Esther 3

“Haman was furious when he saw that Mordekhai was not kneeling and bowing down to him. However, on learning what people Mordekhai belonged to, it seemed like a waste to lay hands on Mordekhai alone. Rather he decided to destroy all of Mordekhai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole of Achashverosh’s kingdom.” Esther 3:5-6  (CJB)

We live in difficult times, and our nation has an unclear financial future.  As anyone who has ever had money in the stock market knows, there are no sure bets on Wall Street!  Israel was about to learn this lesson the hard way.

Life for the Jews in exile could not have been much better.  One of their own was queen (although most would not have been aware of that because of the secret pact in chapter 2:1, 20).  Furthermore, one of their own had just rescued the King and was sure to be rewarded for that heroic act.  There is an old saying: Rising tide lifts all boats.  What that means (in the context of chapter 2) is that when a couple of Jews are favored in the King’s eyes, it should raise the profile and prospects of the Jewish community as a whole.  Humanly speaking, they were as secure as any exiled people could be.  All of that, however, would quickly change.  The Jewish “stock” on the “Susa Board of Exchange,” which in chapter 2 reaches all-time heights, plummets in chapter 3 to all-time lows.

Chapter 3 begins easily enough – a promotion of one individual and a seemingly insignificant act of defiance on the part of another.  However, the chapter ends with the shocking revelation of an entire nation of people being placed under a death sentence.  It is a death sentence that has been repeated throughout the generations and tragically will be repeated again.

“In the first month, the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of Achashverosh, they began throwing Pur (that is, they cast lots) before Haman every day and every month until the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.  Then Haman said to Achashverosh, ‘There is a particular people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom.  Their laws are different from those of every other people; moreover, they don’t observe the King’s laws.  It doesn’t befit the King to tolerate them.  If it please the King, have a decree written for their destruction; and I will hand over 330 tons of silver to officials in charge of the King’s affairs to deposit in the royal treasury.”  Esther 3:7-9 (CJB)

The entire Jewish people are made to pay for a crime committed by one of their own.  Ironically, the same individual, who in chapter 2 is instrumental in bringing about the meteoric rise in Jewish stock, now becomes the reason for its dramatic drop.

Looking at the big picture, it is clear that Satan is positioning His people while God is positioning His.  That’s not to say that good & evil exist in some balance.  God has no equal, evil or otherwise.  It simply reminds us to expect Satan always to attempt to foil the Lord’s plans.

But fear not!  Greater is He who is in us!!  1 John 4:4