20 Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far, 21 to establish among them an annual celebration on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar 22 as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies and the month in which their sorrow turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He wrote that these were to be days of feasting and joy, of sending gifts to one another and to the poor.

23 So the Jews agreed to continue the custom they had started, as Mordecai had written to them. 24 For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the Pur (that is, the lot) to crush and destroy them. 25 But when it came before the king, he commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should come back upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

26 Therefore these days are called Purim, from the word Pur.

Because of all the instructions in this letter, and because of all they had seen and experienced, 27 the Jews bound themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should not fail to celebrate these two days at the appointed time each and every year, according to their regulation. 28 These days should be remembered and celebrated by every generation, family, province, and city, so that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, nor should the memory of them fade from their descendants.

29 So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim. 30 And Mordecai sent letters with words of peace and truth to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes, 31 in order to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established them and had committed themselves and their descendants to the times of fasting and lamentation.

32 So Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, which were written into the record.

CHAPTER TEN

1 Now King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the land, even to its farthest shores.

2 And all of Mordecai’s powerful and magnificent accomplishments, together with the full account of the greatness to which the king had raised him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia? 3 For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews and highly favored by his many kinsmen, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Gus Cameron

There is so much joy and celebration in this passage, and no wonder! God has used King Xerxes to save his people, and so they rejoice. As I think about how they celebrated, it’s helped me reflect on how we respond to what God has done for us through Christ Jesus.

Do the words “celebrate” and “joy” describe your response to what Christ has done for you? I hope that there are times when you do celebrate; perhaps when you see a new believer being baptised or you’re reminded of a deep truth from a sermon. But I’m sure there are also times when we need to remind ourselves to rejoice. Think about some of the things we do as believers; we come together for church on Sundays, as we sing together, as we meet in Growth Groups, as we pray to our Heavenly Father, as we serve in our teams, as we read our devotions. Let’s approach them all with celebration and hearts full of joy.

I’m sure we can get overwhelmed and distracted by lots of different things each week, but Philippians 4:4 urges us: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”. We know what God has done for us, and we know that he’ll finish what he started. That’s the greatest reason to rejoice.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gus is an Assistant Minister with our Fairfield congregations.