The Great Reversal and the Joy of Justified Violence Text: Esther 9:1-19
Introduction: A God of War
We live in a soft and sentimental age. Our generation has tried to domesticate the Lion of Judah and turn Him into a declawed housecat. We want a God who is endlessly affirming, therapeutically comforting, and who would never, ever condone the sort of thing we are about to read in the ninth chapter of Esther. The modern evangelical impulse, when confronted with a passage like this, is to blush, to stammer, to apologize, and to try and explain it away as some sort of primitive, Old Testament anomaly that we have thankfully evolved beyond.
But the God of the Old Testament is the God of the New. The Lord who delivered His people through the Red Sea is the same Lord who was crucified, and who is coming again with a sword proceeding from His mouth to strike the nations. The God of the Bible is a God of justice, and justice, in a world riddled with sin and rebellion, is necessarily a bloody affair. The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is His name (Exodus 15:3). This chapter is not an embarrassment to our faith; it is a glorious celebration of God's covenant faithfulness, His sovereign power, and His righteous judgment against those who set themselves against His anointed.
The book of Esther is a masterclass in divine providence, showing us how God governs the world, even when His name is not explicitly mentioned. And here, in the climax of the story, we see the great reversal. The gallows built for the righteous man becomes the instrument of judgment for the wicked. The day appointed for the extermination of God's people becomes the day of their glorious and violent self-defense. This is not a story about turning the other cheek, because the magistrate is not yet bearing the sword for their protection. This is a story about what happens when evil overplays its hand and God's people, authorized by the king, are permitted to stand for their lives. This is the principle of the lex talionis, an eye for an eye, applied on a national scale. It is a story that our effeminate generation desperately needs to hear.
The Text
Now in the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar), on the thirteenth day when the king’s word and law had reached the point for them to be done, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain power over them, it was turned around so that the Jews themselves gained power over those who hated them. The Jews assembled in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to send forth their hand against those who sought their calamity; and no one could stand before them, for the dread of them had fallen on all the peoples. Even all the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who were doing the king’s work advanced the Jews, because the dread of Mordecai had fallen on them. Indeed, Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and the report about him went throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai became greater and greater. Thus the Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and causing them to perish; and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. And at the citadel in Susa the Jews killed and caused to perish 500 men, and Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, the 10 sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews’ adversary; but they did not send forth their hand for the plunder. On that day the number of those who were killed at the citadel in Susa came to the king. So the king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and caused to perish 500 men and the 10 sons of Haman at the citadel in Susa. Now in the rest of the king’s provinces, what have they done? So what is your petition? It shall even be given to you. And what is your further request? It shall also be done.” Then Esther said, “If it is good to the king, let tomorrow also be given to the Jews who are in Susa to do according to the law for today; and let Haman’s 10 sons be hanged on the gallows.” So the king said that it should be done so; and a law was given in Susa, and Haman’s 10 sons were hanged. And the Jews who were in Susa assembled also on the fourteenth day of the month Adar and killed 300 men in Susa, but they did not send forth their hand for the plunder. Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces assembled, to make a stand for their lives and obtain rest for themselves from their enemies, and to kill 75,000 of those who hated them; but they did not send forth their hand for the plunder. This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness. But the Jews who were in Susa assembled on the thirteenth and the fourteenth of the same month, and they rested on the fifteenth day and made it a day of feasting and gladness. Therefore the Jews of the rural areas, who live in the rural towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a holiday for gladness and feasting and sending portions of food to one another.
(Esther 9:1-19 LSB)
The Tables Turned (vv. 1-4)
We begin with the central pivot of the entire book.
"...on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain power over them, it was turned around so that the Jews themselves gained power over those who hated them." (Esther 9:1)
This is the work of God. It is not luck, it is not coincidence, it is not a fortunate turn of events. It is divine providence, the hidden hand of God orchestrating every detail behind the scenes. The enemies of the Jews had a date circled on their calendar, a day appointed by law for plunder and slaughter. They were licking their chops. But God in heaven laughs (Psalm 2:4). He who sits in the heavens holds them in derision. The day of their anticipated triumph became the day of their utter destruction. This is the consistent pattern of Scripture. God takes the wicked in their own craftiness.
And how did this happen? The Jews did not simply pray and wait for fire from heaven. No, "The Jews assembled in their cities... to send forth their hand against those who sought their calamity" (v. 2). This was organized, lawful, corporate self-defense. They were authorized by the king's second edict to stand for their lives. And their stand was remarkably effective: "no one could stand before them." Why? Because a supernatural "dread of them had fallen on all the peoples." This is the holy terror that God casts upon His enemies. It is the fear of God, mediated through His people.
Notice that even the pagan bureaucracy got on board. The satraps and governors helped the Jews. Why? "because the dread of Mordecai had fallen on them" (v. 3). When God exalts a man, He ensures that man is respected, or feared. Mordecai had become "greater and greater" (v. 4). This is what happens when God's people are faithful. God grants them influence, and that influence reshapes the political landscape. This is a postmillennial text if there ever was one. God's design is for His people to grow in influence until the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.
Righteous Slaughter (vv. 5-10)
The text does not shy away from the details of the battle. This is not a bloodless victory.
"Thus the Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and causing them to perish; and they did what they pleased to those who hated them." (Esther 9:5 LSB)
They did what they pleased. This phrase makes us uncomfortable, but it shouldn't. Those who "hated them" were not people who merely disagreed with them. They were men who had armed themselves and mobilized to carry out a state-sponsored genocide against men, women, and children. They were the wicked, and the Jews were the instruments of God's long-delayed justice. The death toll was significant: 500 men in the capital city alone.
And then we have the ten sons of Haman, all listed by name (vv. 7-9). This is not incidental. This is the final, decisive cutting off of the line of Agag, the Amalekite king whom Saul foolishly spared. Where Saul, the king of Israel, failed in his duty, Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen succeed. The seed of the serpent that had long plagued the people of God is being dealt with, thoroughly and finally.
But notice the critical, repeated refrain: "but they did not send forth their hand for the plunder" (v. 10). This is immensely important. It proves that their actions were not motivated by greed or personal vengeance. This was not a riot; it was an execution of justice. By refusing the plunder, they distinguished themselves from their enemies and demonstrated the righteousness of their cause. They were fighting for their lives and for the honor of their God, not to get rich.
Esther's Hard-Nosed Request (vv. 11-15)
The king is informed of the body count, and he seems satisfied. He turns to Esther and offers her another blank check. Her response is chilling to modern ears.
"Then Esther said, 'If it is good to the king, let tomorrow also be given to the Jews who are in Susa to do according to the law for today; and let Haman’s 10 sons be hanged on the gallows.'" (Esther 9:13 LSB)
What is this? The battle is won, is it not? Why another day of fighting? And why hang the bodies of men who are already dead? This is not bloodlust. This is righteous wisdom. First, the request for another day indicates that the threat in Susa, the heart of the empire, was not yet fully extinguished. There were still pockets of resistance, men still committed to the genocidal plan. Esther is asking for permission to finish the job.
Second, the hanging of Haman's sons is a public statement. In the ancient world, to hang a body on a tree or gallows was a sign of a curse (Deut. 21:23). This was not about further punishment for the dead, but about public instruction for the living. It was a potent political and theological declaration. It was a warning to the entire empire: This is what happens to those who plot against the people of the most high God. Their names are blotted out, their line is ended, and their defeat is publicly displayed for all to see. It is the principle of deterrence. The king agrees, another 300 enemies are killed in Susa, and again, the Jews refuse the plunder (v. 15).
From Warfare to Feasting (vv. 16-19)
The work of judgment is completed, and now the time for rest and celebration begins.
"Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces assembled, to make a stand for their lives and obtain rest for themselves from their enemies, and to kill 75,000 of those who hated them..." (Esther 9:16 LSB)
The scale of the conflict was massive. Seventy-five thousand men throughout the empire were killed. This was not a small, localized skirmish. This was a widespread conspiracy to annihilate the Jews, and it was met with a widespread and devastatingly effective defense. But after the work is done, they obtain "rest for themselves from their enemies."
And what follows rest? Feasting. "On the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness" (v. 17). This is the establishment of the festival of Purim. Their day of scheduled death has been transformed by God into a day of deliverance, and so it becomes a holiday. They celebrate not the killing itself, but the salvation that the killing secured. They rejoice in the faithfulness of their God, who turned their mourning into dancing. This is why they send portions of food to one another. It is a celebration of life, community, and the goodness of a God who saves.
The Cross as the Ultimate Reversal
This entire chapter is a magnificent foreshadowing of the gospel. The story of Esther is the story of the cross in miniature. Haman, the great enemy, labored to construct a gallows for Mordecai, the righteous representative of God's people. He thought he had sealed his enemy's fate. But in the great reversal of God's providence, Haman was hanged on the very gallows he had built for another.
This is precisely what happened at Calvary. Satan, the great Haman, the adversary of God's people, thought he had finally won. He stirred up the hearts of wicked men to construct a cross for the Son of God. He thought the crucifixion was his ultimate triumph, the moment he would finally crush the seed of the woman. But in the greatest reversal in the history of the cosmos, the cross became the instrument of Satan's own destruction. The gallows he built for Christ became the throne from which Christ would judge him.
As Paul says, God "disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him" (Colossians 2:15). The hanging of Haman's ten sons was a public display of their defeat. The cross of Jesus Christ is God's public display of Satan's utter and complete defeat. Jesus, hanging on that tree, became a curse for us, taking the judgment we deserved, in order to break the power of the curse of sin and death forever.
And just as the Jews obtained rest from their enemies and entered into a feast, so too have we. Through the violent, bloody work of the cross, our Lord Jesus Christ has defeated our enemies, sin, death, and the devil. He has secured for us a lasting rest, a Sabbath peace with God. And He invites us now to a feast, to this table, which is a foretaste of that great wedding feast of the Lamb that is to come. We do not fight for victory; we fight from victory. The great reversal has already occurred. Christ is risen, Mordecai is exalted to the right hand of the King, and our enemies have been put to open shame. Therefore, let us keep the feast.