Divine Appointments: Decisive Deliverance

Transcript

JROT 36
11/17/2024
Divine Appointments: Part Nine “Decisive Deliverance”
Esther 9:1-19
Jesse Randolph

We are in our final two Sunday evenings in our study of the book of Esther. Tonight, we’ll be essentially covering the first half of Esther chapter 9, working all the way to verse 19. And then next week, we are going to finish the book, Lord willing. Now, last Sunday night in a message titled “The Tables Turn”, we made our way through Esther chapter 8. There we encountered this new regime of power, this trio of power, in the Persian kingdom, made up of King Xerxes, Queen Esther, and Mordecai. And there we learned of this drafting of this new counter-decree in Persia, whose purpose was to refute and nullify this earlier decree which wicked Haman, who was now dead, leaned on King Xerxes to pass before. The entire purpose of this counter-decree that we studied last week, was to provide deliverance to the Jews that were living in the Persian Kingdom. And this decree not only was written to spare their lives, but to give them the ability to protect and defend themselves by whatever means was necessary. Including violence, all the way to the point of death. This new decree was proposed by Queen Esther. We saw that last week. It was approved by King Xerxes. It was written by Mordecai with the aid of certain royal scribes. And then the decree was distributed throughout the Persian Kingdom.

Well, as news of this counter-decree began spreading throughout the kingdom, this naturally prompted celebration among the kingdom’s subjects. That’s actually where we ended last week. You can turn with me over to Esther 8:16 where it says, “For the Jews there was light and gladness and joy and honor. And in each and every province and in each and every city, wherever the king’s word and his law reached, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a feast and a holiday.” But as we saw as we wrapped up last time, the story isn’t quite over yet. And that’s because as we turn to Esther chapter 9, the fate of the Jews in the Persian Kingdom is very much still hanging in the balance. And that’s because what we have here are these two decrees. One that’s approving the Jews’ destruction. And one that’s sanctioning their survival. And neither of the decrees is scheduled to take effect, as of Esther 8, for many, many months.

Now as we turn to our text, Esther 9, we’re at that point in the narrative where this fateful day in the month of Adar had arrived. We’re at that point where this impasse between these two decrees would eventually come to an end. And where this stare-down between the Jews and their enemies, was no longer going to be a stare-down, but would actually shift into an all-out war. A holy war you could say, as the Jewish people in the Persian Empire would go to battle against their enemies.

And our text for this evening, Esther 9, begins with these words in verse 1. “Now in the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar), on the thirteenth day.” We will stop right there for just a moment. A couple of things to note there. First of all, as we turn to chapter 9 again, some eight months have passed since the events of chapter 8 when that counter-decree was drafted by Mordecai with the help of the king’s servants. Now with those eight months having passed, we are now in this narrative, as you see there, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, that is, Adar. That date, if you have been studying with us, that day should sound familiar to us. Because it’s not only the day that wicked Haman’s wicked decree was scheduled to take effect, but it also was the day that Mordecai’s counter-decree was scheduled to take effect. So now on this fateful day, that was going to be a day which not only was written in Persian lawbooks, but it was a day which we know was etched in eternity by the divine finger of God. And it was the day on which another one of these radical and sudden reversals that we see all throughout the book of Esther was going to take place.

Now, before we get much further into this section of the book of Esther, it’s worth noting that the details we’re about to be going through are considered unsettling to many. And that’s because the book of Esther records conflict. It records battle, bloodshed, loss of life, vengeance and public shaming. And it’s all done at the hands of God’s chosen people the Jews. There have been many who have struggled with this chapter, and the conclusion of the book of Esther as a whole and the violence that it seems to sanction. In fact, here a couple of quotes from some commentators I was reading this week. One says, that this section of Esther “takes what has been a wonderful tale, full of irony and biting wit as we are made to laugh out loud at the folly of the enemies of righteousness and the wisdom of God in saving His children from the worst jams imaginable, it takes all that and spoils it.” Or another commentator says, “Now that the Lord has brought Mordecai and Esther from disenfranchised depths to sit in the heights of supreme power and privilege, they become mirror images of the tyrants they have displaced.”

Now, obviously I don’t agree. Since when you really think about it the Old Testament is full of references of God’s people going to battle against their enemies. Whether that was for the purpose of conquering the land that God had promised to the Old Testament Israelites, or driving out the invaders of those lands that God had given His people, or purging evil and wickedness from the camp in furtherance of the charge that the Israelites had to be a holy nation under a theocracy where their king was God. We have to remember that some of the commands God gave to Israel, in the earliest of its days, were to do this very thing, to go to war against those who would combat God’s people.

Deuteronomy 20:10-18 says this, this is God speaking through Moses to the Israelites, “If you come near a city to fight against it, you shall call for terms of peace. Now it will be that if it agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your forced labor and shall serve you. However, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. And Yahweh your God shall give it into your hand, and you shall strike all the males in it with the edge of the sword. Only the women and the little ones and the animals and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall plunder for yourself; and you shall consume the spoil of your enemies which Yahweh your God has given you. Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations nearby. Only in the cities of these peoples that Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes. But you shall devote them to destruction, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as Yahweh your God has commanded you, so that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, so that you would sin against Yahweh your God.” So that’s the standard. And as we read further into the Old Testament, we see that Israel does indeed go to war against its enemies. For instance soon after that declaration in Deuteronomy 20, we find the Israelites are warring against Jericho in Joshua chapter 6. And on and on it goes.

So in a real sense what Esther and Mordecai were about to do here in the book of Esther was in keeping with what their ancestors had done long before as they fought for Yahweh. As they fought against the opponents and adversaries of Yahweh. And as we saw last time there really was this element of unfinished business which underlies this whole account as Mordecai and Esther had this opportunity to do what their ancestor, King Saul, failed to do. Which was to wipe out the descendants of Haman. Esther and Mordecai could now wipe out the descendants of Haman who we know was a descendant of Agag, who was by blood, an Amalekite. And recall, the Amalekites were the ones that Saul was supposed to wipe out, but failed to do. Now there is a chance to reverse that. Now again, the tables have turned. There is this great reversal that has occurred. And in keeping with this Israelite tradition of holy war. And in keeping with this king’s new decree, this second decree, Mordecai and Esther are now in this position to go to battle for their people.

And that now brings us back now to our text. We will pick it up in verse 1. This time I will read the whole thing. “Now in the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar), on the thirteenth day when the king’s word and law had reached the point for them to be done, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain power over them, it was turned around so that the Jews themselves gained power over those who hated them.” Now, buried in that very long sentence is the punchline which are the words “it was turned around.” More on that in just a minute. But the narrator here sort of ‘buries the lead,’ you could say, by beginning with that lengthy descriptor of time. “In the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar), on the thirteenth day when the king’s word and law had reached the point for them to be done, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain power over them.”

Now a few different things are happening there. On the one hand, the narrator is giving us a time stamp, indicating exactly and with precision when these events took place. Eight months to be exact since the counter-decree was issued by Mordecai. He’s also being clever from a literary standpoint, as he prepares to reveal how this all went down. He piles on layer after layer these different temporal clauses -- in a certain month, on a certain day, when the king’s word and law had gone a certain distance. It’s almost like he’s stacking these statements one on top of the other, to let us think that the odds are so stacked against the Jews that there is no way they will get out from under this.

And note that something else is happening here. We’re told in verse 1 still that “the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain power over them.” Now, as we’ve seen at multiple places in the book of Esther already, Haman is referred to repeatedly as the enemy and adversary of the Jews. But so far, the impression we’ve been left with is that Haman’s was a unique and individual hatred toward the Jews in the Persian Kingdom. It was all centered in his hatred. But we can see here that is not the case. Now, this hatred for the Jews in Persia is described as broader and kingdom-wide. Note there in verse 1. There’s this broader group of “enemies of the Jews” mentioned. And when we drop to the bottom of verse 1, we see that they harbored genuine hatred of the Jews. It says, “the Jews themselves gained power over those who hated them.” In other words, at some point in this account, widespread anti-Jewish sentiment had spread throughout the Persian Empire. Maybe it was fueled by Haman’s wicked decree. Maybe it was fueled by greed as people realized, hey, if the Jews are killed I get to take their land, their houses, their … you name it. We are not told.

But what we are told is that there is this hatred for the Jews spreading through the Persian Empire at this time. Meaning, though Haman was dead and though his wicked decree was effectively neutralized now by Mordecai’s later decree, there is this still larger group of people in the Persian Empire whose hearts now are turned against the Jews. And though Mordecai’s decree could alter the legal climate in the land, by again neutralizing Haman’s decree, that decree couldn’t change the hearts of anybody who had any kind of personal animosity toward the Jews in the kingdom. All sin we have to remember, ultimately rests in the human heart. And wicked men like Haman in this context, and wicked men like Adolf Hitler in Germany 100 years ago, they have the ability to tap into that hatred, and provoke further hatred and evil and wickedness toward God’s original covenant people. It’s happened more than once in history. That’s what we see happening here in the scene in Esther chapter 9.

But we also know as we come upon this chapter, that the evil schemes of those who hated the Jews in Persian weren’t going to work. Their evil plans weren’t going to prevail. We know this, first of all, because of the teaching of Scripture that those who attempt to destroy the Jews will themselves be destroyed. We think of the words of Jeremiah 30:16. “Therefore all who devour you,” God says to Judah, “will be devoured; and all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity; and those who take you as spoil will be spoil, and all who plunder you I will give as plunder.” But we also know that these wicked plans of those who hated the Jews in Persia, would fail because the ultimate outcome of all that was going to be reported here in the book of Esther, had already been decided and declared. Note the words there. I mentioned the narrator here has buried the lead. It’s true. Toward the bottom of verse 1 you see these words, “It was turned around.” The Hebrew verb there is “haphak”. It means to overturn. It describes a complete turning over of circumstances. It can describe a complete overturning of emotions. It’s the verb that’s used to describe a curse, turning it into a blessing in Deuteronomy 23:5. It’s the verb that’s used to describe mourning turning into dancing in Psalm 30:11. So the verb then can describe changed circumstances or changed emotions.

And what’s really fascinating is, not only here in Esther 9:1, is this verb placed in prominent position in this passage. Meaning this is the point that the author is seeking to stress here. What’s really amazing is that this verb is in the passive form. Which comes out in our English translations. Note it doesn’t say “he turned the tables” or “they turned the tables.” or “I turned the tables” or “you turned the tables.” It says “it was turned around.” Meaning, the whole situation here was turned around by someone. The whole situation was here reversed by someone. Someone not named. Someone like, oh I don’t know, maybe the God of the universe. That’s what is happening here. The narrator here is toying with us by not stating explicitly, that the person, the deity who is turning all of this around, is God. This is about as close in the book of Esther as the narrator mentions the name of God personally. By using this passive verb he is telling us that God is the One who turned all of this around, even though I don’t have to mention His name in writing this all out. He appears to be absent but in reality He is very much present. And He is guiding and governing each and every detail and circumstance of this account. Including all that follows in the rest of the book of Esther.

Let’s move on into verse 2. It says, “The Jews assembled in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to send forth their hand against those who sought their calamity; and no one could stand before them, for the dread of them had fallen on all the peoples.” So the description here is pretty straightforward. The Jews are assembling in their cities. They were familiar with that first decree of Haman, and they know that first decree, it’s aim is to eliminate them. They no doubt have experienced some of this hatred that was now being spread through Haman to the entire empire. They are now familiar with this second decree of Mordecai, which permits them to fight and defend themselves. And so here in verse 2 that’s what they do. They prepared themselves to battle and to fight. They prepared it says, to “send forth their hand,” meaning to strike down, “those who sought their calamity,” meaning those who sought to kill them. The Jews were ready now to defend themselves. They were ready to fight and they were ready to fight to the death. And they could do so with the confidence, not only that they would not be annihilated because of the irrevocable promises of God to Israel through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their forefathers, but they could do so knowing that their enemies couldn’t withstand them. That’s the meaning of that phrase, “no one could stand before them.” And they could do so with the knowledge that their enemies feared them, as we see here in verse 2, “the dread of them had fallen on all the peoples.” So the surrounding peoples, the people in the Persian Kingdom, were now in fear of the Jews. That’s a sentiment that we see elsewhere in the book of Esther. In fact, we saw that last week as we concluded in Esther 8:17. It says, “And many among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the dread of the Jews had fallen on them.”

And by the way that was a common refrain in Israel’s history up to this point. As nation upon nation and ruler upon ruler and pagan upon pagan gradually came to this place where they feared the Jews because of the evident and providential hand of God in dealing with His people for all to see. We think back to the experience of Jacob as he traveled from Shechem to Bethel. Genesis 35:5, “Then they journeyed on, and there was a terror from God upon the cities which were around them, and so they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.” We think of what God said to the people of Israel as they entered the Promised Land, back in Deuteronomy 2:25. He says, “This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples everywhere under the heavens, who, when they hear the report of you, will tremble and be in anguish because of you.” We even think even of Rahab the harlot who told the two Jewish spies that the fear of Israel had now paralyzed the nations in Canaan. She said it this way, in Joshua 2:9-11, “I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. Indeed we heard it, and our hearts melted, and a courageous spirit no longer rose up in any man because of you; for Yahweh your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.”

The surrounding nations, in other words, they had some sense that the people of Israel had some sort of divine protection and favor and it caused them fear. And here we’re told in verse 3 as we keep reading, that this fear was pervasive not only among the people broadly speaking in the Persian Kingdom, but look at how this fear had crept into the official ranks of power and leadership. Verse 3, “Even all the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who were doing the king’s work advanced the Jews, because the dread of Mordecai had fallen on them.” In other words, all of the Persian officials and royal bureaucracy supported the Jews. They were on the Jews side now because of a fear of Mordecai, this new prime minister, this new second in command.

As we’re about to see, moving on to verse 4, God had given Mordecai this new highly-ranked position and his reputation only grew from there. Verse 4 says, “Indeed, Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and the report about him went throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai became greater and greater.” So Mordecai not only assumed power which once belonged to Haman, this text tells us he had earned this great reputation with King Xerxes. He was increasing in power, becoming “greater and greater” and he was feared. Meaning it was now very politically expedient for those Persians in the kingdom and those in leadership, the “princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who were doing the king’s work,” to now follow Mordecai’s decree rather than Haman’s.

And, again just taking a step back for a minute, this is once again an incredible turn of events. Recall how earlier in this book, Mordecai has been referred to over and over, whether by the narrator or by Haman himself, as “Mordecai the Jew.” It’s a derogatory term whenever it is used. But now he is Mordecai the powerful. Mordecai the feared. Mordecai the honored. So much so, that when we get to the final word of this book… in fact, let’s flip over to Esther 10. We will be here next week. Mordecai gets the final say, the final words of this great book. Look at Esther 10:1-3, “Then King Ahasuerus set forced labor upon the land and the coastlands of the sea. And the entire work of his authority and his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had made so great, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus and was great among the Jews and pleasing to his many fellow brothers, one who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the peace of all his seed.”

All this to say, Mordecai’s position of honor and respect and power in this context back to Esther 9, ensured the success of his decree. Not only would the Persian officials in the kingdom no longer be enforcing Haman’s decree. But now since they feared Mordecai so, it was his decree that would be the one that was now carried out. So, the situation there in Persia, in Esther’s day and Xerxes’ day was with the backing of Xerxes’ decree, the second decree. And knowing that, verse 2, “that the dread of them,” the Jews, “had fallen on all the peoples” -- and knowing that, verse 3, this fear had made its way up to the official governmental ranks -- and knowing that, verse 4, Mordecai was not only feared, but “great,” and growing “greater and greater” -- the Jews, we are told, still in verse 4, “assembled in their cities.” They were organized and armed. They were ready to meet anyone who would attack them and their families. They were ready to fend off anyone who tried to take their possessions. They were ready to fight tooth and nail to the death, matching blow for blow, going tit for tat, protecting themselves, seeking to eradicate evil. The tables were now turned against the enemies of the Jews. The enemies now were enmeshed in a battle that they could not win and they weren’t going to win.

Look at verses 5-10. It says, “Thus the Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and causing them to perish; and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. And at the citadel in Susa the Jews killed and caused to perish 500 men, and Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, the 10 sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews’ adversary; but they did not send forth their hand for the plunder.” There’s a lot going on there and a lot to explain. First, as we saw last week, the word “enemies” in verse 5 suggests that those who the Jews attacked were actually those who had instigated an attack on the Jews first. They were, in other words, aggressors. So while we have just seen that the majority of the Persians refused to fight the Jews out of fear of the Jews and their leader Mordecai, there apparently was some smaller group. Potentially a group of professional soldiers who were still loyal to Haman who were still willing to go on the offense and carry out an attack on the Jews. These are the enemies of verse 5 who the Jews it says, “struck with the sword, killing and causing them to perish.”

And not only that. The end of verse 5 tells us that “they,” meaning the Jews, “did what they pleased to those who hated them.” Those words “hated them” highlight the reality of there still being animosity toward the Jews in the Persian Kingdom, an animosity that extended beyond the animosity that Haman had toward the Jews. But what are we to make of this “did what they pleased” language? Is this referring to some form of cruel sadistic torture that the Jews’ were carrying out now on their enemies? No. This rather is another instance where the narrator here is intentionally reversing that which has previously been decreed. Turn back with me to Esther 3:11. There we see King Xerxes, in his blindness and his foolishness, saying to Haman, “The silver is yours, and the people also, to do with them according to what is good in your eyes.” Basically there, as he gave Haman permission to do what Haman wanted to do, Xerxes was giving Haman this liberty to do with the Jews whatever he wished. And then back in our text, Esther 9:5, the narrator here is stressing that this is another one of these complete reversals that has now come about. Just as Haman had been authorized, by way of decree, to do with the Jewish people as he pleased, the Jews now had the ability, by way of Mordecai’s decree, to do with Haman’s loyal fighters, whatever they pleased. It’s a full reversal.

And again, let’s remember the context. The Jews were still up against this edict, the motive of which was to kill them. They are up against some sort of soldiers, some sort of small fighting force who seeks to kill them. So it’s their lives or the lives of their enemies, the lives of those who hated them. The only way the Jews are going to survive here is by killing those who seek to kill them. It might be rough justice, but it was justice.

As we turn to verse 6, the narrator hones in on what is happening now in Susa in the capital city. There was broader fighting and destruction happening all over the kingdom. That’s what we just read about in verse 5. The Jews struck all their enemies with a sword. But in verse 6 we are told that 500 men perished in Susa alone. That number might sound high but it actually wasn’t a very large percentage of the population at this time. And that tells us, as we saw back in verses 1-4, most people in Susa were by now actually in support of the Jews. But still the fact that there were 500 people actively fighting and warring against the Jews in the capital city alone still speaks to there being some sort of animosity and hostility toward God’s people which never truly went away.

And then we turn to verses 7-10. We just read that there were 500 fighting against the Jews and 500 killed in Susa alone. But that number 500 is actually not a perfectly round number because we see it was actually 510. We have to add Haman’s 10 sons to that number. But let’s read them off again, starting in verse 6, for context. “At the citadel in Susa the Jews killed and caused to perish 500 men,” literally 500 men but then we have the next 10, “and Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, the 10 sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews’ adversary.”

Now a couple things to note is, in the Hebrew text where these names of Haman’s 10 sons are listed, it’s really fascinating that their names are offset to the side, on the side of the page in the Hebrew Old Testament. A number of rabbis have offered their take as to why that was done in the original Hebrew manuscript. Some even comment, I think it’s not right, that the 10 names listed resembles the gallows. I don’t see it. But the best explanation I’ve seen given is that by drawing sharp attention to their names, by setting their names in the margin off to the side, what is being underlined and emphasized by the narrator is the scope of the judgment that has now been meted out on Haman’s house. The idea is that these enemies of Israel had been set apart for destruction. It is as if the narrator wants the reader to ponder each name, and reflect on the fact that just as Agag’s line should have been slaughtered many years ago back in the days of King Saul, Haman’s line was now being wiped off the map. Not only his own death which had happened already, but the death of his sons. So that Haman’s line was now over. His downfall is now complete. Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction,” had come to life for Haman and his line.

Now, before we move on, there’s this additional detail given in verse 10. You see it at the end of the verse, where it says that the Jews “did not send forth their hand for the plunder.” Another way of saying that is that the Jews “did not lay their hands on the plunder,” meaning they were careful not to make the destruction of their enemies about material gain. Getting wealthy off this incident. This whole episode we have to remember was about the Jews surviving and defending their right to live at this time in the Persian Kingdom. And the narrator here in Esther is making this a major point, not just here in our passage, but he’s going to use that same expression we will see in a moment in verses 15 and 16. But why this emphasis? Why state 3 times in Esther 9 alone, that the Jews weren’t plundering the possessions of their enemies? I think the reason once again goes back to the account of King Saul and his defeat of the Amalekites.

In fact, this time I’m going to ask you go back with me to 1 Samuel 15:17-23. I have eluded to it a few times tonight and in the last couple of weeks. It will be good to get our eyes on the page and see what this is all about. So far in our study of Esther we’ve seen how this account, the Esther account, ties into how Saul failed to completely destroy the Amalekites. And how Haman was a descendant of Agag, who was an Amalekite. But there is another part of this story we are going to see, which dealt with how the Israelites back in Saul’s day, took the spoils of their enemies in violation of God’s command. Look at 1 Samuel 15:17. It says, “And Samuel said, ‘Is it not true, though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel,’” this is Samuel speaking to Saul, “’And Yahweh anointed you king over Israel, and Yahweh sent you on a mission and said, “Go and devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.” Why then did you not obey the voice of Yahweh, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh?’ Then Saul said to Samuel, ‘I did obey the voice of Yahweh and went on the way on which Yahweh sent me and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek and have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God at Gilgal.’ And Samuel said, ‘Has Yahweh as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of Yahweh? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as wickedness and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, He has also rejected you from being king.’” So there’s the link.

And what I think is happening, back to Esther 9:10, is that just as the Jews in Esther’s day were now being careful to utterly wipe out the line of Haman the Agagite, and in doing so, do what Saul had failed to do many generations before -- they were also careful not to plunder from their enemies and in doing so, avoiding the commission of the same sin that Saul had committed many years ago. They were being careful not to fall into the same pit, into the same trap. So they were careful not to lay their hand on the plunder of their enemies.

Well, now in verse 11, the scene shifts as we move from the battle lines there in Susa to the king’s palace. It says, “On that day the number of those who were killed at the citadel in Susa came to the king.” Now, that’s a good translation in the LSB, how I just read it. But I do appreciate how the NASB has smoothed that out by rendering it this way, “On that day the number of those who were killed at the citadel in Susa was reported to the king.” If you read the LSB without caution, it makes it read like those who were killed are walking their way to the king, like its zombies, like the night of the living dead, and they are making their way to the king. That’s not what is happening. The number of those who were killed is being reported to the king. The NASB has it right there. He is being advised of all that is happening on the battlefield as it’s happening in real time. As he sits in his control center, there in Susa, he is being given updates on the death tolls as they roll in.

Now, as we turn to verse 12 we get the king’s response to being told the number of casualties that have now taken place in Susa. Here’s how that reads. “So the king said to Queen Esther, ‘The Jews have killed and caused to perish 500 men and the 10 sons of Haman at the citadel in Susa. Now in the rest of the king’s provinces, what have they done? So what is your petition? It shall even be given to you. And what is your further request? It shall also be done.’” The way the King reads back those statistics at the beginning of verse 12, it almost sounds like he’s taken by these figures. Like he’s impressed with these figures. Like wow, that’s a lot. The interesting thing though is these casualties involve his subjects. These are Persian people, not Jews who are being killed. He’s the Persian king. So these Persian people who are being killed are the people he is responsible for governing and ruling and protecting. And not only that, this killing is happening in the royal city, the citadel in Susa. This place that he is responsible as king for ensuring the safety and security of. So it’s odd.

Then they ask this question in the middle of verse 12. “Now in the rest of the king’s provinces, what have they done?” We have seen over and over in the book of Esther that Xerxes was a largely ignorant and checked-out king. He got a lot of his information and acted on his information when it was too late. But by asking that question here it seems like he’s for once on the ball. He’s understanding that with the number of deaths reported in the capital city of Susa, this must mean that in his sprawling empire that has a 127 provinces in it you recall (the likelihood is he’s doing the math in his head), that that death toll of 500 is going to creep up substantially. He’s thinking to himself, if so many Jews were killed right here in Susa, how many must they have killed empire wide? And his intuition we are going to see is right. Because down in verse 16, we learn 75,000 were killed. We’ll get there in a few minutes.

But first comes this fascinating follow-up question from King Xerxes, at the end of verse 12. He asks, this is to Esther, “So what is your petition? It shall even be given to you. And what is your further request? It shall also be done.” This is a really odd ball, out-of-left-field question even for Xerxes. Mordecai’s edict, by this point, has already been carried out. We have already had the killing of 500 in Susa. You have had the killing of the 10 sons of Haman. We are about to learn about the killing of 75,000 empire wide. So why is the king here soliciting yet one more request from Esther? Why is he asking this open-ended question of Esther? Why is he effectively giving her at this point this blank check so she can get whatever she wants and is given whatever she pleases? No reason is given in the narrative. No motivation for his question is offered. The best reason I’ve been able to find in doing my study is that perhaps the very fear that had overtaken his subjects in Persia overtook this king as it related to his own wife. So just as all the Persians were fearing all the Jews, there was even that fear happening within this marriage relationship. And so he’s saying, “Sweetie, I will give you whatever you want.” It’s as good of theory as any.

Well, whatever Xerxes’ motivation was for asking the question, Esther obliges by answering it. And she answers in verse 13, “Then Esther said, ‘If it is good to the king, let tomorrow also be given to the Jews who are in Susa to do according to the law for today; and let Haman’s 10 sons be hanged on the gallows.’” Now, we should note right away, because it’s easy to miss this, but her response indicates that she is already growing in confidence before the king. Back in Esther 5:8, she was piling on the compliments before she made her request, “if I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it seems good to the king to give heed to my petition and to do my request, may the king and Haman come to the feast which I will prepare for them.” You just hear all the conditional clauses. And then in Esther 7:3, we saw this a couple of weeks ago, it says, “Then Queen Esther answered and said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, O king, and if it seems good to the king, let my life be given to me as my petition.” Remember I called that Esther ‘batting her eyes’ at the king verbally. She had a knack for doing that. But when we get to our text in verse 13 of chapter 9, she has toned it down quite a bit. She’s gotten a lot more casual and informal. She simply says, “If it is good to the king.” It seems that she realizes that the tables are turning in her favor and she has a lot more power and sway and authority now. Like she’s not afraid to ask the king outright what she wants.

And note what she wants, note what she asks for. It’s a two-fold request. First, she says, “let tomorrow also be given to the Jews who are in Susa to do according to the law for today.” That’s a way of saying please extend the killing beyond day 1 into day 2. Meaning, yeah we got 75,000 of them but we need to get more. So that’s one request. And then request #2 is “let Haman’s 10 sons be hanged on the gallows.’” So she wants to take Haman’s already dead sons and put them on the gallows. The same gallows that Haman had constructed just a few days before. Now the words are what they are. They don’t require much more explanation. What I am going to do in this section at least is spend most of this time exploring the moral dimensions of Esther’s requests. Because this is that passage that has drawn the ire of critics as they look at the book of Esther. This seems to many who take the Bible from a critical lens as being immoral.
And it’s been taken by many as a reason why the book of Esther doesn’t belong in the cannon of Scriptures. So offended are they by her request that they say, this does it, this is the last straw, this is not Scripture.

So I am going to read off for you a few quotes and then give some responses. Here are the quotes of a few critics I came upon this week. According to one, Esther “was extremely vindictive in asking for a further day’s slaughter in Susa. To respond to the grace of God by hatred to men was particularly despicable.” To another, this episode marks Esther’s “darkest hour.” Here’s another, Esther’s request was “literally overkill.” Another says, that this passage is “indicative of her bloodthirsty nature.” While another says that this passage “makes Esther appear hard and cruel for wanting to continue the massacre.” Another says that Esther’s request is “morally troubling and especially unbecoming a woman.” Another one says, “for this horrible request no justification can be found.” Another says, this is the “instance of the disquieting moral ambiguity that characterizes this story.” This is my favorite one, though. Esther was a “sophisticated Jael, a deceitful and bloodthirsty woman.”

Now, I have made it pretty clear throughout this series. going back to the first sermons where we were covering Esther’s days in the harem, that I don’t believe that Esther necessarily was a virtuous woman, the way we all just tend to assume that she was. So I’d typically be one of the last people to run to Esther’s defense. But here I think there has been some real over-reaching by these critics in dogpiling on Esther. And I think these critiques of Esther’s requests in verse 13 are fueled largely by speculation and conjecture. And they also reveal this unwillingness to consider the ethically legitimate reasons, the moral reasons, that she might have had for these requests. The reality is her requests may have been legitimate and we certainly have no idea what the basis and heart motivation there was behind the requests. Even the narrator here wasn’t given access to the information.

For instance, it’s very possible that Esther learned of some sort of newly-developing plot in Susa right at that time. Maybe it was hatched by some of these Persian military folk that were still loyal to Haman and his sons. And through that plot she realizes that both her life and Mordecai’s life and the life of the Jews is still in danger. So she asked for permission to keep on fighting. And not only that, to publicly display the bodies of Haman’s sons to discourage any further fighting, which was culturally the norm back then. It’s also possible that the work on the first day of fighting simply wasn’t done. Like the sun went down on that day and they hadn’t finished the job. That decree of Mordecai allowed for one day of fighting and there was a need to finish the job and to eradicate all traces of threats and hatred toward the Jews. And maybe there was a motivation to finish the job that King Saul failed to do all those generations before.

Or here is another one, it’s possible that the narrator here doesn’t have every detail related to every thought or every motivation behind Esther’s request. And in the context which ties into Esther chapter 10, where we will be next week, he is simply trying to establish why the holiday of Purim is celebrated over 2 days rather than one. It’s a calendaring matter. He’s trying to explain why they celebrate Purim on 2 days, not 1, and that would include her request for a second day of fighting. So there’s been a lot of pearl-clutching that has been happening as people interact with her two requests in verse 13. But what I hope I am explaining here is that there actually are several explanations for her request that would exonerate her from any charge of immorality.

So the king replies to her requests as we are going to get to in verse 14. He does so positively. “So the king said that it should be done so;” in response to her request, “and a law was given in Susa, and Haman’s 10 sons were hanged.” So he was true to his word. In verse 12, the king had said to Esther, “So what is your petition? What is your further request? It shall also be done.” And here he is answering her requests and granting her petitions. And as a result, we see there is this “law was given in Susa,” another decree. You can trace themes within Esther. It’s like banquets and decrees. It’s like the summary of the book of Esther.

But he also, in keeping with her requests, has Haman’s 10 sons hanged. The hanging of Haman’s 10 already dead sons, that really is an exclamation point on this whole narrative. We have to remember back in Esther chapter 5, Haman has been invited to this second banquet with the king and queen. And he goes home and he’s bragging to his wife and friends in his home, he’s bragging about all of his accomplishments, he’s bragging about his vast wealth, and he’s bragging about how the king has honored him above everyone else. And what he also brags about are the number of sons he has. And what we see here in Esther 9 is that every single one of those boasts has been undone. All throughout. The vast wealth that Haman had, has been given to Esther. The title that Haman had, has now been given to Mordecai. The sons that Haman had are now hanged on the gallows, just like their father. It’s a sad and a fitting end to a man who truly got what he deserved.

So verse 14 is through. The king hears the request. He grants her request. He passes this new law. He hangs Haman’s 10 already dead sons. And now this second day of fighting has arrived, the 14th day of Adar. So it’s now time for the Jews to act and to execute on this royal permission they have been given to fight a second day. That’s brought up in verse 15. It says, then “the Jews who were in Susa assembled also on the fourteenth day of the month Adar and killed 300 men in Susa, but they did not send forth their hand for the plunder.” So like the first day of battle, the second day is centered around this capital city. Like the first day it is also not accompanied by pilfering and plundering from those who they have killed. They did not send forth their hand for the plunder. They kept their hands in their pockets. They didn’t have sticky fingers. They didn’t become opportunistic and seek to get carried away. And we see in day 2 that 300 were killed in Susa whereas in day 1 it was 500.

Then in verse 16 now we are going wide angle again. Verse 15 the focus is Susa. Verse 16 now we are going to the whole kingdom. “Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces assembled, to make a stand for their lives and obtain rest for themselves from their enemies, and to kill 75,000 of those who hated them; but they did not send forth their hand for the plunder.” Note the language there. It’s really important. It’s clear that the Jews in Persia killed these 75,000, not from a place of anger or vindictiveness or retribution. But as a matter of preservation and defense. Look how it’s phrased. They fought in order “to make a stand for their lives.” They fought to “obtain rest for themselves.” They fought against “their enemies.” Remember that’s a word that means aggressor. And they fought against, it says, “those who hated them.” In other words, the Jews didn’t go on some sort of offensive rampage just to kill 75,000 subjects of the Persian Kingdom. Rather, they acted legally, within the parameters of Mordecai’s decree. They acted defensively as we just saw. And they acted with restraint. And here is what I mean by that. By many accounts, the Persian Empire of this time had tens of millions of subjects. Some even say they had up to 50 million people in the Persian Kingdom of this time.

So with this decree in hand, with the support of the king and queen, with fear of the Jews now pervading the land -- the Jews, had they wanted to, could have turned this into a bloodbath. They could have turned this into a true overkill situation and killed hundreds of thousands, if not millions. But they didn’t, they showed restraint, 75,000 out of potentially 50 million. Meaning these are targeted kills. They are going after those who are truly enemies of Israel. Not only that, it says again, they “did not send forth their hand for the plunder.” They were not looking to annihilate or embarrass. They didn’t kill gratuitously. They simply wanted relief and rest from their enemies and they got the job done.

Now as we get to verses 17 through 19, the narrator starts tying together some loose ends here. And he’s also going to tie this scene that we have been in, to the establishment of the feast of Purim, which we’ll learn more about next week. He starts with these words, in verses 17 and 18, “This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness. But the Jews who were in Susa assembled on the thirteenth and the fourteenth of the same month, and they rested on the fifteenth day and made it a day of feasting and gladness.” Now the word “this” that you see at the beginning of verse 17, that’s referring to all of the fighting and killing that was happening in the Persian Kingdom on the thirteenth day of the month Adar. The fighting outside the city of Susa ended on that thirteenth day. So for those who were outside of Susa, the celebrations began the very next day on the 14th day. That’s what we see in verse 17. “On the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness.” But as we just saw, Esther’s requested that there be a second day of fighting in the city of Susa. So that’s what is says in verse 18, “The Jews who were in Susa assembled,” they gathered to fight, “on the thirteenth and the fourteenth of the same month.” And that’s why, for those in Susa, verse 18 says, “they rested on the fifteenth day and made it a day of feasting and gladness.” So if you lived in Susa at this time you had to wait one extra day to start the party. The party started on the 14th for those outside of Susa. It started on the 15th for those inside of Susa, while they waited for the fighting men to finish the killing in the city.

And then, we’re given this capstone statement, verse 19, as he explains parenthetically why the Jews of his day, meaning at the day that the book of Esther is written, celebrate the feast of Purim according to different time tables. He says, “Therefore the Jews of the rural areas, who live in the rural towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a holiday for gladness and feasting and sending portions of food to one another.” So if they were rural Jews living in or around smaller villages outside of Susa, they celebrated the fourteenth day. He doesn’t say it here, but the assumption is on the fifteenth day, they who were in Susa celebrated that day. They were one day behind schedule.

As we conclude this evening I will just summarize with a few comments here. This great reversal, as we get to the middle of chapter 9, that this whole narrative has been pointing to is really now complete. The enemies of the Jews, starting with Haman, had sought to destroy them. But in the end, we see that the tables have turned and the Jews in Persia have prevailed now over their enemies. Now we just saw they are celebrating, feasting, and rejoicing. So they have been on the brink of annihilation seemingly. But in the end, they come out victorious.

Next week, as we wrap up our study of this great book, we’re going to do it a few different ways. We will do a few different things. Obviously we will finish the book expositionally and work through the final verses. But we’re also going to consider the ways that God has used this book Esther in history. As we think of the ways that Jewish people for generations now have faced various forms of persecution in the centuries that followed this account and how some Jews, like those that went through the Holocaust, have looked to the book of Esther for encouragement. So some historical study there.

And finally, we’re going to work our way through some theological considerations that I think we need to button up the whole study with. As we remember that God’s preservation of the Jewish people was not only really great for them, but really great for us that this happened. Jesus of Nazareth was a Jew. His first followers were Jews. At Pentecost, a Jewish holiday, the Holy Spirit descended upon a group of early Jewish believers. The first Christians were of Jewish descent. Without there being Jews there would be no church. We can’t forget that. We can’t forget that our own heritage ultimately traces back to God’s overall plans, starting with the Jews. To the Jew first, also to the Greek.

As we close I’m going to have us end where we began for tonight with Scripture reading. I want us to consider the words of Psalm 124 now, in light of what we have just studied in Esther. Psalm 124, “’Had it not been Yahweh who was on our side,’” let Israel now say, “’had it not been Yahweh who was on our side when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive, when their anger was kindled against us; then the waters would have flowed over us, the stream would have swept over our soul; then the raging waters would have swept over our soul.’ Blessed be Yahweh, Who has not given us to be prey for their teeth. Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper; the snare is broken and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of Yahweh, Who made heaven and earth.” Amen.

Let’s pray. Gracious God, we say thank You for this time of study in Your Word. We thank You for the book of Esther. We thank You for Your divine sovereignty in providence in including this book in the canon of Scripture. We truly would be missing something related to Your character, related to Your promises, related to Your faithfulness, had this book not been included. We know it has the divine stamp of God. We know it has the marks of being inscriptureated. We know this is from You. We know this is Your holy Word and we can read it and come to it and extract truth from it that is certainly applicable to our life today. Whether that be the truth of You being a faithful God, the truth of You being a God who, though we cannot see You because You are Spirit, You are so clearly there -- the God who navigates all circumstances and steers all circumstances according to Your perfect will. What a comfort that is to know that as Spurgeon once said that Your sovereignty is the pillow that we comfortably rest our head on every single night.

That truth is evident in the book of Esther. And we can rest in that truth in our lives. God, thank You for the truth and reminder of Your preservation of Your people the Jews. Thank You for the reality and the reminder that Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, came through Your faithfulness to Your people. He is our hope, He is our Savior, He is, as we saw this morning, Christ. He is Lord. He is God. Our hope ultimately is tied to this hope that we see here. Our hope is in the Messiah of Israel, Jesus of Nazareth. God, I pray this week as we go about our various duties and tasks and ministries, our jobs, our parenting, our marriages, that we would seek to bring praise to Jesus Christ our Lord. God, I pray we would not take this study as merely academic but one that would transform the heart as we seek to bring praise to You our great God. May this be a week that brings You great glory and praise in Your church, in our homes, and all that we do. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.