Esther 2:19-3:15
19 When the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. 20 Esther had not yet made known her kindred or her people, even as Mordecai had commanded her; for Esther did what Mordecai told her as she had done when under his care.
21 In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s officials from those who guarded the door, became angry and sought to [b]lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 22 But the plot became known to Mordecai and he told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai’s name. 23 Now when the plot was investigated and found to be so, they were both hanged on a gallows; and it was written in the Book of the Chronicles in the king’s presence.3 After these events King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and established his authority over all the princes who were with him. 2 All the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage. 3 Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why are you transgressing the king’s command?” 4 Now it was when they had spoken daily to him and he would not listen to them, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5 When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage. 6 But he isdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.
7 In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, Pur, that is the lot, was cast before Haman from day to day and from month to month, [k]until the twelfth month, that is the month Adar. 8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people and they do not observe the king’s laws, so it is not in the king’s interest to let them remain. 9 If it is pleasing to the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry on the king’s business, to put into the king’s treasuries.” 10 Then the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 The king said to Haman, “The silver is yours, and the people also, to do with them as you please.”
12 Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to the king’s satraps, to the governors who were over each province and to the princes of each people, each province according to its script, each people according to its language, being written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring. 13 Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroy, to kill and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder. 14 A copy of the edict to be issued as law in every province was published to all the peoples so that they should be ready for this day. 15 The couriers went out impelled by the king’s command while the decree was [o]issued at the citadel in Susa; and while the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in confusion.
Only one missionary invests his whole life in a remote area, and an entire tribe is ultimately evangelized. Only one statesman stands for right, and a country is saved. Only one strong-willed and determined citizen says, “I stand against this evil,” and a community ramps up morally and changes its direction.
And only one woman decided it was worth the risk to break with protocol and speak her mind, and a nation was preserved.
The Jews have been threatened with extermination. Wicked Haman has influenced King Ahasuerus with his promises: “Because of this plan I have set up, it is possible for me to pour money into your treasuries and for us to rid the land of these people who will not bow down and worship you as the king.” Though it pandered to the king’s pride, that plan had the makings of the worst kind of holocaust. “The Jews will no longer be in our land. We’ll be rid of these people.”
In case you wonder what impact it had on the community, return to the last phrase in chapter 3: “the city of Susa was in confusion.” That had to be a major understatement!
While Haman and Ahasuerus sat over their drinks in the palace, the general public wandered in bewilderment and confusion, especially the Jews, not unlike those in the ghetto at Warsaw and other European scenes of horror in the late ’30s and early ’40s. “What’s going on here?” “Why have those in authority ordered this?” “How much worse can things get?”
What terror this struck in their hearts, what fear in their minds! “How can we continue?” “How can we fight this?” This was the law of the Medes and the Persians. When an edict was issued in that era, it was final. Nobody could change this plan, even the king, but certainly no Jew. Helplessness quickly eroded into hopelessness.
Yet, in the midst of all this, God was not sleeping. In His sovereign plan, He determined that one person would make the difference. One individual would stand in the gap. Her name is Esther.
In the midst of havoc, God is never sleeping. He always has a sovereign plan.
— Charles R. Swindoll
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