Esther 9:16-23 – “Celebration”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁶And the other of the Jews which [were] in the provinces of the king assembled and stood upon their soul to rest from their enemies and to kill ones hating them seventy-five thousand and in the spoil they did not send out their hand, ¹⁷in the day of the thirteenth to the month of Adar and to rest in the fourteenth in it and to make it a day of feasting and gladness, ¹⁸and the Jews which [were] in Shushan were assembled in the thirteenth in it and in the fourteenth in it to rest in the fifteenth in it and to make it a day of feasting and gladness. ¹⁹Therefore, the Jews of the rural areas, ones dwelling in the villages of the rural areas, making the day of fourteenth in the month of Adar gladness and feasting and a good day and sending portions of a man to one another, ²⁰and Mordecai wrote the things the these and he sent letters to the all of the Jews which [were] in the all of the provinces of the king, Xerxes, the near and the far ones, ²¹to confirm upon them to be making the day of the fourteenth to the month of Adar and the day of the fifteenth in it in all of a year and a year, ²²according to the days which rested in them the Jews from ones hating them and the month which was turned to them from affliction to gladness and from mourning to a day of good to make them days of feasting and gladness and sending portions a man to one another and gifts to the poor ones, ²³and the Jews took [that] which they had begun to do and [that] which Mordecai had written to them.

This is a passage you would think is just presenting the facts of the story, however, if we pause and ponder on it, I think there are actually some interesting lessons we can glean from it. First, though, just a little “housekeeping.” We have here the fact that the Jews throughout the empire followed the decree very specifically, defended themselves on the 13^th of Adar, then rested on the 14th. The Jews in Susa, however, defended themselves on both the 13^th and 14^th, then rested on the 15^th. Why didn’t the rest of the Jews also defend themselves on the 14^th? First of all, if we look closely at 9:13, we’ll see that Esther’s request only included the Jews in Susa: “If it pleases the king, give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also…” And why would Esther limit her request to only the city of Susa?

The problem, I would suggest arises from the difficulties of communication in the ancient world. By the time Xerxes asks Esther, “What is your request,” they are at the end of the day. Even if Esther had wanted the extension to include all the Jews in the entire empire, there would have been no possible way to get that message to them. Horses can only run so fast. And even if you could get the message to some of the cities or villages reasonably nearby, then how do you get the information to all the homes? There is no nightly news. It would be one thing to send out an entire army of heralds to shout the news in all the streets of Susa. The minute you leave that city, especially at that hour, the communication becomes almost impossible. In Esther’s world, it wouldn’t have been realistic to ask for anything more and it certainly wouldn’t have been possible to implement any more. So you end up with this difference of days, and this question of, “So when do we celebrate?”

Then, a “for whatever it’s worth,” I notice it says in v.20, “Mordecai recorded these events…” Commentators down through the centuries have noticed this as well. Some dismiss it as simply referring to the immediate matters of this 13^th/14^th/15^th problem. Others would suggest it’s telling us that Mordecai is the author of this book itself. There is no possible way to know which is right, but I think I’ll add my own blathering to the cacophony: I think, in fact, that Mordecai is the author of this book of Esther. It would make perfect sense that, while he’s establishing an annual celebration of the whole matter, that he would write out an account of it all. In ages to come, the Jewish people will need not only a time to celebrate, but they’ll also need a factual record to repeatedly recount the events for which that celebration exists.

To support this assertion, it is true that today, some 2,500 years later, the reading of the book of Esther is a central part of the Jewish people’s celebration of their Purim holiday.

However, I would suggest that Mordecai’s penmanship at this point also explains why there is no mention of God in the entire book. If Mordecai, as Persia’s Prime Minister, is writing this as the “official” royal account, then it would be entirely inappropriate for him to garnish it with the kind of God-references we would expect in a book of our Bible.  The minute this thought occurs to me, I personally find it absolutely familiar. I can’t even guess how many times, as an engineer, I have been tasked with writing an account of some project, how it came about, how it was accomplished, and how it all ended up. In my own mind, I may see God in it all, but I would rarely ever even mention His name. It’s not a matter that I’m somehow “afraid” to bring it up. It simply isn’t appropriate. In this “world without God,” business is conducted oblivious to His presence, and it is usually appropriate to record the facts without faith references.

Just recently I was in a small city observing how badly they needed a new wastewater treatment plant. However, there is no way a few thousand people could come up with the millions of dollars it would cost. All I could do was pray for them. Then, suddenly, events transpired where the needed funding was made available and the project initiated. All along the way, we met one giant job-killing obstacle after another, yet we overcame each until finally the new plant was built, it was in operation, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony was planned to celebrate. I was asked to give an account of the project to the group. In my own mind and without the slightest question, I could see the hand of God in it all from beginning to end, yet I knew such references would be entirely inappropriate. I knew the mayor and many in the group to be devout Catholics and I might have even mentioned the Lord once in my conclusion, but I doubt it. It just simply isn’t appropriate.

Had I been giving the same speech to the believers who were involved in the project, we could have had a wonderful praise session together, however, what was called for was simply an account of the facts, and that is what I gave them. My suggestion is that is exactly what Mordecai has done. The book of Esther isn’t being written in Israel, it isn’t being written by a prophet or a priest, and it isn’t being written solely for the sake of the Jewish people. This is the royal account recorded on behalf of the king of a nation where our God simply does not exist. No one has to agree with me, but it seems patently obvious to me, this is exactly what is going on.

May I also inject (again) that I don’t necessarily think that is a bad thing either—to have this book in the Bible that so dramatically displays God’s providential care in a world that does not acknowledge Him, in a book that never so much as mentions His name. Once again, that is the world most of us have to live in. If you and I see God in our world, it will have to be because we ourselves see Him, not because anyone is pointing Him out along the way. Every other book of the Bible does exactly that—points Him out, attributes events to Him, acknowledges His presence, but not the book of Esther. In this book, you and I will have to live our faith just like Mordecai and Esther have to, in their “world without God.”

I would go so far as to suggest, out of all the books of the Bible, the book of Esther most accurately depicts your world and mine, and I would maintain that is because Mordecai wrote it for his “bosses” in the same kind of world, expressing things the same way you and I most of the time have to, whether it is at work, at school, in sports, or wherever.

Well, that’s enough blathering. Back to our story. Several lessons stand out to me. This is in fact, one of the great deliverances of the Bible, right next to the crossing of the Red Sea and the slaying of 185,000 Assyrians. The problem is, no matter how stupendous God’s deliverance may be, we are all very forgetful people. Mordecai is very wise to turn this celebration into an annual festival. He is very wise to write down this account which can be read year after year and to set very specific dates when the celebration is to occur.

Peter wrote “So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them…I think it is right to refresh your memory…and I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things” (II Pet. 1:12-15).

The Lord Himself did the same with the festivals Moses instituted, like the Passover. Not only that, but Jesus Himself did this when He instituted the Lord’s Supper. “Do this in remembrance of Me, for every time you drink this cup and eat this bread, you show the Lord’s death until He comes.” What more important “deliverance” ought we humans to celebrate than the Cross? Yet Jesus knew we are so forgetful, even that will be lost in the hurry-scurry and bustle of our busy lives, so He instituted this practice of “the Lord’s Supper.” It is then incumbent on each of us, every time we do partake of Communion, to deliberately remind ourselves of Jesus, of the sacrifice of His body and blood, and of our great deliverance. “Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin.” Mordecai wanted people to remember the deliverance of Purim. “Memory is the mother of gratitude.”

Then observe in v.22 how Mordecai included in his proclamation that the Jews should not only send gifts to one another but also to “the poor.” What a model of official sensitivity! While the Jewish people as a group are all “celebrating” this high holiday, Mordecai realizes there will be people so poor, they cannot. Have a feast? What about people who have no food? My mind goes immediately to our celebration of Christmas and how every year, while the rest of us are celebrating, there are people who cannot. That may be, like the Jews, a poverty problem, but in America it is perhaps more often a grief thing. There must be every year many, many people for whom Christmas is a reminder of their losses. Rather than joy, for many all the celebration is like rubbing salt in their wounds. I’m glad Mordecai didn’t overlook such people and neither should you or I. Lord give us all the hearts and the eyes to see when our own “good” days may be hurtful to someone else, to be sensitive enough to do whatever we can to at least try to make it a day of celebration for them too! Mordecai did. So should you and I.