Esther 8:1-9:16 - A Triumphant Decree

When we left off the most unlikely of reversals had happened. Haman, who had shamed Mordecai and manipulated the king, using the royal signet ring to issue an edict to kill, to destroy, and to annihilate Mordecai’s people, the Jews throughout the empire; that same Haman had to lead Mordecai through the city proclaiming his honor, and then his plot was exposed and Haman was hanged on the 75-foot-high gallows he had built. 
We will pick it up with Esther 8:1-9:16. In this section the reversal theme becomes even greater as we see a second edict issued using the signet ring of the king. The passage raises some important questions about the nature of justice, the differences between human justice and God’s justice, and the ways that we are part of God’s work of bringing justice to our city and our world. There are some difficult questions as well as we see what might look like retribution. Through it all we will see that even in the darkest of circumstance we can trust that true justice will triumph in the end, God’s justice will be brought to bear in its fullness. 
The overarching theme of God’s Sovereignty in the Silence continues in powerful ways this week. In that, God’s Word meets us in perfect timing for the week we are walking through. God sees. God knows. God hears us. Even when it seems like God is silent, His sovereign hand is moving in powerful ways.