Esther 8:12

 Esther 8:12 says, Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.  Verse thirteen adds, The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.  We are given the day that the decree went out that the Jews were to be ready to defend themselves if they were attacked.  We as Christians should be prepared to be attacked by those who don’t believe in God and ready to defend ourselves under the power and leadership of the Holy Spirit.  We may not always be successful in this lifetime, but the success is already ours if we have put our faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord. 

Verse fourteen continues, So the posts that rode upon mules and camels went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the palace.  Those carrying the message hurried to carry it to all the people, and we as Christians have the good news that people who are under a spiritual death sentence can have it lifted by putting their faith in Jesus Christ, and we should hurry to share this news, by whatever method is available to us. 

Verse fifteen states, And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.  Mordecai, instead of being hanged, went out of the king’s presence dressed in royal apparel.  We will one day be dressed in the righteousness of Christ.  Until then, we need to go out into the world showing them that we are a child of the King.  Our death sentence has been lifted.  The people around him rejoiced, and our fellow believers should rejoice if we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord today. 

Verse sixteen adds, The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour.  Instead of being killed, the Jews rejoiced.  The king couldn't lift his death decree, but he did make a away for the people of Israel to survive it.  God did not lift the death decree for sin, but when He sent His only begotten Son to die in our place, He made a way for us to survive it if we only accept it.  When we do, we should rejoice in the Lord. 

Verse seventeen continues, And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.  Not only did the Jews rejoice at the decree, but many people became Jews because they feared them.  We want people to become Christians today, but not because they fear us.  We want them to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior because they love God.  

Esther 8:7

Esther 8:7 says, Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews.  Ahasuerus told Mordecai that he had given Esther Haman’s house after having him hanged because of how he had mistreated the Jews.  Of course, Haman could do nothing really bad to the Jews without Ahasuerus's permission.  He should have been more attentive to what Haman was doing before this time.  People tend to try to pass the responsibility for things that are wrong off to someone else instead of accepting their own responsibility when things go wrong, but we need to acknowledge that God holds each individual responsible for their own sins.  We will not be able to pass the responsibility to anyone else. 

Verse eight adds, Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring: for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse.  Ahasuerus then told Mordecai to write to the Jews whatever he chose to write in the king’s name and to seal it with the king’s ring, after which it could not be changed.  This also meant that the decree that he had made for all the Jews to be killed could not be changed.  God’s law cannot be changed either, which means that sin always brings a spiritual death sentence, but He provided a way for us to have that death sentence lifted when He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins.  

Verse nine continues, Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.  Mordecai wrote a letter to all the Jews and the rulers in all the provinces.  The letter was penned by the scribes since there were no copying machines in that day, so several copies had to be written.  The Bible, God’s word to us today, was penned by many different authors, but it is still God’s word to us. 

Verse ten states, And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed it with the king's ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, and riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries:  After the copies of the letter were written and sealed with the king’s seal, Mordecai had them delivered to all the Jews and rulers in all the provinces as quickly as possible.  They needed to know that there was hope in spite of earlier death sentence and they needed to know as quickly as possible.  I believe that we should spread the gospel as quickly as possible by any means available today because until people accept the truth of the gospel, they are under a spiritual death sentence.  Of course, I also believe that if someone dies without having ever heard of Jesus Christ that if they have put their faith in God they will not be condemned since they didn’t accept someone they had never heard of.  This would be unjust.  I don’t believe that everyone who hasn’t heard will be saved, but that according to the Bible they will be given enough knowledge to put their faith in God, otherwise God would be unjust. 

Verse eleven adds, Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey,  Mordecai wrote that the king had authorized the Jews to assemble together and arm and defend themselves.  We as followers of Christ are also authorized to defend ourselves if attacked, I believe, but we are not authorized to attack others even in God’s name.  We are to reach out to them, even if they are trying to destroy us, with the truth of the gospel instead.   

 

Esther 8:1

Esther 8:1 says, On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews' enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her.  After Ahasuerus had Haman hanged on his own gallows, he gave Haman’s possessions to Esther the queen.  What was to be Haman's greatest achievement led to his complete loss of everything, including his life.  If people today think that they are going to be glorified for standing against God and His people, one day they will find out that it had led to their loss of everything, even their everlasting life with God.  Esther, who was called queen, then brought Mordecai before the king and told him who Mordecai was to her.  We should never be ashamed to stand with our fellow Christians, even if there are threats made against them. 

Verse two adds, And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.  The king, having already honored Mordecai for his revealing the plot to kill him, then took the ring that he had given to Haman and put it on Mordecai’s finger, signifying his acceptance of and honor to Mordecai.  We don’t serve God for personal honor, but one day those who have stood against God will see everything that they ever had, even honor in the world, taken away, while honor will be given to those who have faithfully served God. 

Verse three continues, And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.  Esther then once more spoke to Ahasuerus, fallen down with tears at his feet, and asked him to put away the decree that Haman had him make to destroy the Jews.  She did not make demands, but humbled herself before the king, even if she was the queen.  No matter our status in life, we cannot come to God making demands but must simply humble ourselves before God in repentance for our sins, and then once we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, He will lift the death sentence that we are under until we do. 

Verse four states, Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king,  Esther had spoken to the king a second time without being called, but he now let her know that it was okay by holding out the golden scepter, which granted her permission to continue.  God doesn’t hold out a golden scepter to us to grant us permission to speak to Him but holds out the cross and the empty tomb for us to accept granting us permission to talk to Him.  I believe that until we accept the gift of salvation that God is not going to answer our prayers.  Just as Esther was speaking to Ahasuerus because of her personal relationship with him, we can only expect God to hear and respond to us if we have a personal relationship with Him through our faith in His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. 

Verse five adds. And said, If it please the king, and if I have favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king's provinces:  Once again, Eshter did not make a demand to the king, but only made a humble request.  She wasn’t looking for her own rewards but for the good of all the Jews, her people.  They were all under a death threat because of the wickedness of Haman.  We as sinners are also under a spiritual death threat because of our sins, and God has declared that the wages of sin is death, and His word is always true.  We either bear that penalty ourselves or accept the penalty that Jesus Christ paid for us.  We can never go before God demanding anything but must come to Him humbly asking for His favor.  It is always better if we are looking for the good of others instead of just for ourselves after we are a follower of Christ, I believe. 

Verse six continues, For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?  Esther asked how could she endure the evil that was to be done to her people because of this decree.  We as Christians should likewise be troubled in our spirit when we hear of the destruction of other Christians anywhere, since we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.  

 

 

Esther 7:7

Esther 7:7 says, And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.  The king arose to go to look and went to the garden to think about what Haman had gotten him to do, which was to doom an innocent people to death and Matthew Henry says to reflect on his trusting someone who had appeared to have only the king’s best interests at heart.  Haman saw that he was in trouble, so he went to Esther to ask her to appeal to King Ahasuerus for to spare his life.  He had wanted to kill all Jews because of his hatred of Mordecai, but now he was appealing to a Jew to help spare his life.  Those who reject Jesus Christ and kill Christians will one day see God calling them to Him for judgment, and appealing to anyone at that time will do them no good. 

Verse eight adds, Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.   Haman went to Esther and fell at her feet.  He had been so high and mighty that morning, having everything ready to hang Mordecai, and now he was falling at Esther’s feet looking for mercy.  The high and mighty who have plotted the death of Christians will one day find themselves prostrate before God when judgment comes, but it will be too late for anyone, even Jesus Himself, to save them.  There will be no final appeal for forgiveness at that time.  Ahasuerus asked if Haman was now going to force himself on the queen before his eyes.  He was now looking for the worst in Haman, which he had failed to see before, thinking that Haman had just been doing what was best for Ahasuerus instead of himself.  Those in power today may have people around them who claim to be doing what is best for the one in power, but they may really be looking for what is best for themselves instead. 

Verse nine continues, And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.  Harbonah, one of the king’s chamberlains, pointed out that there was a big gallows prepared for Mordecai by Haman in front of Haman’s house.   Haman may have been lording it over the chamberlain as well, but for whatever reason, he was quick to point out the gallows was there.  I don’t really think that we as Christians should ever want the destruction of those who may oppose us, since Jesus died for them as well, but we should reach out to them with the gospel.  Still, we may see them destroyed in the very way that they were planning to destroy us as followers of Christ.  Ahasuerus said take Haman and hang him on his own gallows.  In effect, anyone who plans the destruction of God’s people for their own glory will one day be hung on the gallows of their own disbelief. 

Verse ten concludes, So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.  Haman was hanged on his own gallows and the king’s anger was pacified.  I don’t believe that God will send people away to everlasting punishment out of anger but will do so because of their own actions in failing to believe in Jesus Christ and accept the redemption He made available.