The book of Esther is the only book of the Bible that does not
mention God’s name. It makes reference to Him and the Jews live lives that
reflect His sovereignty and their faithfulness to Him. It is the story of God’s
chosen people, the Israelites, in captivity in Persia under King Ahasuerus, the
Hebrew name for King Xerxes (Greek name) or King Khshayarsha (Persian name), who lived from
520-465 BC. His son,
King Artexerxes was king during Nehemiah’s time. King Ahasuerus reigned from
486-465BC. Esther, the story of a young woman of God, is set around the years
483-478BC.
Many of us have heard the story of Esther at some point in our
lifetime. For women, Esther has become a hero. Esther was a young orphan Jewess
who was adopted by her cousin, Mordecai while they lived in captivity in
Babylon. The queen of king Ahasuerus was Vashti and her beauty was known
throughout the kingdom. One night during a half-year feast, the king wanted to
parade his queen and her beauty to his princes and noblemen and so summoned her
to him. She refused to attend at the king’s request. Upon advice from his most
esteemed nobles, the king dethroned Vashti and searched for a new queen. The
king’s eunuchs were sent throughout his provinces to find the most beautiful
virgins and bring them to the royal palace. Esther was one of these beautiful
virgins. After twelve months being pampered and prepared for her introduction
to the king, each girl was brought before the king and spent the night with him
after which she would go to the harem of the concubines if she was not chosen
to be the new queen. When Esther was presented to the king, the king loved her
and she found favor with him more than all the other women who were taken to
him. He chose Esther to be his queen.
Along with Esther, the daughter of a Levitical priest, Abahail,
the king raised the stature of another person, Haman, the Amalekite, 16th
generational descendent of King Agag. The history between the Israelites and
Amalekites had been long by this point. The Amalekites, under king Agag, were
the first people to fight against the Israelites at Rephadim after they crossed
the Red Sea. This nation of people dogged the Israelites through time. From
history we know the Amalekites to be the ancestor of Esau’s grandson, Amalek.
Remember Esau from history; he was the one who sold his birthright to Jacob.
Esau was famished after being in the field and agreed to give Jacob his
birthright for the soup Jacob was cooking. From that point in time, there was
animosity between Jacob and Esau and their descendants. The children of the
promise, which God gave Abraham, came through Jacob’s line, not Esau’s. Enter
the story of Esther and we see one of the reasons for Haman’s hatred of the
Jews. The most immediate reason for his hatred was that Mordecai, Esther’s
cousin, did not bow and prostrate himself at the feet of Haman as the king
commanded and Haman demanded. Haman’s pride could not let that go unpunished.
The story in Esther is about the saving of the Jews from Haman’s
treachery. It is also about two people, Esther and Haman, heroine and
anti-hero. It is the story of God’s children and other people. What we can see
in this book of the Old Testament is two extremes, ancestor of God’s priest
versus ancestor of the nemesis of God’s children. If you were looking at it in
modern terms, it is the heroine up against her nemesis. However, this is not
ultimately the story of the heroine and anti-hero, but of God and the world. To
get to this point, we must determine what attributes characterize a child of
God and what characterizes a child of the world.
The attributes of God’s children we see through the history told
in the Bible, in history books, like Foxe’s
Book of Martyr’s, and historical documents are humility, obedience, love of
God and other believers, faithfulness, wisdom, service, and charity and this is
not an exhaustive list. The attributes of those who are not God’s children can
include the list above, but it can also include self-love, hate and anger,
hoarding, following worldly desires, drunkenness, debauchery, pride, and other
things. With this in mind, let’s look at Esther and Haman.
The best way to characterize a person is by his or her actions,
attitudes, and words. Esther entered the story after queen Vashti was removed
from her position. Esther was collected by the king’s eunuchs. The first thing
we read of Esther’s interactions with another person is Mordecai’s counsel to
not tell them who her people and kindred are. Mordecai, being the male head of
household for Esther, was heard and his instructions heeded. It is not until
chapter 7 that Esther declared her background or her people. Esther was
obedient to Mordecai. She is also intelligent and wise. She accepted the counsel
of the king’s eunuch who was in charge of her and the other women. Why did this
eunuch offer her his professional advice? He did it because she “pleased him
and found favor with him” (2:9). Her demeanor and beauty pleased and he held
her in esteem. In fact, all who saw her favored her (2:15). When she was
presented to the king, she asked only that which the eunuch told her and she
found favor and kindness with the king. Esther had won the favor of the people
in the palace. She was a favored child of God. After she was made queen, she
continued to obey Mordecai and did not reveal her people or kin. She was
favored by Mordecai and the Jews, too. Before the anti-hero enters the picture,
we read of Mordecai protecting the king by telling of the plot he heard two of
the king’s eunuchs plotting at the king’s gate. Mordecai’s name was written
down in the king’s book of records.
Next enters Haman. In chapter 3, the king raised the stature of
Haman. He advanced Haman above all the princes and nobles in his kingdom.
Everyone was commanded to bow down to Haman when he passed. Everyone did bow
down and prostrate themselves except Mordecai. When two men at the king’s gate
questioned him as to why he would not bow down and pay homage to Haman,
Mordecai explained that he was a Jew and was prohibited by Yahweh from bowing
before anyone but Him. These two men took this to Haman and asked if this was a
viable excuse. Haman, a man after prestige and worldly
acknowledgement, had finally been exalted. The king’s command to bow to him and
the fact that Mordecai did not because of religious reasons infuriated Haman
(3:5). From the Jewish Law, no one was to bow/prostrate him or herself to
anyone except Yahweh. Not only was Haman a man and not Yahweh, he was an enemy
of the Jews. Haman was smart, though. He knew he could not single out Mordecai
for penalty/death; he had to target a whole people, the Jews. He hatched a plan
just for that and he waited a whole year (3:6-7) for its fruition. Haman
demanded the worship of man which God forbade. Haman was shown as the
anti-hero. He is self-absorbed, self-serving, prideful, hateful, and driven by
his own worldly desires. God’s ways versus the world’s ways was juxtaposed
here.
We continue to read of
Esther and Haman as the next year of their lives unfold in the rest of the
book. Haman brought a serious charge to the king to allow him to have the Jews
exterminated. He did not say it in exactly those words, though. He told the
king there was a people who were not living by his laws, but by their own, and that
they were decreasing his profits. Any king would not like to have a people in
his kingdom who had contempt for his laws and him by association, as well as,
were causing him to lose income. Appealing to the worldly side of the king,
Haman, without specifying who these people were, received permission to write
an edict to get rid of these people. The king gave him his ring, which, when
applied to a seal on an edict, made the law irreversible. Notice how Haman
approached the king. He appealed to the king’s worldly desires and then couched
his request with these words “if it please the king.” He was not appealing to
the king based upon his favor with the king and his personal honor; he was unlike
Esther, as we will see later. The next time we encounter Haman is after the
queen requested the king and Haman to attend a banquet in their honor in her
residence in chapter 5. After the banquet, when Haman left the queen’s
residence, he saw Mordecai and his anger filled him (5:9). He controlled himself
and went home to brag to his wife and friends of his invitation to dine with
the king and queen. He also regaled them by boasting of his great wealth, large
number of sons, and stature with the king.
Haman was filled with pride, not humility. His last statement in chapter
5 summed up what occurs when we seek our own personal attainments. “Yet all of this does not satisfy me every time I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate" (5:13). Pride makes the possessor unhappy and the irony is that Haman
wanted the honor and adoration of the man he despised most. Haman
sought after more praise, more wealth, and higher stature/position in the
kingdom. He would never be
completely satisfied while he was searching for all the world could give him.
Additionally, his self-interest blinded him to the facts and feelings of
others, the queen, Mordecai, the king, and his own friends.
When we next read of Haman, he is puffed up with his own
self-importance. He does not know what the king is thinking. Haman was in the
palace on a mission to ask the king for permission to kill Mordecai when he was
summoned by the king to advise on how to honor a person. Haman answered the
king thinking of himself and how he would like to be honored by the king, assuming
the king was thinking about him. Haman wanted ultimate recognition by the king
and the people in his kingdom so requests to wear the kings cloak, wear his
crown, and ride his horse being led around the city proclaiming this will be
“done to the man whom the king desires to honor” (6:9) seemed paramount to getting
the top honor by the king. Haman was only after his own interests. Little did
he know the king would make him the man who led the horse proclaiming in front
of the rider about the honor given to the man riding. Haman was forced to honor Mordecai, the man who would not
acknowledge Haman’s stature. Haman had to eat crow. To make matters worse, when
Haman arrived home, his wife told him that he will not overcome Mordecai, but would
be overthrown by him (6:13).
Haman’s final
act with the king and queen arrived. He was invited again to a banquet with the
king at the queen’s residence. While there, the king offered to grant a
petition for Esther and she made a case for her people which blew up in Haman’s
face. The king saw who he really was, a man with no morals who was only after
more power and honor. While the king walked outside the banqueting hall, Haman
fell prostrate on the queen just as the king reentered. The king challenged him
by asking is he already trying to begin his extermination by killing the queen
while he is around? The king’s servants grasp Haman and cover his face. In
Persian culture at the time, a criminal was so below the king that he could not
even look at the king, hence the covering of Haman’s face. When the king found
out Haman had a gallows made for Mordecai, he ordered Haman be hanged on it
instead. In this story, we saw Haman’s pride, hatred, self-absorption,
malevolent scheming, arrogance, abuse of power, and inhumanity in general. We
have not seen him treat wisely the power and position which the king gave him.
We have seen him scampering, scheming, and scraping to better himself each time
we encounter him in the story. Now, let’s consider Esther.
Esther, by the
end of chapter 2, had found favor with her people, cousin, eunuch, and king.
The favor she found was due not only to her beauty, but to her submissiveness,
humility, obedience, knowledge, and wisdom. As we continue to read the story of
Esther, we see another action which she did repeatedly throughout the story. We
see when she approached the king, she always approached him with humility and
appealed to his honor, humanity, and stature. After her initial encounter with
the king - finding favor with him, and being proclaimed queen - Esther spoke
through servants to Mordecai after Haman’s edict went into all the provinces of
the kingdom declaring that on the 15th of the month in twelve
month’s time all Jews were to be killed and their possessions become booty for
the killers. Mordecai in chapter 4 put on sackcloth and ashes and went to the
king’s gate at which no one was to wear sackcloth. Esther talked to him through
servants and sent clothes. Finally, Mordecai implored her to go to the king and
plead the case for her people, from whom the king does not know she is comes.
At that, Esther told Mordecai that no one could enter the king’s presence
without being beckoned or without his staff being extended to them. If he did
not extend his staff, the interrupter of the king will be put to death (4:11).
She was afraid for her life. Mordecai reminded her who she was and from whose
people she came. She was a Jew and represented the Jews. She must stand up for
the Jews, God’s chosen people. He told her,
Do not imagine
that you in the king's palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you
remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from
another place and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether
you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?" (4:13-14, [NASB])
If she did not speak, she would die because
of the edict. If she went to the king, she could have died. Esther was reminded
of who she was, a Jew, and who her God is. Remember, she was not only a queen,
but one of God’s chosen people and the daughter of his royal priesthood. She
may have been seen with favor by all the people, including her earthly king,
for such a time as this, as Mordecai stated. Esther asked that Mordecai ask all
the Jews to fast for three days and then she would petition the king. Esther was
human, submissive to the male head of household and to the king. She was also
submissive to Yahweh God, to walk the road on which He placed her.
After
the three days of fasting, and most probably praying, Esther walked to the
chamber outside the throne room and the king extended his scepter. See how
Esther phrases her request upon questioning by her loving king who promised to
give her up to half his kingdom. She said, "If it pleases the king, may the king and Haman come
this day to the banquet that I have prepared for him" (5: 4
[NASB])? Esther appealed to his person and position and then make her request,
which seemed to be about serving him. She invited him and Haman to a banquet in
her quarters. At the banquet, the king offered without her asking, what her
request was and he would give it to her (5:6). Esther made another request, "My
petition and my request is: if I have found favor in the sight of the king, and
if it pleases the king to grant my petition and do what I request, may the king
and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I
will do as the king says” (5:8). Esther once again appealed to his care for her
along with his desire and stature. She appealed to him as her husband and king
then honored him by banqueting with him again. (Some may call this womanly
wiles. Whether it is or not, Esther used her gifts and abilities for the
service of her King, Yahweh.)
The
next day arrived and the banquet time had come. While they were having wine,
the king asked, "What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done" (7:2)? Esther replied,
If I have
found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be
given me as my petition, and my people as my request; for we have been sold, I
and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed and to be annihilated. Now if we
had only been sold as slaves , men and women, I would have remained silent, for
the trouble would not be commensurate with the annoyance to the king. (7:3-4
[NASB])
Esther still appealed to the king’s favor
with her, how he had been pleased by her beauty and her being. She had gained
his trust. She was humbly subservient to him, his stature
and knowledge, and to his desires/wants. Also, she had saved the life of the
king with her message from Mordecai. The next part of her request
shocked him. As far as we know, she had never appealed for anything personally
before. He had to have noticed and taken this request seriously. The crime he
heard shocked him. Esther used many words to describe what Haman did, his
contemplated atrocity. She planned her words carefully to get empathy for her
people. Her words showed the depth of her emotion and awakened a similar depth
in the king. The king trusted her knowledge and advice and probably her
discretion. She appealed to her king who then walked outside briefly. When the
king walked back into the room after hearing about Haman’s treachery and abuse
of power, he confronted Haman while his servants grabbed Haman and covered his
face. Esther remained subservient and obedient to her heavenly King, her
earthly king, and her head of family. She remained faithful to the three. She
remained humble, respectful, wise, and a lover of Yahweh and her people, His
chosen children.
After
Haman’s scheme unfolded and the king had him hanged, Mordecai was promoted to
second behind the king and given Haman’s ring. Mordecai and Esther can be
equated to the story of Joseph who was put in his position to provide food for
the Egyptians and the Israelites during the severe drought. Each person
remembered who they were and whose they were. They remembered not only how
great Yahweh is but also how small they were in comparison. They each were
humble and faithful. They each worked to serve the Lord and His interests.
Mordecai’s words to Esther have been repeated down through the centuries, who
knows that you were put in this position “for such a time as this.” Haman, on
the other hand, only sought what he desired. He proved not to be devoted to his
earthly king by abusing the king’s trust in him. He did not claim allegiance to
any god. He was only interested in himself. He would take a life or many when
he felt he was not honored. He killed. He slandered. He was a braggart and
prideful. He is completely opposite to Esther.
The
story of Esther is a great reminder of who and whose we are. It is also a great
reminder that God will take care of His children. Esther
sought to be a help to her King (Yahweh) and also be pleasing to her earthly
king, Ahasuerus. Esther’s relationship with God affected her attitude and
actions toward king Ahasuerus. Her relationship to Ahasuerus reflected her
honor to Yahweh. Her relationship to God affected
her people. Through her, God saved His chosen people. We should come out of our
study of Esther asking ourselves these questions:
1. To whom am I faithful?
2. Am I looking out only for myself and my desires or am I humble
and obediently following God, the true King?
3. What are my actions, words, and attitudes saying to others about
my relationship with God and who He is?
