Esther Explained | Salvation Will AriseSample

Day 9 | Esther 9 

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Welcome back to Through the Word, pastor Jonathan here, and today we find ourselves in Esther chapter 9.

The day of battle is upon us. The day of judgment has come, and the King’s edict to destroy the Jews is still active. But so is the edict allowing the Jews to fight back. Will anyone try attacking the Jews?

Let me start by saying this, if there is ever a chance to attack the people of God, there are many people who are going to take that shot. Satan hates the people of God, both the Jewish nation and Christian believers alike. Any chance to destroy some or all of the people of God, Satan will inspire people to fight.

And so, we jump into Esther 9, verse 1:

"On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them. The Jews assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them. No one could stand against them, because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because fear of Mordecai had seized them. Mordecai was prominent in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful" (Esther 9:1b-4).

Now the people gather to attack the Jews, but the Jews fight back, and the tables are turned, as it says here. Those not involved in attacking the Jews are afraid of the Jews, fearful of the repercussions.

Here we even have the governors and nobles that are afraid to fight against the Jews. While they could easily say they were just following the king’s orders by destroying the Jews, no one is willing to do so, because they are afraid of Mordecai. Whether they were afraid of political repercussions from the new Prime Minister or afraid of Mordecai’s God, the text is not clear. But either way, the satraps, nobles, and governors didn’t remain neutral, they actively took a role in helping the Jews in their provinces.

This is the same fear of the Lord that fell upon the nations of Canaan when Israel first entered the land. Deuteronomy 2 says: 

"This very day I will begin to put the terror and fear of you on all the nations under heaven. They will hear reports of you and will tremble and be in anguish because of you" (Deuteronomy 2:25).

Now back in Esther 9. Verse 5 says:

"The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not lay their hands on the plunder" (Esther 9:5-10).

The original edict allowed for those attacking the Jews to take as plunder all of the possessions of the Jews. This was probably in order to inspire the greedy to take part in the attack. The edict from Mordecai allows the Jews to take the possessions of their attackers. But look what the Jews do: they stop at self-defense. While they would have been completely within their right legally, they chose to protect their families, and leave the plunder. This was not a war for gain, and their actions allowed them to gain even more respect for the people around them.

Throughout the Persian kingdom, the Jews do the same. They fight those who attack them but take no plunder.

In many ways, Esther and Mordecai finished a task that God had given to another Benjamite of Israel, centuries before. King Saul had been ordered to utterly destroy the Amalekites, as a judgment against their wickedness. Saul failed to finish the task, and Haman a descendant of Agag, the king of the Amalekites, had nearly accomplished the destruction of God’s people. Mordecai and Esther ordered the destruction of all associated with Haman’s plot and preserved the people of God.

The chapter then goes into detail about the dates of the battle, across the empire, the battle took place on the 13th of Adar, but in Susa, the heart of the anti-Jewish movement, it took two days to fully defeat their enemies. Now why so much detail? Because the date of this battle was to be remembered throughout generations by the Jewish people. Verse 20:

"Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor" (Esther 9:20-22).

Even to this day, Jews celebrate the feast of Purim, named for the pur, the lots that Haman had cast to determine the date of the Jewish destruction. Jews celebrate Purim on the 14th of Adar, but in the old walled cities, such as Jerusalem, it is celebrated on the 15th, because in the walled city of Susa the battle took an extra day. Today the holiday may not be the most familiar holiday on the Jewish calendar, but kids dress up in costumes, mimicking the dressing up of Mordecai in the king’s robes and Queen Esther in her finery. Gifts of food are exchanged, especially Hamantashen or “Haman’s pockets,” a triangular cookie representing the bag of money Haman offered the king for the destruction of the Jews. And of course, the story of Esther is read aloud, so that verse 28 would be fulfilled: 

"These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never fail to be celebrated by the Jews—nor should the memory of these days die out among their descendants" (Esther 9:28).

The Jews have been saved, and yet there is still the question of why God allowed the events of Esther to take place. Why have the Jews go through a near pogrom of destruction? Come back tomorrow as we dive into this thorny question, on Through the Word.

Read Esther 9

All verses are quoted from the NIV unless otherwise noted.