Esther (Greek) 10:1-14: a reflection

1The king levied a tax upon his kingdom both by land and sea. 2As for his strength and valour, and the wealth and glory of his kingdom, behold, they are written in the book of the Persians and Medes for a memorial. 3Mordecai was viceroy to King Ahasuerus, and was a great man in the kingdom, honored by the Jews, and lived his life loved by all his nation. 4[Mordecai said, “These things have come from God. 5For I remember the dream which I had concerning these matters; for not one detail of them has failed. 6There was the little spring which became a river, and there was light, and the sun and much water. The river is Esther, whom the king married and made queen. 7The two serpents are Haman and me. 8The nations are those which combined to destroy the name of the Jews. 9But as for my nation, this is Israel, even those who cried to God and were delivered; for the Lord delivered his people. The Lord rescued us out of all these calamities; and God worked such signs and great wonders as have not been done among the nations. 10Therefore he ordained two lots. One for the people of God, and one for all the other nations. 11And these two lots came for an appointed season, and for a day of judgment, before God, and for all the nations. 12God remembered his people and vindicated his inheritance. 13They shall observe these days in the month Adar, on the fourteenth and on the fifteenth day of the month, with an assembly, joy, and gladness before God, throughout the generations forever among his people Israel. 14In the fourth year of the reign of Ptolemeus and Cleopatra, Dositheus, who said he was a priest and Levite, and Ptolemeus his son brought this letter of Purim, which they said was authentic, and that Lysimachus the son of Ptolemeus, who was in Jerusalem, had interpreted.]

This passage, from the Greek additions to Esther, gives Mordecai's reflection at the end of the whole story. Looking back, he recognizes the hand of God in everything that has happened: these things came from God, he says. He recalls a dream he had been given, and now sees how every detail of it came to pass in the deliverance of his people. What had unfolded through court intrigue, a queen's courage, and a series of remarkable turns, Mordecai now understands as God's own work.

The heart of Mordecai's reflection is a confession of God's faithfulness: God remembered his people and vindicated his inheritance; the Lord delivered his people and rescued them out of all these calamities. What might have looked, in the moment, like a series of narrow escapes and lucky turns, Mordecai now reads clearly as the deliverance of God. And so the days of celebration are established, that his people would remember, generation after generation, that God had saved them.

There is wisdom in Mordecai's backward look. Often God's hand is clearest in hindsight. In the middle of events, we see only the confusion, the danger, the uncertainty; only later can we look back and say, with Mordecai, these things came from God. Take time to look back over your own life and name where God has been at work, delivering, providing, turning things toward good. Remembering God's faithfulness in the past, as Esther's people did with their yearly celebration, strengthens your trust for whatever lies ahead.

Lord, looking back, Mordecai saw your hand in everything and confessed, these things came from God, who remembered his people and delivered them. Give me eyes to look back over my own life and to name where you have been at work, delivering and providing and turning things toward good. Let remembering your past faithfulness strengthen my trust for what lies ahead, and let me never forget that my deliverance came from you. Amen.