The book of Esther provides spiritual insight, but it is also a historical account that the Jewish people can look back to – even today – and remember how God saved them from being wiped out 2500 years ago. Like the account of the Exodus from Egypt, these reminders help those of Jewish descent appreciate how amazing it is that they haven’t been destroyed or completely and permanently subjugated by other nations.
There are plenty of tribes, ethnicities, and peoples who are simply no longer around, whether they were wiped out by another nation, fell victim to a disease or disaster, or merely vanished from history. Despite multiple times when it looked like things were up for the descendants of Jacob (i.e., Israel), though, God has continued to preserve them throughout history, even to the present.
So, we can easily imagine (or observe, since the festival of Purim is still celebrated today) Jewish children hearing this passage being read later, and them appreciating the fact that Haman was not just the “son of Hammedatha, the Agagite” (see Esther 3:1) or an honored leader for King Xerxes, but Haman was indeed, “the enemy of the Jews”.
That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. The king took off his signet ring, which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman’s estate.
Esther 8:1-2 NIV
By the way, Haman didn’t have to be the enemy of the Jews. Remember that this all started when his pride made him want to get back at Mordecai (see Esther 3) and, in his arrogance, Haman decided that hurting Mordecai wasn’t enough: he would destroy Mordecai’s people throughout the Persian empire.
I think that this is a good reminder for all people. For each of us who have sinned (including me!), and failed to live up to God’s instructions, we don’t have to remain an enemy of God. God loved us – even while we were still sold out to sin – so much that He provided a way for us to return to Him (see Romans 5:6-11, especially verse 10). Even if you did something as evil as selling out an entire people to genocide (kind of like the apostle Paul, whose behavior before he met Jesus has some parallels to Haman’s), Jesus Christ came to pay for your sins. He lived a perfect life that He is willing to trade you for your mess.
I am grateful to have heard about that gift and to have accepted it, but you need to know that I didn’t earn salvation. I am not even remotely “good enough” to earn God’s salvation, but the same sacrifice that Jesus offered (of Himself) can save you just like it saved me, nor matter what you and I have done. Trust me when I say that trusting Him as your Savior makes all the difference, both in this life and the next.
Do you remember that the king, on multiple occasions, had offered Queen Esther up to half of his kingdom (see Esther 5:3, Esther 5:6, Esther 7:1-2)? Giving her Haman’s property was well within that scope, and seemed only fitting for her having brought this problem to the king’s attention. (Apparently, per Mangano, Haman’s property reverted back to the state, so the king could do with it what he wished.)
Now that Esther’s Jewish heritage is out in the open, she also shares her relationship to Mordecai (her cousin that had cared for her). Per Esther 6, the king had been told the previous night how Mordecai previously reported a plot against him, saving the king’s life. I think of this like when you find out that two of your friends are related, but you didn’t know it.
I suspect that Mordecai getting the king’s signet ring says that he was now in the leadership role that Haman had previously occupied. With that ring, Mordecai could send official correspondence on the king’s behalf (which would become important later).
Esther also puts Mordecai in charge of Haman’s “recently-transferred” property. (I guess that she already had the palace to live in…although she may have not been allowed to leave it) The body of Haman might have still been hanging in the yard (on the structure that Haman had built to kill Mordecai upon), so as people saw that and the news spread, the people of Susa would probably also hear that the queen and Mordecai were now owner and administrator of what had previously been Haman’s.
Things are turning favorably for Esther and Mordecai, but there’s still a matter of an existing decree for the extermination of the Jews. God’s hadn’t forgotten about the rest of His people, though. You are invited to read ahead in Esther 8-9, before we look into those events in the next article.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for July 21, 2024
References:
- The Lookout, July 21, 2024, © 2024 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The Bible and Archaeology, by J.A. Thompson, © 1962, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., p.166-171.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – Esther & Daniel, by Mark Mangano. © 2001 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 