Up till now, Esther has done nothing but please the king. Nevertheless, unless she can turn the tides, she and her people — all the Jews — will be annihilated. Yet, we know that God cannot and will not let that happen. Let’s dig in…
Esther 7 – How the Proud and Haughty Fall
So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet. 2 On this second occasion, while they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “Tell me what you want, Queen Esther. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”
3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request, I ask that my life and the lives of my people will be spared. 4 For my people and I have been sold to those who would kill, slaughter, and annihilate us. If we had merely been sold as slaves, I could remain quiet, for that would be too trivial a matter to warrant disturbing the king.”
5 “Who would do such a thing?” King Xerxes demanded. “Who would be so presumptuous as to touch you?”
6 Esther replied, “This wicked Haman is our adversary and our enemy.” Haman grew pale with fright before the king and queen. 7 Then the king jumped to his feet in a rage and went out into the palace garden.
Haman, however, stayed behind to plead for his life with Queen Esther, for he knew that the king intended to kill him. 8 In despair he fell on the couch where Queen Esther was reclining, just as the king was returning from the palace garden.
The king exclaimed, “Will he even assault the queen right here in the palace, before my very eyes?” And as soon as the king spoke, his attendants covered Haman’s face, signaling his doom.
9 Then Harbona, one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Haman has set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall in his own courtyard. He intended to use it to impale Mordecai, the man who saved the king from assassination.”
“Then impale Haman on it!” the king ordered. 10 So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided.
Esther 7 NLT
Esther 8 – A New Decree
On that same day King Xerxes gave the property of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Then Mordecai was brought before the king, for Esther had told the king how they were related. 2 The king took off his signet ring—which he had taken back from Haman—and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s property.
3 Then Esther went again before the king, falling down at his feet and begging him with tears to stop the evil plot devised by Haman the Agagite against the Jews. 4 Again the king held out the gold scepter to Esther. So she rose and stood before him.
5 Esther said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor with him, and if he thinks it is right, and if I am pleasing to him, let there be a decree that reverses the orders of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, who ordered that Jews throughout all the king’s provinces should be destroyed. 6 For how can I endure to see my people and my family slaughtered and destroyed?”
7 Then King Xerxes said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “I have given Esther the property of Haman, and he has been impaled on a pole because he tried to destroy the Jews. 8 Now go ahead and send a message to the Jews in the king’s name, telling them whatever you want, and seal it with the king’s signet ring. But remember that whatever has already been written in the king’s name and sealed with his signet ring can never be revoked.”
9 So on June 25 the king’s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Mordecai dictated. It was sent to the Jews and to the highest officers, the governors, and the nobles of all the 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. The decree was written in the scripts and languages of all the peoples of the empire, including that of the Jews. 10 The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. Mordecai sent the dispatches by swift messengers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king’s service.
11 The king’s decree gave the Jews in every city authority to unite to defend their lives. They were allowed to kill, slaughter, and annihilate anyone of any nationality or province who might attack them or their children and wives, and to take the property of their enemies. 12 The day chosen for this event throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes was March 7 of the next year.
13 A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all peoples, so that the Jews would be ready to take revenge on their enemies on the appointed day. 14 So urged on by the king’s command, the messengers rode out swiftly on fast horses bred for the king’s service. The same decree was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa.
15 Then Mordecai left the king’s presence, wearing the royal robe of blue and white, the great crown of gold, and an outer cloak of fine linen and purple. And the people of Susa celebrated the new decree. 16 The Jews were filled with joy and gladness and were honored everywhere. 17 In every province and city, wherever the king’s decree arrived, the Jews rejoiced and had a great celebration and declared a public festival and holiday. And many of the people of the land became Jews themselves, for they feared what the Jews might do to them.
Esther 8 NLT
What an Interesting Turn of Events!
This is such a great story! You might be wondering, where is Jesus in this story? Well, the Old Testament, remember, weaves a crimson cord starting all the way in Genesis. Each book points to Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, in one form or another. I’ll explain in a bit. First, let’s look at some key points…
- Esther didn’t come out and reveal that she was a Jew. It wasn’t until Haman was out of the picture that she told the king that she was related to Mordecai.
- The king learns that Mordecai, the man who saved him, was going to be killed along with his queen.
- The pole that Haman erected to kill Mordecai ironically became his death sentence.
Proverbs 26:27 reads…
27 If you set a trap for others,
Proverbs 26:27 NLT
you will get caught in it yourself.
If you roll a boulder down on others,
it will crush you instead.
And Paul wrote…
7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
Galatians 6:7-8 NLT
In other words, you reap what you sow. Is your ladder of success leaning against the most sturdy entity — God? It’s your choice, you know… Be Humble or Be Humiliated. Let me put it this way, if you don’t humble yourself before God, God will at some point humble you.
The Law that Cannot be Revoked
So, Haman’s gone, but there still is the problem of the edict or decree that, according to Persian law, not even the king can revoke. However, the king can decree a new law to solve the problem that the first one created.
This reflects the Law of Moses and the Old Covenant as the first law. The 2nd decree reflects Jesus’ commandments and the New Covenant.
The second decree didn’t cancel out the previous edict, but it gave the Jews the right to defend themselves. We’ll see how that plays out in the final 2 chapters tomorrow. Subscribe so you don’t miss out.
Likewise, Jesus didn’t come to cancel the laws of Moses, He came to fulfill them.
The Jews celebrated Mordecai’s new role and the new decree. They were joyful because of the good things God did for them. They were then able to prepare for war and defend themselves rather than be annihilated in a massacre. Pastor Sandy Adams comments…
How quickly God turned the tables on the enemies of the Jews. And this has been the case throughout their history. God told Abraham He’d bless the nations that bless Israel, and curse the nations that curse them. (Genesis 12)
Interestingly, even though Hitler killed six million Jews, God turned the tables on his intentions. It was the Holocaust that softened world opinion, and convinced the United Nations of the need for a Jewish homeland. Hitler, the man who wanted to annihilate the Jews, was the primary cause in the formation of the modern state of Israel. What a strange twist, as Germany crumbled, Israel was reborn.
This story also applies to us – God is faithful to His people. When circumstances become grim – when all seems lost – when your fate seems hopeless – don’t forget Esther. How quickly God can turn the tables!
The Jews were even given first strike authority. They could launch a preemptive attack if necessary. And this has been the strategy of the modern state of Israel.
Sandy Adams
God Protects the Jews
Every nation who’s tried to destroy Israel has fallen in the past and will fall in the future. Read Ezekiel 39, and Revelation. Isn’t it nice of God to let us in on how everything is going to turn out?!
Trust in the Holy Spirit
After the resurrection, Jesus gave the Gift of the Holy Spirit to His Disciples, the new believers and to every single person who believes, repents and is baptized.
Paul wrote…
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.
Romans 8:1-3 NLT
6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
Philippians 1:6 NLT
Are you living under the Old Law?
Are you caught up in a religion of works? Do you feel that you have to do things, follow rules, perform sacraments and rituals to become worthy enough to enter the presence of God in Heaven?
The GOOD NEWS is that Jesus already did all that for YOU! He did that once and for all at the cross! When He said, “It is finished!”, all legalism was finished. When the curtain was torn from top to bottom in the temple, Jesus opened a stairway directly to Him.
If you’re not sure if you’re saved or not, if you truly want to be born again and have the assurance of salvation, receive the Holy Spirit, feel His Shalom — a peace that surpasses all understanding, and get a 1-way, non-stop ticket to Heaven after you die, or that you won’t be left behind at the Rapture, which can happen at any moment, this is what you have to do…
Believe. Repent. Be Baptized. Receive the Holy Spirit.
- Believe — have Faith — that Jesus is the Christ and He died taking your sins away forever and that He rose from the dead 3 days later.
- Repent of your sins — stop sinning! Do a complete 180-degree turn in your life and surrender your life to Him. When you ask Jesus to forgive you He will. ALL your sins will be wiped clean — past, present, and future! And All means ALL!
- Be Baptized by water baptism — show the world and yourself that you have died to your old life and are born again in Christ.
- Receive the gift of Holy Spirit in your heart.
Invite Jesus into Your Heart and Receive the Gift of Grace, Joy, Peace, and the Confident Hope of Eternal Life…
Whom Shall I Fear [The God of Angel Armies]
Top image by Sweet Publishing from FreeBibleImages.org, (CC BY-SA 3.0)
