Esther (2) - The Riddle of the Book of Esther
Parties of the Jews
(Bible Study - June 2003)
One of the most important themes in the book of Esther is reversal. That which cannot be suddenly becomes, and that which has inevitably come to be may inexplicably be undone. It is a topic which will be returned to in virtually every article of this series. It completely pervades the book and provides its central message.
Reversal of parties
There is reversal and contrast even in the
parties which so dominate the book. In chapter 1 the Persians have it all
their way — they party as they please, they make edicts as they will,
and their wishes are enforced, Persian style. But at the end of the book a
quite different scene is found. The last three parties, found in Esther 8
and 9, are not parties of the Persians at all, but parties of the Jews. At
this point, the edicts which go forth are directed by Esther and Mordecai;
now it is their wishes which are enforced. The occasion and manner of
partying is now entirely different. Persian style has given way to Jewish
style.
The reason for the reversal is, of course, the overturning (or circumventing) of Haman’s edict to destroy all the Jews. Suddenly the fate of all Jews is rewritten, and life is born out of certain death. No wonder there was a party:
“…The city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour. And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them” (8:15c-17).
A great party of the Jews
There are a number of delightful features in
this passage. One is the direct yet simple way in which the Jews’ personal
experience of their transformed fate is recorded: light for darkness, joy
for sorrow, honour for humiliation, a feast for sackcloth, and — in
delicious understatement — “a good day”! There would have been few
days in any of their experiences as good as that one.
Another touching feature is the universality of the joy: in every province and in every city this unspeakable gladness was felt. No one remained unmoved, for all had shared the same need and had experienced the same salvation.
The transforming power of what the Jews had experienced was so immense that its effect was felt not by them alone, but by their neighbours who were not Jewish at all: “And many of the people of the land became Jews!” This is staggering. What had been done transformed the lives of others who had not been personally involved, for they saw the power of the reversal the Jews had undergone. Who could resist such a transformation?
A like joy should be ours
The point is that as followers of Jesus, all
baptised believers have experienced that reversal of fate, that darkness
turned to light and mourning into joy. All who have been converted have
shared the same need and are partakers of the common salvation. The joy
ought to be no less immense, the transformation, though less showy, no less
real. And similarly, if that transformation works through into daily life
and demeanour, into a true gladness which enlightens the soul, then the
converting and transforming effect ought to be experienced by others too.
The joy shared by those called out of darkness by God ought to be such that
it illuminates and enables the process of conversion to begin in others.
The world does not have this kind of joy. It does not even use the words ‘joy’ and ‘gladness’ very much any more they have slipped from the common idiom like a forgotten dream. It falls to the disciple to show the world that such joy, such meaning and such fulfilment, is possible, even in this modern era.
Persian parties vs. true joy
This point of contrast between the joy of the
one who has experienced reversal and society at large seems to be made
deliberately in the narrative. At the beginning of the book are three
parties of the Persians — excessive parties lasting 180 days with
every extravagance laid on. But not once, in the midst of all that
partying, is there any mention of joy and gladness! Yes, there are people
doing what they want (1:8), or perhaps that should be corrected to
“what they think they want” (for they do not yet know any better). But
there is no joy. The feasting has an empty ring. No one is really filled,
however much is eaten and drunk. It is a perfect characterisation of the
current age.
How poignant the contrast with the three parties at the end of the book in which joy is pressed down and running over with more to spare! Like the Jews at the end of the book of Esther, believers have something which others do not have, and which they may not even conceive as a possibility. It would be a great pity if the faithful did not allow this to show but kept it locked away in their hearts.
The joy of deliverance
The party we have considered at 8:15-17 took
place on the announcement of a plan for the Jews to be spared. When that
plan was successfully executed there were two further feasts, one celebrated
in the empire at large on the 14th of Adar, the other on the 15th for those
in Shushan (9:16-19). The passage speaks of “rest from their enemies,”
“resting,” “feasting and gladness,” “resting,”
“feasting and gladness,” “gladness and feasting, and a good day, and
of sending portions one to another.” The emphasis is unmistakable, and
the whole spirit of the occasion was deemed so fundamental that a decree was
issued to ensure the happy feast was celebrated every year continually, as
indeed the Feast of Purim still is today.
The implications for the modern disciple have already been hinted at but are worth emphasising again. We have experienced a deliverance, a transformation — and therefore a joy and a gladness — which transcends the barren indulgence of modern society as it seeks to please itself but is left empty at the core. We must both value and treasure this joy, and make sure that it shows. It is an old and clichéd exhortation which attacks Christadelphians attending meetings with grim expressions and long faces, but it is a point that sometimes still needs to be made. If this does not make us glad, then what will? The challenge for daily life is to ensure that we are not choked by the mundane and the trivial into forgetting that light and joy that we have come to know. As the inward man is renewed day by day, there is scope for us to make every day ‘a good day.’
Parties in the middle of the book
Having developed the contrast between the
three Persian parties at the start of the book and the three Jewish feasts
at the end, it only remains this month to enquire briefly about the four
parties in the middle. These are best summarised by means of a table:
3 Parties of the Persians
Ahasuerus’ 180 day party (1:3-4)
Ahasuerus’ 7 day party (1:5-8)
Vashti’s party for the women (1:9)Party for Esther
Esther’s marriage banquet (2:18)The Central Party (3:15)
Esther’s own Parties
First banquet for Ahas. & Haman (5:4-5)
Second banquet for Ahas. & Haman (5:6-8)3 Parties of the Jews
Celebration of Mordecai’s decree (8:16-17)
Jewish party in the provinces (9:17)
Jewish party in Shushan (9:18)
It can be seen that the parties are grouped into a clear and deliberate ABCBA structure. (Incidentally, the NIV Study Bible and others suggest a different arrangement of the ten, but the above seems to capture the links more powerfully). There is an obvious link between the party which Ahasuerus throws for Esther (note that his new wife leads him to become less selfish: now he organises a party for her honour rather than for his own, as was the case in chapter 1) and between the two parties which Esther arranges for her husband and the murderous Haman. We shall examine Esther’s two banquets in a later article.
This leaves one party in the middle which stands on its own. In some ways it seems an anti-climax, and yet perhaps its power lies in its very ordinariness. Mentioned so casually, almost in passing at the end of chapter 3, Esther 3:15 describes a drinking session of Haman and Ahasuerus. It is the setting which is the crux. Without thinking of the implications, the king has authorised Haman’s decree to destroy all Jews. The command has been sent throughout the land and the two men sit down for a quiet drink after a hard day’s decree-writing and a job well done. One of them fully intends and understands what he has done and drinks in celebration. The other knows not what he does and drinks because that is probably what he always does at the end of the day and because he feels he has acted in an authoritative and kingly way. The city of Shushan, meanwhile, is much perplexed, and it is only by the grace of God that the king is given an opportunity to realise what he has so foolishly set in motion and to reverse it. Each one of us at times shows the same folly as the king and then has the gall to drink to it. We all stand in need of that same mercy.
Mark Vincent