Esther 8
"A GOOD DAY" Jews all over the world have a special day to celebrate a "good day" that happened in the time of Esther. They call it "The Feast of Lights." Hanukah is a feast day on the thirteenth of December which is to remember the second decree that was made under the reign of Xerxes in which they were able to defend themselves against their enemies who had received a earlier edict instructing the Persians to exterminate all the Jews - men, women and children in all the provinces of Persia from India to Ethiopia. By the intervention of our sovereign God, what would have been a tragic disaster became a time of celebration.
To be an enemy of the Jews is to be an enemy of God. Haman was named as "the Jews enemy" and he lost everything including his own soul. History shows that even though the Jews are as sinful in doctrine and practice as other nationalities, the nations that oppose them are destined to fail. When God chose them out of all the nations to be His earthly people, He committed Himself to preserve their identity in spite of all attempts to annihilate them. Through that nation Christ would come, and under His reign peace will finally come to the world. Nations who favor them will be favored and those who oppose them will be opposed by God and will fail.
Esther was given "the house of Haman" by king Ahasuerus as her own to use as she would. Likely it was more than just a dwelling place for her but would be more like property holdings, and so she put Mordecai in charge over it all - property, household, estate and all that was Haman's. The king must have believed she was due this consideration because of all she had done to expose Haman's duplicity. Not likely many women would have had such a place of their own in that day and age. Her association with Ahasuerus was more of a ruler and his queen rather than husband and wife. Respect and honor between them and the previous acceptance of Esther made her accepted when she came "again before the king" to plead for the Jews.
Ahasuerus now knew the relationship of the man who had been instrumental in saving his life and Esther the queen. The "man whom the king delighteth to honor" was a brave and trusted man, and his queen was a wise and honorable woman to whom he gave places of responsibility and authority. When people are faithful to God and are willing to risk their own lives for the welfare and safety of others, they can be trusted in other things as well. One's reputation and trustworthiness are more often proved in times of difficulty and stress, than when life is moving along normally and pleasantly.
When Mordecai "came before the king," he was given a place of special privilege. It was even a greater privilege and responsibility when the king gave him "his ring." That identified the position he now held which Haman had before him, as a counselor and adviser. He was also the administrator of the property given to Esther. In a very short time the political climate changed, personal life was changed and responsibility was changed. Time is no obstacle when the sovereign God works His will in a nation, an assembly, a family or an individual's life.
Faithfulness and loyalty are never out of vogue with people and are never ignored by God when His people stand firm in spite of all that goes on around them. When we are faithful to the Lord's people and God's assembly, we are faithful to God. Any service or labor done for those who belong to Christ and for the furtherance of the Gospel is acknowledged as done for our Lord. That should motivate us to be alert and ready for any way we can promote the interests of the kingdom of God.
The next time Esther approached the king in her concern for the preservation of the Jews, it seemed even more important than the first time. There was a greater urgency on her part that caused her to fall before the king and shed tears of concern. Her humble position and tears were not merely affected, but demonstrated the reality and urgency of her request. Now that Haman was gone, the undercurrent of animosity and bitterness was also gone. But the problem coming nine months later was still there and was utmost in the mind and heart of Esther. What needed to be done was plain. In some way the consequences of the edict had to be lifted. How it could be done was not known to her but she was sure that there had to be a way.
When the scepter was held out to her as an assurance of her acceptance, the king had nothing to say. When Esther stood before the king with dignity and respect to plead the cause of her people, he permitted her to make her request again without interruption. She seemed to know what to say, how to say it with tact and be effective with wise and plain words. Everyone involved: Ahasuerus, Mordecai and Esther knew the first edict was irreversible. Even so; the king seemed to have taken a position favorable to the Jews by this time. In His sovereign authority, God is able to change a king. "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever He will."
The king must have thought Esther's request through, and gave Mordecai permission to make a plan to deal with the problem. So, in the name of Ahasuerus the king, Mordecai wrote a new decree which was worded in such a way as to not condemn the first one, and yet made it possible to deal with the challenge that was before the Jews. They were now able to legally defend themselves against those who wanted to kill them. They were now able to prepare nine months in advance for the coming attack and band together to defend themselves with the king's authority behind their actions. The second decree did not annul the first one, but gave the right to do whatever was needed in defense against those who would assault them.
A person once wrote, "Man's extremity is God's opportunity." The book of Esther abounds with illustrations of how our sovereign God is able to control situations in our lives both small and great. We become conscious of the fact that He is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent when we open our eyes of faith. We often learn God in ways that are so far out of the ordinary that there is no way we can doubt Him.
The news of the new decree reached the far reaches of the Persian empire in plenty of time for the Jews to prepare themselves, and so the enemies of the Jews could change their minds about what action they would take against them. Some of the words of the second decree were the same as the first one as to what they could do to those who came against them, except this time they were against the persecutors instead of the defenders. When the news was first heard in the city of Sushan, instead of weeping and wailing as happened when the first edict was known, now the city "rejoiced and was glad." What a difference there is when God is behind a matter compared to when Satan is behind it seeking to get his way.
At the close of the chapter we see Mordecai going "out from the presence of the king" with honor, dressed in the garments of those associated with royalty and with the symbol of authority on his head. No longer was he despised and oppressed, but was recognized as a man to be trusted and obeyed. He had been faithful when he was in obscurity and was now given the role of trusted leadership because he was willing to risk his life for his king, his relatives and all his people.
The relief of the Jews was called light, gladness, joy and honor. The darkness of despair gave way to the light of life being restored to them. Gladness took the place of sadness. Joy took the place of fear and honor instead of hopelessness. The whole nation who had thought of them as enemies, now knew God's people were a force to be reckoned with to the extent that many became Jews. They realized that only the sovereign God of the Jews could have brought about these events in such a remarkable way.