Esther 10:1-3 – “The Books”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹And the king Xerxes set a tax upon the land and the islands of the sea, ²and the all of the doings of his authority and his might and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai whom the king had caused to grow, the not of them ones written upon the book of the matters of the days of the kings of Media and Persia, ³because Mordecai the Jew [was] second to King Xerxes and great to the Jews and one pleased to the many of his brothers, one seeking good to his people and speaking peace to the all of his descendants.

Here we have again an illustration of Jesus’ truth, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11) and Prov. 29:23: “A man's pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.” The “star” of our show from the beginning has been our beautiful Esther. The man Mordecai has only had what might be called a “supporting role.” Yet, who gets honored in the last three verses of the book? Mordecai. And how did this man Mordecai arrive at such honor? Is it not simply by looking after the interests of others? He’s the man who took little Esther into his home. He’s the man who risked his life to save the king. Isn’t it interesting the last words of the whole book are, “because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.” I wish the whole world could look and see that, in a sense, Mordecai never changed. He was a good man doing good and he always was. And as the Proverb says, “One man gives and receives only more.”

Commentators notice the opening words, “And the king Xerxes set a tax upon the land and the islands of the sea....” They ponder the question of “What does that have to do with anything?” Good question, actually. I would suggest the statement, that a certain king imposed a tax over his entire kingdom (and add in a few islands to boot!), was an ancient way of simply emphasizing his greatness. No one wants to pay taxes. A king must have the kingdom firmly in his grasp to be able to exact taxes from literally every corner of that kingdom. And then what is the point of that, but to emphasize Mordecai’s greatness? First, the ancient writer noted just how powerful this king was, then he would have us know Mordecai was second to such a great king. The point, I think is simply to emphasize Mordecai’s greatness.

Also notice in v.2 where the writer observes all the greatness of Xerxes and of Mordecai, then says “Are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia?” And where are those annals today? Largely lost. Buried in the sand somewhere. So, there was a time when, if you wanted to know about Mordecai’s greatness, you could go read about it in these annals of the kings of Media and Persia…or you could read about him in an obscure little scroll called the book of Esther.

Which one survived? Isn’t it interesting how the Bible has survived literally millennia, while all the “annals” of all the “great” men of this world have largely turned back to dust? As Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away” (Matt. 24:35). Isaiah said, “The Word of our God shall stand forever” (40:8). People have mocked at the account of Esther and insisted, “We find no record of Mordecai in the ancient writings!” Of course, what they don’t tell you is that, at best, all they can find is a few obscure remnants of those writings.

The plain, simple fact is that our Bible is the most reliable and enduring record of the events even of this “great” king named Xerxes, not to mention Mordecai and Esther. People foolishly act and write like the “ancient” records are some kind of exhaustive and infallible record of history. Yeah, and the sky is green too. Sorry, but I’ll base my life on the Rock of God’s Word. Ancient writings, even intact, are at best only someone’s interpretation of history, while at worst, they are the manipulated propaganda of kings and courtesans who never hesitated to re-write history when it suited their ends (just like they do today). The only source of absolute truth in our world is our Bible. The Bible is true truth.

Then we should mention there are “books” being written far more important than any king’s “annals.” We read in Rev. 20:12, “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the Throne, and the books were opened…The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” Kings and everyone else should know that, in fact, their history is being recorded. However, this history is based on the facts and will not submit to re-writing and manipulation. It is and will be the truth of all they really did, all they really said, all what were really their motives. Those are the books that ought to concern the human race. Fortunately for all of us, there is one other book, called “the Lamb’s Book of Life.” Oh yes, there will be an accurate record of my life, but my eternity won’t be based on what I did or didn’t do (which, if we’re honest, is a scary thought!). What matters is whether my name is written in that Book of Life and for that, we have Jesus to thank that we are invited freely to join that happy throng. Smart people figure out which “books” they ought to be most concerned about!

Isn’t it interesting too that this book of Esther ends with the recognition of Mordecai that “he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of the Jews”? Now there’s a record the whole world should read. How the entire world would be transformed overnight if only its leaders read those few simple words and took them to heart! Jesus Himself came “not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Our world would throw away the Bible, yet its truth—even one simple verse—would change it all for the better. It’s too bad it has to be that way. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord!”

Once again, we are left with the realization we cannot change this world, but then we can change us. Whether we’re kings or just parents, CEO’s or principals or just in charge of the office football pool, may we all be determined ourselves to be like Mordecai and Esther—to be people like Jesus, who live and do whatever they do sincerely trying to be a blessing to the people around us.