In the days of King Ahasuerus, ruler over a vast empire from India to Ethiopia, lived a Jewish man named Mordecai, from the tribe of Benjamin. He had been carried into exile from Jerusalem and now lived in Shushan, the capital city. Mordecai was guardian to his cousin Esther, an orphan whom he raised as his own daughter.
When Queen Vashti was removed from her royal position for disobeying the king’s command, a search was made for a new queen. Esther, among many young women, was taken to the palace. She found favour with the king and, by God’s providence, was crowned queen.
One day, while sitting at the king’s gate, Mordecai overheard two of the king’s officers plotting to assassinate the king. He told Esther, who reported it in Mordecai’s name. The plot was investigated, found true, and the conspirators were executed. This faithful act was recorded in the royal chronicles, though no reward was given at the time.
Some time later, King Ahasuerus promoted a man named Haman the Agagite, placing him above all other princes. By royal command, everyone was to bow before Haman. Mordecai refused, explaining that as a Jew, he would not bow in reverence to a man. This enraged Haman. Learning that Mordecai was Jewish, Haman decided it was not enough to punish him alone he plotted to destroy all the Jews in the empire.
In the first month of the year, Haman cast lots (called Pur) to decide the date for this massacre. The chosen day fell in the twelfth month, Adar. Haman went to the king, accusing the Jews of being a scattered, disobedient people whose laws were different from everyone else’s. He offered the king a vast sum of silver to have them destroyed. The king agreed, giving Haman his signet ring to seal the decree. Letters were sent throughout the provinces ordering the destruction of all Jews men, women, and children on one set day.
When Mordecai heard this, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and cried loudly in the city. Across the empire, Jews mourned with fasting and weeping. Esther heard of Mordecai’s distress and sent clothes to him, but he refused them. Through a messenger, Mordecai urged Esther to go before the king and plead for her people. Esther reminded him that entering the king’s presence uninvited was punishable by death unless the king extended his golden sceptre, and she had not been summoned for thirty days.
Mordecai’s reply was firm: “Do not think that you will escape in the king’s house. If you remain silent, deliverance will come from elsewhere, but you and your father’s house will perish. Who knows if you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Esther agreed, asking Mordecai to gather all Jews in Shushan to fast for three days and nights. She and her maidens would do the same. Then she would go to the king, even if it meant death.
On the third day, Esther dressed in her royal robes and stood in the inner court. When the king saw her, he held out his golden sceptre. She touched its tip, and he asked her request. Esther invited the king and Haman to a banquet. At the banquet, she invited them again to return the next day for another banquet where she would present her petition.
Haman left joyful that day, but when he saw Mordecai still refusing to bow, his joy turned to fury. At the advice of his wife and friends, he ordered a gallows, seventy-five feet high, to be built to hang Mordecai.
That very night, the king could not sleep. He called for the royal chronicles to be read, and the record of Mordecai saving his life was found. The king asked what had been done to honour him. Nothing had. At that moment, Haman entered to ask permission to hang Mordecai. The king instead asked, “What should be done for the man the king delights to honour?” Thinking it was himself, Haman suggested a public parade with the king’s robe and horse. The king ordered him to do exactly that for Mordecai. Haman had to lead Mordecai through the streets, proclaiming his honour.
The next day, at Esther’s second banquet, the king again asked her request. Esther revealed the truth: “We have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish.” The king demanded to know who would do such a thing. Esther pointed to Haman: “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman.” The king, in anger, stepped out to the garden. Haman, pleading for his life, fell onto the couch where Esther was reclining. The king returned, seeing this, and accused him of assaulting the queen.
One of the king’s servants, Harbonah, mentioned the gallows Haman had built for Mordecai. The king ordered, “Hang him on it!” Haman was executed on the very gallows he had prepared for Mordecai.
The king gave Haman’s estate to Esther, and Mordecai was promoted to Haman’s position. Esther begged the king to reverse the decree, but the laws of the Medes and Persians could not be undone. Instead, a new decree was issued allowing the Jews to defend themselves on the appointed day. When that day came, the Jews overcame their enemies. This great deliverance was celebrated annually as the Feast of Purim a reminder of how God turned sorrow into joy, mourning into victory.
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