Esther 9 vs 11-16

Esther Chapter 9 Verses 11 – 16

·    Please don’t think this is savage of Esther. Recall, the decree that went out to the Jews from the King was that on this day they were permitted to protect themselves against those that would seek to carry out the first decree, to kill them. And the fact that we have 300 more men killed in the capital is significant.

·    The Persians knew the decree was for the 13th day of the month of Adar but on the 14th day, the Jews couldn’t protect themselves… They also weren’t permitted to attack the Jews again but apparently, they didn’t care. So, this request of Esther yet saves the lives of her people and by putting on display the ten sons of Haman, that puts a stop to the aggression against the Jews.

·    It’s interesting to read some commentators write that perhaps Esther should have just loved her enemies. Those that could care less about the law. Those that were murderous at heart. By loving them she would have been hating her own people. This is most certainly not a time to love her enemies. She has done the right thing. I think those commentators are more like common taters! HA! (A little southern humor for you!)

·    Folks also link this to the completion of God’s commandment of Saul to wipe out the Amalekites as Haman and his sons were descendants of Agag, the king of the Amalekites. But nowhere do we read that they were the last… So, I can’t make that connection.

Esther Chapter 9 Verses 17 – 19

·    Here we have the Biblical introduction of a celebration still observed today by the Jews called Purim. Purim means in the Hebrew “lots” and refers to the lottery that Haman used to choose the date for the massacre of the Jews.

·    Purim today is one of the most joyous holidays on the Jewish calendar. It’s celebrated on the 14th day of Adar, which is usually in March because it was on the 14th that the Jews in the time of Esther celebrated their survival.

·    Interesting though, the deliverance from their enemies wasn’t fully complete until the 15th of the month, so in the cities that were walled in the time of Joshua (such as Jerusalem), Purim is observed for two days, the 14th and the 15th. For this reason, the 15th is referred to as the Shushan Purim.

·    When the 15th falls on Shabbat (the sabbath day), as it did in 2021 and will again in 2025, Shushan Purim is only partially observed on the 15th (because some of Purim’s observances would violate sabbath restrictions), and then the party is actually extended to the 16th!

·    In leap years, when there are two months of Adar, Purim is celebrated in the second month of Adar, so it is always one month before Passover. The 14th day of the first Adar in a leap year is celebrated as a minor holiday called Purim Katan, which means "little Purim."

·    There are no specific observances for Purim Katan; however, a person should celebrate the holiday and should not mourn or fast. Some communities also observe a "Purim Katan" on the anniversary of any day when their community was saved from a catastrophe, destruction, evil or oppression.  

·    The Purim holiday is preceded by a minor fast, the Fast of Esther, which commemorates Esther's three days of fasting in preparation for her meeting with the king. The primary commandment related to Purim is to hear the reading of the book of Esther. It is customary to boo, hiss, stamp feet and rattle gragers (noisemakers) whenever the name of Haman is mentioned in the Purim service. The purpose of this custom is to "blot out the name of Haman."

·    The traditions of the celebration obligate the Jews to eat, drink and be merry. According to the Talmud, a person is required to drink until he cannot tell the difference between "cursed be Haman" and "blessed be Mordecai," though opinions differ as to exactly how drunk that is. (The Talmud makes concessions here such as a person certainly should not become so drunk that he might violate other commandments or get seriously ill. In addition, recovering alcoholics or others who might suffer serious harm from alcohol are exempt from this obligation.)

·    Also, during Purim, the Jews are commanded to send out gifts of food or drink, and to make gifts to charity. It is customary to hold carnival-like celebrations on Purim, to perform plays and parodies (called in Yiddish a Purim Shpil, (rhymes with peel)), and to hold beauty contests.

·    Now, super interesting and just for you history buffs, Many have noted the echoes of Purim in the Nuremberg war crime trials. In the Book of Esther, Haman's ten sons were hanged; in 1946, ten of Hitler's top associates were put to death by hanging for their war crimes (including the crime of murdering 6 million Jews). An 11th associate of Hitler, Hermann Göring, committed suicide the night before the execution, a parallel to the suicide of Haman's daughter recorded in the Talmud. There are rumors that Göring was a cross-dresser, making that an even more accurate parallel.

·    Interestingly, on the way to the gallows, one of Hitler’s top associates that was hanged named Julius Streicher shouted "Purim Fest 1946!" (Purim Fest 1946: The tale of Julius Streicher). It is also interesting that, in the ancient Hebrew Megillah (scroll) of the Book of Esther, in the list of the names of Haman's sons, the letters Tav (ת) in the first name, Shin (ש) in the seventh name and Zayin (ז) in the tenth name are written in smaller letters than the rest. The Nuremberg hangings occurred in the Jewish year 5707, which would be written on a Jewish tombstone as Tav-Shin-Zayin תשז (707; the thousands digit is routinely skipped on tombstones because there are no numerals for thousands in Hebrew numbering).

·    Another echo of Purim is found in the Soviet Union a few years later. In early 1953, Joseph Stalin was planning to deport most of the Jews to Siberia, but just before his plans came to fruition, he suffered a stroke and died a few days later. He suffered that stroke on the night of March 1, 1953: the night after Purim (note: Jewish days end at sunset; you will see March 1 on the calendar as Purim). The plan to deport Jews was not carried out.

·    In fact, The London Chronicle reported from someone very close to Stalin, who immediately defected to England upon Stalin’s death, that the leader had called Varushilev, the “Premier of the Soviet Union,” that night to give him a note upon which was written the decree that every Jew in the Soviet Union would be exiled, where they were to be murdered. Indeed, Stalin’s goal was to complete what Hitler had initiated.

·    As the newspaper reported, Varushilev took the note from Stalin and read it. He was infuriated by Stalin’s new craze that would further harm Russia’s foreign policy, and in the spur of the moment, he ripped up the note and threw it back in his face. Stalin, shocked and angered by the impudence of a degree that he had never experienced before, had a heart attack (or aneurism, reports vary) on the spot and died.

Esther Chapter 9 Verses 20 – 32

·    In the summarization of the entire book there is a theme mentioned more than once that this decree of joy, giving, feasting, resting…, the decree of turning a time of mourning into a holiday, it’s given by Mordecai and Esther, under the authority of the king, a picture of the Savior, the Holy Spirit, and the Father…, and yet mentioned twice is the phrase, “as they decreed for themselves…”

·    There is a great story throughout this book of redemption, survival, overcoming and the highest level of triumph possible…, Mordecai being promoted to the right hand of the king and Esther becoming the bride of the king, and yet there is a flavor of personal acceptance and stepping into all that has been decreed for you…

·    The simple truth is that all that has been given to you and to me, gifted to us, remains unopened and unenjoyed unless it is willfully and readily received. All that God has for us is wrapped up in His Word, with His Spirit and through His Son. Have you yet decreed all that God has offered for yourself!?

Esther Chapter 10 Verses 1 – 3

·    One final thought for this amazing book. The king imposed a tribute on all of the ground of the empire… A tax just to have him as their king and to have Mordecai and Esther in authority. Here’s my thought, and I like it… The enemy has cost the Father everything. Jesus was everything God the Father ever had and He had to die so that I, created in His image, would be saved. And now, I am the tax on the kingdom of darkness…

·    As it strategizes to bring this world, the pinnacle of God’s creation, to its knees in subservience under sin, I am free. Why do bad things happen to good people? Because each of us are a vex on the soul of the ruler of this age, the god of this world. The king imposes a tribute to himself after the work of the Savior and the Hero. And we are that tribute! Or, are we…?! Depends on what YOU have decreed for yourselves…