June 1-4, 2010

So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus to his royal palace in the tenth month which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. Esther 2:16

This week we have the opportunity to spend time with a very special woman. Esther’s story is one of the most favored among the Jews. Although God is not mentioned once in the book, it is obvious He is in control of the events.

Often when we hear Esther’s story, we fail to understand where it fits in the timetable of events. This is when a timeline really helps to bring perspective. Although there are different authorities that come up with different years, I believe the following time-line is pretty accurate.

605 BC – This would have been about the time that Daniel was taken into captivity

598/597 BC – Jehoiachin was deported to Babylon

587/586 BC – The destruction of the Temple

562-560 BC – Evil Merodach releases Jehoiachin

559-530 BC – Cyrus II (The Great) permits the Jews to return to Jerusalem and Judah

522-486 BC – Darius allows the Temple to be rebuilt

515 BC – The Temple is dedicated

486 – 465 BC – Xerxes reigned – This is believed to be the king Esther was married to.

It has been over seventy years since Evil Merodach released Jehoiachin and the Jews began to return to their homeland. The Temple in Jerusalem has been completed for thirty years, but the wheel of progress for the Jews has been rather slow. Although the people of Judah were taken captive and were exiles in Babylon, they had become comfortable in their captivity. More had chosen to remain in the land of bondage, than to endure the difficulties of rebuilding in their God-given territory. They had become comfortable with the Babylonian way of life and their limited success in the land. The Jews adaptation to Babylonian culture is quite evident in the book of Esther. Take note of the names of the month mentioned throughout the book. Before the Babylonian captivity, months were referred to by numbers – example: the fourteenth day of the first month. By Esther’s time, the months of the year had taken on the names of the Babylonian calendar. This information is an important clue to major events during the Passion of Christ - but let’s not get ahead of ourselves! It wasn’t that the Jews had quit being Jewish, but they had assimilated to Babylonian life and were not about to give it up. I hope you see the parallel to many Christians today!

Since we have a tendency to skim over dates given in Biblical accounts, perhaps we have missed the time span of Esther’s story. Let me give you a general time-line and ask you a few questions.

519 BC – Birth of Xerxes. Xerxes was assassinated in 465. He lived 54 years.

486 – 465 BC – Xerxes reigned – This meant that Xerxes reigned approximately 21 years. The following events are given in relationship to the beginning of his reign.

3^rd year – Xerxes held his banquet for princes, attendants, army officers, nobles and governors of provinces. This party lasted 180 days – that’s about six months!!!

7^th year, 10^th month (Tebeth) – After a year of preparation, Esther has her night with the king. This event would have taken place a few months after Xerxes returned in disgrace from his war with the Greeks. Xerxes would have ordered the roundup of virgins from the empire in a time when he was relatively successful in battle. But by the time he came home, he was struggling with the agony of defeat. Perhaps he used this pursuit for a queen to squelch his great disappointment.

12^th year, from the 1^st month to the 12^th month – Haman casts lots to ascertain when he should punish the all Jews.

13^th year, 13^th day of the 1^st month – Scribes are summoned to take Haman’s dictation and prepare the letters which were to be taken throughout the empire decreeing the annihilation of the Jews.

14^th year, 13^th day, 12^th month – This was the day that had been decreed for the destruction of the Jews. Instead, it became the day of the Jews great victory over their enemies.

Now that you have all this information, you can see that Esther’s story was not a short tale. Let me just add another small tidbit and then let’s see if we can learn a bit more about this extraordinary woman. A young virgin of rare beauty would have been snatched up pretty quickly in that time period. We can pretty much surmise that Esther would have been around 15 to 16 years of age at the most. Using this as a guideline, let’s see if we can’t become more acquainted with this daughter of destiny.

Questions:

1. How old was Xerxes when he began to reign?
2. How old was Xerxes when he took Esther as his queen?
3. How many years after Esther became queen did Haman cast lots and plan his annihilation of the Jews?
4. About how old would she have been?
5. How many years had Esther been queen when the Jews had victory over their enemies?
6. About how old was she?
7. How old was Esther when Xerxes was assassinated?

Hopefully, you will do the math and become a bit more aware of who Esther really was. But the story isn’t really complete until we understand the root of Haman’s irrational hatred. It was Mordecai who had slighted him, but it says

When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or show him respect, he was filled with rage. He learned of Mordecai’s nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes. Esther 3:6

This was definitely more than a personal vendetta with one man; Haman was angry at a whole race! But why? We find our first clue in Esther 3:1

Some time later King Xerxes promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite over all the other nobles, making him the most powerful official in the empire.

Haman was an Agagite! Our second clue is found in Esther 2:5

Now there was a Jew in Susa the capital whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite,

These two pieces of information tell us all we need to know! Some feuds never go away. To understand the heart of Haman’s hatred for the Jews and Mordecai’s disdain for Haman, we have to go back hundreds of years in time, clear back to Saul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin and the first king of Israel (Whose father was also named Kish!). The account can be found in I Samuel 15. Through the prophet Samuel, God had told Saul to go and utterly destroy the Amalekites. Because of the overwhelming sinfulness of these people he was ordered to kill every man, woman, child and animal that belonged to them. Instead of following orders, Saul kept Agag, the king of the Amalekites alive. Samuel confronts Saul and in the end Samuel hews down Agag. Haman was a descendant of Agag, king of the Amalekites. Because Saul failed to fulfill God’s command, the line of Agag survived. Not only was it a Jew who would not bow down – it was a Benjamite!!! When Haman found out Mordecai’s genealogical roots, he was determined to do to the Jews what God had intended Saul to do to the Amalekites. This is not so shocking when you consider that the tension in the mid-east today goes clear back to Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael. Some wars will never die until the Prince of Peace brings the victory!

Although in previous journeys through the Word you may have already met Esther, Mordecai, Haman and the rest of the characters in this narrative, I hope you will slow your pace and take time to look into their eyes. You may find yourself closer to them this time than on your last trip and experience greater change in your life as a result.