Tuesday - Esther 9 - National Defense

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fter about 9 months of preparation, the day came for the execution of the king's commandment.  It was time for the Jews to defend themselves through a preemptive strike against those who were known to be their opponents and enemies. Their advantage on that day was so great that Esther 9:2 says that "nobody could withstand them “as they rose violently against their adversaries.   With the help of all the local authorities on their side, the Jews executed their preemptive strike (Esther 9:5).

For some reason, there is a particular emphasis on how this event played out in the royal palace. There were 500 killed there and the 10 sons of Haman were killed. Interestingly, the queen then got permission to extend the defense of her nation to a second day. On that day, they killed an additional 300 in the royal city. So, there were 800 enemies of the Jews who were discovered and executed just in the immediate area where the king could observe the goings on (Esther 9:12). As it turned out, there were 75,000 people killed (Esther 9:16). But, even though the Jews had a right to take the possessions of their enemies (Esther 8:11), in this case, they didn't do that (Esther 9:17). Probably, they were communicating the sincerity of their defense. If they had taken the things that belonged to their adversaries, perhaps they could have been accused of doing what they did out of base greed.