In the connected story of the Bible, the place of the book of Esther is between the 6th and 7th chapters of Ezra, between Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia; for the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther was Xerxes, king of Persia.
The Hebrew Ahashverosh is the natural equivalent of the old persian Khshayarsha, the true name of the monarch called by the Greeks Xerxes, as now read in his inscriptions.--Encyclopedia Britannica, article: Ahasuerus
His reign was from 486-465 BC. His father, Darius Hystaspes, had left him the empire extended to its widest limit; and his reign marks the period of the greatest glory of the Persian Empire, and the beginning of its decline. In Daniel 11:2 is a prophecy spoken in the third year of Cyrus, 534 BC, saying: "Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all; and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia." (Daniel 11:2)
It was in fulfillment of this prophecy that Xerxes invaded Greece, 480 BC, with the largest army ever known, when, in resisting it, the three hundred Spartans under Leonidas immortalized themselves at Thermopylae. It was in preparation for this invasion of Greece, that he gathered all the princes and governors of his empire to Susa, as recorded in Esther 1:3-9. "In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him." (Esther 1:3)
He called the governors and princes of the provinces to his capital to deliberate upon the invasion of Greece, and to levy the tribute and the forces that should be furnished by each province for the purpose. The royal entertainment continued six months. But it was no later than the seventh day of the feast when the king in his drunkenness commanded his chamberlains. "To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the people and the princes her beauty. But the queen Vashti refused to come." (Esther 1:11-12)
Then the king in council decided to put her away, and to publish a decree in the language of every people, "that every man should bear rule in his own house."(Esther 1:22)
Then in his sixth year he led his army into Greece, suffered a terrible defeat at Salamis, and at Plataea, and, like Sennacherib of old, returned with shame of face into his own land. And there he, for the rest of his days, sought to occupy himself in the exercise of arms of a very different nature from those with which he had been occupied in the invasion of Greece. Then, "he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her." (Esther 2:1)
It would seem that he remembered Vashti with the wish to call her to his side again; but the "decree" of the Persians and Medes had been published against her, and it was impossible to alter or reverse that; so he was compelled to do without Vashti, and seek another in her place, and the choice fell upon Esther, the adopted daughter of her cousin Mordecai. "And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti." (Esther 2:17)
Shortly after this, two of the king's chamberlains had laid a plot to assassinate him, and Mordecai learned of it. He told Esther who brought it to the king; the matter was discovered; the two men were hanged, and there was a record made of the whole matter in the chronicles of the kingdom. Next Xerxes promoted Haman the Agagite to the chief place, "above all the princes that were with him." (Esther 3:1)
When the king promoted him, Haman exalted himself; and when all bowed and reverenced him as he passed except Mordecai, it soon created a stir; for Mordecai "had told them that he was a Jew." (Esther 3:4)
Being a Jew who feared and worshiped God, he could neither bow nor reverence any one but God. "Then Haman was full of wrath. And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had showed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom." (Esther 3:5-6)
Haman therefore succeeded in obtaining a decree for the destruction of "a certain people," (Esther 3:8) whose laws were "diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's laws." (Esther 3:8)
So the decree was published throughout the realm. "And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed." (Esther 3:15) "When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; And came even before the king's gate. ... So Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told it her...and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him; and he received it not." (Esther 4:1-2,4)
Then she sent her chamberlain, "to know what it was, and why it was;" (Esther 4:5) and Mordecai told him all about it, and sent word to her to go to the king and "make request before him for her people." (Esther 4:8)
But it was death for any one to go to the king without being called, unless the king should hold out the royal scepter; and as Esther had not been called for thirty days, it was a great risk indeed for her to go into the presence of the capricious king without being called.
But Mordecai told her that if the Jews were indeed destroyed, she would not escape any more than any of the rest of the Jews. He also told her a truth in which is embodied the principle that underlies all of God's calling and work. "If you altogether hold your peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but you and your father's house shall be destroyed: and who knows whether you are come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14)
God's purposes in the affairs of men will surely be accomplished. They will be accomplished by the instrumentality of men. And when He calls anybody to His work, whether directly or by putting him in a position of responsibility or influence by which men have a right to expect of him help in crises; if that person fails, then enlargement and deliverance will arise from another place, and he will be left in the place which he was weakly chosen, and the cause of God will advance without him.
We owe to God and to His cause all our influence of position, all our responsibility of place, wherever it may be; and when a crisis comes, we are, like the fair queen Esther, to show our faithfulness, trusting in God for the result. It was for just such a time as this that she was brought to that place, and now if she should fail in her responsibility, she would show herself entirely unworthy of the place.
And so it is ever. God's gifts are not for nothing. He expects them to be used for His glory, and "them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed," (1 Samuel 2:30) is His word to all. Esther nobly fulfilled her calling; she found favor in the eyes of God and the king; and by her, deliverance arose for her nation and people.
Haman, expecting to be honored above all by the king, pronounces the sentence of what he himself shall do in honor of Mordecai, whom he abhors; having erected a gallows upon which Mordecai shall be hanged, he himself is hanged upon it; having devoted to destruction Mordecai and his people, the evil which he intended came upon himself and upon his house.--Signs of the Times, March 4, 1886--Notes on the International Lesson, March 14--Esther 4:10-17; 5:1-8
A.T. Jones