The Quiet Triumph of a Hidden God Text: Esther 10:1-3
Introduction: The End of the Story
We have come to the end of the book of Esther, a book famous for what it does not contain. There is no mention of God, no mention of the Temple, no mention of the Law of Moses. And yet, there is no book in the Bible, apart from the cross itself, where the raw providence of God is on such magnificent display. God is nowhere named, but He is everywhere present. This is a book written for exiles, for a people who feel that God is distant, that His face is hidden. It is a book for us, living in our own secular Persia, where the name of God is not welcome in the public square, but where His sovereign decree is just as absolute as it was in the court of Ahasuerus.
The book of Esther is a rollicking story. It has palace intrigue, a beautiful and courageous heroine, a villain so vile you can almost hear him twirling his mustache, and a plot reversal so dramatic that Hollywood could not have scripted it better. Haman, the wicked Agagite, builds a gallows seventy-five feet high for his rival, Mordecai the Jew. By the end of the story, Haman is swinging from that very gallows, and Mordecai is wearing the king's signet ring. The Jewish people, marked for annihilation, are instead given the authority to defend themselves and put their enemies to the sword. It is a stunning victory, a glorious turn of events.
And then we come to chapter 10. After nine chapters of high drama, the final chapter is almost an anticlimax. It is a brief, three-verse epilogue. It reads like an administrative summary, a historical footnote. But we must not mistake its quiet tone for a lack of importance. This is the point. The fireworks are over. The festival of Purim has been established. Now what? The answer is that the people of God get back to the business of ordinary life, but under entirely new management. This chapter shows us the result of God's explosive intervention: a settled, established, and prosperous peace for His people. This is the goal of God's providence. It is not just to rescue us from the fire, but to set us up in a place of influence and blessing for the good of many. This is a profoundly postmillennial chapter. It shows us what happens when God's man is put in a position of authority. It is not a story of retreat, but of dominion.
The Text
Then King Ahasuerus set forced labor upon the land and the coastlands of the sea.
And the entire work of his authority and his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had made so great, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?
For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus and was great among the Jews and pleasing to his many fellow brothers, one who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the peace of all his seed.
(Esther 10:1-3 LSB)
The Tax Man Cometh (v. 1)
The chapter begins with what seems to be a completely mundane detail.
"Then King Ahasuerus set forced labor upon the land and the coastlands of the sea." (Esther 10:1)
Now, why on earth does the Holy Spirit include this? After the high drama of the previous chapters, we get a note about the king's new tax policy. It almost seems like a non sequitur. But it is here for a very important reason. This verse establishes that the kingdom is stable. Ahasuerus is a pagan despot, to be sure, but his empire is vast and it is functioning. A king who can successfully levy taxes and impose labor across his entire domain, from the mainland to the islands, is a king whose government is secure. The kingdom is at peace. The administration is running smoothly.
This is the backdrop for Mordecai's greatness. The blessing that comes through Mordecai is not chaos. It is not a revolutionary overthrow of the government. Rather, a faithful man is elevated within the existing power structure, and the result is stability and order for the whole empire. This is a crucial point. When God blesses His people, it doesn't just benefit the church. It spills over. A righteous man in a position of influence is a blessing to the entire commonwealth, believers and unbelievers alike. Joseph in Egypt is the classic example. His wisdom saves the entire nation from famine. Daniel in Babylon is another. Here, Mordecai's presence brings a settled peace that allows the king to get on with the ordinary business of running an empire. This is the salt and light principle at work. Our faithfulness should result in a more stable, more prosperous, and better-ordered society for everyone.
Recorded Greatness (v. 2)
Next, the author points his readers to the official historical records.
"And the entire work of his authority and his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had made so great, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?" (Esther 10:2)
This is not just the Bible telling you that Mordecai was great. The author is appealing to a secular source, the official court history of the Persian empire, as corroborating evidence. It's as if he's saying, "If you don't believe me, go look it up. Go to the royal library. You'll find the story of the king's power, and right alongside it, you will find the record of the greatness of this Jew, Mordecai."
This tells us that Mordecai's influence was not some hidden, backroom affair. It was public, it was official, and it was historically significant. His greatness was a matter of public record. This is a challenge to all forms of pietism that want to sequester faith into the private sphere. The world wants us to keep our religion to ourselves. But the story of Esther shows a man whose faithfulness to the God who is never named resulted in a greatness that the secular world could not ignore and had to write down in their own history books.
Notice the language: "the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had made so great." This gives credit where credit is due in the horizontal, human sense. The king promoted him. But we, who have read the whole story, know who was really behind it. Who was it that arranged for the king to have a sleepless night? Who was it that prompted him to have the chronicles read to him at that exact moment, to discover that Mordecai had once saved his life and had never been rewarded? The king was the instrument, but the hidden hand of God was the cause. God is the one who makes men great, and He is perfectly capable of using pagan kings to do it.
The Character of a Godly Statesman (v. 3)
The final verse gives us a summary of Mordecai's character and the nature of his rule. It is a portrait of a godly leader.
"For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus and was great among the Jews and pleasing to his many fellow brothers, one who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the peace of all his seed." (Esther 10:3)
Here we see the substance of his greatness. First, his position: "second only to King Ahasuerus." He was the prime minister of the most powerful empire on earth. This was not a small thing. A member of a despised minority, a man who had been marked for death, was now wielding immense political power.
Second, his reputation: "great among the Jews and pleasing to his many fellow brothers." He did not get to the top and forget where he came from. His own people esteemed him. He was not a sell-out. Power did not corrupt him. He remained loyal to his kinsmen. This is a mark of true character. It is one thing to be great in the eyes of the world; it is another to be held in high regard by those who know you best.
Third, and most importantly, his purpose: "one who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the peace of all his seed." This is the heart of the matter. Why did God elevate him? Not for his own comfort or glory. He was put in that position of power to be a blessing to others. He used his authority to seek the shalom, the welfare, the flourishing of his people. He was a protector and a provider.
This is the biblical model for all authority. Whether you are a father, a pastor, a business owner, or a prime minister, your authority is a stewardship. It is given to you by God for the good of those under your care. To use power for personal enrichment or selfish ambition is the way of Haman. To use it to seek the good of your people and speak for their peace is the way of Mordecai. And ultimately, it is the way of Christ.
A Picture of Christ
As with all Old Testament stories, we must see how this points us to Jesus. Mordecai is a wonderful type of Christ, a foreshadowing of the one who was to come.
Like Mordecai, Jesus was a Jew, a member of a nation that was, at the time of His coming, under the thumb of a pagan empire. Like Mordecai, Jesus was marked for an unjust death, plotted by His enemies. He was delivered over to be crucified. But God orchestrated the great reversal. The one who was sent to the gallows of the cross was raised from the dead and exalted to the highest place.
God has made Jesus "second only" to Himself. In fact, He has given Him all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). He is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on High. His greatness is recorded not just in the chronicles of earthly kings, but in the eternal book of life.
And what does He do with this authority? The exact same thing Mordecai did. He seeks the good of His people. He speaks for the peace of all His seed. He is our great high priest, who ever lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25). He is the one who secures our welfare, our shalom. Mordecai saved his people from physical annihilation. Christ saves His people from eternal annihilation. Mordecai secured a temporary, political peace. Christ has secured an eternal, cosmic peace through the blood of His cross (Colossians 1:20).
The book of Esther ends with Mordecai in power, and the Jews enjoying a settled peace. This is where history is going. The story of the world does not end with the church in a bunker, hiding from a triumphant paganism. It ends with the triumph of the King of kings. It ends with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covering the earth as the waters cover the sea. The story of Esther is our story in miniature. We may live in a time when God seems hidden, when His name is not spoken. But His providence is just as meticulous, His power is just as absolute, and His purposes are just as certain. He is working all things, even the plots of wicked men and the whims of pagan kings, for the good of His people and the glory of His Son. And the day is coming when the greatness of our King will no longer be a matter of faith, but a matter of public, global, historical record.