Esther: Providence And Pretension

Esther
Providence And Pretension

Misuse Of Power
There are no bounds to sinful human ambition, no restraints to the blasphemy which weak creatures will commit to make themselves seem great in the world’s eyes. King Ahasuerus (the name means “excellency” or “majesty of the prince”) was a weak, sinful and mortal man – an example of Lord Acton’s principle that “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” As much as it is possible for a human to have absolute power, Ahasuerus had it as a birthright – and it corrupted him. Excellency and majesty are attributes of God; for one to give himself a title before which his subjects are to grovel, is degeneracy and madness (1 Chr. 29:11; Job 37:22, 40:10; Heb.1:3,8:1; Ex. 15:7; 2 Cor. 4:7).

Ahasuerus ruled over 127 provinces of Persia. Romans 13 sets forth the responsibilities of government. In this absolute monarch we see its negation. To the Romans, Paul wrote that “rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil ... For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil” (Rom. 13:3-4 KJV). Government therefore is to be concerned with the safety and well-being of the subjects, as well as their protection from enemies outside and from criminals within.

Irresponsibility
Romans enjoins governments to reward good and punish evil. Instead, Ahasuerus spent his time giving parties for his cronies. Why, we do not know. What we do know is that, since the poor are always with us (Mt.26:11), there were plenty of needy people in his kingdom. But their plight did not concern this selfish ruler. It appears that his pleasure and sometimes his spite concerned him most. By contrast, Psalms and Deuteronomy tell us that government should have genuine concern for the poor, fatherless and widows: “He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment” (Dt. 10:18,14:29,15:1-11; Ps.10:14, 68:5).

In fact, Ahasuerus gave two parties. The first was for the princes who were his administrators; they were simply senior civil servants. The second was for the people in the palace – relatives, hangers-on and lesser officials. Here we have government enjoying itself at the whim of the ruler who could just as easily sentence them to death.

Tyrannical Rule
Ahasuerus’ behavior was irrational – like that of Hitler, Idi Amin and Saddam Hussein – and quite out of touch with reality. First he promoted Haman for no expressed reason, and Haman used his exalted position to further his personal vendetta against the Jews. He was not concerned for the welfare of the diverse subjects of the empire. Instead his energies were used to gratify his corrupt king and further his bloody ambitions.

Haman’s downfall was brought about by a palace plot involving Mordecai and Esther (meaning “star”) who had to consider the capricious nature of the king, and sweeten him by invitations to meals before revealing his chief minister’s evil plot. Clever as Mordecai was, he could not match Haman’s cunning or power. This could only be done by an appeal to the king.

Before this, we also see this capriciousness in action when, after his reading of the court records, he decided to honor Mordecai by dressing him in royal robes and parading him round the capital. Commentators say this was the custom, but it shows the decadence and arbitrary nature of that culture. It is hardly a practice one could admire. Rather we see the obsession of that Persian upper class with the trappings of power and conspicuous consumption.

To carry out his satanically approved plan to destroy all the Jews, Haman had to sweeten the king. First he played on the king’s fears of disunity in his empire: “There is a people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom ... neither keep they the kings laws. Therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them” (Est. 3:8. Note the diverse ethnic mix in the empire implied by the word “peoples”). The sweetener then was to pay the spoil taken from the Jews into the royal treasury. Here we see the similarity with the Nazi leaders who enriched themselves out of the persecution and plunder of God’s earthly people. No country which has welcomed the Jews has suffered; rather they have prospered. Nevertheless the Jews have been herded into ghettos and made the scapegoats for government corruption, as in czarist Russia, and they have been mistrusted and hated for no good reason.

Instead of finding a legal way to circumvent this iniquitous legislation, the Jews were given the right to defend themselves. Such was the king’s lack of human concern for his subjects, that he actually legalized civil war and took a share in the profits thereof. What other ruler has been mad enough to tax the conflicts between ethnic and religious groups in his own empire? It is like a democratic government being financed by organized crime from the profits of the drug and vice trades. In the end this extreme decadence would lead to disaster were it not for the timely intervention of a Supreme Person leading to the more peaceful and righteous administration of Mordecai and Queen Esther.

The Queen
These things are bad enough, and show a tyranny of the worst kind. In the matter of Queen Vashti (meaning “beauty”) and the drunken nature of the great banquet, we see another facet of the debauchery of this ruler and his government. First she was ordered to “show her beauty” to the eyes of the king’s drunken flatterers, then she was divorced and dismissed at the whim of the drunken monarch. The advice given by the courtiers was hardly wisdom. Wisdom was not tolerated at this corrupt court. Rather, appeal was made to the king’s bloated pride. We see the nature of such a government in its treatment of its population, and especially its women. Women are clearly made the chattels of the men, if they were not so already. The wording of the suggested legislation made it clear that what was probably custom was to become law. Queen Vashti was a woman of character, but that did not make her respected. All that mattered was the monarch’s opinion. His flattering courtiers pandered to his every whim to keep their place of power and influence.

As a result, the whole of the resources of this vast empire were mobilized – not for some uplifting reform, but merely to pander to the decadent ruler’s lusts. The qualifications for the lady who was to be queen were merely that her beauty be satisfying to the king. Whether she was wise and dignified was of no importance. All she had to be was pleasing to the lustful king. Here we see the flesh at its worst.

The Paradox
It seems remarkable that there is no mention of God in this book. However, the fact that Haman, the man promoted to chief minister, was an Amalekite makes it clear that Satan was at work to destroy God’s people (Ex. 17:16).

It is also remarkable that the book’s turning point, where Israel’s fortunes were at their lowest, is also the point when Mordecai persuaded Esther, his niece: “Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether hold thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place. But thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed. And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (4:13-14). Mordecai was not ignorant of God’s plan for the Jews. However, while some like Daniel kept their faith alive, others had given up hope. Mordecai had hope, though there is no mention of his personal relationship with God. Esther, realizing her tenuous ability to influence the king, decided to risk her life for her people.

The words, “for such a time as this” are the key words of the Book of Esther. Though God is not mentioned, it is inconceivable to think that He was not deeply involved in the fate of Israel whom He loves with an everlasting love. He is there, as He always is. He never leaves nor forsakes His people. (Indeed, Chuck Missler, in his book Cosmic Codes, wrote that God’s name occurs three times in Esther in encoded form.) What is important is that God was clearly at work. At Israel’s lowest point, salvation and deliverance came about through a woman whose position was at the whim of a despot, and who was up against a remarkably evil courtier. Yet weakness sees God’s ability to overturn malignant cunning by gentle, yet inexorable wisdom.

At the height of his influence – with his diabolical schemes about to be realized – Haman boasted to family and friends “of the glory of his riches ... and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king” (Est. 5:11). Only one thing eluded him, and that was getting rid of Mordecai who was “sitting in the king’s gate.” Zeresh, his wife, offered a solution which pleased him – an ignominious and public execution of Mordecai. Perhaps Haman knew the Jewish law that said, “cursed is everyone that hangeth upon a tree” (Gal. 3:13; Dt. 21:22-23.)

Chapter 6 begins with a remarkable statement that shows the way God works when things go wrong. Unlike the beginning of an age, when He used “signs and wonders” (Dt. 6:22; Ps. 105:5,27), God here puts matters into human hands so that things do go wrong. When this happens, instead of direct dealings, God works behind the scenes to alter the course of events without hindering human responsibility: “On that night the king could not sleep” (Est. 6:1). Literally, his sleep “fled away” – and not by chance. Though “the whole world lieth in the wicked one” (1 Jn. 5:19), God is in control of events, and He ever cares for His people. Sleep fled from the King; wealth and power could not buy one hour of refreshing sleep. That belonged to God (Ps. 127:2), who took away his sleep for a reason: that he might have the “book of records of the chronicles” read to him. Nor was it chance that he heard the record of Mordecai revealing a plot against his life (Est. 6:1-3), just when Haman’s ambitions were about to be realized.

Here is the character and purpose of the Book of Esther. Many people today are looking for evidence of God’s power. They look for signs and wonders but there are none. They say, “We need a fresh anointing.” We need nothing fresh, as we have the same power now as ever: “Divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3). What more do we need? We will not see the miracles we crave. Instead, we must look for the miracle of a seemingly chance meeting and conversation that leads to faith in the true God. Is not God’s hand in all these things? One Christian I know prays daily for the Lord to bring her into contact with people. Hardly a day goes by when she does not have a conversation about eternal truths with some stranger.

Closing Thoughts
There is triumph here, but also tragedy: “The Jews had light and gladness, and joy and honor ... in every province and in every city ... And many of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell upon them” (8:16-17). It would seem a triumph that many people became Jews, but were they really converted to God? The text says it was “fear of the Jews” not the fear of the Lord which “is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 9:10). Perhaps we can trace this back to the reluctance of Esther to reveal her nationality. Under Haman it was clearly unpopular to be a Jew. So when the pendulum swung the other way it became advantageous to become one. This opens up all sorts of issues. We bewail the unpopularity of Christianity today, but it is often at such times – when we are bold in our witness – that God works most effectively in the hearts of the unsaved.

The Book of Esther is a disturbing book. It is also a neglected book. But it is a book which has much to teach us concerning the age in which we live, where the morals of our leaders are far less than high office ought to require. We need to remember Paul’s words: “I exhort therefore, that ... supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks, be made for all men, for kings, and for all that are in authority: that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (1 Tim. 2:1-2).

By Roger Penney