sign in sign up
<<
Home , Esther and the King, One Night with the King

For Such a Time as This

Esther

Her story takes up an entire book of the Bible. Outside the Bible, from both secular and religious sources, her story has been written about for millennia, published as novels and made into several movies, most of them bearing her name – .

The more than two dozen movies produced in reference to the Biblical book and story of Esther include: Esther and (1910); (1960); Esther, the Movie (1999); (2006); the (2013) just to name just a few.

It is truly a powerful story of intrigue, power, faith, romance, good versus evil, and God triumphing in the midst of a no-win situation. Unfortunately, many of the movies were based more upon Hollywood caricatures and stereotypes than the actual people we find within the pages of the Bible.

There are primarily five main characters in the book:

 Esther (also known as Hadassah)  Mordecai (Esther’s Uncle)  (also known as Xerxes), ruler of the Persian Empire  (Xerxes wife)  (a top palace official)

When Ezra and Nehemiah were commissioned to return from captivity to rebuild the Temple and walls of , many of the left Babylon with them. However, there were still many Jews who remained in the foreign country and (in essence) made their home there. Once the Persians took control over the Babylonian Empire they moved the capital city from the city of Babylon, a little east to the city of Shushan (). After going through a succession of Kings, by 486 B.C. Ahasuerus (or Xerxes) was made King.

Esther 1 3 In the third year of his reign he made a feast for all his officials and servants-the powers of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the princes of the provinces being before him- 4 when he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty for many days, one hundred and eighty days in all. 5 And when these days were completed, the king made a feast lasting seven days for all the people who were present in Shushan the citadel, from great to small, in the court of the garden of the king's palace. 9 Queen Vashti also made a feast for the women in the royal palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus.

Although the drinking wasn’t mandatory, there was a whole lot of drinking going on. After seven days of pretty much solid drinking Ahasuerus called for his eunuchs to (in essence), “go and fetch” the Queen, so he could show her off to all of his drinking buddies, for she was beautiful to behold. Well, the Queen (in essence) told the King to “take a hike, you’re not going to show me off like a piece of livestock or furniture.”

Reasonable response, but not a good one…

As a matter of fact, the King got angry... VERY angry, so he talked to his “wise men”. After a time of consultation, one of the “wise guys” tells the King (in essence), “You’ve got to do something, otherwise all of the women of the Empire will no longer obey the commands of their husbands. Chaos will pursue… Anarchy will arise… Who will make our dinner? Who will wash our clothes? You need to get rid of her and make another woman your Queen for the sake of modern civilization!!”

Verses 21 and 22 tell us, “…the reply pleased the king, … and he sent letters to all the king's provinces, to each province in its own script, and to every people in their own language, that each man should be master in his own house, and speak in the language of his own people.”

The Queen was then exiled, the disaster averted and all the wives of the Kingdom got in line and submitted to the master of the home... Now it was time to hold a beauty pageant to find the next lucky little lady to serve as the Queen. Through a long series of events, Esther (who was a Jew living in the land), won the beauty contest and became the next Queen. Mordecai, Esther’s uncle had raised her as though she was his own. After she became Queen, Mordecai hung around the palace, just to make sure everything was okay with his niece. One day he heard about a plot by a couple of the eunuchs to murder the King. He told Esther..., she told the King..., the eunuchs plot was found out..., and they were hung out to dry (so to speak).

The whole story of how Modecai saved the King's life gets written into the book of the chronicles for the King. End of chapter 2 and enter a fellow by the name of Haman, an Agagite. (Remember the story of Mordecai and remember that Haman is an Agagite)

Turns out King Ahasuerus promote Haman and everyone in the kingdom has to bow and pay homage to Haman. The problem is Mordecai is a Jew and he remembered that the Agagites should have been hacked to pieces by King years ago – they are no friends to the Jews. So, he would not bow down or pay homage to Haman. So, Haman (in essence) got pretty mad. Not only was he going to go after Mordecai, he was going to obliterate all the Jews. He came up with a plan.

Esther 3 8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "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. 9 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.

The plan was to destroy the Jews and plunder all that they had and put it into the Kings Treasure. The King thought it was a pretty good idea. So a decree was sent out to have a certain day on the calendar

13-15 …to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, …and to plunder their possessions… So the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Shushan was perplexed. End of chapter 3. I’m not sure, but I don’t think drinking is good for Ahasuerus! Chapter 4 is a series of quick events:

 Mordecai finds out about the plan  Through one of the eunuchs, Mordecai and Esther communicate back and forth  “Tell her Haman has a plan to kill all the Jews. You need to talk to the King and get him to change his mind.”  “Tell him that no one can just get an audience with the King. If you walk into the King without getting summoned you could get yourself killed.”  “Tell her if she doesn’t do something, she is going to perish just like all the other Jews. Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"  “Tell him, hmmm good point. Tell all the Jews to pray and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which (in essence) is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!"

End of chapter 4. The beginning of intrigue.

Chapter 5 Esther gets her audience with the King, he grants her request of attending a party along with Haman. Then they are asked to attend another party. Haman thinks he “all that” until he leaves the first party only to find Mordecai not bowing before him. He goes home and sulks and whines before his wife about how great everything is, how much money he has how much prestige he has, yet none of it means anything, because Mordecai doesn’t bow before him.

So his wife and all his friends tell him, before you go to the banquet tomorrow night over at Esther’s place, ask the King to let you hang the Mordecai, then you can “go merrily with the king to the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; so he had the gallows made (that night, mind you!).”

End of Chapter 5. The intrigue continues and God intervenes.

Although God’s name is NEVER mentioned in this book – one of the reasons some through the years have said it shouldn’t be in the Bible – we still see His hand all over it. That night, while Haman is having the gallows built, King Ahasuerus can’t sleep. There was nothing on HBO or Net Flicks, so he has the books of the Chronicles read to him. It just so happens that the place where they read dealt with how Mordecai had saved the life of the King when the eunuchs were plotting to kill him – I told you to remember that.

The King wants to award Mordecai for his selfless act. As he wondered what to do, in the early morning hours Haman comes by to see if it would be okay to hang Mordecai. But before he could ask the question Ahasuerus has a quick question for him.

Esther 6 6 So Haman came in, and the king asked him, "What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?" Now Haman thought in his heart, "Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?" 7 And Haman answered the king, "For the man whom the king delights to honor, 8 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. 9 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!'" 10 Then the king said to Haman, "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." 11 So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!" 12 Afterward Mordecai went back to the king's gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered. 13 When Haman told his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, "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." End of chapter 6 and now it’s party time at Esther’s. There’s no good way to summarize chapter 7, so look at it with me. The drama is amazing!

Esther 7 1 So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. 2 And on the second day, at the banquet of wine, (there he is drinking again) the king again said to Esther, "What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!" 3 Then Queen Esther answered and said, "If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. 4 For we have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king's loss." 5 So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, "Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?" You’ve got to know by now that the color has completely left Haman’s face and his eyes have grown as wide as the base of his wine glass.

6 And Esther said, "The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!" So Haman was terrified before the king and queen. 7 Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. 8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, "Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?" As the word left the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.

9 Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs (that’s the eunuch that was relaying the messages from Mordecai and Esther earlier), said to the king, "Look! The gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king's behalf, is standing at the house of Haman." Then the king said, "Hang him on it!" 10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king's wrath subsided. And the crowd goes wild. Chapter 7 ends well, and chapter 8 begins well, but there is still a big problem.

As we get into chapter 8, Mordecai is raised up into the position Haman had occupied; he even received Haman’s palace as his own as well as able to wear the Kings signet ring. Huge honor and responsibility… but there is still a big problem. The Kings edict to kill the Jews and plunder all of their belongings still stands. Once a King of the Medes and the Persians makes an edict, it stands. So, even with Esther being the Queen and Mordecai being second in command in the Persian Empire, there is still a big problem. They go before Ahasuerus.

Once the situation is explained to Ahasuerus, he tells them to figure it out and write an edict of their own, sign his name on it and use his signet ring to mark it officially. Mordecai writes a new edict that tells the Jews that they should prepare to defend themselves by whatever means they had available. The edict was sent out by the official curriers of the King from India to Ethiopia detailing for the Jews that they had the right via King Ahasuerus permitting those 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, both little children and women, and to plunder their possessions.

So, on the day that the enemies of the Jews were to try and annihilate them, many within the empire sided with and even became Jews. Even the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and all those doing the king's work, helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. For Mordecai was great in the king's palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for this man Mordecai became increasingly prominent.

So, the Jews were victorious, defeating and killing those who hated them. This included the ten sons of Haman who were taken and hung on the same gallows their father had been hung on. Yet the battle was not completely over. This was simply one day. Esther then approached king Ahasuerus again, asking for an extension of the edict for one more day to completely destroy the enemies of the Jews throughout the city of Sushan. The King granted her wish and so Mordecai and Queen Esther wrote to all the people of the land to yearly the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, because it was a special time of God’s protection. Esther 9 26 So they called these days , after the name Pur. Therefore, because of all the words of this letter, what they had seen concerning this matter, and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews established and imposed it upon themselves and their descendants and all who would join them, that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year, according to the written instructions and according to the prescribed time, 28 that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants. 29 Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter about Purim. 30 And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews, to the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth, 31 to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had prescribed for them, and as they had decreed for themselves and their descendants concerning matters of their fasting and lamenting. 32 So the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim, and it was written in the book. Purim means “lots” in ancient Persian. The holiday was thus named since Haman had thrown lots to determine when he would carry out his diabolical scheme. You can pronounce this name many ways. In Eastern tradition, it is called poo-REEM. Among Westerners, it is often called PUH-rim. Some Central- European communities even call it PEE-rim.

The whole of the story of Esther:

 God has an intimate involvement in every aspect of this world. Even though there were no overt miracles recorded in the Esther, in fact, His name is not even mentioned… not even once, yet He was actively “pulling the strings” to care for His nation.  God is able to intervene in the life and politics of even the most powerful of empires.  God is able and willing to use even the most humble of His followers if they are willing to step out in faith.  The situations you find yourself in may not be the most pleasant, perhaps even difficult or dangerous, but who knows whether you have come to (that situation) for such a time as this?

Just a couple of more interesting facts about Purim

Many have noted the echoes of Purim in the Nuremberg war crime trials. In the Book of Esther, Haman's ten sons were hanged (Esther 9:13); in 1946, ten of Hitler's top associates were put to death by hanging for their war crimes

In the early 1950s, Joseph Stalin, the ruthless butcher of millions of innocent people, had bloody plans for dealing with the “Jewish problem” in the U.S.S.R. Just as things were reaching a crisis point in 1953, he died . . . on Purim!

In 1990, Saddam Hussein of Iraq defiantly invaded nearby Kuwait. As pressure ramped up from the international community, his army began firing SCUD missiles into Israel. The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, repeatedly assured the people of Israel that they would be protected. After the U.S.-led forces attacked Iraq, they were quickly victorious and the hostilities ended . . . on Purim!

One of the Jewish customs is to boo, hiss, stamp feet and use noisemakers whenever the name of Haman is mentioned in the service. The purpose of this custom is to "blot out the name of Haman.

This coming year, 2018, Purim begins Wednesday night, February 28 and continues through Thursday, March 1.