Do All For The Glory Of God

Do all for the glory of God | Esther 9&10
Last time, we saw that king Ahasuerus gave Esther and Mordecai the permission to draft an edict that would effectively cancel the effects of the previous edict. Mordecai’s new edict was sealed and sent out to the 127 provinces of the empire. The new edict prescribed a measure-for-measure retaliation. It was not merely self-defence, but neither was it a license for indiscriminate slaughter.
Today, we will look at Chapters 9 and 10 under three headings.
1. Engaging in Holy war with the enemy (Esther 9:1-19)
The war—of the Jews with the enemies of the Jews—on the 13th day of Adar was a strange war because neither side was illegal. Both sides had the law of Persia on their side and had the authority to kill the other group. The Jews were not the aggressors. They had not initiated the war. They were threatened with annihilation, and they were acting in self-defence.
Haman may have been the supreme enemy, but he wasn’t the only one. For evil to flourish there must also be people who are open to its destructive charms. The task is to challenge those seduced by it and break its charms through the gospel.
On that day, the Jews gained mastery over their enemies. Instead of joyful celebration of the deliverance, we encounter the bitterness of judgment. Have Esther and Mordecai become tyrants in their own right? Has absolute power corrupted absolutely?
When Ahaseurus hears about the death toll, he invites Esther to make one more request. She asks the king for one more day for the Jews to carry out the edict. She wants more bloodshed. She wants to hang the bodies of the sons of Haman. We may find Esther’s request morally troubling and unbecoming of a woman. Many bible scholars conclude that Esther is carrying on holy war.
The author says three times that the Jews “did not lay their hands on the plunder (Vs.10,15,16) even though Mordecai’s edict permitted it. The spectacular victory at Jericho was followed by the humiliating defeat at Ai because of Achan’s sin. Similarly, Saul was disqualified as Israel’s king because he spared King Agag and plundered the best of the enemy’s possessions.
Haman the Agagite was in fact a descendant of Agag, and Esther and Mordecai have unfinished business against him. So, when Esther asks for a second day to chase down those who sided with Haman the Agagite in the lower city of Susa, she is not asking out of blood lust or venom; she is asking for permission to do what Saul failed to see through to the end. Moreover the 300 remaining aggressors in Susa would have remained a threat. Even the gruesome act of publicly displaying the bodies of Haman’s sons was part of ancient warfare. (Josh 8:29; 10:26; 1 Sam 31:1-13).
For us living under the new covenant, the coming of Jesus has changed everything. We may not fight physical battles with our enemies; but our spiritual battles are just as real; our struggle is not against flesh and blood . . . (Eph 6:12) . . . The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds . . . (2 Cor 10:3-5). As with holy war, in this spiritual battle, there is to be no mercy. No truce can be made in our battle against sin.
Esther waged the holy war against the backdrop of King Saul’s failure, but our war against sin is waged in the light of the victory of King Jesus on the cross (Col 2:15). We struggle constantly with the flesh, with our own remaining corruption, but we do not doubt the final outcome. We know that the victory has already been won on the cross. So do not give up. Fight on.
2. Remembering God’s mercies regularly (Esther 9:20-31)
Purim is a two-day celebration on 14th and 15th of the month of Adar. The word ‘Purim’ comes from the word ‘Pur” which means ‘lot’. It was God who determined the lot of His people in Persia back then, and it is God determines the lot of His people today. At Purim, the Jews remembered their relief from their enemies. Every week, we remember Jesus and the saving rest we have because of His death and resurrection. Brothers and Sisters please do not take the gathering on the Lord’s day lightly.
3. Living for God’s glory (Esther 9:32 – 10:3)
The book of Esther ends by turning our attention to Esther and Mordecai, through whom redemption was brought to those who were living under the shadow of death. Esther confirms Mordecai’s decree. She is now acting like the queen she has grown to become. And then in 10:1 to 3 we focus on Mordecai, his high honour and privilege, his great popularity among the Jews for, he “sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people.”
As we come to the end of this book, we notice how Esther and Mordecai have changed. It matters little how you begin. It is how you end that matters most. Here Mordecai and Esther stand strong and tall in the end. It is amazing that God uses people who seem weak and even useless and transforms them.
In closing, though the book of Esther ends on a positive note, it does not offer any suggestion of a spiritual transformation in the hearts and lives of the Jews in Persia, nor even, for that matter, in Esther and Mordecai. The book portrays God’s providential care over His people despite their spiritual condition. He cares far more for His people than His people will ever know. He cares about them even when they have little or no interest in Him.