Esther 2:5
In the fortress Shushan lived a Hebrew by the name of Mordecai, son of Jair son of Shimei son of Kish, a Benjaminite. Mordecai was foster father to his uncle's daughter, Hadassah (Esther), after her parents died. Scriptures record she was 'shapely and beautiful'. She, as well as Mordecai, were descendants of Benjamin and not of the tribe Judah = they were not 'Jews'.
Ahasuerus (Xerxus) was king over 127 provinces from India to Nubia/Ethiopia and his throne was in Shushan. It was in his 3rd year of kingship when he gave a banquet which lasted seven days with no restrictions on how much a man could drink.... they got drunk, very drunk. On the 7th day of this party King Ahasuerus wanted to show off his beautiful wife who refused his drunken chauvinistic requests which really pissed him off. He was convinced by his 7 ministers of Persia and Media to pass a royal edict that Queen Vashti would be banned from the king's presence and all her royal belongings he would keep to bestow on another deemed more worthy than she. Included in this edict the king makes it law that every man should wield authority in his own house, meaning wives should do whatever their husband demands of them.
This probably wasn't the first time the king put his beautiful wife on display but it was the last. We don't know much about Vashti but the only thing she did 'wrong' was refuse to be an object dangled in front of a banquet hall full of drunkards, her husband included. I think she had had enough of that.
Some time afterwards when Ahasuerus sobered up and his anger subsided he thought about what he had done against his wife. His servants came up with the idea of collecting 'beautiful young virgins' and bringing them to Shushan to add to his harem and he agreed. Over 12 months these new girls were cleaned up, made up and dressed up so that the king could choose one to replace Queen Vashti. Hadassah was one of them. She changed her name to Esther to hide the fact that she was a Hebrew. Mordecai kept tabs on his cousin even though he wasn't allowed inside the court of the harem.
At the end of the 12 months, the time prescribed on beautifying them (six months treated with myrrh oil and six months with perfumes and cosmetics) each girl would go to the king's chambers and spend the night, leaving in the morning and going to the other harem which was for concubines. They would not go again to the king unless he sent for them. It was Esther who gained the admiration of all who saw her. The king 'loved her' more than all the other virgins (who were probably no longer virgins) and she won the position of 'queen'.
As the story goes, Mordecai warns about the plan to kill the king by telling Esther who reported it to the king. The two who planned this were found out and impaled on stakes. Mordecai's actions were recorded in the book of annals. Later on Haman, an Agagite, was promoted to a high position where others would kneel and bow to him by order of the king. Everyone except Mordecai complied; he would not bow to him because Haman was a descendant of Agag who was an Amalekite.
Descendants of Agag were Amalekites
•Exodus 17:14-16; Yah says He will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven
•Deuteronomy 25:17-19; Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey after you left Egypt; how undeterred by fear of Yahweh he surprised you on the march when you were famished and weary and cut down all the stragglers who fell behind. Therefore when Yah grants safety from all you enemies around you in the promised land you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven - Do not forget.
•1 Samuel 15; Yah exacts a penalty for what Amalek did to Israel - that assault he made on them on the road on their way up from Egypt. Samuel relates this to Saul to go and attack Amalek and proscribe all that belongs to him. Spare no one but kill both man woman and child, cattle, sheep, camels and asses. Saul did everything except kill the king. He captured King Agag of Amalek. Saul disobeyed Yahweh and he and his troops only killed and proscribed what was cheap and worthless, keeping the best of everything for themselves.
Haman became enraged with Mordecai for being defiant, causing him to think about how to get rid of not only Mordecai but all the Hebrews in all the provinces. Ahasuerus had now been king for 12 years when Haman brought to his attention to certain people scattered about the king's provinces who don't follow the king's laws but follow their own laws (Yah's Instructions aka torah). The king agrees to Haman's suggested edict that all Hebrews young and old, women and children will be destroyed, massacred and exterminated in one day (13th day of the 12th month). The king and Haman sat down to feast but the city of Shushan was dumbfounded.
Note that the plan Haman provides is pretty much the same as the command Yahweh gave Saul: attack Amalek and proscribe all that belongs to him. Spare no one but kill both man, woman and child, cattle, sheep, camels and asses. Saul failed to follow Yah's commands, leaving King Agag alive, and now we have Haman, who held a grudge, planning his revenge.
When Mordecai heard about all of this he was mortified. He went through the city crying out loudly as he came to the palace gate; he could not enter because he was wearing sackcloth. All the Hebrews were weeping and wailing in all the provinces where they lived. Esther was told about Mordecai out there in sackcloth so she sent her servants to him to find out what was going on. He told them that he was begging her to go to the king to plead for the life her people. She replied that she had not been with the king for the past month and could not even approach him unless she was summoned. Mordecai lets Esther know that her own life was being threatened and even if she kept silent in this crisis, "relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another quarter, while you and your father's house will perish. Who knows, maybe you are where you are in order to deal with such a crisis."
How did Mordecai know help would come from somewhere else if Esther failed to convince the king about his crisis? Was Esther Plan A while he had a Plan B up his sleeve?
You know the story. Esther plans to set Haman up, baiting him with food and drink and as the only guest invited to dine with the king and queen. Esther tells the king about Haman's plan. Haman is impaled on the stake that he had previously put up intended for Mordecai's death. The king has letters sent out to all the provinces permitting Jews to fight for their lives if any province or people attack them on the 13th day of the 12th month.
The Hebrews ended up killing 500 men in Shushan that day, killing the ten sons of Haman. Now this is what really gets to me about Esther. Ahasuerus asks her what she wants done with the dead bodies of Haman's sons. She says: let them be impaled on stakes. This is not what any Hebrew God-fearing torah believer would say or ask to have done. It seems that Esther, like Solomon, has been corrupted by the company she kept with their false gods and religions - she had been living in the palace for about 5 years by this time. The Hebrews fought again on the 14th day killing 300 men in Shushan.
The rest of the Hebrews throughout the provinces killed 75,000 of their enemies on the 13th day. They rested on the 14th day and made it a day of feasting and merrymaking. Those in Shushan fought on both the 13th and 14th days so rested on the 15th day and made it a day of feasting and merrymaking. It was Mordecai who sent dispatches to all the Hebrews throughout the provinces charging them to observe the 14th and 15th day of the 12th month, every year, as days of feasting and merrymaking, for sending fits to one another and presents to the poor. The Hebrews assumed this obligation which Mordecai prescribed for them. This goes against the commandment to set apart each 7th day as a day of rest, not a day to party.
Esther wrote a letter confirming with full authority that which Mordecai prescribed. All these events were recorded by
Mordecai. He was not a priest or a prophet or otherwise noted by Yahweh
as being commanded to act in any way. None of this should be included in
Scriptures. Nowhere do they credit, praise or give thanks to Yahweh. The holiday of Purim is a man made tradition and not one of Yahweh's set apart times for us to observe.
The
scroll of Esther should be filed away somewhere, along with the report
about the re-dedication of the temple, for historical reference only.
