Esther: Using the King's Name and Authority
Javan Smith
Esther, properly called Hadassah, was an exemplary woman in the Bible. Her selfless courage and willingness to obey God saved her people from annihilation. If you have studied her story, you know that Haman deviously plotted a scheme to destroy the Jews in Persia, and Esther, at her own peril, acted on behalf of the Jews. At length, Esther's intervention was a success. Haman's evil plot was exposed, and as a result, Haman was put to death, while Esther's relative Mordecai was promoted. After the death of Haman, something significant took place which reaffirmed Esther's position and authority as the Queen, and this is where we begin our story - at the end of the Book of Esther.
By the eighth chapter of the Book of Esther, Haman was already dead. But even after Haman's death, the plot that he had devised was technically still in effect. Note this point carefully: Haman, the enemy of the Jews, had been exposed and defeated, but his evil plot had already been set into motion. If Esther had not acted in her authority as Queen, as we will see from chapters eight and nine of the Book of Esther, the Jews still could have been plagued by an enemy who was already defeated.
Similarly, many followers of Christ today are allowing a defeated enemy to plague them instead of taking the authority that Jesus has bestowed upon them.
So what did Esther do? In Esther 8:3, the Scripture says that Esther fell before King Ahasuerus and "implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman the Agagite and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews" [NKJV]. Though Esther exhibited great courage in approaching the King with her concerns, the manner in which she implored him was perhaps more beggarly than queenly. Through her tears, she begged the King, saying, "If it pleases the King, and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing seems right to the King and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, […] which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in all the King's provinces. For how can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen?" [Esther 8:5-6, NKJV]. It seems unthinkable that a defeated enemy, namely Haman, could still strike fear in the hearts of the Jews and wreak havoc even after his death. Yet, the words of Esther indicate that Haman, though dead, was still an ongoing problem. Esther, however, was not going to allow the malicious plot to succeed.
Upon hearing her plea, King Ahasuerus gave an astounding response. He declared to Esther and to Mordecai, "You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, as you please, in the King's name, and seal it with the King's signet ring; for whatever is written in the King's name and sealed with the King's signet ring, no one can revoke" [Esther 8:8, NKJV]. Although Esther pled with him in a beggarly fashion, the King responded to her as the Queen that she was. She was much more than an arbitrary woman pleading her case before the King; she was the bride of the King, and the King answered her accordingly. Have you ever approached God as a beggar, pleading His favor? All the while, God is reminding you that you are the Bride of Christ, and He wants you to approach Him with the confidence of royalty. Moreover, He wants you to use the authority that He has conferred upon you. As the Bride of Christ, you have every right to speak and act in His Name.
“You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, as you please, in the King’s name, and seal it with the King’s signet ring; for whatever is written in the King’s name and sealed with the King’s signet ring, no one can revoke.”
Consider carefully the magnitude of what the King declared in Esther 8:8. He instructed Esther and Mordecai to write a decree however they pleased, and to do so in the King's name, sealing it with the King's seal. Protocol in Persia was such that no one could challenge or revoke any decree written in the King's name and bearing the King's seal. Following the King's instruction, Mordecai dictated a decree to the King's scribes, placing the King's name and seal upon the decree. In turn, the decree was translated into multiple languages and scripts, and then it was sent out to all one hundred and twenty-seven provinces within the realm of King Ahasuerus, stretching from India to Ethiopia [see Esther 8:9-10]. When each province received the decree that Mordecai had written, they did not receive it as a decree of Mordecai, but rather as a decree of the King. Even the Scripture refers to the decree as such. Speaking of the decree that Mordecai wrote, the Scripture states, "And in every province and city, wherever the King's command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, and a feast and a holiday" [Esther 8:17]. Note that the Scripture adds no qualifiers or explanations to clarify that the decree had actually come from Mordecai. Instead, Esther 8:17 simply refers to the decree as the "King's command and decree."
“And in every province and city, wherever the king’s command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a holiday. ”
Jesus has conferred similar authority on every single believer.
As a follower of Christ, you have the right to speak and make decrees according to the Word of God in the Name of the King!
When you speak the Word of God in the Name of Jesus, no one can challenge or revoke your decree. The authority is yours in Christ. In Luke 10:19, Jesus said, "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you" [Luke 10:19, NKJV]. All you need to do is use the authority that He has given you! Do not be intimidated by an enemy that is already defeated. Just as Haman had already met his demise by the time Esther and Mordecai began to use their authority, in the same way Satan was long ago defeated by the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. When the Jews of Persia were daunted by a plot against them, all they needed to do was remember that Haman was dead! They did not have to allow the schemes of a defeated enemy to overpower them. Likewise, when you feel overwhelmed by attacks from the enemy, remind yourself that the devil was long ago defeated. You do not have to allow his wiles to plague you.
What have you been allowing? Maybe you have lamented attacks in your life that you assumed God was allowing. Perhaps you have thought that God was the one allowing sickness, lack, destruction, or affliction in your life. Even if you knew that He did not cause it, you conceded that He must have allowed it. But remember that He gave authority to you! Just as King Ahasuerus told Esther and Mordecai, "You yourselves write a decree," Jesus is hearing your plea and telling you to do something about it!
You have every right to act, speak, and decree in His Name.
Speak to your mountain. If sickness is your mountain, speak the Word to it in the Name of Jesus. If fear, doubt, or anxiety is your mountain, speak the Word to it in the Name of Jesus. It makes no difference what your mountain is; you have the responsibility to make a decree in the Name of the King.
According to Isaiah 51:16 and Isaiah 59:21, the Lord has placed His Word in your mouth, and He has made a Covenant, promising that He will never remove that Word from your mouth. Imagine! The Word that He has placed within your mouth is the very Word by which He created the Heavens and the Earth [See Hebrews 11:3 and John 1:1-3]. He has entrusted that Word to you, and He promises that He will never take His Word out of your mouth, even though at times you have chosen to speak doubt, unbelief, and death. Value the Word that He has placed in your mouth and choose to speak that Word rather than the lies that the enemy whispers in your ear.
His Word in your mouth is your authority.
When God called a young man named Jeremiah to be a Prophet, God said to him, "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and throw down, to build and to plant" [Jeremiah 1:9-10, NKJV]. Note that God placed His Word in the mouth of Jeremiah, and as a result, Jeremiah was set over nations. By placing His Word in your mouth, God has set you over the system of this world. With that Word in your mouth, just as God told Jeremiah, you are to root out and pull down the work of the enemy, and in its place, you are to build and plant something new – all by speaking the Word that God has placed in your mouth!
“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To root out and to pull down,
To destroy and to throw down,
To build and to plant.”
Just as Esther and Mordecai made a decree in the King's name and authority, when you speak the Word of God, it is as powerful as if God, Himself, spoke it. You speak the Word, and God performs it.
Consider the case of Elijah. Elijah told King Ahab, "There shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word" [1st Kings 17:1, NKJV]. Of course, Elijah's own word had no power to cause or else to prevent the rain, but Elijah was confident that the Word in his mouth was the Word of the Lord. You can walk with the same confidence that Elijah exhibited! Trust the Power of the Word that the Lord has placed in your mouth. Speak and write decrees. Use the authority that Jesus has bestowed upon you, and as you speak, believe that He will perform His Word.
Maybe you have been allowing too many attacks of a defeated enemy to overpower you. It is time for you to make a determination, just as Esther and Mordecai, that you will not allow the schemes of the evil one to succeed. As a result of Esther's courage and willingness to use her authority, Esther 9:1 reveals that "on the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, the opposite occurred, in that the Jews themselves overpowered those who hated them" [NKJV]. Esther's story can become your story. Let it be said of you that on the day the devil hoped to overpower you the opposite occurred, all because you determined to use your authority in the Name of Jesus! For the Jews of Persia, what should have been a day of sorrow, in the end, became a day of rejoicing, feasting and merriment [see Esther 9:17-19]. Learn from Esther's example.
Use your authority, speak in the King's Name, and watch the landscape of your life transform from sorrow to rejoicing. Amen!