Ethical Josh Allen strikes again

Jim Jordan's interpretation of the book of Esther is controversial. I think it's right. Ahasuerus is a good guy. He isn't a drunken despot. He doesn't abuse Vashti. He's Yahweh's deputy to rule the oikoumene, a king on the model of Cyrus. Mordecai's refusal to bow to Haman isn't an example of faithfulness. Mordecai sins by defying of the king's direct command (Est 3:2), and so endangers all the Jews (3:8-15). Esther heroically steps in to rescue her people. She sets a clever trap for Haman (cf. Psa 69:2) and accuses him of plotting against her people (Est 7:1-6). Tables turn. In time, the slaughterers are slaughtered (9:1-19). But Haman begins to slip even before Esther's banquets. The hinge of the story happens when Ahasuerus passes time on a sleepless night reviewing his chronicles (6:1-14).  He remembers Mordecai saved his life (2:21-23) and commands Haman to honor him. That's when Haman and Mordecai, Amalekite and Jew, begin to trade places. Two crucial political lessons follow. First, God's people don't rise to influence by making themselves ungovernable, but by giving honor to whom honor is due.  Because Mordecai learns that lesson, he displaces Haman and rises to become the king's right-hand man (10:1-3). Second, though He's often hidden, God is never inactive. Who knows what terrorizes today's rulers in their dreams? Who knows what wonders the Lord sets in motion when he afflicts the king with insomnia? - Peter Leithart mailchi.mp/theopolisinstitut…