Today, I am reading and commenting on  Esther 8-10.

I always struggle to understand how the edict Mordecai wrote managed to offset the one which Haman had written.  However, perhaps in a way I can.  Haman had written his edict ordering the government officials to attack the Jews, but Mordecai wrote his edict allowing the Jews to defend themselves.  So, those choosing to follow the edict from Haman would have had the force of government behind them, but the Jews would have had all who would choose to side with them.  It serves as a reminder of the principle that a government can only govern with the consent of the governed, or by dividing them up.  So, Haman’s edict worked in two ways.  First, it united the people against an abuse of government power.  Second, it gave those government officials not already committed to antipathy to the Jews an excuse to refrain from attacking them.  In many ways it shows us that it does not take much to stop evil, even government sponsored evil.  Yet, the Book of Esther also reminds us that we need to be willing to take risks to face down evil.  While things ended well for those who took the risks in this account, it does not always work out that way, but it is always better to take the risks then to stand idly by.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.