Weekly Devotion no 29
16 October 2020
Bible reading – Esther 9:20-10:3[1]
20 Mordecai wrote down these events. He sent letters to all the Jews all through the territories of King Xerxes. It didn’t matter whether the Jews lived nearby or far away. 21 Mordecai told them to celebrate the 14th and 15th days of the month of Adar. He wanted them to do it every year. 22 Mordecai told the Jews to celebrate the time when they got rest from their enemies. That was the month when their sadness was turned into joy. It was when their weeping turned into a day for celebrating. He wrote the letters to celebrate those days as times of joy. He wanted the people to enjoy good food. He told them to give presents of food to one another. He also wanted them to give gifts to people who were poor.
23 So the Jews agreed to continue the celebrating they had started. They kept doing what Mordecai had written to them. 24 Haman was the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite. He had been the enemy of all the Jews. He had planned to destroy them. He had cast the lot to destroy them completely. The lot was called Pur. 25 But the king had found out about Haman’s evil plan. So the king had sent out written orders. He had ordered that Haman’s evil plan against the Jews should happen to him instead. The king also commanded that poles be stuck through the dead bodies of Haman and his sons. Then they should be set up where everyone could see them. 26 The days the Jews were celebrating were called Purim. Purim comes from the word Pur. Pur means Lot. Now the Jews celebrate these two days every year. They do it because of everything that was written in Mordecai’s letter. They also do it because of what they had seen and what had happened to them. 27 So they established it as a regular practice. They decided they would always observe these two days of the year. They would celebrate in the required way. And they would celebrate at the appointed time. They and their children after them would always observe these days. And so would all who join them. 28 The days should be remembered and celebrated. They should be remembered by every family for all time to come. They should be celebrated in every territory and in every city. The Jews should never stop celebrating the days of Purim. Their children after them should always remember these days.
29 So Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, wrote a second letter. She wrote it together with Mordecai the Jew. They wanted to give their full authority to this second letter about Purim. 30 Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 territories of the kingdom of Xerxes. The letters had messages of kindness and hope in them. 31 The letters established the days of Purim at their appointed times. They spoke about what Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had ordered the people to do. Everything should be done in keeping with the directions the Jews had set up for themselves and their children after them. The directions applied to their times of fasting and sadness. 32 Esther’s order established the rules about Purim. It was written down in the records.
10 King Xerxes required people all through
his kingdom to bring gifts. King Xerxes required gifts from its farthest
shores. 2 All the king’s powerful and mighty acts
are written down. That includes the whole story of how important Mordecai was.
The king had given him a position of great honour. All these things are written
in the official records of the kings of Media and Persia. 3 The
position of Mordecai the Jew was second only to the position of King Xerxes.
Mordecai was the most important Jew. All the other Jews had the highest respect
for him. That’s because he worked for the good of his people. And he spoke up
for the benefit of all the Jews.
Reflection
The Jews established a custom of reminding themselves of these events for 2 days every year, so that they would not forget that God had saved them from annihilation. The festival was to be called Purim, because Haman had cast the pur (that is, the lot) to determine the date of their fate. This ritual observance by the Jews continues to this day. It begins with a day of fasting, Ta’anit Esther (fast of Esther) on Adar 13, the day preceding the celebration. This reminds them that Esther and the Jews prayed and fasted, seeking God’s deliverance. The most distinctive aspect of the synagogue service is the reading of the book of Esther. On Purim, Jews are also enjoined to exchange gifts and make donations to the poor. There are all in accordance with the original celebration of Purim. Over the years, other traditions have been added to the festivities, with specific foods, alcohol consumption, and Purim plays contributing to the carnival atmosphere.
From Haman’s dictated edict to Mordecai’s dictated edict, we see the words and response changing from fasting and death to praise and generosity. Mordecai’s recording of the events uses words of shalom (wellbeing and peace) for not just the Jews, but for their neighbours as well. The relief and reprieve provided to the Jews was a cause for sharing hospitality and caring for the poor.
The story of Esther ends with a nation living in peace with people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds prospering alongside one another. How different from the racial, ethnic and religious hatred stirred up by Haman! The Jews are still in exile, hence why, even though they celebrate, there is still no recorded mention of God. But they are still alive and God continues to show his grace and mercy to the nations through them.
This too is our celebration. As Christians, we have been grafted into the Jewish heritage: their history is our history, their God is our God. For the ultimate way in which God fulfilled his promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him, was through Abraham’s descendant, Jesus.
So, as we come to the end of this series, what have we learnt from looking at this story of Esther?
God is faithful: he
keeps his promises
God kept his promise to Abraham, not just in saving the Jews from genocide by the Persians, but by sending his son Jesus, that both Jews and Gentiles might know of God’s grace and mercy. God is trustworthy because he keeps his promises.
God is present and at
work
God isn’t mentioned in the book of Esther, but his fingerprints are all over this story! There are way too many coincidences of events and timings, way too many references to the ways in which God has worked in the past, and many indications that God’s work behind the scenes ensures the continued lineage of his people.
Does God always rescue his people? We know from history that he doesn’t – there are numerous examples of martyrs, of people persecuted to the point of death for the sake of the gospel. In 1 Peter, we are encouraged to ‘rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.’[1] So, God will not always save our physical lives, but in the pain and hardship that entails, we can find joy because the glory of Christ will be revealed. God did not rescue his Son from dying, but he did raise him from the dead!
God is with those who
are persecuted for his sake, for when they are persecuted, he is persecuted. He
is with us always, even to the end of the age.[2] We
can rejoice that the Lord is King!
Hymn
Verse 1
Rejoice, the Lord is King
Your Lord and King adore
Mortals, give thanks and sing
And triumph evermore
>Lift up your heart, lift up your voice
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
Verse 2
Jesus, the Saviour, reigns
The God of truth and love
When he had purged our stains
He took his seat above
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
Verse 3
His kingdom cannot fail
He rules o’er earth and heaven
The keys of death and hell
Are to our Jesus given
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
Verse 4
He sits at God’s right hand
Till all his foes submit
And bow to his command
And fall beneath his feet
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
Verse 5
Rejoice in glorious hope
Jesus, the Judge, shall come
And take his servants up
To their eternal home
We then shall hear
The archangel’s voice
The trump of God
Shall sound, rejoice!
Prayer
Saving and healing
God,
you have promised
that those who have
died with Christ shall live with him:
grant us grace to be continually
thankful for all you have done for us,
and in that
thankfulness to be eager to serve and live for others,
so that we and all
your children may rejoice in your salvation;
through Jesus Christ
our Lord,
who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for
ever. Amen.
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