ESTHER CHAPTERS 1-3
ESTHER MADE QUEEN AND HAMAN HATCHES
EXTERMINATION PLAN
You may or may not be familiar with the story
of Hadassah, better known as Esther. If your memory is rusty or you have not studied this book of the
Bible, our more in depth study of it can be found in the archives of this blog.
Hadassah means “myrtle tree.” Myrtles
are extremely resilient which certainly applies to our heroine. Esther means “star,” and she
certainly is a star in Jewish history! Let us summarize the first chapter and a
half of the book of Esther. King Ahasuerus also known as King Xerxes I of
Persia or Artaxerxes, had a queen named Vashti. During a huge feast the king
demanded that Vashti appear in front of his male guests in order to show off
her beauty. She refused and his counselors convinced him to banish her from the
kingdom.
Next ensued the quintessential beauty pageant
to choose a new queen. Details are given about the months of preparation the
young women endured. One of these was Esther who may have been taken against
her will. The king’s men had rounded up the loveliest young ladies of the
kingdom whether they wanted to participate or not. Esther wisely listened to
the eunuch in charge of the harem when it was her turn to spend a night with
the king.
Esther 2: 16
So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth
month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
17 And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she
obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he
set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti. 18
Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even
Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts,
according to the state of the king.
The king found Esther to be the most
beautiful not only outwardly but in character as well. Ahasuerus is credited with choosing Esther to replace Vashti;
but in reality, God in His providence promoted Esther to be queen of Persia.
Let us start
chapter 3 with a little background information on the ancestors of the two key
characters, Haman and Mordecai. Haman was called an Agagite which meant he was
a descendent of Agag the king of the Amalekites. The Amalekites had opposed
Israel as they fled Egypt to return to the Holy Land, so God had placed Amalek
under a curse saying that nation would be destroyed by a future generation of
Israelites (See Exodus 17:14-16). Fast forward to the time of Israel’s first
king, Saul the Benjaminite. He is the ancestor of Mordecai. God commanded Saul
to destroy the Amalekites completely, including their cattle. (See 1 Samuel
chapter 15) Israel was to take none of the customary spoils of war. However,
Saul and his men kept some of the best cattle, supposedly to sacrifice to the
Lord, and took King Agag captive rather than killing him. The Lord God made the
prophet Samuel aware of Saul’s disobedience. Samuel confronted Saul and then
took a sword and addressing King Agag, said, “Just as your sword has taken
children from women, so will this sword make your mother a childless woman,” (1
Samuel 15:33). Then Samuel took a sword and hacked Agag to pieces! No wonder
Haman hated the Jews, and Mordecai had no respect for Haman!
Esther 3:1-4 (KJV) After these things did
king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced
him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. 2 And all the
king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for
the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him
reverence. 3 Then the king's servants, which were in the king's gate, said unto
Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's commandment? 4 Now it came to pass,
when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told
Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand: for he had told them that
he was a Jew.
Mordecai’s
reason for this civil disobedience was his Jewish heritage. The Persian officials may or may not have understood his logic. The officials probably were not aware of the longstanding
historical animosity between the Amalekites and the Jews. They went to Haman and asked
if Mordecai’s reason for not kneeling and bowing down was acceptable.
Esther 3:5 And when Haman saw that Mordecai
bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath. 6 And he
thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the
people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were
throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.
Haman was
due respect according to the king’s decree but even more so in his own mind. Haman suffered from an extremely inflated ego and narcissism. It wasn’t enough for Haman to exact retribution
against his arch-enemy, Mordecai. Haman’s desire was to desecrate and
annihilate every Jew in Persia and its provinces. If something did not stop him, there would
have been no Jews, no tribe of Judah, and therefore, no Messiah in the future!
Esther 3:7
In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king
Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and
from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.
Haman and his
cohorts cast lots to determine the best day for the destruction of the Jews.
This was a common method for determining dates and times. The date selected was
nearly a year away. Then he approached the king
with his dastardly plan.
Esther 3:8 And Haman said unto king
Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the
people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all
people; neither keep they the king's laws: therefore it is not for the king's
profit to suffer them. 9 If it please the king, let it be written that they may
be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of
those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king's
treasuries.
Reformation
Study Bible:
3:9 10,000
talents of silver. This enormous bribe is calculated to have been about
two-thirds the annual revenue of the Persian Empire under King Darius.
The casting
of lots to determine the best day to carry out his plans was a superstitious
method used in Persia. God providentially controlled this process to give the
Jews eleven months before the plot was carried out (Proverbs 16:33).
Notice that
Haman gave no indication of the nationality of the people he was proposing to
be wiped out. This may have been on purpose since Jews were among some of the
king’s own officials. He told the king he would
finance the entire campaign. He
was so determined to persuade King Ahasuerus that he was willing to possibly
impoverish himself and his family to execute his plan.
Esther
3:10 And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son
of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.
Reformation
Study Bible:
3:10
signet ring. Yet another of the king’s impulsive responses authorized Haman to
issue royal edicts (cf. Gen. 41:42). The repetition of Haman’s full name
together with the added phrase, “the enemy of the Jews,” underlines the
terrible predicament of the Jews at this point.
The king
had been kept in the dark as to whom he would be destroying. He had no idea that his own beloved Queen Esther was a member of
this people group. The king was unwittingly being manipulated by Haman’s venomous hatred of the Jews. Once again, King Ahasuerus
was acting with undue haste. The king was reacting to
information without verification from sources other than
Haman. He should have checked Haman’s “facts” for himself before issuing any decree.
Esther 3:11 And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to
thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.
The king did not accept the money, but gave
Haman permission to do what he desired. I
feel that the king was abdicating his responsibility. Ahasuerus wore the crown
but allowed Haman to make too many pivotal decisions.
Esther 3:12-15 Summary:
The king gave Haman the power to dictate the order himself and use
the king’s signet ring to seal it. Basically, the king gave
Haman the power to decree an order in the name of Ahasuerus. It was translated so that everyone in all the provinces of Persia
would understand it. The decree stated
emphatically that they were to “destroy, kill, and annihilate all of the Jews”
(VOICE translation). No one could possibly
misunderstand the intent of this decree. No one was to be spared. They were to kill even women and
children. As the Jews were put to death, whoever killed them gained the reward of taking their possessions, the wealth they had accumulated even while living as captives. Haman
had the king celebrating this edict. Meanwhile, the people living
in Susa were trying to make heads or tails of such a proclamation. This proclamation made no sense to them. However, it was now law, had to be obeyed, and could not be
rescinded or overturned.
Ponder this: The Jews had faced many enemies and were at this time
captives. However, this plot aimed to wipe out the entire nation! At this point
in the story, it seems that God is letting them slip through His fingers; but
we know that is not true. God’s control is seen in His elevating Esther to be
queen, controlling the lot cast to determine the proposed day of destruction,
and allowing Mordecai to overhear a plan to kill the king. Stay tuned to see
exactly why Esther is one of our Women of Christmas.
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