Esther 9 LEGAL SELF DEFENSE Deep seated animosity against God's people on the part of people who love the pleasures of sin and want to live as if there is no God, is to be expected. That animosity was there in the days of Esther and Mordecai and it is here in our day. The truth that there is a God everyone will meet is so unacceptable to guilty people, that they deny the existence of God as a way to avoid their accountability to Him for their sin, unbelief and conduct. But the fact remains, "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do."
Enemies of the Jews hoped to eliminate them all: men, women and children on the thirteenth day of Adar (the last month of the year). So they prepared to attack the Jews without mercy. On the other hand, the Jews who had been given the right to defend themselves and time to prepare their defenses gathered in bands to present a unified force against their enemies. The sovereign God had taken control of the whole event so that the Jews had the upper hand against all the opposition throughout the whole Persian empire. Those who had hoped to destroy all the Jews did not have a chance. "If God be for us, who can be against us?"
All the people feared the Jews because of the position held by "Mordecai the Jew." Their own defensive action and the power of God's intervention for them, preserved the Jews then, and it still does today in spite of all who have tried to destroy them down through the centuries. In ways that can only be defined as "divine intervention" the relatively small number of Jews in the world have survived until this day. Not only have they survived, but they are a force to be reckoned with among all the nations. The significance of their impact on the world in science, education, invention and military areas is far greater in proportion than their size compared to all other people.
The important position held by Mordecai, and the exalted position of Esther as the queen of the Persians, and the fact of them being relatives, was an intimidating power that had been totally unexpected when the first edict was given. Government officials helped the Jews because of their fear of Mordecai as the second in place of authority. Still there were those who thought they could prevail against the Jews and seventy-five thousand died in a vain attempt to carry out Haman's first edict. Even though the Jews had been given permission to take the possessions of those who opposed them, they took nothing because their purpose was survival, not conquest. One is struck in reading this account of such a marvelous victory of survival, that there is not a hymn of praise to God from the Jews nor a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord. If this omission was due to the written record or to a lack of understanding on the part of the Jews is not stated. One thing we do know - God was at work of behalf of His people in spite of what they might have overlooked. God is faithful to us even when we are unfaithful to Him.
Sushan must have been a hotbed of anti-Semitism because right in the palace, or at least in the city, five hundred were slain including Haman's ten sons. These ten men may have been the reason for such a large number of the opposition being in one place even after nine months from the time of the death of their father. Another three hundred had escaped either to blend in with the population or to go to some secure place. Esther was obviously informed of all that was happening around her. She was aware of the fact that the only way to deal with the undercurrent of opposition that remained was to make public what happens to those who "toucheth the apple of His (God's) eye." So, the bodies of the sons of Haman were impaled so all could see them.
The other part of Esther's request was for another day to be added to the decree in Sushan. The large Jewish population in that city would have known who were opposed to them and who of their enemies had not yet been dealt with. So only in the city was the decree continued for another day until the three hundred were found and put to death. The point is made several times in the narrative that the reason for the slaying of the Jews enemies was for defense, not for gain by taking their spoils for themselves.
Often, we are saddened when we hear of the passing of those who have openly opposed the Gospel and publicly demeaned the children of God. We know they suffer the consequences of their own choices, but we also know the value of a human soul to God who gave them life. For a person to live and die without Christ is an unspeakable loss of one who could have been saved but rejected the light they had been given. "If that light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness."
The was a "good day" nine months earlier when the second decree was sent out to the provinces, and the fourteenth day of the last month was another "good day." The evil intention against the Jews in Persia had finally come to an end - at least for that time. Their joy moved them on this good day to send gifts of appreciation to others, and give money to the poor and a memorial of this great event in Jewish history. It is still a special two days in Jewish families today as they keep the feast of Purim. They exchange gifts and give money as they celebrate this great event of deliverance. Mordecai wrote the account of the events of this time, and people still read them during these two days.
When God's people stop to remember His faithfulness and goodness to us, it is cause for rejoicing. The Jewish Feast of Lights has become part of their tradition when they celebrate on the fourteenth and fifteenth of December. Believers in Christ have some days we set aside a part of our tradition. Christmas and Easter are not called to be times of celebration by God, but by our own choice we remember the birth, death and resurrection of Christ. These are merely cultural events. Of far more importance to us as children of God is the feast of remembrance in which we take the bread and cup in remembrance of Christ and to "show His death until He come." This is a command of our Savior and is of far greater importance than any mere cultural practice.
To reaffirm the fact that the Jews would not forget this great deliverance by the power of the sovereign God through the human instruments of His choosing, Mordecai and Esther, they wrote a second letter. This was to make sure the Jews understood this observance was to continue annually as a remembrance for this event. Lessons from the past are important for us to learn so we don't think of past events as unrelated to our lives today. The same God who was unseen then but in control of all that happened in Persia, works in our nation and the nations of the world today. He controls the leadership of nations as well as those of us who live in obscurity. The wickedness and actions of some leaders are astounding in the extreme to which they choose to go. Sometimes God allows what they want to happen. People seldom pay much attention to what they are taught nor do they learn unless there are severe consequences for their sinful actions. God in His sovereignty allows people to go far enough to make their own decisions and thus seal their own fate.