And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?
The book of Esther closes like a page from a state archive. It files two things side by side — the king's power, and the rise of Mordecai the Jew — so which greatness does the last page really want us to see?
The verse points to another set of books: the royal records of Media and Persia. One writer explains what such records were — and what they were not:
These chronicles were drawn up during the reigns of all the rulers of those times, whether Jewish or Gentile. They have nothing to do with the Word of God. What it has not pleased the Lord to record or explain is found written there. These chronicles have been lost; perhaps someone will one day find fragments of them. The believer has no need of any of them; he has God's Word. There, in God's account, he finds all that is necessary for him, along with the divine evaluation of people, events, and things.
Esther's last verse points to a record that no longer exists. What God meant to keep, He kept in His Word.
This is not the first time Persia's chronicles appear in the story. Earlier, a sleepless king called for them and found a record of Mordecai's loyalty that had never been rewarded:
On that sleepless night, nothing must be brought in to pass the king's weary hours except "the book of the records of the chronicles." Strange entertainment for a self-indulgent king! But God was behind all this. There was a certain record in that book about "a certain Jew" — and it had to come at once under the eye of the restless king. Mordecai had to come into notice.
The same archive that once held a forgotten act now holds the full account of his greatness.
The verse joins two subjects: the king's might and Mordecai's advancement. Only one of them lasts.
This remarkable book closes with the announcement of the greatness of the Persian Empire as ruled by King Ahasuerus. As with every other kingdom of the nations, however, this magnificence was only fleeting. Alexander the Great rose very swiftly to the head of the Grecian Empire. He overcame and displaced the Persian Empire, just as the Lord had prophesied through His servant Daniel (Dan. 8:4-7; 8:20-21). But for a brief time Ahasuerus accomplished great things — above all because he had advanced Mordecai the Jew to a position of great prominence.
The verse names the king's "power and might." One writer sets a different kind of greatness beside it:
It is a beautiful picture of a king great in his power and his might. Morally greater is the faithful administration of the prime minister, who never forgot that he was "Mordecai the Jew"... It was faith in the Unseen that sustained and guided him. So he sought not personal advancement but the good of his people.
Mordecai did not seize his rank; the king advanced him. Commentators see in that a picture of a greater exaltation still to come:
All of these points prefigure the coming exaltation of Christ among His people, the Jews. The time of the Gentiles, when the nations trample Jerusalem down, will have come to an end (Lk. 21:24)... Christ will reign supreme, not only in Israel, but to the ends of the earth (Ps. 72:8; Zech. 9:10). It will be God Himself who "advances" the Man of His counsel (Isa. 46:11) to such glory.
Another writer explains why Mordecai had to be lifted so high:
One man must become the liberator of the people. Here again we find in Mordecai such an interesting picture of Christ. For this, he first had to humble himself to the lowest degree, in sackcloth and ashes, and then be raised to the highest dignity.
- Recorded. The verse sends us to Persia's royal records. Rulers kept such books, Jewish and Gentile alike, and they are now lost. The believer needs none of them. He has God's Word, and God's own evaluation of people and events.
- Remembered. The same records once held a loyal deed that nobody had rewarded. God stood behind a king's sleepless night and brought Mordecai into notice.
- Raised. The king advanced him. Mordecai's greatness came as a gift, not a grab. Commentators see here God Himself advancing the Man of His counsel: the lowest humbling first, then the highest place.
- Rated. The king was great in power and might. His minister was morally greater. He still called himself "Mordecai the Jew," faith in the Unseen held him up, and he sought his people's good, not his own.
- Replaced. Persia's splendour was brief. Alexander took the empire, just as the Lord had prophesied through Daniel. What lasts on this page is the greatness of the man the king raised up.
For Mordecai the Jew was second to king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the welfare of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.
The book of Esther ends with a single verse about one man. It sums up the whole reversal: the Jew marked for death now stands nearest the throne of the great king. Commentators read it as a portrait of true greatness and as a picture of Christ.
The last chapter sets two great men side by side: the king and his minister. One writer sums up how far the reversal goes.
The book closes with an account of the greatness of the realm of the king, and also of Mordecai his minister... This is a fitting close to this most remarkable book. The Jew is delivered from all his distresses and brought into the nearest place to the great king. He is no longer the victim of the hatred of the Gentile. Instead he has authority over all, to carry out vengeance on all who would kill the descendants of Abraham.
The verse does not simply say Mordecai was great; it says he was "Mordecai the Jew" while being second to the king. That detail carries the moral weight of the whole picture.
It is a beautiful picture. The king was great in his power and his might. His chief minister was morally greater still, because he administered faithfully. He never forgot that he was "Mordecai the Jew." Though second to the king, he sought no favourite and no party, and yet he "was great among the Jews and accepted by the multitude of his brothers." It was faith in the Unseen that sustained and guided him. So he did not seek his own advancement. He sought the good of his people, and spoke peace to all his descendants.
One writer takes the verse clause by clause. He links each phrase to an earlier figure in Israel's history, and hears in the last words the start of something new. (Older translations end the verse "speaking peace to all his seed"; the ESV has "spoke peace to all his people".)
But this verse gives special notice to Mordecai's character toward his people: "great among the Jews," prospering in his splendour (Ps. 45:4); "accepted of the multitude of his brothers," as David the son of Jesse had been before him (1 Sam. 18:5); "seeking the welfare of his people," as the true David, the Anointed, will seek the welfare of Jerusalem (Ps. 122:9), or as the Lord will plan to do good to the house of Judah (Zech. 8:15); "speaking peace to all his seed." So this book closes at the moment when the reign of peace begins. All this people, once oppressed, are recognised as the race of Mordecai. What an ending!
One writer sets Mordecai beside Joseph, and reads both as a picture of Christ's place now. Neither Haman nor Satan saw what God was doing.
Like Joseph in Egypt, Mordecai rose to a position next to the king. Both point to the high place Christ the Son of God has entered as Man, at God's right hand in heaven. Haman had no idea, when plotting the death of Mordecai, that God had marked him out for such a place of glory in the kingdom of Persia. Satan had no idea either when he used men to crucify and kill the Son of God. In His counsels God had marked out the One whom men would kill as the "Man of His right hand."
Another writer applies the verse's last two phrases to the Lord Himself. Their full meaning is still ahead.
The Lord has always been "seeking the welfare of his people," even during His lifetime on earth. But at that time the majority rejected Him. In the day to come, His people will recognise this and enjoy it. He will not only seek but will bestow the greatest welfare on them, and "speak peace to all his seed."
Nothing in the verse mentions God. That silence runs through the whole book, and one writer finds comfort in it.
All this was given during the day of the cloud — of the darkness — of the dispersion — of the non-recognition of the Jew. The name of God is entirely absent from it. It is the secret power of God working through circumstances that might seem awkward. But what a comfort to us! We too have to do with the same providence of God — not working to the same end... but we have to do with the same God; only — thank God — He does not disown us.
- Hidden. God's name never appears in Esther. Yet this closing verse is His work — His secret power moving through circumstances that looked awkward.
- Faithful. Second in the empire, Mordecai never stopped being "Mordecai the Jew." Faith in the Unseen kept him from seeking a party, a favourite, or his own advancement.
- Exalted. The plot to kill Mordecai ended in his glory. As Joseph rose in Egypt, so Christ, the One men killed, is now the Man at God's right hand.
- Accepted. "Great among the Jews" and welcomed by his brothers, Mordecai stands where the once-rejected Christ will one day stand among His own people.
- Peace. The book ends on the word "peace" — the once-oppressed people are now counted as Mordecai's own, and the reign of peace begins.