This is a part of a sermon series in the book of Esther. You can watch more here.
Introduction
I spent most of my career managing a food manufacturing business, which my wife and I started.
As we worked on this venture, we hired a company which helped us with the sales and marketing
of our product. I remember once, this company had a dinner party, where they invited all the
CEO’s of the companies they worked with. Since we were a client, I attended as well. At this
point, most of their clients were significantly larger than we were, so it was a good opportunity
for me to meet people and hear about the experiences they’ve had in building their businesses.
As I talked with these CEO’s of various companies, something struck me. These were
individuals with different personalities, with diverse backgrounds and distinct accomplishments.
And yet they shared some pronounced common traits. Each was smoothly articulate, ambitiously
driven, confidently self-assured, overtly prideful, and acutely focused on self-interest. I
remember thinking, these people are so utterly unique and yet so fascinatingly similar.
I guess that is not all that surprising, because aren’t those the type of people who succeed in our
world today? The ones who sit at the top of the pyramid, the pinnacles of power, the luxuries of
wealth. The articulate, the ambitious, the accomplished, the confident, the proud. The success
stories of our time. The exalted ones of our age.
We also know that most of us do not belong in that privileged group. Most of us are not quite so
articulate or accomplished or confident. Most of us are trying to do the best we can, battling
through the challenges of daily life, doing our jobs, keeping track of our finances, helping the
people around us when we can. What is our position in life? What does this world have for us?
This subject, of who comes out on top, who are the blessed ones of the world, is a topic that
God’s word addresses directly. A theme which surfaces throughout the Bible is that the ones who
appear to be on top, are not necessarily on top. That is because God is a God of reversals. He is a
God who turns things upside down.
During Jesus’s life on earth, he said some pretty shocking things. In Luke 6:20-26, Jesus said:
– Blessed are you who are poor
– Blessed are you who hunger now
– Blessed are you who weep now
– Blessed are you when people hate you and exclude you and insult you
And then he said
– Woe to you who are rich
– Woe to you who are well fed now
– Woe to you who laugh now
– Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you
Do you know how shocking those statements were to Jesus’s listeners? How opposed to logic?
How counter-cultural? Because in the ancient world, as well as in our modern world, everyone
believed that the blessed ones are the rich, and the well-fed, and the laughing, and the well-liked.
But Jesus said that the kingdom of God is at hand. And in this new kingdom, things are going to
be opposite of what we think. Those who are poor and suffering as they follow God are the ones
who are blessed. Those who are rich and flourishing as they drive for self-gain are the ones who
are doomed. God is a God of reversals, where the last will be first and the first last.
And this is not a truth that emerges only with Jesus’s teaching. We see it throughout the Old
Testament. God reversing things, where the humble triumphed over the proud, where the
persecuted overcame the oppressor, where mourning transformed into rejoicing. God worked
with his people in such ways throughout salvation history, preparing them and pointing them
towards the Kingdom of Heaven that is to come.
And we see the God of reversals in the book of Esther, especially in chapter 8, which we are
going to look at today. Before we look at our passage, let’s start with a word of prayer.
The Humble Triumphs Over the Proud
We are studying Esther chapter 8 today. Let’s begin by reading the first two verses.
Read Esther 8:1–2 1 On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the enemy of the
Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had disclosed what he
was to her. 2 The king took off his signet ring which he had taken away from Haman, and gave it
to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
At this point, Haman, the enemy of the Jews, had been executed. Persian law stipulated that all
the property of a convicted criminal goes to the king. There is irony here, that King Ahasuerus
gave Haman’s property to Queen Esther, who was a Jew, the people Haman hated and tried to
destroy. Not only that, Esther set Mordecai, Haman’s mortal enemy, over Haman’s property.
In addition, the king gave his signet ring, which he had taken away from Haman to Mordecai.
The one who had the king’s signet ring can issue edicts and commands in the king’s name, with
the king’s authority. Power over the kingdom was transferred from Haman to Mordecai.
We see in these verses a great reversal which God had brought about. Remember, Mordecai was
a Jew, a people of low position in the Persian Empire, whose nation had been destroyed. In fact,
Jews were so belittled in the kingdom, Mordecai instructed Esther not to reveal her heritage
when she entered the king’s harem (2:10). Mordecai himself had no position or power. He was
excluded from the king’s court. He sat at the king’s gate, even during the banquet to celebrate
Queen Esther (2:19).
The one thing that stood out about Mordecai was that he refused to bow down and pay homage
to Haman. Mordecai refused because he was a Jew, a people who paid homage only to God (3:4).
In contrast to Mordecai, Haman was the most important, most power official in the empire,
second only to the king. He was elevated by the king to be above all other princes of the
kingdom (3:2). He was a man of great wealth and power, with a swollen sense of pride to match.
His sense of pride was so inflated, he disdained at merely punishing Mordecai for not showing
proper submission. He had the audacity and sense of self-importance to plot the killing of all the
Jews in the vast empire (3:6). His own ego was so important to him, he was willing to spend a
huge amount of his own money to murder a large population just to satisfy his own vanity.
What we see here is God performing a classic biblical reversal. Proverbs 16:18 warned, “ 18 Pride
goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.” Likewise, Jesus said in Matt.
23:12, “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be
exalted.”
Yet, the reversal we see in Esther was inconceivable in human terms in the ancient world. The
most powerful noble in the empire sought to destroy an insignificant foreigner. And the foreigner
ended up replacing the noble in power and position. The reversal of conditions between Haman
and Mordecai, the humbling of the exalted and the exalting of the humble, not only demonstrated
God’s control of human affairs, but also revealed God’s inclination to reverse human affairs.
So often, whether consciously or subconsciously, we value self-assurance, ambition,
accomplishment, position, prestige, power, and wealth. We see these as the marks of success, as
the measures of a man. When in fact, God is the only true judge and he sees the heart, rather than
the outward trappings of earthly success. God values humility, God values dependence, God
values selflessness.
Ultimately, only what God values matter. Not only because we live to please God, but also
because God will impose his values in the kingdom to come. That is why there will be reversal.
God is not overturning human order just for the sake of stirring things up. The last will be first
and the first last because that reflects what God values: humility above pride, dependence above
self-sufficiency, selflessness above self-advancement.
It is so difficult for us to question and overturn the world’s perspective, which has been ingrained
in us by the society we live in. My college roommate lives in the Seattle area. They have an only
child, a daughter they dote upon. While she was growing up, they sent her to a good private
school in the Seattle area. It turns out, Bill Gates also sends his kids to that school. My friend’s
daughter became best friends with one of the Gates’s daughters. As a result, she went on trips
with the Gates family flying in private jets and helicopters. And my friend and his wife have
been invited over to dinner at the Gates’s home multiple times. He tells us about these dinners
with Bill and Melinda Gates. And we are so impressed.
But we need to ask, why should we be so impressed? Bill Gates is the one who should be
impressed if he got invited to dinner at your house or my house. Yes, he is the owner of a multi-
billion-dollar fortune and the founder of a trillion-dollar company. But we are sons and daughters
of the Most High God. The Creator of the universe, the Ruler of all things. We are the ones who
will be exalted in the coming kingdom to rule with Christ. Ultimately, whose position and
blessings are more impressive?
It is so difficult for us to hold on to this heavenly perspective, because it involves the unseen
rather than the seen. That’s why the reversal of circumstances between Haman and Mordecai
packs such a powerful message for us, applies so aptly to our lives. The most powerful noble of
the vast empire, the possessor of vast power and wealth, the recipient of endless honor and
homage, the one drunk with pride and singly focused on self-interest was take down by God and
replaced with a lowly Jew, who sat at the gate, who was mainly concerned with the fate of his
people. Through this reversal account, God is reminding us of the qualities which are important
to him. God is previewing for us, pointing our view forward, to the prospects to the kingdom to
come. May this perspective inform and shape how we live today.
Let’s continue with story of Esther.
The Persecuted Overcomes the Oppressor
So after Haman had been eliminated, Esther and Mordecai were personally safe and secure.
However, the plight of their people had not changed. Remember, Haman, using the king’s signet
ring, had appointed a day, the 13 th day of the 12 th month, when their enemies could gather and
slaughter all the Jews, including women and children. That decree was still in place, because in
Persian law, what had been instituted in the king’s name cannot be revoked.
So Queen Esther pleaded to King Ahasuerus. She said:
Read Esther 8:6 6 “For how can I endure to see the calamity which will befall my people, and
how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?”
In reply, the king commands Esther and Mordecai:
Read Esther 8:8 8 “Now you write to the Jews as you see fit, in the king’s name, and seal it with
the king’s signet ring; for a decree which is written in the name of the king and sealed with the
king’s signet ring may not be revoked.”
Since he could not just revoke the first decree, Mordecai authored a counterbalancing one. It is
interesting to compare Mordecai’s decree with Haman’s decree.
Haman’s Decree
Read Esther 3:12 12 Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first
month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to the king’s satraps, to the governors who
were over each province and to the princes of each people, each province according to its script,
each people according to its language, being written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed
with the king’s signet ring.
Mordecai’s Decree
Read Esther 8:9 9 So the king’s scribes were called at that time in the third month (that is, the
month Sivan), on the twenty-third day; and it was written according to all that Mordecai
commanded to the Jews, the satraps, the governors and the princes of the provinces which
extended from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to every province according to its script, and to
every people according to their language as well as to the Jews according to their script and
their language.
Haman’s Decree
Read Esther 3:13 13 Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroy, to kill and
to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth
day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder.
Mordecai’s Decree
Read Esther 8:11 11 In them the king granted the Jews who were in each and every city the right
to assemble and to defend their lives, to destroy, to kill and to annihilate the entire army of any
people or province which might attack them, including children and women, and to plunder their
spoil,
Haman’s Decree
Read Esther 3:14 14 A copy of the edict to be issued as law in every province was published to all
the peoples so that they should be ready for this day.
Mordecai’s Decree
Read Esther 8:13 13 A copy of the edict to be issued as law in each and every province was
published to all the peoples, so that the Jews would be ready for this day to avenge themselves on
their enemies.
You can see the language regarding Haman’s decree being echoed by the description of
Mordecai’s degree. This is an intentional literary device utilized by the author of the Book of
Esther. The author is using repetition of words to highlight how the two decrees corresponded to
each other, how the second decree counteracted the first. The author is emphasizing the theme of
reversal in the two events. Haman, initiated the chain of events aimed at the annihilation of the
Jewish people. God, through Mordecai, reversed the circumstances which would result in the
Jews destroying their enemies.
A side note I want to point out. Read Esther 8:11 11 In them the king granted the Jews who were in each and every city the right
to assemble and to defend their lives, to destroy, to kill and to annihilate the entire army of any
people or province which might attack them, including children and women, and to plunder their
spoil,
Some people take offense at verse because it appears that Mordecai is sanctioning the killing of
children and women. But that is actually a misreading of the text. In the original language, the
clause literally says:
“to assemble and to defend their lives, to destroy, to kill and to annihilate the entire army of any
people or province which might attack them children women, and to plunder their spoil,
“Them children women” are just three words in a row, without any punctuation or words
between them. Them children women are all objects of the word attack. The meaning is not that
the Jews are to kill the attackers and the attackers’ children and the attackers’ women. The
meaning is that the Jews are to kill the attackers who are attacking the Jews and the Jewish
children and the Jewish women.
The NIV clarifies the meaning by translating it in this way:
Esther 8:11 (NIV) 11 The king’s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and
protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province
who might attack them and their women and children, and to plunder the property of their
enemies.
God reversed Haman’s edict to annihilate the Jews with Mordecai’s edict for the Jews to defend
themselves and kill their enemies. This is also an inconceivable reversal. The Jews were at the
bottom of the totem pole of people groups at that time. For one day, they were allowed to join
together and kill their enemies instead of being killed. It is God reversing events and protecting
his covenant people when their enemies were intent on destroying them. The persecuted
triumphed over their oppressors.
You can see why this account has such a powerful impact among the Jews. Theirs is a nation
which has been destroyed multiple times. They are a people who repeatedly faced annihilation.
But this story reminds the Jews, that as long as they stay faithful to God, God will reverse the
plans of their enemies. God will deliver them from the threats of decimation.
It is also a reminder for us as God’s people today. Regardless of how hopeless the Christian
cause may appear in our society today, regardless of how ruthlessly Christians are persecuted in
various nations. God is a God who reverses circumstances which appear hopeless. God is a God
who delivers his people. Our call is to faithfully follow him and wait for him to act. Our ultimate
hope is on the final reversal. When the powers of this world will all be overturned. And the
kingdom of heaven, the rule of Christ, the blessing of God’s people will spread throughout
creation. The reversal in the Book of Esther, of the persecuted overcoming the oppressors, is a
beacon of hope, a forward pointer, to the promised reversal in favor of God’s people in the
kingdom to come.
Let’s continue with our passage
Mourning Transforms into Rejoicing
We come to the final reversal in this chapter, where mourning turned into joy. Remember what
happened when Haman’s edict was first announced earlier:
Read Esther 3:15–4:3 15 The couriers went out impelled by the king’s command while the decree
was issued at the citadel in Susa; and while the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of
Susa was in confusion. 1 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put
on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly. 2
He went as far as the king’s gate, for no one was to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. 3 In
each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great
mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and
ashes.
Look at how the circumstances are reversed.
Read Esther 8:15–17 15 Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of
blue and white, with a large crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; and the city of
Susa shouted and rejoiced. 16 For the Jews there was light and gladness and joy and honor. 17 In
each and every province and in each and every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his
decree arrived, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many among
the peoples of the land became Jews, for the dread of the Jews had fallen on them.
Mordecai, who was covered in sackcloth and ashes, was instead dressed in royal robes and fine
linen. The city of Susa, rather than being in confusion, shouted and rejoiced. The Jews were
mourning, fasting, weeping, and wailing. Now they were filled with light and gladness and joy
and honor. Notice how the author overturns the four terms of anguish with the four terms of
gladness. Weeping is turned into rejoicing. Fasting is replaced with feasting and celebration.
I thought of other instances in the Bible, where mourning was turned into joy. I imagine what the
widow must have felt when Elijah revived her dead son or what Mary and Martha must have
experienced when Jesus called Lazarus out of his tomb. There must have been such rejoicing!
Jesus, predicting his death and resurrection, told his disciples, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you
will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned
into joy.” (John 16:20) It is only through the miraculous work of God, that death turns into life
and intense mourning turns into indescribable joy. And that is what the Jews experienced. They
faced certain death, the complete eradication of the whole population, because of Haman’s edict.
And they were brought back to life because of what God did through Esther and Mordecai.
We can hardly imagine the emotional extremes. The sudden transformation from despair and
wretchedness to joy and celebration. That is what happens when God steps in and turns things
around. And that is what every Christian will experience in the New Heaven and New Earth,
when Christ comes to dwell among his people.
God promises in Jeremiah 31:13 regarding the New Covenant,
13 “Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance, And the young men and the old, together, For I will
turn their mourning into joy. And will comfort them and give them joy for their sorrow.
And Revelation 21:4 says,
4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there
will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
We wonder at the complete and comprehensive turnaround. The Book of Esther gives us a
foretaste of that breathtaking reversal, the dramatic swing in circumstances and emotions, the
sudden and dramatic transformation from mourning into joy, which only God is capable of
enacting. That’s what the Jews experienced in the days of Esther. That’s what we look forward to
for ourselves at the time of Christ’s return.
Conclusion
We began this morning by referring to the world’s markers of success. How enticing are the
attractions of admiration and power and wealth. And the types of people who are succeeding in
the pursuit of such things. How they sit at the pinnacle of our society in position and wealth.
I go to San Diego regularly for my work and my wife Faith goes with me at times. When she is
there, we like to take walks around San Diego harbor. We see these huge, extravagant yachts tied
up against the dock where we often walk. And we see different ones each time we go by. We are
like, who can possibly own these things? And how come there are so many of them? It is
amazing the scale of wealth and luxury that is out there.
When we see such things around us, it can be difficult to maintain the proper perspective. It is so
easy to be sucked into pursuing what the world values. This attraction, this temptation of position
and wealth is not unique to our age. The author of Psalm 73 cries out:
Psalm 73:2-5 (NASB95)
2 But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling,
My steps had almost slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are no pains in their death,
And their body is fat.
5 They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like mankind.
When we see the proud prosper, it is easy for us to question God like the psalmist did. He
continued in verse 11 to 14.
Psalm 73:11-14 (NASB95)
11 They say, “How does God know?
And is there knowledge with the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
And always at ease, they have increased in wealth.
13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
And washed my hands in innocence;
14 For I have been stricken all day long
And chastened every morning.
Why are we living a life of following God, when the wicked are prospering so much? The
psalmist asks. It is not until he went to God for guidance that realization dawns upon him.
Psalm 73:16–18 (NASB95)
16 When I pondered to understand this,
It was troublesome in my sight
17 Until I came into the sanctuary of God;
Then I perceived their end.
18 Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
Psalm 73:23-24 (NASB95)
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
24 With Your counsel You will guide me,
And afterward receive me to glory.
The reversals we see in Esther reminds us of this same truth. Things are not all they appear. The
trajectory of events is not what we might think. It is not the proud who will continue to prosper.
It is not the lowly who will continue to be beat down.
The reversals in Esther serve as wakeup calls, warning us from joining the rat race for wealth,
providing us with hope as we wait for what God has prepared for us. It is difficult to remember at
times, but the humble, the dependent, the serving, are the ones who are truly blessed. Because
God is a God of reversals. God is looking for people who depend on him and trust him. God
wants people who selflessly serve others rather than strive for self-gain. These are the ones for
whom God is preparing his kingdom. These are the ones who will be received to glory.
So let us not be discouraged by the perceived lack of luxury or position in our lives. Let us not be
enticed by the attainments of the proud. Let us live joyful and contentment lives of dependence,
humility, and selflessness, as we wait for the ultimate reversal that will come with Christ’s return.
Let us pray.
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