Esther 3:14

Here we see great activity. An empire-wide proclamation went out, a true proclamation of death. The king's scribes were called on the 13th day of the month… All the king's satraps (his provincial rulers), the governors of every province, and the princes of every people who had joined themselves to the Persian empire received notice, in different languages, of what was to happen on the 13th day of the month Adar. The proclamation was written in the king's name and sealed with his ring, which Haman held.

Haman took the fullest advantage of the king's permission. He had copies of the document sent everywhere (v. 14), declaring this slaughter to be law. That law could not be changed, for the Medes and Persians took pride in having laws that never altered (Dan. 6:8).

God's people, just because they are His, are always an offence to the rest of mankind, and above all to the proud and boastful. This holds true even when their own unfaithfulness costs them His open favour, which is what had happened here… So Haman proposes their destruction, offering a round sum for the treasury in return.

The lot points to the twelfth month for the massacre of the Jews. Why not the third or the fourth month, to take away any chance of escape from this oppressed people? Is this not once again hidden Providence, directing everything as always? What can the "oppressor of the Jews" (Esther 9:10, 24) do against the secret counsels of Providence? He must obey the lot he has consulted, and right there his quick road to death and judgment begins.

Divine providence saw to it that the day was put off long enough to make room for a fresh decree — since changing or cancelling the first was not allowed — so that the Jews could stand in self-defence and destroy their enemies. At first nothing looked less likely; in the end Satan, as always, defeated himself.

The written decree! What a change it made! The goals and aims that had taken up so much of their lives until then must have looked different — and, may we say it, truer. A Persian had no fear of death because of it; it did not touch him. A Jew had no hope of life once it was published, if he lived anywhere in the king's realm. He could go from one end of the empire to the other, and in no corner, in no hidden place, was he safe. The decree was aimed at the race. So by birth alone the Jew found himself under threat of death… It is written would have been the poor man's answer. It is written must have crushed all hope.

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 was offered the Jews. They believed it, and they acted as if they believed it.