Part 3 Conclusion Esther - A Book in the Bible - and Purim

Haman gloried in his riches, his promotions, and that he alone was invited to a banquet with the king and queen. Because of his irritation with Mordecai the Jew because he would not bow down to him, Haman took the advice of his wife and friends, and caused gallows to be made to hang Mordecai. The next day, Haman had a second invitation to a banquet with the queen and king.

That night, the king could not sleep. So, he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles to be read to him. In the chronicles it was found written, that Mordecai had told of two of the king's chamberlains, who tried to kill king Ahasuerus. When the king asked, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? They responded, Nothing has been done for him.

"And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king's house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him." - Esther 6:4 KJV

The king asked Haman, what shall be done to the man the king wants to honor? Of course, Haman thought, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?

So Haman said, dress him in the kings royal apparel, put him on the kings horse with the royal crown on his head, and let one of the king's most noble princes lead him through the streets, proclaiming, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.

"Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken." - Esther 6:10 KJV

After this, Haman went home mourning, telling his wife and friends all that had befallen him that day.

Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.

Just then, it was time for Haman to go to the banquet.

Again, the king asked Esther, What is thy petition?

"Then Esther the queen answered and said…Let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request: for we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish." - Esther 7:3-4 KJV

"Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?" - Esther 7:5 KJV

"And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman." - Esther 7:6 KJV

The king went outside in a rage. Meanwhile, Haman pleaded for his life with Queen Esther.

"Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face." - Esther 7:8 KJV

"And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon." - Esther 7:9 KJV

The king gave Esther Haman’s house, and upon hearing that Mordecai was Esther’s cousin, put him in the position that Haman had held, giving Mordecai Haman’s ring of authority.

Esther once again spake before the king, falling at his feet and begging him with tears to stop the evil plot of Haman the Agagite (Haman was a descendant of Amalek) against the Jews. Esther requested that the king reverse the letters of Haman, written to destroy the Jews throughout the king’s provinces.

"Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews. Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring: for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse." - Esther 8:7-8 KJV

He wrote from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.

"Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey," - Esther 8:11 KJV

This the Jews did, but they laid not their hands on the prey.

"And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far, to stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly, as the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor. ... And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed." - Esther 9:20-22, 28 KJV

To this day, the Jewish people remember these days of Purim, many participating in the “fast of Esther” (dawn-to-nightfall fast held on the day before Purim) and the reading of the entire book of Esther (Megillah) in the synagogue on the day of Purim. There is celebration by children, as well as adults, masquerading as Mordecai, Haman, Queen Esther, and King Ahasuerus. There are gifts of food, charity, feasting, and merriment, as the Jewish people recall that God turned their sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day. Purim was celebrated this past week, beginning Wednesday night through Thursday. (For more information on Purim: https://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/default_cdo/jewish/Purim.htm)