By James Riley Strange, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of New Testament, Samford University
KEEP STANDING
Esther 8:1–8; 9:20–22
Today we reach the culmination of the Book of Esther, in which the plot to kill all Jews in Persia is resolved and a new festival, “Purim,” is established. Read all of chapters 8 and 9 to understand the context.
The enthusiasm of the Jews’ celebration is justified in light of the possible catastrophe they faced. But they also make merry after slaughtering some 75,000 human beings. Is that what God wants? The story therefore invites us to prayerfully consider what is right and good for God’s people to do and to celebrate doing. It encourages us to turn to God with these questions: Do we revel in the demise of our enemies? Do we hope for the opportunity to kill those who might kill us? Ironically the book’s happy ending raises issues about justice and mercy that God’s people must deal with. It also offers no easy answers.
Honor comes to those who live with an upright character. (8:1–2)
One might say if the Book of Esther is about anything, it is about the reversal of fortunes. There is no doubt that Mordecai deserves this rise to prominence, but we should remember that Mordecai and Esther made their most decisive, moral actions without seeking reward and at great personal risk. Mordecai warned the king of a plot against his life and Esther could have been executed for approaching the king uninvited. Mordecai is never promised this honor and it is clear that Mordecai and Esther, unlike Haman, would have acted no differently if the outcome had been calamity.
Don’t rest until the victory is complete. (8:3–8)
Haman is dead, impaled on the pole he erected for Mordecai, but the king’s edict allowing the slaughter of Jews is still in place. Remember Ahasuerus cares nothing for either the Jews or for morals, for he allowed Haman to order their wholesale execution. Likewise the permission he grants Esther and Mordecai to write a new edict also has nothing to do with a newly acquired moral compass for now he readily agrees to a slaughter that will end with the death of 75,000 Persians.
Note that he gives Esther and Mordecai the authority to “write as you please with regard to the Jews.” And they do. Here is where, through the lens of Jesus’ teachings about how to treat enemies (Matt. 5:44) — and Paul’s interpretation of them (Rom. 12:14–21) — we question Esther and Mordecai. They write an edict allowing Jews to engage in the same kind of killing they themselves would have faced.
Again there is no easy answer here because of a ludicrous Persian law: “an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.” This means that Haman’s edict cannot be undone but must be neutralized by another one legalizing a counter-massacre. Only the people dying are different.
One wonders why such a law exists in the first place for it means that the king cannot revoke his own edict.
Furthermore, one wonders why Ahasuerus so blithely allows people to write edicts in his name with no oversight.
Rejoice in what God does. (9:20–22)
The book does not tell us whether God could have rescued the Jews without Jews killing Persians. Esther and Mordecai simply act without seeking God’s will. With our hearts transformed through Christ’s death and resurrection let us thank God that the Jews of Persia escaped tragedy and let us mourn the demise of the 75,000 Persians. Let us ask God to guide us toward solutions that preserve lives.
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