Esther 2 - - Esther, Mordecai, Haman

In today's post, we will look at some other key players in the Esther story.  Let's start with the heroine.

Esther
Her name is a derivative of a Babylonian word (Ishtahar) which means “beautiful as the moon”. Hebrew is “astir”, meaning “hidden or covering or concealed”.  She is also called Hadassah, which means “Myrtle tree”, a tree which features prominently in the Jewish Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles).  Myrtle was also used in Jewish marriage ceremonies, where the branches and leaves were worn as a garland crown.  Myrtle trees are plentiful around Jerusalem, and are often believed to represent Jerusalem, in the scriptures.  (See Zechariah 1:8-11.)
Esther comes on the scene in the seventh year of Ahasuerus' reign, about four years after Vashti has been deposed/divorced.  Esther is the ward of her first cousin, Mordecai, a high-ranking official in the Persian Empire.  Both are of the tribe of Benjamin, although both conceal their Jewish heritage through most of the story.
Esther represents the bride of Messiah, believers of all tribes and nations.  Not only that, she represents a surrendered and obedient Bride, one willing to risk her very life to accomplish the will of God.

Mordecai
Mordecai represents the True Messiah, the Second Adam, who has triumphed over His ancient enemy, Satan, and will rule and reign over Heaven and Earth forever and ever.  Mordecai's ancestors were among those who were taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar several decades earlier (Esther 2:6).  While many Jews returned in three waves to Jerusalem after King Cyrus the Great, through his appointed regent, Darius the Mede, gave them permission to go1 - - - the family of Mordecai did not return.  He became a high-ranking official in the Persian government of his day.  This is reflected by the note in Esther 2:19, that he sat at the king's gate.  This is where the high-ranking officials of the realm congregated. (See Nehemiah 11:1.)
Many Jews did not return to Jerusalem, in any of the commonly acknowledged 3 waves of return, over a 110-year period.  Even in Jesus' day, the region of Babylon remained heavily populated by Jews.  Babylon was referred to as "the East", even though the area is more to the northeast of Jerusalem.  Hence, the "wise men" or Magi, who came to bring the infant Jesus gifts, were likely Babylonian Jews, whose ancestors, like Mordecai, never left the region.  (I digress...)

It is important to look at Mordecai's family history.  We are told in Esther 2:5 that he descended from Kish, a Benjamite.
Mordecai was a humble, righteous man, who did his duty to Esther and to the king without seeking recognition or reward.  He was also discerning.  He recognized early on the danger all the Jews of the Persian empire faced if Haman were not stopped; he also recognized Esther's divinely-appointed, pivotal role in preventing their annihilation.

Haman
Although like Mordecai in that both were high-ranking governmental officials, the similarities between these two men ended there.  Introduced in Esther 3, Haman was a deceiver, a vain and arrogant man, always seeking his own promotion, regardless of the harm he caused others.  His desire for advancement was so extreme, it blinded him to the most basic truths and rules of conduct.  He is the villain of the Esther story, providing the conflict to the story's plot.  While he presents himself as a loyal servant to the King, he is merely using the king for his own evil purposes.  Haman represents in this story of God's redemption the False Messiah, the concealed False Messiah.  False Messiah is the Jewish term for the Antichrist.

Let's dig a little deeper into this business of Who's Yo Daddy?, and why it matters to this story.

Take a look with me back at 1 Samuel 9:1-2.  Who was Kish's son?  That's right, Saul, the first king of Israel.  By all appearances, Saul would have made a fine king.  Unfortunately, he turned to disobedience, and his disobedience to God figures into the Esther story.  Now, let's look at 1 Samuel 15:1-11.  Of particular interest is verse 9.

9Saul and his troops spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calvesb and lambs, and the best of everything else. They were unwilling to destroy them ...

Do you see it?  Saul is a picture of Adam, the first man and ruler of Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden).  Adam and Saul failed to uphold righteousness.  God had commanded Saul to destroy utterly all of the Amalekites, including Agag, their king.  When Haman is called an Agagite in Esther 3:1, it means he was a descendant of Agag, who is a picture of Satan.
Once again, history repeats.  In the Esther story, we have an Agagite trying to destroy the Jews.
HAD SAUL DONE AS GOD COMMANDED HIM, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO AGAGITES, meaning, no Haman, no crisis, no pending extermination of the Jewish people, hundreds of years after Saul, in the 5th century B.C.

When we consciously disobey God, thinking we know better than He (or for whatever god-forsaken justification) we rarely can foresee the long-range consequences of our disobedience.  Thankfully, He allowed descendants of Kish to redeem that family name through their submissive obedience, because both Mordecai and Esther surrendered to His leading at this critical point in Jewish history.

As Mordecai pointed out to Esther (Esther 4:13-14), if she had said, "No!", God would have raised up someone else to deliver His chosen people.  Both Mordecai and Esther were devout Jews, who were well aware of the covenants which God had made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. They knew He would keep His word, which declared He would not allow His chosen ones to be utterly destroyed.  The question was, "Would Esther and Mordecai fulfill the purpose to which God had called them, in this cosmic battle?"  Would they embrace the task, risking their very lives for Him? Or, would they decline, and miss the blessing God had for them, even if that blessing was in the form of death?

Here is something that Christian martyrs have understood for two milennia, whether you are talking about first century Christian martyrs or those ruthlessly killed by Muslims in Nigeria over the past two years. 2 Yes, this genocide is still going on.  If Christians are living in the center of God's will, fulfilling His purpose for them, then death is not a punishment.  They understand that following hard after Jesus Christ, their Savior, is better than physical life and that, in the end, physical death is ... irrelevant.

Esther knew this truth too.  Not only did she know it, she acted on it.  Ultimately, her acts of submission and obedience caused glad tidings of freedom and salvation to be broadcast far and wide across the Persian Empire (Esther 8:9-14).

Sources:

1  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_to_Zion

2  https://www.christianpost.com/news/fifty-christians-burned-alive-in-pastors-home-in-nigeria-78303/

Purim - - a Story of Surrender

Tonight at sundown, the Jewish feast of Purim begins world-wide.  Purim is always the 14th and 15th of the 12th Hebrew month, Nisan.  This year, curiously, it falls very "late", straddling the Spring equinox.

The biblical story on which the feast is based is the Old Testament book of Esther, most likely written by either Mordecai, one of its central characters, or by the prophet Nehemiah, who would have been a young man when these events transpired.  The date of the book is somewhere between 464-415 B.C.

If you are unfamiliar with the story of Esther, go read the short Old Testament book.  It is fascinating to read about how God physically delivered His people from extermination by an anti-Semitic prime minister of the Persian Empire.  My commentary today will make more sense of you are familiar with the story.

This feast of Purim (which means 'lots' as in "casting lots") is a time of physical celebration.  The day before Purim, itself a one-day feast, is spent fasting from before daylight until dusk.  This year, that fast day would have been today, March 20th.  Then, from sundown on March 20th to sundown on March 21st this year, Jews (including Messianic Jews) participate in a variety of celebratory activities:

• synagogue services in which the story of Esther is read
• special prayers (such as Exodus 17:8-16) to celebrate God's deliverance in Jewish history
• special feasts/recipes
• giving to the needy
• giving food gifts to friends (delivering it to their homes)
• much alcoholic beverage
• dancing
• masquerade (to symbolize Esther hiding her Jewish identity and Haman keeping his motives for the Jews hidden)

Ultimately, the Jews celebrate their rescue, how God used one, surrendered young woman, to deliver the nation from the brink of extinction (Haman's goal).

So, yes, one of the central themes of the book is "surrender".  Esther, like all women of her day, had no power that accrued to her, simply because of her personhood.  Theirs was an extremely patriarchal society.  The best that a woman could hope for was to marry a powerful man.  In God's sovereignty, He appointed Esther to the position of Artaxerxes' (Ahasuerus') queen.  This made her the most powerful woman in that empire.
Even so, her predecessor, Vashti, had been killed due to her disobedience to the king.  It was a sobering lesson, a "cautionary tale".  Esther had good reason to fear standing up for the lives of her people.  She had every expectation that she, too, would be killed for daring to petition the king.  In the passage above, while she is pondering the implications of her task, her uncle reminds her that nothing happens by accident with God - - - that she had been uniquely placed into her position of influence so that she could be used by God to accomplish His purposes.

We are faced with this same challenge.  Each Christian is uniquely created and gifted to serve the Savior.  Each of us must decide every day whether or not we will allow our will to be submitted to His, whether we will allow our bodies, minds, souls and spirits to be used by Him to advance His kingdom.  I thank God I've never had to lay my life on the line for His sake.  But, that day may come. In the interim, in the little surrenders to His will, am I proving myself faithful?  That is the question each of us must answer every, single day.

But, why did the story of Esther even occur?  Why is it even in the Bible?  Is it really that important?  I mean, it is the only book of the Bible in which God's name is not even mentioned.  (Isn't that something?!)

I wonder if God allowed Esther's story to be told in order to show the long-range consequences of disobedience?

Did you notice in Esther 2:5 that Mordecai was a Benjaminite, and that his ancestor was Kish (also a Benjaminite)? This means Mordecai was of the tribe of Benjamin, and that Esther was also, as she and Mordecai were first cousins.  Equally important, Haman was a Agagite (Esther 3:1).  I know you are thinking, "Big deal...yawn..."

Take a look with me back at 1 Samuel 9:1-2.  Who was Kish's son?  That's right, Saul, the first king of Israel.  By all appearances, Saul would have made a fine king.  Unfortunately, he turned to disobedience, and his disobedience to God figures into the Esther story.  Now, let's look at 1 Samuel 15:1-11.  Of particular interest is verse 9.

9Saul and his troops spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calvesb and lambs, and the best of everything else. They were unwilling to destroy them ...

Do you see it?  God had commanded Saul to destroy utterly all of the Amalekites, including Agag, their king.  When Haman is called an Agagite in Esther 3:1, it means he was a descendant of Agag.
Once again, history repeats.  In the Esther story, we have an Agagite trying to destroy the Jews.
HAD SAUL DONE AS GOD COMMANDED HIM, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO AGAGITES, meaning, no Haman, no crisis, no pending extermination of the Jewish people, hundreds of years after Saul, in the 5th century B.C.
Boom.

When we consciously disobey God, thinking we know better than He (or for whatever god-forsaken justification) we rarely can foresee the long-range consequences of our disobedience.  Thankfully, He allowed descendants of Kish to redeem that family name through their obedience, because both Mordecai and Esther surrendered to His leading at this critical point in Jewish history.

As Mordecai pointed out to Esther (Esther 4:13-14), if she had said, "No!", God would have raised up someone else to deliver His chosen people.  Both Mordecai and Esther were devout Jews, who were well aware of the covenants which God had made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. They knew He would keep His word, which declared He would not allow His chosen ones to be utterly destroyed.  The question was, "Would Esther and Mordecai fulfill the purpose to which God had called them, in this cosmic battle?"  Would they embrace the task, risking their very lives for Him? Or, would they decline, and miss the blessing God had for them, even if that blessing was in the form of death?

Here is something that Christian martyrs have understood for two milennia, whether you are talking about first century Christian martyrs or those ruthless killed by Muslims in Nigeria just a few short weeks ago.  ( https://www.christianpost.com/news/fifty-christians-burned-alive-in-pastors-home-in-nigeria-78303/ ). If they are living in the center of God's will, fulfilling His purpose for them, then death is not a punishment.  They understand that following hard after Jesus Christ, their Savior, is better than physical life and that, in the end, physical death is ... irrelevant.

At Purim, followers of Jesus can celebrate this:
that He has delivered His chosen people from extermination and that He has, through His earthly redemptive work, His perfect sacrifice for our sins, delivered us from the penalty of sin and eternal death.  Our Savior is our Deliverer.  Hallelujah!  Although orthodox Jews still look for a Messiah, we have this treasure, this gospel of Jesus Christ - - - that He, the Son of God, has come that we might have (eternal) life, and that we might have life here on earth more abundantly. (John 10:10)  Now, THAT is a great reason to celebrate!

Happy Purim!