It has been surprising, at least to me, to understand how muddy the waters are in the Book of Esther. The name of God is never mentioned. Although prayer is implied in Esther’s fast, it is never stated clearly that anyone prayed to the Lord. Yet, the Lord is unmistakably there, with his people. When Mordecai told Esther to keep her national identity secret, it seems the dye was cast, in the sense that the Lord would not be sought. Daniel’s enemies knew he prayed to the Lord (Daniel 6:4-5, 8-11), but the text in Esther never reveals even one of the Lord’s people lifting their hands to him! While we can be reasonably certain that fasting implies prayer, the text never states clearly that Mordecai or Esther prayed for guidance or help in serving their Lord.
What we find, instead of a clear request to the Lord for help, is political conspiracy. What we find is Mordecai working out his own way by choosing a certain dangerous path in hope that it will destroy his enemy. What Mordecai did, seemingly without the direction of God, put the whole nation of the Jews in jeopardy. Did he act righteously? I am not convinced he did, and excusing his disobedience by saying he was a Jew in a roundabout way blames God for his behavior, although the Law of God doesn’t support Mordecai’s disobedience. Why, then, would the Lord ultimately support Mordecai over Haman, when both were wrong to conspire to do the things, which, if successful, would shed much blood? One could weigh the facts for however long he desires, but in the end we would have to say that the Lord acted, not according to righteous behavior on the part of Mordecai, but according to his own goodness (1Thessalonians 5:15, 21).
The Jews have a national holiday in the twelfth month of Adar, and it is called the Feast of Purim. The suffix “im” in Hebrew is like the “s” in English; it denotes the plural. The word “Pur” (Esther 3:7) is the Persian word for lot, which is a pebble or small stone that is cast into one’s lap, and the casting of lots was supposed to decide a matter of importance. What we find in the text is that Haman cast a lot in the first month of the calendar, Nisan, in the twelfth year of the king’s reign. He did this in an effort to decide the most opportune time to destroy the Jewish nation. So, he cast the lot to first decide which month would suit his god, and then for the day of that month (Esther 3:7). Adar was the month determined by the lot, and the thirteenth day of the month was considered the best day for the matter of destroying the Jewish nation (Esther 3:13).
Once the time for the deed was reckoned, Haman went to the king to seek permission to put his conspiracy into effect. He used Mordecai’s civil disobedience to stereotype all Jews in the kingdom, saying the whole nation found reason to disregard the king’s laws. Therefore, it wasn’t for the king’s profit to permit them to exist, and, if the king permitted, let it be written that they might be destroyed (Esther 3:8). If he would do so, Haman would put 10,000 talents of silver into the king’s treasury (Esther 3:9).
Such an extraordinary amount of silver amounted to two-thirds of Persia’s annual income,[1] and one has to wonder, if Haman wasn’t using hyperbole to disclose how profitable it would be for the king to exterminate the Jews. Nevertheless, if the statement was serious, it is possible Haman was either that wealthy, or he assumed he could attain such a sum and more once the Jews were destroyed and their goods were spoiled.
Ahasuerus agreed to do as Haman requested, and he gave Haman, the Agagite (the Jews’ enemy) the king’s signet ring, telling him he may do as seemed good to him with the Jewish people, and the king would finance the undertaking (Esther 3:10-11). Therefore, on the thirteenth of the first month, Nisan, the king’s scribes were summoned to record the will of Ahasuerus, putting it in writing, so that it couldn’t be changed. Moreover, letters were sent to all the king’s servants and governors throughout his kingdom that on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month they should slay and destroy all the Jews (men, women and children) and confiscate their property for the king (Esther 3:12-13).
Copies of the decree were sent to every province and published in the language of all the people (Esther 3:14; cp. 1:22), so everyone could be ready to execute the king’s command on that day. What I find interesting about this undertaking is that the matter was recorded on the thirteenth day of the first month, and posted to Shushan and sent out to the other provinces on the 14th day of Nisan, the Passover! It was on this day, that Pharoah’s fate in ancient Egypt was sealed. It is as though the Lord was telling his faithful servants, that the matter was under his control and he would deliver them. So, while the king and Haman sat down to drink and celebrate the fate of the Jews, in reality, Shushan, vis-à-vis the palace was in the state of confusion but didn’t realize it (Esther 3:15; cp. Exodus 14:3-4).
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[1] See Herodotus, Histories 3.95; quoted from Dr. Bob Utley’s You Can Understand the Bible Commentary at Esther 3:9.
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