Esther 8
8:1-3 Although Haman, the enemy of the Jews, had been dispatched, the threat was not over since none of the king's decrees could be revoked (v 8). After Haman's demise, Esther worked quickly to introduce her adoptive father, Mordecai, to the king. She finally revealed not only her race and ethnicity but that Mordecai was family. By giving Mordecai Haman's signet ring, king Ahasuerus bestowed Mordecai with Haman's former position of power. Like Joseph (Gen 41:41) and Daniel (Dan 2:48) before him, Mordecai was now second in command of a pagan empire (10:3). This is something God alone could orchestrate, even if it happened only once. This, however, had happened multiple times. Even though the book of Esther does not mention God's name, prayer, or other types of commitment to God, it is impossible to see Esther's and Mordecai's rise to power as anything but the provision and fulfillment of God's promise to protect and preserve his people.
8:3-6 Whereas verse three summarizes what was about to happen, verse four and beyond are the details of Esther’s plea. Esther wanted the king to revoke the letters devised by Haman. She begged him to undo the death decree he had signed into law which would make the Jews victims of empire-wide brutality and murder. Even though Haman was violently and finally removed from the land of the living, the destruction of Esther’s countrymen was still imminent.
8:7-8 The king is reluctant, not to say unable, to revoke (v 5) his own decree. He is unwilling to write the decree and reminds Mordecai and Esther that whatever is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring, no one can revoke. However, he does not leave them without an option, and thus he is not refusing to help despite his hands being politically tied.
He says, “You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews.” By this, he charged them with a seemingly impossible task. The previous decree had to stand (v 8), Yet Mordecai and Esther had to devise a creative solution whereby the Jews could be saved without outright revoking the king's previous law. Their solution was quite ingenious and is described in the next verses.
8:9-14 With the king’s full approval and signet, Mordecai pens a decree that allows a single day for the Jews to legally gather together and aggressively destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them. Since he can’t revoke the king's previous order (v 8), he comes up with a better plan. In more modern terminology, Mordecai organizes local Jewish militias across the entire empire and makes it legally permissible for these militias to take vengeance on their enemies. This greatly disincentivizes anyone from attacking or killing the Jews, knowing there would be fatal consequences.
8:15-17 Apparently, his creative solution to the Jewish Genocide (v 11) won him honor from the king and the people. That's because Mordecai went out in royal apparel with a crown on his head. Not long before, the inhabitants of the empire were preparing a day of death for the Jews—however, a full reversal by many results from Mordecai's and Esther's work. The royal city Shushan rejoiced and was glad to have Mordecai second in command rather than Haman. Where Haman was conniving, harsh, and brutal, Mordecai lived by the principle of patience and demonstrated an overflow of moral quality. The Jews had joy and gladness at the tremendous provision God had given through Mordecai's and Esther's hands. There was so much happiness abroad that it blossomed into a holiday feast.
The result was not confined to the Jews’ private contemplation because many people of the land became Jews. One purpose of God having a chosen people was for them to be a light to the nations (Is 49:6, 60:3). Although becoming the light to the nations will be completely fulfilled in a future prophetic era, even in the book of Esther, the effect is present. A type of Old Testament evangelism existed when pagans saw God work through his people. That many became Jewsreveals something of the plan God had all along.
