Esther 8:10

Stones with words, letters, or symbols engraved on them. In ancient times people pierced them and hung them from the arm or neck by a cord or chain, or set them in rings and wore them on the finger. The design was pressed into pieces of clay attached to official documents. In the East a document is not considered genuine unless it is sealed.

In Esther 3:12 and Esther 8:8 we find two letters of King Ahasuerus. One was written under Haman's influence and scheming, telling men to rise up and wipe out the Jews. Mordecai guided the other, which allowed the Jews to destroy anyone who dared to lay hands on them. Both letters went out in the king's name and under the king's ring, and neither was cancelled. No one may reverse writing that is written in the king's name and sealed with the king's ring. The sealing therefore implied the unchangeable purpose and will of the one whose seal it was. No man could reverse it.

From this point on, he is no longer at the gate; he comes before the king. His dignity becomes effective and official. He is clothed in "royal apparel of blue and white." He wears a "great crown of gold." He receives the royal ring, which gives him authority to govern the peoples of the kingdom. All this is no doubt a hidden picture, like all the pictures in this book. But in it faith discovers the Man Christ Jesus. The Sovereign who holds supreme power has clothed Him with its attributes, its privileges, and its responsibilities.

Sending letters at speed began early. … The couriers sent with the decree from Susa the citadel went on horses, mules, camels, and young dromedaries, hurried on and pressed forward by the king's command. … Large districts were divided into small departments. Each had a post-house where runners and animals were always kept ready. So dispatches could spread fast in many directions.

That it is true history is obvious. … The use of couriers on horses, mules, camels, and young dromedaries, according to the nature of the country crossed — from India to Ethiopia — was also the method used.

When the first decree was published the couriers went out, hurried on by the king's command (3:15). On this second occasion we read that Mordecai sent letters by couriers on horseback, riding on swift horses, 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 agreed to the first decree. Everyone could notice how eager he was to make the second one known.

The proclamation of death stood, but alongside it a proclamation of life was given. They did not have to die. Their enemies were handed over to them. They acted on this second proclamation and believed what it said. So they learned this: the first decree stood and could not be revoked, but the second decree set them free from death and gave them liberty.

Confusion gave way to gladness; feasting took the place of fasting. Why? The thirteenth of Adar had not yet come. The first decree still stood. 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 to the Jews. They believed it, and they acted as if they believed it.