Wednesday, December 21, 2016

WOMEN OF CHRISTMAS - ESTHER MADE QUEEN AND HAMAN HATCHES EXTERMINATION PLAN

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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