One of the things we learn from the Persian Empire is how to clog up the government with worthless laws. The kings of Persia did not seem to be very smart. They would give their ring to certain people to write laws. The kings never read the laws. They seemed too busy drinking to bother with responsible government. Then when a law might show up that caused problems, they seemed shocked and gave their ring to some other person to write a law to counter the one that caused that problem. The kings never seemed to take responsibility for what was going on. Seems that our godless governments must have studied this philosophy because they are very good at claiming ignorance of the corruption that dominates our government.
In verse 1 of our text the king chose to give the house of Haman to Esther the queen. Mordecai was elevated in rank because Esther told the king what he was to her. People were not chosen for their abilities, but rather by who they knew.
In verse 2 the king took off his ring, which he had give to Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. He did not know Mordecai very well. He just took Esther’s word for it and off came the ring. Esther now took the initiative to put Mordecai over Haman’s house.
There was a need for further housecleaning here. Haman had enlisted the help of scribes, to write letters designed to destroy all the Jews in the Persian empire. Those letters still stood. Haman’s death did not change any of that. Now Esther asked the king to put away the mischief that Haman had initiated.
Esther was much more bold toward the king now. She dared to come before him and plead with him. The king held out his golden sceptre again and accepted her in his presence. She rose up and asked that letters be written to reverse the letters sent out by Haman. She based her request on the possibility that she was seen as acceptable in the eyes of the king. It was not an automatic thing that she would be accepted by the king. She was his “wife”, but he had already kicked out another wife because she did not please him.
In spite of Esther’s secular nature, God granted her favour in the sight of the king. Esther made her case very clear. These letters had impacted her as well as her people. She could not sit by and allow her people to be destroyed.
The king reminded both Esther and Mordecai that he had given her the house of Haman. As we see, he assumed that with that came the authority to undo the things that Haman had done. In verse 8 we see that the king gave permission to Esther and Mordecai to write letters that would carry his seal. These letters were irreversible. Now Mordecai would enlist the help of the scribes to write letters that would contradict the letters they had recently received.
The Empire would certainly be in a state of turmoil. We will see the anxiety these conflicting letters would bring upon the empire. Rather than know God and be governed by Him, the Persian empire was in a chaotic state. Esther and Mordecai did nothing to encourage the people to choose the true God as their God. They could not help with this because they did not know the true God. They trusted in “providence”, but they were not going to identify with the true God. We know that Daniel and his three friends had no problem identifying with the true God when they were challenged. They did not try to hide who they were. In fact, the king’s governors all knew they could count on Daniel to go to his room and pray toward Jerusalem, three times a day. Daniel knew that his only hope was in knowing and trusting the true God. He wanted the Babylonians and the Medo/Persians to know this same true God.
We have been reminded of this often, but it is worthy repeating, that God’s people need to be God’s people. The fear of man should not silence us. The fear of God should dominate in our lives, if we are saved. We have the great privilege of reminding those we meet, of the importance of knowing the true God. Every week, I remind the readers of our local newspaper, that our services are essential. I do not just say that. We practiced that even when the government tried to shut us down.
We know that our small hospital faced severe pressures during the Wuhan virus debacle. They could not keep the emergency department running properly for a long time, due to foolish government protocol. Hospitals are important. Sick people need medical assistance now, not when governments decide.
Of greater importance is the true local church. People do not realize it, but they need the truth now. Life is so short. People are dying every day without knowing the true God. That is a great tragedy. Those who are saved have the privilege of helping them to know the truth. We dare not hide behind some foolish reasoning and withhold the truth from those who so desperately need it.
Those that truly know the Lord have the privilege of helping others to know Him as well. Those who are truly saved have received a gift they did not deserve and could never pay for, yet desperately needed. Those who are saved know that the lost need the truth more than anything else. We know they may not like the truth, but we also know the truth shall make them free.
Pastor Bartel