#Esther10 — Esther: The Story of Purim

Esther 10:1-3 NLT

We are continuing with our series, “Esther: The Story of Purim”. Part 18 is called, “Living in the Blessing”, and we will discuss how what the enemy meant for evil, God turned for good. The question we will ask today is, what is God’s reward to mankind when His covenant people are blessed?

1 King Xerxes imposed a tribute throughout his empire, even to the distant coastlands.

Imposing a tax:

In our very first blog about King Xerxes (Esther 1) we found that he was a man who surrounded himself with the richest of the rich. But the percentage of famously wealthy people was small compared to the population of the Empire. Yes, Susa, the capital, was dripping in wealth and housed the most powerful army in the world at that time! However, the rest of the provinces of the empire had their main street with shops, the sector where the elite lived, and then, the rest of the people.

Up until now, no tax was required of the people who lived in the distant coast lands. This means that the people living in those areas were under tax exempt status because they were the poorest of the poor and you can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip.

The Economy of the Persian Empire:

After the entire Haman debacle and the reversal of all of his evil plans to annihilate the Jews, the economy of the entire Empire flipped! King Xerxes finally saw the light and passed laws that protected and saved the Jews from their enemies. “The Blessing” of Abraham and his descendants was “imposed” upon all of the people!

“Whoever blesses Israel will be blessed,

And whoever curses Israel will be cursed.” Genesis 12:3; Numbers 24:9.

God was “required” to bless the entire land. His blessing of prosperity began with the king, reached throughout the inner cities and stretched out to the distant coast lands. As the people were blessed with wealth and prosperity, the king was able to tax the citizens in order to supply money for the government treasury.

2 His great achievements and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Media and Persia.

Great achievements:

Xerxes wrote his own autobiography and recorded all of his accomplishments for posterity sake. The annals were meant to be kept forever and read aloud to instruct all future generations.

Placing credit where credit was due, King Xerxes gave prominence to Mordecai for his great acts of heroism, bravery, loyalty, and accomplishments. KIng Xerxes postures himself humbly before Mordecai because he realized that this man had tremendous favor with the most powerful God in the universe and he intended to remain on His good side.

Mordecai not only saved the king’s life, but saved the lives of the Jewish people, and the lives of all the citizens of the Empire. God’s retribution that would have come with the annihilation of the Jews would have been disastrous and the world would have come to an end of itself without the intervention of Mordecai.

3 Mordecai the Jew became the prime minister, with authority next to that of King Xerxes himself. He was very great among the Jews, who held him in high esteem, because he continued to work for the good of his people and to speak up for the welfare of all their descendants.

A good and faithful servant:

Xerxes also realized that Mordecai, unlike Haman, was a trusted and loyal subject with pure intentions. Truth was valued in the Persian Empire but Xerxes thought it could only be achieved by wine and drugs. Mordecai spoke truth without fear because he was backed by the God of the Universe, distinguishing him from all other of the richest and most prominent men in the entire empire! It wasn’t just “good business” to make him Prime Minister, it was the will of his God and it was in Xerxes best interest to comply.

Respect:

Tremendous favor surrounded Mordecai. He was respected by the king, by the citizens of the empire, and by his very own people, the Jews. What an unusual display of favor! Not too long before this, Mordecai concealed his Jewish bloodline and the public was now aware of his secret. But God’s favor covered his shame and the people respected him for standing up for them and for representing the will of God.

Prophetically speaking:

Prophetically, Mordecai was looking ahead into the future. He believed God’s promise to send the Messiah to save the people from their sins. It was this hope that caused him to love his people and to work for their good and for the preservation of their descendants. It was this hope that led him to train Esther, who was the next generation, to oversee the continued peace and prosperity of the Jews long after he left this earth. Mordecai lived the rest of his life towards that end.

Let’s pray:

Father,

Like Mordecai, we too must look ahead to the future and believe the Scriptures. We must hold on to faith as we wait for the fulfillment of the promise that Jesus the Messiah will return to earth once more. It is this hope that encourages us to love all people, to work together to fulfill God’s will individually and corporately, and to spread His goodness to all the earth. By precept and example, we must train our future generations towards that end. In Jesus name, Amen.