Commentary - Esther 9:20-32

Bird's-eye view

The war is over, the enemies of God’s people have been routed, and the gallows built for Mordecai has claimed its intended architect. But a great deliverance is not truly complete until it is remembered, and not just remembered, but celebrated. This section of Esther is not an appendix; it is the point. It details the crucial transition from a spontaneous victory celebration to a permanent, established institution. Mordecai and Esther, now in positions of immense authority, act as covenantal statesmen. They ensure that the memory of God’s astounding, hidden-hand providence will not fade with the generation that witnessed it. They legislate joy. They command feasting. They establish a festival, Purim, that will embed the story of this great reversal into the calendar and culture of the Jewish people forever. This is how a people builds a civilization, not just by winning wars, but by singing the songs of victory for their grandchildren.

The passage carefully lays out the historical basis for the feast, grounding it in the wicked plot of Haman and its spectacular failure. It details the nature of the celebration, which is to be marked by feasting, gladness, and generosity. And it records the formal, authoritative establishment of the feast, first by Mordecai and then confirmed with the full authority of Queen Esther. This is a story about how God’s people are to handle His blessings, by weaving them into the fabric of their lives with gratitude, joy, and lasting memorials.

Outline

Commentary

20 Then Mordecai wrote down these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,

The first thing to note is that Mordecai, now the prime minister, is a statesman who understands the importance of culture and memory. He does not let this monumental deliverance remain a private feeling of gratitude. He wrote down these events. History must be recorded. Then, he uses his civil authority to act. He sent letters to all the Jews. This is not a suggestion from a religious leader; it is a directive from the second in command of the empire. The command goes out to everyone, both near and far. This is about establishing a unifying cultural practice for all of God's people scattered throughout the vast Persian empire. It is an act of covenantal consolidation.

21 to establish among them to celebrate the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same month, annually,

The command is specific. He is establishing a new fixture on their calendar. The word is establish. This is about building something permanent. Two days are set aside, the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar, reflecting the two days of fighting and victory in different parts of the empire. And this is to be done annually. Every single year, the story is to be retold, the victory reenacted through celebration. This is how you disciple a nation. You shape its calendar. What a people celebrates defines them.

22 because on those days the Jews obtained rest for themselves from their enemies, and it was a month which was turned around for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness and sending portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

Here is the reason, the theological foundation for the feast. First, it was a time when they got rest from their enemies. This is a Sabbath principle. Deliverance results in rest. Second, the feast commemorates the great reversal. The entire month was turned around. This is the Gospel in miniature. What was destined for sorrow became gladness. What was appointed for mourning became a holiday. God did not just mitigate the disaster; He inverted it entirely. And how are they to celebrate this? Not with a solemn, quiet moment of reflection in a sanctuary. They are to make them days of feasting and gladness. This is commanded joy. It involves food and laughter. Furthermore, it is communal and generous. They are to be sending portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor. A true celebration of God's grace cannot be selfish. It must overflow in generosity, especially to the poor. This is a picture of the gospel feast to which we are all invited.

23 Thus the Jews fully accepted what they had started to do and what Mordecai had written to them.

This is good order. The people had already begun celebrating spontaneously, and now they formally accept the authoritative decree from Mordecai. The celebration was organic, but it needed to be established and ordered for it to last. The people's hearts were in it, and they gladly submitted to the leadership that was codifying their joy.

24 For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to cause them to perish and had cast Pur, that is the lot, to throw them into confusion and cause them to perish.

The text now grounds the feast in the historical particulars. To celebrate rightly, you must remember what you were saved from. The villain is named in full: Haman, son of Hammedatha, the Agagite. He is the seed of Amalek, the ancient and archetypal enemy of God's people. He was the adversary of all the Jews. His plan was total annihilation. And notice his method: he cast Pur, that is the lot. He was trusting in what he believed to be chance, the roll of the dice, to determine the opportune day for his genocide. He was appealing to a god of chaos.

25 But when it came before the king, he said by letter that his evil scheme, which he had devised against the Jews, should return on his own head and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

Here is the pivot of the story, the great But. The phrase when it came before the king is a modest summary of Esther's courageous, life-risking intercession. The result was a royal decree that turned Haman's plot inside out. His evil scheme would return on his own head. This is the law of the harvest, the principle of righteous retribution that runs through all of Scripture. The very instrument of death he prepared for Mordecai, the gallows, became the instrument of judgment for him and his sons. This is a foreshadowing of the cross, where the weapon Satan thought would destroy the Son of God became the means of his own undoing.

26 Therefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore, because of the words in this letter, both what they had seen in this regard and what had reached them,

The name of the feast, Purim, is a standing joke at Haman's expense. It is named after his lots, his pathetic appeal to chance. Every year when they celebrate Purim, they are celebrating the absolute sovereignty of God over all the schemes of wicked men and all the randomness of the universe. The establishment of this feast is based on two streams of witness: Mordecai's authoritative letter, and the direct experience of the people, what they had seen and what had reached them.

27 the Jews established and accepted a custom for themselves and for their seed and for all those who joined themselves to them, so that celebrating these two days according to what was written down and according to their fixed time from year to year would not pass away.

This is a covenantal act. They establish this custom not just for themselves, but for their seed, their descendants, and for all Gentile proselytes, all those who joined themselves to them. This is a forward-looking faith. The goal is permanence, that this celebration would not pass away. They are binding future generations to remember the faithfulness of God.

28 So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; thus these days of Purim were not to pass away from among the Jews, nor their memory come to an end from their seed.

The scope of the command is total. It is to be observed in every generation, at every level of society, from the family to the city to the province. The language is emphatic, repeating the goal of permanence. These days of Purim must not pass away, and their memory must not come to an end. We are a people of memory. Our identity is rooted in the mighty acts of God in history.

29 Then Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to establish this second letter about Purim.

If there were any doubt about the binding nature of this feast, it is settled here. This is a second letter, a confirmation. And it is written by Queen Esther with full authority. She is not just the king's wife; she is a ruler of God's people, acting in her authoritative capacity. Her authority is joined with Mordecai's. This is a formal, top-down confirmation of what the people had already embraced.

30 And he sent letters to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, namely, words of peace and truth,

The content of these authoritative letters is summarized beautifully as words of peace and truth. You cannot have one without the other. Peace without truth is appeasement and will not last. Truth without peace is harsh and loveless. The gospel of our deliverance in Christ is the ultimate word of peace and truth. This command to celebrate is not a burdensome law, but a gift of peace, grounded in the truth of what God has done.

31 to establish these days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established for them, and just as they had established for themselves and for their seed with words concerning their times of fasting and their crying out.

This verse ties it all together. The feast is established by the highest authorities, and it is also something the people established for themselves. It is also important that the celebration of deliverance is linked to the memory of their desperation, their times of fasting and their crying out. You cannot truly appreciate the feast if you forget the fast that came before it. The joy of salvation is sweeter when you remember the sorrow of your lost condition.

32 And the declaration of Esther established these words concerning Purim, and it was written in the book.

The final word belongs to the queen. The declaration of Esther established these words. Her authority is the capstone. And to ensure its permanence, it was written in the book. It is now part of the official record, and more than that, part of God's inspired and inerrant Word. A command to feast, to laugh, and to give gifts is now enshrined in holy Scripture. This should tell us something profound about the God we serve.

Application

The book of Esther does not end with the death of Haman, but with the establishment of a party. This is a profound lesson for the church. We are not called to be a people of perpetual solemnity. We are commanded to be a people of the feast. Our God is a God of laughter and abundance, who turns the gallows of our enemy into a trophy of His victory.

Christians must learn to legislate joy, just as Mordecai and Esther did. We should fill our calendars with feasts that remember the great deliverances of God, chief among them the resurrection of our Lord. Our celebrations should be robust, full of food and gladness. And our joy must always overflow into generosity to one another and to the poor. A faith that does not feast is a faith that has forgotten the magnitude of its own salvation.

Finally, we see the importance of building lasting institutions. We must not let the memory of God's faithfulness fade. We must write it down, teach it to our children, and build it into the rhythm of our lives. We must tell the story of how the lot was cast against us, but how our King, at the pleading of our Mediator, turned the whole wicked scheme upon the head of our enemy at the cross. We have a greater Purim to celebrate, and we should do so with all the peace and truth our God has given us.