Esther: Silent but Sovereignনমুনা

The Jews in Persia had been living under the threat of death since Haman’s edict was announced. Suddenly they were given permission not just to defend but to avenge themselves on their enemies. They were given an opportunity to retaliate to the terror they had been living with since Haman’s edict was declared. They now had the opportunity to inflict terror on the Gentiles who had been planning to attack them and to benefit materially from their enemies' defeat. 

But we read three times in Esther 9 (vv. 10, 15, 16) that despite winning a great victory over their enemies, the Jews took no plunder. They’d been given the freedom to take plunder from their attackers (8:11). They were entitled to take their property but they didn’t. They defended themselves but went no further than that. The Jews had also been given permission to kill the wives and children of their attackers (ESV), but verse 12 says they ‘killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa’. There is no record that they unnecessarily killed women and children, in that city at least. 

In her book Daylight at Midnight, Jane McNabb suggests that this must have been a community decision because there were no exceptions throughout the entire empire. She says that the Jews’ purity in this was a natural response to their own deliverance. Jane writes, 

On the day they could have been annihilated, they focussed on God-given life and refused to be tainted by the habits and possessions of the godless and the dead ... They separated themselves as far as they could from the behaviour of their enemies. They behaved differently from what was expected.

The grace of God that delivered the Jews from the hand of their enemies was reflected in the restraint the Jews showed in their defense. God’s grace enables God’s people to behave in a way that is different from the rest of the world. It empowers us to forgive and go on forgiving. It allows us to view ourselves as we really are: sinners, rescued from death by a merciful God. It prompts compassion and mercy in our response to those who hurt, offend or mistreat us. It frees us from the need to avenge wrong ourselves and releases us to trust God as our defense and righteous judge. 

We see an even greater example of grace in Jesus’ response to His enemies as He suffered on the cross and prayed, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing’ (Lk. 23:34).

Reflection

Who do you need to show grace and forgiveness to? Pray that the Holy Spirit would enable you to do that.