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

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

    After King Xerxes dealt with Haman there was still the matter of the edict which Haman had sent out. Unfortunately, under Persian law once a king issued an edict it could not be revoked. So, Mordecai needed to come up with an edict which would supersede the previous one. Mordecai issued an edict allowing the Jews to band together to protect themselves and kill those who attacked them. The outcome of Mordecai’s edict (issued in the king’s name) was that between the time it was issued and the date it was to take effect (the same date as Haman’s edict) many people chose to become Jews. In addition, King Xerxes made Mordecai the second most powerful man in the kingdom. As a result, when the day chosen by Haman came the Jews were able to mobilize and defeat those who had hoped to profit from destroying them. Despite the fact that Mordecai’s edict had authorized them to do so, the Jews did not seize the property of those they destroyed while defending themselves. Mordecai and Esther combined to use their positions to get the Jewish people to establish a festival celebrating their deliverance, the Festival of Purim (so named because Haman cast purim, or lots, to determine the day to attack the Jews).