What is the meaning of Esther 3:7? In the twelfth year of King Xerxes • The narrative leaps from Esther’s coronation in the king’s seventh year (Esther 2:16) to his twelfth year, a span of about five years. • Scripture’s chronology reminds us that God is working even when the text is silent (cf. Daniel 2:20–21, “He changes the times and seasons”). • By dating the event so precisely, the writer anchors Haman’s plot in real history, affirming that this is no myth but fact. In the first month, the month of Nisan • Nisan is the month of Passover (Exodus 12:2, 14); the same season that once celebrated Israel’s deliverance now sees a plan for their destruction. • The contrast is striking: while Israel annually remembered God’s saving power, their enemy schemed to erase them. • God’s timing is never accidental; He often begins to reverse evil at the very moment it seems most threatening (cf. Isaiah 46:10). The Pur (that is, the lot) was cast before Haman • “Pur” is a Persian term for casting lots—dice-like objects used for decision-making. • Haman trusted chance and pagan superstition, yet “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD” (Proverbs 16:33). • This single word will later give its name to the feast of Purim (Esther 9:24–26), a yearly reminder that God turns the enemy’s tools into His people’s testimony. To determine a day and month • Haman sought the most “auspicious” date to annihilate the Jews, illustrating both his cruelty and his confidence in fate. • His careful planning shows a calculated evil—yet “Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail” (Proverbs 19:21). • The verse quietly assures readers that God, not fortune, determines history. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar • Eleven months now stand between the decree’s conception and its execution (compare Esther 3:12 with 8:12). • That long interval becomes the window through which Esther, Mordecai, and the Jews fast, pray, and act—evidence of God’s providential delay. • What Haman meant for destruction ends in celebration: “On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month… when the king’s command and edict were to be executed, the tables were turned” (Esther 9:1; see also Genesis 50:20). summary Esther 3:7 shows that while Haman trusted an impersonal lot, the living God ruled the outcome. The date chosen gave nearly a year for divine intervention, culminating in deliverance and the feast of Purim. Hidden in a single verse is the assurance that no scheme, calendar, or “chance” can overrule the sovereign purposes of the Lord. |
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