’s advice and deposed Vashti. But he soon realized that he had made a big mistake because he truly loved her. Unfortunately, it was too late. In those days, the king’s laws couldn’t be retracted. After the wrath of King Ahasuerus subsided, he remembered Vashti and what had been decreed against her. In an effort to cheer him, the king’s servants suggested that he hold a beauty contest in which all the beautiful women in his empire could participate. The servants said, “Surely there is a woman in your vast empire who could become a suitable queen.” The king eagerly agreed to hold the contest.
Esther was a young Jewish girl who lived near the palace. Evidently, her family had been killed during the first Babylonian invasion, and she had been adopted by her cousin Mordecai, who was raising her as his own daughter. Mordecai and Esther were both captured during the second Babylonian invasion and exiled to Persia. While in Persia, Mordecai changed Esther’s name from Hadassah to disguise her ancestry. He gave her the Persian name Esther, meaning “star.” I think her new name really fit her. Like a star, Esther allowed the light of God to shine through her to penetrate a very dark generation.
However, Mordecai and Esther started out on the wrong foot. The prophet Jeremiah had instructed the Jews to return to Jerusalem after their 70-year captivity, but most refused. Only 60,000 Jews had chosen to return. The rest — over 2 million — decided to remain in Persian territory, including Mordecai and Esther. Besides that, Mordecai decided to enter Esther into the king’s beauty contest, which wasn’t a very holy thing to do. If she didn’t win, she would automatically become a concubine to the king!
For one full year, all the beauty contestants were groomed and trained in a manner appropriate for a queen. At the end of the year, they were presented to the king one by one. When Esther went before the king, the Bible says, “The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti” (Esther 2:17).
Esther delighted the king, and she was chosen to be his queen. Remember, the king loved to eat, so he held a great feast in Esther’s honor. He also “proclaimed a holiday in the provinces and gave gifts according to the generosity of a king” (v. 18). All to celebrate the beautiful new wife he had chosen.
Do you think that God ordained this marriage? From our natural viewpoint, the union between a Jewess and a rich, materialistic, heathen king doesn’t appear to be a match made in heaven. But remember, God is a God of providence. Providence means forethought of care and supply. God provided Esther with special access to an ungodly king so that she could divert her generation from impending destruction. God’s providence is evident throughout the entire book of Esther. But I want to point out a very strange fact: God’s name is not mentioned even once in this book! Although no one mentions God during this entire time period, He is present to move and guide the course of events that occur. Occasionally, it appears that God’s people have forgotten Him, but He never forgets His people. He is still a God who can provide needed help. He is always a God of providence.
One day, Mordecai overheard two of the king’s doorkeepers scheming to kill the king. Evil plots were nothing new in those days — nor in our day. Mordecai sent an urgent message to Esther, and Esther informed the king, giving credit to Mordecai. The two doorkeepers were executed, and the plot was squelched.
What was done to reward Mordecai? Initially, nothing. No one said, “Oh, Mordecai, you’re such a hero!” Have you ever done something that went completely unnoticed or maybe even backfired? Maybe you thought, No good deed goes unpunished! It’s not worth it. Believe me, if you stay true to God, then His hand will be in your situation. Eventually, you will reap what you sow. Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”
It seems as though there’s a villain in every story, and Esther’s is no different. In Esther 3:1, Ahasuerus promoted a very ungodly man, Haman, to the number one position in the kingdom. Haman, as the highest of the king’s princes, was consumed with pride. He loved his position in the Persian Empire. Haman, however, was not a Persian, he was an Agagite, which means he was of Amalekite descent. Why does this matter? Well, the Amalekites were descendants of the Edomites, and the Edomites were descended from Esau. The sons of Esau hated the sons of Jacob, and this went on for centuries. So we have a generational curse: antisemitism. This isn’t a new thing, and it’s satanic. It’s the devil’s plan.
Now, Haman’s position required everyone to bow down to him when he passed on the street. No one dared to defy Haman! But Mordecai refused to bow — I think he saw right through Haman all along. The king’s servants tried to get Mordecai to bow down, but Mordecai stood firm. Now watch God move on Mordecai’s behalf . . .
Haman was furious with Mordecai. Mordecai had suddenly come out of his quiet corner and taken a daring stand against Haman. What a blow to Haman’s ego! Although he was enraged, Haman was afraid to confront Mordecai directly. So Haman went to the king and said:
“There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain. If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”
So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. And the king said to Haman, “The money and the people are given to you, to do with them as seems good to you.” (Esther 3:8–11)
The king signed Haman’s decree, which proclaimed that all the Jews were to be killed. The decree was translated into all the languages of the provinces, and messengers were sent out to proclaim that all the Jews, both young and old, would be killed. Remember, no one except Mordecai knew Esther was Jewish. Since she was secluded in the palace, she was in a real predicament and didn’t even know it. She was included in the death decree, and the law of a Persian king couldn’t be altered once it was passed.
When Mordecai heard the decree, he put on sackcloth and ashes and began to weep in front of the palace gate. Someone went to Esther and said, “Your cousin is outside crying. He looks awful. He’s wearing sackcloth and ashes!” (Esther 4:4).
Esther did what many women do when they hear bad news — she went shopping! Esther bought Mordecai a brand-new outfit and sent a messenger to tell him to take off his sackcloth and ashes. She probably thought that new clothes would help cheer him up. But Mordecai told the messenger, “Send the outfit back to Esther and let her know that we are in a very serious situation. The king has signed a decree to kill all the Jews. Plead to the king on our behalf.” But Esther hesitated. The king hadn’t called for her in over 30 days, which very well could have meant that she had fallen out of favor with him. There was a law among the Persian kings that if you went into the court and the king didn’t extend his golden scepter to you, you would be executed. Even though she was the queen, Esther could die if she went before the king without being summoned by him. But Mordecai wouldn’t take no for an answer:
“Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:13–14)
Esther’s response is the key to our favor: “. . . I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!” (Esther 4:16). Why is this the key? Because she surrenders her will to the will of God. When we surrender ourselves to God, it brings favor. It’s not easy, and we usually have to surrender more than once. In fact, we usually end up having to surrender over and over again! But when we surrender and lay down our life, that’s when God shows up!
God gave Esther a plan, and she told Mordecai to gather a group of Jews to fast with her for three days; then she would go in to see the king, even if she ended up being executed for breaking the law. This young Jewish maiden made a commitment to trust God and allow Him to use her in His divine plan to rescue the entire Jewish nation. When you surrender to God, He gives you His favor. When you have favor with God, He gives you favor with man, and that’s exactly what happened with Esther. After the Jews had fasted and prayed, Esther went to see the king:
So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter.
And the king said to her, “What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you — up to half the kingdom!” (Esther 5:2–3)
God again gave Esther favor with the king. Esther thought it would be wise to ease into the request and maybe butter the king up a little bit, so she replied, “I just wanted to ask you and Haman to come to dinner tonight.”
That evening at dinner, the king was so enamored by Esther that he said to her again, “Ask whatever you like. I will give you up to half of my kingdom!” Esther responded with a second dinner invitation for the next evening, promising the king that she would then give him her request.
Haman must have really thought he had it made now that he had been invited to two of the queen’s dinner parties. Little did he know that the next banquet would be a “necktie” party and he would be the guest of honor. Haman told his wife Zeresh, “I love my life, and I just love my job. The only flaw is Mordecai, the man at the gate who won’t bow to me.”
Zeresh exclaimed, “I have an idea! Build tall gallows and hang Mordecai from it. That will take care of him!” Haman leaped at his wife’s suggestion. He wanted revenge so badly that he ordered his men to build gallows 75 feet high just to kill Mordecai (Esther 5:9–14). Why did Haman build such tall gallows? I think He wanted to make a big example out of Mordecai! The future looked pretty bleak for Esther’s cousin, but remember, God is a God of providence. Whenever His children call on His name, He will move heaven and earth to protect them.
The Bible says that pride always precedes a fall (Proverbs 16:18). Haman was ensnared in a tremendous web of pride, and he was about to plunge into disaster. After Haman had the gallows built, King Ahasuerus had a sleepless night. Who do you think was keeping the king awake? God. He used a simple little thing like sleep to change the course of history.
After tossing and turning for a while, the king finally gave into his insomnia and decided to get some work done. He asked his servants to read to him from the book which contained everyone’s name who had blessed the king. “And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus” (Esther 6:2).
The king asked his servants, “Mordecai saved my life. Has he ever been rewarded for his noble deed?”
“Nothing has been done for him,” they replied.
Now, Haman had just walked into the court to speak with the king about hanging Mordecai, but before he was given an opportunity, the king asked him, “Haman, what could I do to honor a man who has been especially good to me?”
Thinking that he was the one to be honored, Haman replied:
“For the man whom the king delights to honor, let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal crest placed on its head. Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then parade him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’” (Esther 6:7–9)
Haman pictured himself wearing the king’s beautiful robes and parading through the streets on the king’s horse, while everyone — including Mordecai — bowed down to him.
But before Haman could ask the king, “Who is to be honored?”
The king said, “Hurry, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king’s gate! Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken” (Esther 6:10).
Haman was greatly disappointed. After he had fulfilled the king’s wishes and paraded Mordecai through town, Haman rushed home to tell his wife and friends what had happened. They became frightened and said: “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him” (Esther 6:13).
No situation is impossible for God. He can interrupt the devil’s plans and change a curse into a blessing. Watch how God reversed the devil’s plot to annihilate the Jews.
At Esther’s second banquet, the king must have been on pins and needles, wondering what Esther could possibly want. Finally, she made her request, “My people have been condemned to death, and I want them to be saved.”
Realizing that he had signed his own wife’s death warrant, the king became so upset that he went for a walk in the palace garden. Haman knew he was in big trouble, so he ran over to the couch upon which Esther was reclining and began to beg for his life. Upon his return to the banquet room, the king saw Haman had fallen over Esther on the couch and yelled, “Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?” (Esther 7:8).
One would think that nothing more could go wrong for Haman, but, in reality, his trouble was just beginning. He was taken back to his house not in honor but as a condemned prisoner. Not wanting such fine workmanship to go to waste, the king sentenced Haman to die on his own gallows. Then he gave over to Esther the property of Haman, and she appointed Mordecai to oversee it. (Esther 7:9–8:2)
In the meantime, the Jews were still sentenced to death. So, Esther approached the king and pleaded with him on their behalf. King Ahasuerus answered her and Mordecai by saying:
“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.” (Esther 8:8)
Talk about favor! Mordecai and Esther called in the scribes and wrote a letter permitting “the Jews who were in every city to gather together and protect their lives — to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them” (Esther 8:11). The chapter finishes by saying:
The Jews had light and gladness, joy and honor. And in every province and city, wherever the king’s command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a holiday. Then many of the people of the land became Jews, because fear of the Jews fell upon them. (Esther 8:16–17)
This feast became the Jewish holiday of Purim, which is celebrated by Jews all around the world to this day.
The book of Esther beautifully illustrates how God transforms seemingly average people into glorious vessels that he can use to penetrate dark and sinful times. Just as God enabled Esther to become a woman of favor and thwart Haman’s plot against the Jews, God can enable you to halt ungodly forces against your family, community, and nation.
God wants to use you in His providence during this time on the earth, and His hand is on you in a supernatural way!
Today’s blog post is taken from Marilyn’s new book, Wide Open Doors: Heaven’s Favor for Opportunity, Influence, and Success.