Esther must attempt to convince the king to reverse an irreversible law, as laws were in the Persian Empire. This is the only Mission objective not yet accomplished. And it seems on the surface to be impossible. How is an irreversible law reversed? We will see how in Esther 8.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nEsther 8:1. On that day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her.<\/strong><\/p>\n
This is the same day that Esther revealed Haman’s plot, and on which Haman was hung on the gallows he had built for Mordecai. So Haman, the villain of the story, is dead. On that same day, the King gave Esther the estate of Haman.<\/p>\n
Remember, we saw earlier, that Haman’s plot against the Jews was a business venture for him. The Persians had a law that if you brought an accusation against someone, and it turned out to be true, and as a result that person was put to death for their crimes, you, as the one who revealed the crime, were rewarded by gaining the land and possessions of the criminal.<\/p>\n
Haman had tried to use this law to his own advantage by bringing accusations against the Jews. He would have become a very rich man if his plan had been carried out. But here in verse 1, we see this law turned against him. Esther brought accusations against Haman, which turned out to be true, and so the King gives to Esther all of Haman’s land and possessions. And at the end of verse 1, we see that the King finally learns that Esther and Mordecai are related.<\/p>\n
Esther 8:2. So the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Mordecai is honored even more here. He receives the position and title that previously belonged to his worst enemy. Quite ironically, Haman’s plot to destroy Mordecai leads to Mordecai [gaining] both Haman’s position and property. [1] The king gives his signet ring to Mordecai, and along with it the position of being second in command in the empire.<\/p>\n
Esther, being queen and having no use for Haman’s estate, gives it to Mordecai as well. The role reversal between Haman and Mordecai is now complete. What Haman had planned for Mordecai — death on a gallows — has become Haman’s fate. And all that belonged to Haman now is in the hands of Mordecai.<\/p>\n
You know, this is going to happen to us as Christians. Our archenemy the devil is currently the ruler of this world. He is evil like Haman, and is bent on our destruction. But we know from various places in Scripture that at the end of time, the one who is seeking our destruction will himself be destroyed, and all that belonged to him will become ours.<\/p>\n
First Corinthians 15:24-25 says Satan will be destroyed and Revelation 2:26 says we will rule: “And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations.”<\/p>\n
We, as faithful children of God may not be honored yet. Satan may still be ruling over this world, but do not despair, remain faithful, and time is coming when all will be set right, and our faithfulness to God and commitment to Christian living will be rewarded according to God’s infinite benevolence.<\/p>\n
It will happen to us, just as it has happened to Esther and Mordecai. But, even though Haman is now out of the way, and even though Mordecai has been honored and is now rich and is second in command in the empire, there is still the matter of that irreversible law to annihilate the Jews.<\/p>\n
Esther 8:3. Now Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet, and implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman the Agagite, and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews.<\/strong><\/p>\n
She is pleading with the king and weeping. She asks the king here to put an end to the plan of Haman.<\/p>\n
Esther 8:4. And the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king,<\/strong><\/p>\n
Ok, now what happened here? Why did the King extend his scepter to Esther? He only did this when someone went before him without being summoned, right? Right, and that is what Esther has done again here. This might be a bit confusing, but bear with me as I explain from the text apparently what has happened.<\/p>\n
Apparently, after the events of Esther 8:1-2, Mordecai and Esther waited for a period of about two months to see if the King would figure out some way to reverse an irreversible law. You say, “How do we know it was two months?” Well, we know from Esther 3:7, 13 that all the events of Esther 3-7 all took place in the time span of about one week in the first month, the month of Adar.<\/p>\n
Now, look down with me real quick to Esther 8:9.<\/p>\n
Esther 8:9. So the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day.<\/strong><\/p>\n
We are now in the third month, the month of Sivan. [2] So about two months (70 days actually) have passed in between Esther 8:2-3. Here is what must have happened. Haman is killed at the end of chapter 7. Mordecai is honored in 8:2, and everyone goes home happy thinking that the king has enough common sense to think up a way to save the Jews from annihilation.<\/p>\n
Two months pass, and nothing is heard by way of royal edict. Esther, Mordecai and the Jews begin to worry. So finally, Esther decides to go before the king again. She apparently goes before him un-summoned in verse 3, and verse 4 tells us that he again extends his scepter to her. He again spares her life, and in so doing, allows her to make her request.<\/p>\n
So back to what Esther says in Esther 8:5,<\/p>\n
Esther 8:5. “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces.<\/strong><\/p>\n
She knows that the law cannot be reversed, so what she proposes is another law that overrules the first law. Now this kind of seems like a silly way to run a country, making laws that counteract other laws, what a mess their legal system must be if this happened very often, but that was the way they did things. And look at her reason as to why the king should do this in Esther 8:6. It is very intriguing.<\/p>\n
Esther 8:6-8. For how can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen?”<\/strong><\/p>\n
Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “Indeed, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he tried to lay his hand on the Jews. You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, as you please, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring; for whatever is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring no one can revoke.”<\/strong><\/p>\n
The king basically says, “What did you come to me for? You’re asking me why I have done nothing for two months. I was wondering the same thing about you and Mordecai. Mordecai is second in command. He has my signet right. It’s a blank check. It’s my personal credit card. Write up a law — whatever you want — sign it with my signet ring, and proceed as you wish.”<\/p>\n
So this is what Esther and Mordecai do, and Esther 8:9-14 are an account of what they wrote.<\/p>\n
Esther 8:9. So the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day;<\/strong><\/p>\n
The month of Sivan, by the way, would correspond to our Mid-May to Mid-June. This is the same time that Holy Spirit came at Pentecost in Acts 2, [4] and as a result, many people believed in Christ for salvation. Remember this. Keep this in mind as we look at the rest of the chapter.<\/p>\n
…and it was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the princes of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all, to every province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Esther 8:10-14. And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed it with the king’s signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback, riding on royal horses bred from swift steeds.<\/strong><\/p>\n
By these letters the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to gather together and protect their lives — to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them, both little children and women, and to plunder their possessions, on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province and published for all people, so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. The couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in Shushan the citadel.<\/strong><\/p>\n
We can again tell from the excessive legal language that this might be a direct quote from the edict and the Persian history books. The legal terms and the methods by which the law goes out is very similar to the legal terms and methods that Haman used. The only difference in methods is that here there is an emphasis on the use of the royal horses. This shows the empire that the king is behind this law.<\/p>\n
But while the legal terms and the methods are similar, the law itself is not at all similar to what Haman had allowed. Haman had created what could be called a “Kill a Jew Holiday.” It gave the right for anyone who wanted to kill and plunder the Jews to join with the military in doing so. It was an evil plot.<\/p>\n
Now some look at that law Mordecai creates here and see the exact same law. They say that Haman wanted to eradicate the Jews, and now Mordecai wanted to eradicate the enemies of the Jews. [5] They say Mordecai was acting no better than Haman.<\/p>\n
But notice, this is NOT what the law states. The wording is very specific. Mordecai, as we see from verse 11, wrote a law that simply gave the Jews the right to defend themselves if they were attacked. They could not provoke, nor could they go on the offensive to kill their enemies. The Law created here by Mordecai is very different from the law Haman created. Mordecai is not behaving like Haman.<\/p>\n
The reason for the wording of this new law by Mordecai was so that it counteracted Haman’s horrible law at every point, [6] except for the whole thing about killing women and children.<\/p>\n
You say, “But wait. Doesn’t Mordecai’s law allow the Jewish people to kill women and children?” Well, the way it appears in our English Bibles, it does appear that way. But I am convinced that Mordecai’s law should be translated slightly different than what we have in our Bibles. The Hebrew language does not have quote marks, and so when a verse is quoting another text, it is sometimes difficult to catch.<\/p>\n
I believe that Mordecai’s law is quoting Haman’s law about killing women and children (3:13), not actually allowing Jewish people to kill women and children. It would read like this:<\/p>\n