Malice...Esther's Story

By John Stallings


…… lay aside all malice. 1 Peter 2:1


A while back we saw the TBN produced movie “ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING.” We were moved by the excellent way the story was told & our hats are off to all who made that movie possible.

I don’t know about you but I have noticed through the years that Esther has been preached on very little. In Sunday School we sometimes had a lesson on her life but generally speaking, at least from my perspective, I can remember precious few messages or lessons that had as their theme the events & characters of the Book of Esther. Also, very few books have been written about the life of Esther.

We may as well say it, the Book of Esther isn't nor has it ever been a very popular book. This is one reason the movie TBN made is so needed.

Sadly Esther has always been the forgotten women & this is a shame for there is so much to learn from her story. I encourage the reader to go back & read through the book of Esther, hopefully with a new perspective. Deal? Deal!

This little gem in the Old Testament is extremely rich & historical. The story begins in the empire of Persia. It’s set about 500 years or so before the birth of Christ. The following are a few reasons for Esther not being well understood by many people; God’s name isn’t mentioned in the whole of the book of Esther, neither is the word Lord. Search high & low in the book & you will not find Him. Also omitted are; any mention of prayer, worship, the Temple or Jerusalem. Also left out is any mention of heaven or hell or for that matter anything particularly religious. The story took place when Israel was being held captive in Babylon. A man much like Hitler arose during this time & tried to stamp out the whole Jewish nation. The book is a bit like the story of Joseph where God is hardly mentioned though his actions are clearly acknowledged at the end. Though in Esther, God’s name doesn’t appear at all, as we read between the lines in the story we see God’s hand everywhere, moving in behalf of His people.

In this book you have one of the most exciting stories of all time. It reads like a novel but it's not fiction. This is a true story. If you haven’t read it lately, let’s recap the highlights. In the interest of understanding this story, lay aside your 21st century ideas & assume the ideas of a culture many hundreds of years ago. If you don’t do this you’ll be lost in the fog of the story & miss how God is engineering the plots & sub-plots from start to finish. Remember to watch for God at every turn though His name is left out.

WHEN GOD SEEMS TO BE MOST ABSENT FROM HUMAN AFFAIRS, THAT’S WHEN HE IS PROBABLY THE MOST PRESENT & AT WORK.

What do you do when God seems to be absent? Has God forgotten you? Were His promises unfounded? Perhaps you’ve moved away from God. Does this mean that He has no part in your life & destiny now? These were the sorts of questions that exercised the minds of the Israelites in exile in Babylon, then later in Persia. They knew they’d been sent into exile as punishment for their rebellion against God. They were no longer in the Promised Land, the place of God’s blessing. So they feared that God’s care for them had ended, that they were on their own.

But that wasn’t the case. God was still their God & still interested in their welfare. He had sent Jeremiah to reassure them that even in exile God was looking after them. God had told them; --For surely I know the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare & not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Jer.29:11. There are times when you & I wonder when things seem to argue against God’s presence with us, if God is watching over us; when life seems too hard for someone who had God on their side. But we have verses like Romans 8:28 & Heb. 13:5-6 that we can go to & see the promises to reassure us of His love & care. That’s where the book of Esther comes in.

The story is set after the first group of exiles returned to Jerusalem, but this group has chosen to stay in Persia. It’s about a king & his kingdom; a king who divorces his wife thereby becoming lonely by his own decree. King Xerxes, king of Persia, has banished his first queen. Therefore he has nothing especially to do except throw a party & lavishly display the glory & beauty of his kingdom. The extravagance & decadence of the event is shown by the fact that it last’s for 6 months & there are hundreds & thousands of people present. Can you imagine a party that last’s so long? Xerxes turns his palace into a frat party.

Xerxes has too much to drink & makes the mistake of sending for his wife Vashti, his queen. Not wanting to be paraded around a bunch of drunks she refuses to come. It is probable that she was to be paraded in a carnal way to arouse the lust of the men present, for we are told that she was very beautiful. We aren’t given the reason she didn’t come but her refusal causes a stir because of the example it set for other wives in the kingdom. What can the king do to save face but to have Vashti banished from the kingdom? Color her gone.

OUR AVAILABILITY TO GOD IS ALL IMPORTANT

Maybe Vashti had good reasons for not showing up when she was summoned. I’ll grant you that. But it’s also possible that she was just bored with it all & no longer had the motivation to participate in life. But one thing is certain & that is; Esther did show up & it was at a crucial moment. And in so doing she was mightily used by God. We need to ask ourselves the question; do we show up when God calls us? If we want our lives to count we must be willing to say with Saul of Tarsus, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do, & with young Samuel, speak Lord for thy servant heareth, & with Esther, if I perish I perish.It’s been two years since Vashti has gone & during that time Xerxes has taken an army to Greece to try to expand his empire with no success. So he’s bored & lonely & starts to fret over the loss of Vashti. When he asks his advisors what to do, they suggest he begin a search for the most beautiful girls in the kingdom.

The search begins throughout the land for beautiful young girls to take Vashti’s place. Mordecai, an expatriated Jew entered his orphaned cousin Esther whom he’d raised as if she was his daughter, in the beauty contest to become the queen of all Persia. Esther, this young Jewish girl is chosen. She’s a peach both inside & out. She’s a young girl who’s blessed with a shapely body & a beautiful face. For a year she’s prepared for the time in which she would come into the presence of the king. Beauty treatments were given to her & she was kept & groomed until the big day. That's a lot of Oil of Olay!

But as the story progresses we learn that she’s much more than a pretty face. She is blessed with great humility, courage, resourcefulness & knows how to deal with people. Her understanding of court politics comes out in the way she ultimately traps the stories villain. Wait for it!

Here’s a shocker for you. Esther is in all probability, though we aren't sure, being a young virgin, only around fourteen years old & probably under twenty at the end of the story. Think about the pressure that was put on Esther, barely out of girlhood being thrust into a setting where she had influence with one of the most powerful men in the world. And all this at an age when most young women are concerned with school proms & geometry exams. Throughout this story she has to bite her tongue, grit her teeth, put on a face, hide her grief & hold her tears. The first time she cries, as far as we’re told in the story is in chapter 8:1.

It’s hard for us to grasp how people in such a different culture view such a practice as kings having a harem, with so many women that they see them individually only about once a month. But this is the way things were during this era. When Esther was selected, she would have no choice but to go along with it. But there is something about Esther’s character that causes people to warm to her. Witness- the king falls in love with her & she becomes his queen.

Esther’s adoptive father, who is also her cousin Mordecai, has thwarted an assassination attempt against the king, though he was inadvertently never rewarded for it. We’re not told what Mordecai’s position is though he lives in the citadel, the areas around the palace. He has access to the area beside the harem courtyard & we find him sitting in the palace gates, the place where judgment is given for civil cases. So it seems he is held in some esteem by the king. He is without doubt a clever Jewish bureaucrat & is a descendant of Kish, a Benjaminite.

Let’s back up here for some historical background. In 1 Samuel 15 we read that God commanded Saul to eradicate the decadent Amalekites, ruled by King Agag. Saul chose to do it halfway & let some of the people, King Agag & some of their livestock live. 400 years later, Mordecai & Israel are confronted with Haman, a slimy character who was a descendant of Agag & very much hostile towards God’s people. 

What a lesson to us about not going all the way in obedience to what God has told us to do.

Though nothing was done to show appreciation to Mordecai for saving his life, the king has promoted Haman, who we discover is a natural enemy of Mordecai going back many generations. Haman is a government official who is climbing to the top as fast as he can. He was a particularly nasty piece of work. Haman is self-important, self-promoting, & intoxicated by his success, & those are just his good traits. He expects everyone to bow down to him but Mordecai refuses which “puts the pepper in the gumbo,” so to speak.

So Haman decides to take his revenge for that not only on Mordecai but on his entire race. Haman had the king’s ear in just about everything & when he proposed something to the king, he would usually rubber-stamp it, no questions asked. He was to be treated as if he were almost the king himself. People were to bow to him & do obeisance, honor & glory. Everyone, out of fear, did precisely that. Haman immediately goes to work to convince the king that for the king’s own benefit, he should eliminate these Jewish people. He arranges for the king to sign an edict that sentences every Jew in the kingdom to be killed on a certain day at the end of the year.

The idea that a king on such a whim O.Ks this kind of mass murder is another thing that seems foreign to us, but obviously it was nothing out of place or out of the ordinary in that culture. The Jews were a foreign race who were only there because they’d been defeated so what did it matter if they were destroyed? Xerxes’s kingdom extended from India to Ethiopia & there were plenty of other races. We can also see by this that Xerxes is a man who acts on whims, & doesn’t “check-before-he wrecks” where his wife & others are concerned. Not a sweetheart guy to say the least. So the scene is set for the destruction of the Jews.

MORDECAI CONTACTS ESTHER TO INTERVENE WITH THE KING.

In chapter four, Mordecai, knowing what was now happening, put on sackcloth & ashes to grieve. This is another proof to me that God’s at work here. His Spirit has caused Mordecai to be so grieved that he goes into the center of the city & cries with a bitter cry. Esther sees that he’s terribly traumatized so she sends him a change of clothes thinking that will help his feelings. Somehow Esther is uniformed or as yet hasn’t grasped the gravity of the situation. If you’ve ever been hit by Holy Ghost grief, you know that some superficial change won’t correct the matter. Mordecai knows Esther is in a unique position to do something so he sends her a message. Esther agrees reluctantly. The king had stopped asking to see her & she’d be risking her life to try to see him. Then Mordecai utters the famous words that -she may even have been brought to the kingdom “for such a time as this.” She asks the other Jews in the city to fast (prayer not mentioned) on her behalf for three days, and then she’ll do what she can.

Haman thinks he’s “all that” & feels he’s the most important person apart from the king himself. He thinks nothing can get in his way. Haman’s pride means he underestimates both Mordecai & especially Esther. In the end he’s caught by a spiraling set of circumstances devised to drag him under. Pride goes before destruction & Haman will soon be caught in the trap he has set for Mordecai.

Psalm 7:16 warns;…. “Their mischief returns upon their own heads…..

You will probably remember the CBS newsman Dan Rather, who a few years back resigned in disgrace because he had such malice toward President Bush that he aired unconfirmed & probably fabricated documents about President Bush’s National Guard records. At the time I thought, if Rather had only been familiar with the story of Esther, Haman & Mordecai, he could no doubt have saved his career. Rather got so caught up in his malice for Bush that he crossed the line going 150 mph. He crossed it so far that it got him in trouble with his superiors who themselves weren’t exactly Bush-promoters. I’m sure you noticed that malice usually carries with it a strong sense of self- righteousness if not downright craziness.

Mr. Rather wasn’t hanged but was put out to pasture.

Haman later hangs on the gallows he had built for Mordecai, the Jew for whom he had so much malice. The same scenario existed in what happened to Dan Rather. There’s an old Chinese proverb that says, “If you set out to destroy someone, dig two graves; theirs & yours.” Sadly malice rears its ugly head in our day -in political life, church life as well as business and family life.

ESTHER TAKES A RISK

Esther knows that to appear before the king without being summoned risks punishment by death. But this situation is worth the risk. She figures, if I perish I perish. So she dresses in royal clothes & stands in the inner court where Xerxes can see her. Her faith & courage are rewarded. Xerxes sees her & holds out his golden scepter as his invitation for her to enter. He offers to give her whatever she asks. But a strange thing happens. She doesn’t make a request. She simply invites the king & Haman to come to dinner that night. Again, though just a youth, she understands that timing is everything.

So why didn’t she tell the king her message up front? Why delay any longer when she’s so obviously won the favor of the king? She has a problem, & that’s to get the king to see that Haman isn’t his friend,- but this will be sticky. Remember, the king in his folly believes that Haman is his “new best friend,” so Xerxes may have thought she was just responding to Palace gossip & committing treason in the process of accusing the Prime Minister of such a crime. To do this before all the court servants & other people present was to risk the king going into “damage control mode” & simply dismissing her complaint. Far better to do it with Haman present; catch him off guard & who knows what he might say or do that would confirm his guilt. Don’t “hot-heads” usually go over-the top? In fact that’s exactly what happens. There’s another time honored saying;--“Give a man enough rope & he’ll hang himself.” Hot-headed Haman is headed for a “melt-down.”

Again, ---GOD, THOUGH NEVER MENTIONED, IS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS STORY.

God had something to arrange before the time would be right. Esther seems to have done all the arranging but God has something else to do as well. Esther invites the king & Haman to join her the same night for a banquet that she’s prepared for them. The king sends for Haman & he hurries to join them. He’s still clueless.

You gotta-love this man Haman.- but only as a character in the story. He’s so self-absorbed & egotistical he can’t see what’s about to happen to him. He leaves the first banquet in high spirits because he’s receiving so much attention from the king & queen. Then he sees Mordecai, & his mood changes. He goes into a purple rage, immediately arranging for a gallows to be built to hang him. He never thinks that anything could go wrong. His false confidence is about to destroy him. Not only will his pride bring him down, but God’s divine sovereignty will also play a part.

That night the king can’t sleep so he gets up & asks for a copy of the Chronicles of his reign, maybe thinking a little “ego-salve” will calm him down so he could sleep. As he reads he comes across the account of the time when Mordecai had foiled an assassination attempt against him. So he asks his attendants what reward had been given Mordecai, & is told that nothing had been done to honor him.

By now its morning & so he asks who there is in the court that he could ask for advice. Surprise, surprise, old Haman is waiting in the outer court to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai. When the king asks Haman what should be done for the man the king delights to honor, Haman immediately thinks the king means him; WHO ELSE-RIGHT? If only Haman’s parents had taught him, “It’s not just about you, Haman!” But noooo. He’s so self-absorbed he falls right into the trap God had set for him. So he comes up with an ideal answer; & it’s all good except that it’s Mordecai who’s about to receive an honor & it’s Haman who’ll be the one leading the horse around the city praising Mordecai. It’s hilarious isn’t it? That is unless you’re Haman of course. Haman is totally humiliated & rushes home to tell his wife & friends what’s happened & light starts to dawn, for his wife at least. Haman’s pride tells him he’s still in control, but he’s being hurried along by Esther’s plans.

MALICE IS HAMAN’S PROBLEM

Haman’s big sin is the malice he bears towards Mordecai & the Jewish people. Malice is the deep-seated hatred that feels delight when our enemy suffers & pain when our enemy succeeds; a mean-spirited, thoughtful intention to hurt somebody & make them suffer. 1 Cor. 5:8 likens malice to yeast. It may start small but it swells like cancer eventually permeating the whole of our being the end result being the spoiling of our enjoyment of life. Haman complains that seeing Mordecai sitting at the king’s table as he walks by has taken all the pleasures he’s gained from being invited to the private banquet with Esther & the king.

But it also takes away his good judgment & he builds a 50 feet high gallows never thinking that it could be used on him as well. Nor does he wonder why Esther has just invited him to the banquet with the king. The king & Haman arrive at the banquet & are drinking wine when the king asks, for the second time, what is Esther’s petition & request. Esther replies, “Let my life be given me—that is my request; for we have been sold, I & my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, & to be annihilated.” Haman knows he’s been found out & hadn’t realized that Esther was one of the Jews he’d sentenced to death. Haman is now terrified & trembling in his sandals.

The king goes into a rage & his blood starts to boil. He has to walk out of the room to calm down in the garden outside & decide what to do with Haman. While the king is absent, Haman makes his final mistake & throws himself at Esther’s feet begging to be spared. Well, the king walks back in & sees that Haman is draped across Esther’s couch & that’s the last straw. He’s arrested & hung on the gallows he’s just built for Mordecia. And that’s the end for old Haman. Esther is given all of Haman’s possessions & Mordecia is promoted to the position of Prime Minister.

But there’s still the problem of the king’s edict about the Jews. Esther pleads with the king to revoke it but he can’t. In Persia, once a law has been made it can’t be revoked. Instead the king allows Mordecia to write a second law allowing the Jews to gather to defend themselves on the appointed day. When the day comes those who seek to attack them are killed, though the majority of the population takes their side. Esther asks for a second day of retribution for the Jews. Happily the crisis ends & so is instituted the feast of Purim that’s been celebrated by the Jewish people ever since.

It’s sometimes asked why this story is in the Bible, particularity as God isn’t mentioned in the entire book. Is it just there to explain the feast of Purim, or is there more to it than that? How might this story be relevant to us? Esther lived in a world where God wasn’t known & honored. The world of Susa had no real understanding of a personal God, of a living God, of a God who cared for His people wherever they were. Esther lived in a time when God’s people were waiting for redemption. They were in a foreign a land where they didn’t belong. They were waiting for God to come & take them home.

God has sometimes used armies & great miracles to rescue His people but He isn’t limited to those strategies. He can just as easily use an obscure person such as Esther & allow them to be the agent of His Salvation. We might be tempted to think God can only work in a situation where there is freedom of religion & worship like we enjoy in America. But this story shows us that He can enable His people to function within whatever system they find themselves. Joseph, Daniel & Esther all served totally pagan kings & won favor with them because of their exemplary conduct & example.

Esther & Mordecia had to live by faith & not by sight. There was no Temple to go to, to remind them of God’s grandeur & sovereignty. Israel was no longer a great nation reflecting God’s power & glory to the world. In fact, Haman’s order to destroy them showed just how powerless they were. We too must live by faith & not by sight. We are waiting for an inheritance that can’t be seen. It’s a sure & certain hope but it’s a hope that we hold on to by faith.

Like Esther, God may have put you where you are to allow you to find a solution in a situation where you & you only will fit. But don’t forget, you are never alone. God walks the corridors of production plants, offices, school & the Halls of Government, anywhere His people are. God is always working in the background bringing His plans for you, indeed for the world to completion. If you are a person who sees the gloomy side of things & you gaze into the future & don’t see that things could ever get better, Esther speaks to you.

We can rest in the knowledge that our welfare is in God’s hands. His help comes from unexpected quarters, unwilling partners, & unseen forces. He numbers the very hairs of our heads; he’s awake, alert, attentive & active.
His name may never be mentioned in our world except as a swear word but He is active & present.

As in the story of Esther, you too may be the target of malice. But if you’re faithful to Him, He’ll allow no weapon formed against you to prosper. Also, lets keep in mind the power of one person , like Esther, to make a difference.

In 1845, one vote brought Texas into the union.
In 1868 one vote saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment.
In 1876 one vote gave Rutherford B. Hayes the U.S presidency.
In 1923, one vote gave Adolph Hitler control of Germany's Nazi party.
In 1941, one vote saved the Selective Service System just 12 weeks before Pearl Harbor.

Let’s follow Esther’s courageous example & be ready to step out on faith & use the wisdom God gives us to do what’s needed

......right where we are.

Blessings,

John