Wed, 1 February, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
1 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s command and edict were about to be carried out, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them. 2 The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could stand against them, for the fear of them had fallen on all peoples. 3 All the officials of the provinces and the satraps and the governors and the royal agents also helped the Jews, for the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. 4 For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai grew more and more powerful. 5 The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them. 6 In Susa the citadel itself the Jews killed and destroyed 500 men, 7 and also killed Parshandatha and Dalphon and Aspatha 8 and Poratha and Adalia and Aridatha 9 and Parmashta and Arisai and Aridai and Vaizatha, 10 the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they laid no hand on the plunder.
11 That very day the number of those killed in Susa the citadel was reported to the king. 12 And the king said to Queen Esther, “In Susa the citadel the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men and also the ten sons of Haman. What then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! Now what is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what further is your request? It shall be fulfilled.” 13 And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be allowed tomorrow also to do according to this day’s edict. And let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows.” 14 So the king commanded this to be done. A decree was issued in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged. 15 The Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and they killed 300 men in Susa, but they laid no hands on the plunder.
16 Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also gathered to defend their lives, and got relief from their enemies and killed 75,000 of those who hated them, but they laid no hands on the plunder. 17 This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness. 18 But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth day and on the fourteenth, and rested on the fifteenth day, making that a day of feasting and gladness. 19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the rural towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another.
Today we have come to the conclusion of the book of Esther, and we find the purpose of the book is to establish and explain the Jewish feast of Purim. It is a celebration of how God has reversed the tables. The enemies of the Jews were planning to kill all the Jews, but instead the Jews unite together and kill their enemies. Hatred of the Jews was rampant in the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, as the Jews kill 75,000 enemies on the appointed day. But instead of these numerous enemies destroying the Jews, they are destroyed.
What do we learn from this?
God is always reversing fortunes of people. We saw this with Haman, and today we see this with the enemies of the Jews. They had hoped that their moment had come to destroy the Jews, but what happens is the exact opposite. Thus it is with God. The poor and oppressed call out to God, and He hears them. The powerful are thrown down as they oppose God and His people (see Haman). The weak are strong in the Lord. The poor are blessed with riches untold by a loving God. Those who are strong in their own strength are found to be weak. And those who are trusting in their riches find their riches will fail them.
This is the work of God, and Mordecai establishes the feast of Purim so that the Jewish people won’t forget what God has done for them, but will commemorate the day.
It is good for us to remember what God has done for us as He has reversed our fortunes as well. We were lost in our sins, but now we are saved from the penalty of our sins. We were enemies of God, but now we are His children. We must make an effort to not forget what God has done. We need to be thankful to God, and we are not thankful for what we have forgotten.
Where is Christ in this passage?
The ultimate example of reversed fortunes is Jesus Christ.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
