Studies In Intercession from the Book of Esther

"And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14

In the last lesson, we saw the way in which the plot against the King was foiled. Now we come to the main attack of the Devil on the Jewish people, similar to the great tribulation. The first attack was foiled by the position of Mordecai in the Gate (promoted as Esther became Queen), and that the people involved in this action were in high authority and worked together. Just so, the intercessor must use access through the name of the Lord.

This lesson traces the further attack on the Jews through Haman, (like that of Adolph Hitler) to destroy the seed that would overthrow Satanic power. Revelation describes Satan's war against God's people in Revelation 12:17, "Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring-those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus."

The aim here was complete annihilation and extermination of the Jews. Up to this point, this is the most extreme attack at stamping out the blood-line though which the Messiah was to come. Pharaoh had commanded a partial annihilation of the Jews (Exodus 1:8-10), but that was only aimed at limited their numbers that he might continue to exercise control over them. The reasoning was given in verse 10, which says, "lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land." But this attack was different. It was motivated by a hatred of God and of His people (Esther 3:5-6). The goal here was utter destruction of the entire Jewish race, of all who worshiped God.

Let us explore how this unfolded.

The Promotion Of Haman

Esther 3:1 says, "After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him & giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles." About five years after the last events, Ahasuerus promoted Haman to Grand Vizier. The name Ahasuerus means "mighty or venerable" and the name Haman means "well disposed."

Haman was Amalekite by descent and he was filled with hatred for Jews and burning ambition. Part of this hatred of the Jews came from his ethnic heritage, tracing back to the days when the Israelites left Egypt and Balak hired Baalam to curse God's people as they passed by. Baalam did not curse as hired. Instead, he had prophesied of the Messiah that he would be higher than Agag (Numbers 24:7). Amalek might be first of the nations, but he (and his descendants) would perish for ever (Numbers 24:20). Thus the Amalekites had hated the Jews for generations, because God turned the curse intended against His people into a blessing and gave a powerful prophecy through Baalam. (Baalam's prophecy proved to also be an accurate prophecy of what happened to Haman when he tried to curse (destroy) God's people.)

Let us digress for a moment and look at subsequent relationships between the Amalekites and God's people, because it holds some powerful lessons for us as intercessors. King Saul had been told to kill the Amalekites. But he failed to do so in 1 Samuel 15:2-3,7-9, because his own greed got in the way. The passage shows God's command and Saul's response (only partial obedience). It reads

"This is what the LORD Almighty says: `I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'"

And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

In 1 Sam 15:33, we see that Samuel had to carry out God's command himself by executing Agag. Saul's failure to obey led to him being rejected by God. It also led to his own death at the hand of an Amalekite, described in 2 Samuel 1:8-10

He asked me, "Who are you?" "An Amalekite," I answered. Then he said to me, "Stand over me and kill me! I am in the throes of death, but I'm still alive." 10 So I stood over him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm and have brought them here to my lord.

This shows the need to cut off all sin for survival. Amalekite successors rose up from time to time to frustrate God's plan for His people. Haman may well have been a relative of King Agag and in line for the throne. And in advancing him, Ahasuerus was promoting the whole Amalekite nation.

Haman's servants report Mordecai's lack of respect as a "test case" in Esther 3:4-5. Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, and Haman was enraged by that. The devil hates those who refuse to worship him and stirs the world against them. Jesus warned his disciples about this in John 15:18-19, where He said, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."

The timing of this event was in the first month of the ecclesiastical Jewish year (NISAN) in the 12th year of Xerxes, or five years after Esther's coronation. (Esther 3:7).

Preparation For The Attack

Lots were cast to determine the right day and the right month to destroy the Jews. This is a use of witchcraft, and witchcraft will Increase in last days. As intercessors, we must be careful to avoid praying against other Christians, and we must avoid the spiteful use of spiritual weapons. There is a human tendency, even in the most spiritual people, to want to take revenge on those who don't respond to God as we think they should. But Jesus teaches us that we are not to respond in retaliation or spite. We see this in Luke 9:53-56:

But the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village.

While our response to enemy human resistance is never to be spiteful or hurtful, we must remain aware of God's presense and sovereignty in our situations. The Lord can overrule -- even in the casting of lots -- even when people use witchcraft against us. We have an assurance of this from Numbers 23:23, which says, "There is no sorcery against Jacob, no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, `See what God has done!'"

In Esther 3:8, the enemy makes a clear cut attack on Jews. That attack suggested that the Jews were dangerous because of their separation and dedication to God. The enemy will attack God's people when they stand for Him. But we must not let the potential of spiritual warfare dissuade us. Separation to God and holiness are essential for us in coming days, just as they were essential to Mordecai. Mordecai honored Jewish law to worship only God. Therefore, Haman suggested that Mordecai and the other Jews were not keeping the King's laws and they must be destroyed for state reasons.

Haman offered the king 10,000 talents to destroy Jews. Satan still moves men against God's plans using the temptation to get rich (1 Timothy 6:10). Jesus put it this way in Matthew 6:24, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

Finally, there is the publishing of the commandment to destroy the Jews in Esther 3:12. This was scheduled for the day before the PASSOVER. The decree went to every province in the kingdom; not one Province was left out! This was an attack on Jewish people and property, which is called spoil because it was delivered up to plunder. Haman having held out the prospect of a large sum as the result of exterminating the Jews, and the king having bestowed this upon Haman, the plundering of the Jews, thus permitted to all the inhabitants of the kingdom who should assist in exterminating them, must be understood as implying, that they would have to deliver a portion of the booty thus obtained to Haman.

To attain this object the more certainly, the copy of the decree, which was brought into every province by the posts, was open or unsealed, that all people might read its contents, and keep themselves in readiness for the execution of what was therein commanded. The scribes were summoned to prepare it on the thirteenth day of the first month. For this purpose, even though many copies had to be made in different languages, no very long time would be required in a well-appointed government office. As soon as the scribes had finished their work, the decree was sent out by the posts into all quarters of the realm, and would arrive in even the most distant provinces in three weeks at furthest.

The Persian system of riders (like Pony express) was the best in the world. Rejoicing may have taken place in the Palace, but the common people were distraught.

This attack was accomplished through the scheme of man, but it was really a strategy of the devil. The devil had in fact been trying to destroy The Seed that God promised in Gen 3:15, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Satan frequently tries to destroy the works of God in their infancy or before they have been birthed because he knows that God's works will destroy his kingdom as it advances God's kingdom. The enemy is working behind the scenes to destroy God's people so that he can keep his reign and his control of man.

Fortunately, as intercessors and people of God, we have greater power and authority and the enemy's schemes against God's plans cannot prevail. We will be able to stand in the fulfillment of God's plans for us and proclaim to our enemy, as Joseph did in Gen 50:20, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."