About 1500 BC
In Deut 25:17-19, in his review of the years that the Israelites spent in the desert, Moses tells the Israelites that they are to remember what Amalek did to them. We are given a few details, namely, that Amalek had attacked the Israelites when they were faint and weary and that he had cut off at the rear all those who lagged behind. Apparently, Amalek had no particular reason for going to war, since the Israelites would not be passing through his territory; nor were the Israelites seeking to acquire the land for themselves.
One rabbi sees significance in the fact that just before the account of Amalek’s attack we have the statement (Deut 25:16): “For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are an abomination to the L-rd your G-d.”6 Furthermore, because he was afraid to fight the Israelites face to face, he attacked those who were faint and exhausted and those who were weak in the rear.
De 25:17 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way as ye came forth out of Egypt; (Ex 17:8) Deut 25 v 18 how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, all that were feeble behind thee, when thou were faint and weary; and he feared not God. 19 Therefore it shall be, when Jehovah thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which Jehovah thy God gives thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shall not forget.
About 1000 BC
Years Later God says to King Saul of the tribe of Benjamin once the people had settled the land.
1Sa 15:2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
13 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
1Sa 15:20 And Saul said to Samuel, Yes, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag (alive) the king of Amalek, and have completely destroyed the rest of the Amalekites. King Saul spared the king and that mistake was to come back 500 years later.
His disobedience of seeking sacrifice over obedience was to haunt Israel later.
About 500 BC – in the Kingdom of Persia
Mordecai from the tribe of Benjamin just like King Saul before him. Esther 2:5 Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish.
(Side note) Why does the bible mention Shimei who lived at the time of David in identifying Mordecai’s family tree? It appears David s mercy to a Benjamite would set the stage to save Israel years later by his descendant Mordecai the Benjamite.
2 Samuel 16:5-14 When David was forced to flee Jerusalem during an attempted coup by his own son Absalom, Shimei, thinking that David’s days as king were over, vented his rage at David – which David humbly submitted himself.
“And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came. And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial: The Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and The Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.”
“And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeks my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for The Lord hath bidden him. It may be that The Lord will look on mine affliction, and that The Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day.” “And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill’s side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust. And the king, and all the people that were with him, came weary, and refreshed themselves there.” (2 Samuel 16:5-14)
It seems the Jews in Babylon, in assimilating, had detached themselves from God’s program and perhaps this is why He does not identify Himself with His name in this book. In the book of Esther God is hidden and his name nowhere appears.
Briefly, King Ahasuerus was looking for a replacement for his queen, Vashti, after her refusal to indulge him at a great party.
This search led to a Jewish girl, Hadassah, being chosen as the new queen. She was being raised by her cousin Mordecai who convinced her to hide her Jewishness and take the Persian name Esther. Mordecai was given a post outside the palace where he foiled a plot on the king’s life. This deed was recorded, but no reward was given.
Mordecai is a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin. He serves the king of the Medes and Persians. He is confronted with Haman the Kings prime minister who is an Agagite of the tribe of Amalek. . The king’s prime minister, Haman, became perturbed with Mordecai when, honoring the one true God, he refused to bow down to Haman. Haman the Amalekite wanted Mordecai’s worship!!
While the Persians considered court officials to be worthy of worship, the midrash holds that Haman wore an image of his favorite idol on his clothes, so bowing to him would mean that Mordecai bowed to an idol. Haman’s reaction was typical of anti-Semites throughout Jewish history:
His anger at a single man blossoms into a rage aimed at all Jews.
Personal pride is translated to Anti Semitic Rage.
He casts dice (lots) to decide the Jews’ destruction.
So the stage is set – Once more the Benjamite and theAmalekite (Agagite) face off 500 years after Saul.
Esther 3:10 So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. Remember – Agag was king of the Amalekites, Israel’s and God’s enemy: and in Exodus 17:16 He said, “For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD. The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”
The main part of the story in Esther took place on Passover. Haman cast the infamous lot to set a date for the destruction of the Jews on the 13th of Nisan (Esther 3:7, 12). Passover is the 14th of Nissan.
So the day before Passover Haman was plotting the same actions of Pharaoh and those like him.
Haman was prepared to seek the death of all Israel a year later on a date decided by Lots.
The third day, when Esther went in to see the king, would have been Nisan 15. Thus, the Jews of Susa fasted through Passover in that year! Why was Mordecai is still in Susa on the 13th of Nisan when he should have been back in Jerusalem for Passover on the 14th? (Esther 3:12; Lev. 23:5; Deut. 16:16). Passover in Jerusalem was a commanded Pilgrim feast for all Jewish men. Ezra and the other Jews had gone home years earlier to rebuild the temple under Cyrus decree?
Both Passover and Purim occurred outside the land, in Egypt and Persia. Both involved the near extermination of the people of Israel. Moses and Esther both appeared before kings to rescue their people. Pharaoh’s army and Haman both perished.
In the Complete Book of Jewish Observance, Leo Trepp notes that Purim is a fulfillment of the saying from the Passover Haggadah: “Not just one Pharaoh rose against us to exterminate us, but in every generation did they rise up to exterminate us, and each time the Holy One Blessed Be He has rescued us from their hands.”
Esther 3:13 Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews–young and old, women and little children–on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.
The fast of Yom Kippur is when the High Priest dresses in white, enters the most Holy Place to atone for the Children of Israel and at that time lots decide the fate of the two sacrificial goats. So Esther dresses herself after a fast and enters the inner court of the king uninvited to plead the case of her people.
