The couriers mounted on coursers [and] horses of blood went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the fortress.
These couriers are the king's own post service, and they had already carried Haman's death sentence across the empire. Now they ride out with the opposite message — and in a hurry, though the fatal day is months away and the first decree still stands.
Chapter 3 had already described couriers hurried out of the capital. One writer sets the two dispatches side by side, and notes what the difference showed about the king.
When the first decree went out, the couriers went with it, hurried on by the king's command (3:15). This second time we read that Mordecai "sent letters by couriers on horseback, and riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries." The swiftest animals were pressed into service, and the king's command hurried the messengers on (8:10, 14). Everyone could see that the king had gone along with the first decree. Everyone could notice his eagerness in making the second one known.
(Verse 10 is quoted here from an older translation; the ESV mentions only the king's swift horses.)
Esther had asked the king for this, and he granted it. The speed of the couriers shows him following through on what he granted.
And so the day set for Israel's ruin becomes the day of their deliverance, but through judgment and vengeance on their enemies. The king associates himself with everything that takes place. He held out the golden sceptre to Esther and received all her requests in grace. Now he puts his word into action to carry out quickly what he promised (v. 14).
The phrase about swift horses "used in the king's service" points to a real system, not a figure of speech.
Large districts were divided into small departments, each with a post-house. These always kept runners and animals ready, so dispatches could spread quickly in many directions.
The second letter did not cancel the first. Persian law could not be reversed. So the couriers carried something new to stand beside the old sentence.
The proclamation of death stood, but beside it came a proclamation of life. They did not need to die. Their enemies were given into their hands. They acted on this second proclamation and believed what it said. So they learned this: the first decree stood and could not be revoked, yet the second decree set them free from death and gave them liberty.
The thirteenth of Adar was still months off. But the Jews needed time to prepare, and the two decrees would now work together on that one day.
The first decree would at least serve one purpose: it would expose who the enemies of the Jews were. When those enemies used that decree to attack, the Jews would use the second decree to defend themselves and to kill their enemies. Though God's name is not mentioned, the Jews could still depend on God to fight for them too. The couriers carried their message with a sense of urgency, so the Jews would be ready for the crucial day (v. 14).
The change in the Jews' condition came long before the dangerous day arrived. Something written, carried to them, made the difference.
What a change had come about! Confusion gave way to gladness. Feasting took the place of fasting. Why? The thirteenth of Adar had not yet come. The first decree was still in force. Why this change? The written word of that second decree had made all the difference. Relief had come. There was now a way of escape from that dreadful doom. They believed it, and they acted as if they believed it.
One writer draws the line from this to what God has done for everyone:
The law of God has passed the sentence of death on all men. But by sending His own Son to bear sin's penalty on Calvary, God has intervened for the blessing of all who will receive His Son as Savior and Lord.
- Same road. The post service that carried a death sentence now carries deliverance. The king had only gone along with the first decree. He was eager about the second.
- Same haste. Now the king is acting on his own promise. What he granted Esther in grace, he drives across the empire without delay.
- Same reach. Post-houses kept runners and animals ready, so the news could travel fast in every direction. The good news went as far as the bad news had gone.
- Same day. The death sentence still stood and could not be revoked. The second decree stood beside it and set the people free, so the day chosen for Israel's ruin became the day of their deliverance.
- Same choice. Months before the dangerous day, joy replaced fasting: they believed a written word and acted on it. God's law has passed a death sentence on all. God sent His Son to bear sin's penalty, and His word asks the same response: believe it, and act on it.
And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a mantle of byssus and purple; and the city of Shushan shouted and was glad.
The verse turns a page. The man who sat in sackcloth at the palace gate now walks out of the king's presence in royal robes, wearing a great gold crown. The whole city erupts in gladness. Commentators read the scene as real history, and also as a picture of a greater exaltation still ahead.
This is not the first honour Mordecai received. What changed at verse 15 was his position, not just people's opinion of him.
after
All the people of Shushan had already seen Mordecai clothed in royal dignity, because he had "spoken good for the king" (Esther 7:9). But up to this point that dignity was only moral dignity, so to speak. Right afterwards he went back to his position as a servant at the king's gate. From this point on, he is no longer at the gate; he comes before the king. His dignity becomes effective and official.
Others trace the reversal back to his refusal to bow to Haman, and read the robe as the answer to that stand.
He stood like a rock and let the whole tide of difficulty and opposition roll over him. He would not bow to the Amalekite, whatever the cost. Obedience was his path. The results were with God. And look at the result! In one moment the tide turned. The proud Amalekite fell from his high position. The exiled Jew rose from his sackcloth and ashes to a place next to the throne. Haman exchanged his wealth and honours for a gallows; Mordecai exchanged his sackcloth for a royal robe.
One writer takes each colour as carrying meaning drawn from elsewhere in Scripture:
Persia no doubt knew nothing of what these things meant in God's eyes. But Scripture treats blue as the heavenly colour and white as purity of moral character. So Scripture sees Mordecai as a picture of the Lord Jesus, the Man from heaven in whom is moral perfection. The crown of gold reminds us that Christ is far more than man, for gold speaks of the glory of God... The garment of fine linen and purple shows that royal glory (the purple) belongs to Christ, joined with the grace of perfect purity (the fine linen)... Christ on earth wore the clothes of the poor, but He will soon have His rightful place, with garments of glory and beauty.
Commentators differ here. Another reads the same colours as the court dress of the empire:
The royal robes were blue, white and purple, the Persian colours. They show the ancient Persian view of the world: white was the colour of light, blue the sky, and purple was linked with the sun.
The picture that several writers find here is of Christ's public honour, still future.
God will not fail to give the greatest honour to Christ, who glorified Him on the cross. God has exalted Him to the place of honour at His right hand, and one day God will honour Him publicly. Mordecai "went out from the presence of the king in royal robes... with a great golden crown" (v. 15). In the same way Christ will appear in glory, coming from the presence of God, so that the earth will recognise and honour Him.
The gladness is not only Jewish. The whole city cheers, and that tells us something about how people judge a righteous man in the end.
Men may feel ill will toward a life that condemns them without a word. Even so, conscience must justify the truehearted. So when it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices. Compare Esther 8:15-17.
The striking thing is the timing. The Jews celebrated while the danger was still ahead of them.
What a change had taken place. Perplexity gave way to gladness; feasting took the place of fasting. Why? The thirteenth of Adar had not yet come. The first decree stood unrepealed. Why this change? The written word of that second decree had made all the difference. Relief had come; a way of escape from that dreadful doom now stood open to the Jews. They believed it, and they acted as if they believed it.
One writer sets this celebration beside the feast kept at Jerusalem in Ezra 6, and finds the comparison sobering. The Jews in Shushan were rescued and glad, but they were still far from where God had put His name.
Through grace and mercy they do sometimes have a feast and a good day; they do have answers to their prayers, special marks of God's favour, and striking interventions on their behalf; they may also be much used in leading others to turn to God, as we read, "Many of the people of the land became Jews"; but I press it, they are still short of their true, full blessing.
- Sackcloth to robe. Mordecai's refusal to bow cost him everything. Then the tide turned in a moment, and the exiled man went from ashes to a place beside the throne.
- Gate to government. The earlier honour was passing, and he went back to the gate. Now he stands before the king with an official authority he will not lose.
- Robe read as glory. Some writers read blue, white, gold and purple as heaven, purity, divine glory and royal rule — a portrait of Christ. Others read them as the plain court colours of Persia.
- Glory yet to come. Mordecai came out from the king's presence into public honour. So Christ will come from God's presence in glory, and the earth will honour Him.
- Joy resting on a written word. The danger had not passed. The Jews rejoiced because they believed the second decree — and the city rejoiced with them.