II. The Tension Builds: A Threatened Disaster (Esther 3:1–5:14)

II. The Tension Builds: A Threatened Disaster (3:1–5:14)

3:1 For reasons unknown, the king honored Haman . . . the Agagite and gave him a higher position than all the other officials. Jews reading this story would have taken note of the man’s background. Haman was a descendent of Agag, leader of the Amalekites, an ancient enemy of Israel. The Amalekites had opposed Israel from the beginning, when they had departed from Egypt under Moses (see Exod 17:8-16), so Ahasue-rus’s new right-hand man would have hated Jews. Moreover, Mordecai was a “son of Kish, a Benjaminite” (2:5). It was King Saul, son of Kish (1 Sam 9:1-3), who had failed to execute King Agag (see 1 Sam 15:3, 8-9). For Mordecai to honor this Agagite would have been unthinkable, an affront to God.

3:2-6 The king had commanded that the royal staff pay homage to Haman by bowing down. But, Mordecai refused. To give honor to an enemy of God’s people was unacceptable. The rest of the staff warned him, but he wouldn’t listen (3:2-4). So, they informed Haman of the actions and the ethnicity of Mordecai (3:4). When Haman learned that Mordecai wouldn’t bow, his fragile ego couldn’t handle it. He was filled with rage (3:5). But, when he learned that Mordecai was a Jew, he was determined to do more than simply kill him. He planned to destroy all of . . . the Jews, throughout Ahasuerus’s kingdom (3:6). Genocide was the only thing that would satisfy his hatred.

3:7 Haman began to hatch his plot. First, during the first month of the year, he cast the Pur—that is, the lot. Doing so was like rolling dice. He was determining when he would carry out his wicked plan. The lot fell on the twelfth month, the month Adar (3:7; see 3:13). Haman was probably hoping for a sooner date on which to carry out his treachery. But, as Proverbs says, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” (Prov 16:33). Thus, God sovereignly provided an eleven-month window of grace. Even when Satan rolls the dice, God loads them.

3:8-9 Haman approached the king and told him there was an ethnic group in his kingdom that was a problem. They kept themselves separate, followed strange laws, and refused to obey the king’s commands. This group, he said, shouldn’t be tolerated (3:8). A royal order should be issued to destroy them. Haman even offered to pay 375 tons of silver to . . . the royal treasury to help accomplish the task (3:9). Clearly, Haman was no pauper. And, he was willing to spend his own resources to wipe out the Jews.

3:10-11 The king agreed to the request and gave his signet ring—a tool of great power, as we’ll see—to Haman . . . the Agagite, the enemy of the Jewish people (3:10; see 3:1). In other words, a wicked man with a vendetta held in his hand the authority to kill God’s people.

3:12-15 Haman commanded the royal scribes to write letters on behalf of the king to the leaders throughout the empire. The letters ordered the officials to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jewish people and plunder their possessions. Each was sealed with the royal signet ring, which acted as the king’s own signature (3:12-13), and the message was distributed throughout the empire (3:14).

While everyone outside the walls of the palace was in confusion over this decree, the king and Haman sat down to drink (3:15), an ominous insight suggesting there seemed to be no stopping the madness. But, nothing would take place until the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month (3:13), because God was at work behind the scenes and controlling the timetable (see 3:7).

4:1-3 Previously, Mordecai had stood firm, unwilling to bow to Haman (3:1-4). But, when he heard of the king’s order to exterminate the Jews, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, symbolizing his great grief and anguish. Then he cried loudly and bitterly (4:1). In fact, the same was true of Jewish people in every province (4:3). What was happening was an instance of spiritual warfare in the extreme. Satan was seeking to destroy God’s covenant people, and Haman was a willing partner in crime. There seemed to be no hope, only pain.

4:4-9 When Esther learned of Mordecai’s condition, she sent clothes for him to wear (4:4). Uninformed of the king’s command, she didn’t understand what was troubling her cousin. When Mordecai rejected the gift, Esther sent a messenger to him (4:6). Then Mordecai told him everything (4:7). He even gave the messenger a copy of the written decree that ordered the execution of the queen’s people. Mordecai’s command to Esther was clear: approach the king, implore his favor, and plead with him personally on behalf of our people (4:8).

Previously, Mordecai had warned Esther to keep her ethnic identity under wraps, possibly because of anti-Semitic atmosphere (2:10). But now, he insisted that she go public. The time had come for God to use her for her ultimate purpose. Esther had been providentially positioned to leverage influence for God’s kingdom purposes. And similarly, know that however God blesses you, he does it so that you may be a blessing to others.

4:10-12 There was a hurdle standing in the way of Esther simply obeying Mordecai. It was against the royal law for anyone who hadn’t been summoned to approach the king unless he extended his gold scepter to them. Offenders wouldn’t receive a mere slap on the wrist—they’d receive the death penalty. And, in spite of the fact that Esther was queen, she had not been summoned to appear before the king for the last thirty days (4:11). Five years had passed since their wedding, and apparently the honeymoon was over. Did the royal couple have a falling out? Had the king grown bored with Esther’s beauty? The text doesn’t tell us. Yet, regardless, Esther knew that if she tried to break their romantic dry spell by entering King Ahasuerus’s presence uninvited, she would be risking her life.

Importantly, Esther had forgotten that she had not climbed the ladder of success by herself; she had been placed on top by the goodness of God. We are what we are by the grace of God. Extraordinary experiences and opportunities that we are granted are not merely for our sake, then, but for the sake of God’s kingdom agenda. When we lose sight of that, we miss God’s kingdom program in history and become useless to him. Jesus told his disciples that God’s people are called to be salt in an unsavory world. But, if salt no longer tastes salty, it has lost its purpose (see Matt 5:13).

4:13 Mordecai pressed his order by saying, Don’t think that you will escape the fate of all the Jews because you are in the king’s palace. “You’ll be found out,” Mordecai warned.

4:14 As if that wasn’t bad enough, Esther would lose her opportunity to fulfill the purpose for which God had blessed her. If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, Mordecai said. He knew God’s Word and character. The Lord had promised to bless all the peoples of the earth through Abraham’s offspring (see Gen 12:3), so he would not permit his entire people to be wiped out. But, if Esther refused to use her position for kingdom influence, God would still get the job done by some other means—even though Esther and her father’s family would be destroyed.

This is a reminder that we, as Christians, need to keep our theology straight: God is sovereign and will accomplish his program with or without us. He certainly desires to use you. Yet, no one is indispensable. If you refuse to obey him, he will still carry out his agenda through someone else, and you will have missed an opportunity to serve his kingdom purposes.

Perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this. It was Mordecai’s way of saying to Esther, “Don’t you see that God has placed you in this situation at this time in history so that you can have a tremendous kingdom impact?” Similarly, the church of Jesus Christ is called to accomplish kingdom purposes. If a local church is not winning the lost to Christ and discipling them in the faith so that they can have a heavenly influence on earth, it has failed in its calling. You have been called to God’s kingdom for such a time as this. Whose agenda will you follow?

4:15-17 To her credit, Esther didn’t need to hear anymore. She told Mordecai to gather all the Jews . . . in Susa to fast for her for three days. She would do the same. Then, she would go to the king, even though it was against the law. Esther knew that to do the right thing would require a risky step of faith. The human king had forbidden her to approach him uninvited. But, her heavenly King had called her to a higher standard. Esther was resolved: If I perish, I perish (4:16).

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were commanded to bow down before an idol (Dan 3:1-30). Daniel was told to pray to no one but a human king (Dan 6:1-24). Yet, these men too, all chose to trust God and take risks of faith. Whether they lived to see another day was God’s problem. So, what risk of faith is God calling you to make? Are you willing to obey God’s Word even when the outcome is uncertain? Even if it might cost you? Don’t let the time you have been given pass you by.

5:1-2 On the third day, the moment arrived (5:1). Esther had fasted and no doubt prayed “for three days” prior (4:16). She had been willing to sacrifice her physical craving for food in order to heighten her spiritual awareness because she needed divine insight to know how to proceed. Decked in all her finery, the queen stood in the inner courtyard, and the king was sitting on his royal throne (5:1). Ahasuerus hadn’t requested her, so she was breaking the royal law by approaching. But the unseen, sovereign God was at work: Esther gained favor in his eyes. He extended the gold scepter toward her, granting her permission to draw near (5:2).

5:3 Not only did the king allow her to approach him, but he also gave her the freedom to request anything—even half the kingdom! Thus, in place of the threat of death, God granted an open door to Esther to set her plan in motion.

5:4-8 The queen invited the king and Haman to a banquet (5:4). So, King Ahasuerus readily agreed and sent for Haman (5:5). During the meal, he told his wife once more, Whatever you ask will be given you (5:6). (At this point, the tension that has been building in the narrative is thick.) Then Esther declared, This is my petition and request: come back to dinner again tomorrow (5:7-8). What happened? Why wasn’t she willing to follow through? Had she gotten cold feet? Regardless, the wheels of God’s providence were turning.

5:9 When Haman left, he was in a good mood. He was the king’s right-hand man, and the queen repeatedly invited him to her dinner parties. Nothing could disturb him—nothing except . . . Mordecai. The man wouldn’t rise or tremble in fear at Haman’s presence. Haman already hated Mordecai, but this latest show of defiance filled him with rage. He probably thought, “Doesn’t this Jew realize how important I am? The king and queen like nothing better than to spend time with me!”

5:10-13 Haman controlled himself and went home (5:10). He informed his friends and his wife about all of his good fortune. He was wealthy and powerful. The king had honored him and promoted him above everyone else (5:11). Even the queen loved having him around (5:12). Nevertheless, none of this satisfied him because Mordecai the Jew was still breathing (5:13).

5:14 The answer to Haman’s problem was simple, according to his wife and friends. All he needed to do was build a gallows and influence the king to hang Mordecai on it. Then, he could attend Esther’s banquet and enjoy himself with an end to his troubles within reach. Haman couldn’t have been more pleased with this advice, so he started construction.