“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. 11 ‘Keep the money,’ the king said to Haman, ‘and do with the people as you please.’12 Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language of each people all Haman’s orders to the king’s satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his own ring. 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 children – on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. 14 A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so that they would be ready for that day.15 The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.” NIV

‘Through this one girl-life God was about to save his people, though He was all the while hidden from view. The peculiarity of this book is that there is no mention of the name of God; but there is no book in the Bible more full of the presence and working of God for his own. His name is clearly in the water-mark of the paper, if it do not appear in the print.’ F.B.Meyer: ‘Great verses through the Bible’, p.173.  It’s good to again be reminded of this as we read through this third chapter. It ends on a callous note:

‘’The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered’’ (15b).

The poor people were like sheep without a shepherd. Sadly, such heartless, careless leadership is not an isolated case. Many in history (and still it is the true today) have suffered at the hands of callous leaders. How can these people comfortably enjoy their outrageous wealth while their people languish in a swamp of need and difficulty? But there are many who raise their glasses at the table of the callous. Life is cheap to them. They issue their orders and people disappear into gulags, salt mines and foul, primitive prisons. Many are removed from the world altogether. Meanwhile, the tyrants sit down and propose another toast.

Nevertheless, God is here in this scene, even if He is not mentioned, and His intervention will soon be evident. F.B. Meyer goes on to say: ‘Do not dread the foe, be not fearful nor dismayed, as he draws his net around thee; God has prepared a way of escape, so that thou shalt be able to bear it. In the meanwhile, rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; trust in the Lord; wait for the Lord; be silent to the Lord. He is more far-seeing, his plans more far-reaching, his help more certain, than all the stratagems of evil. God laughs at them. Into the pit they have dug, thine enemies shall fall.’

The king’s ‘’signet ring’’ (10) was the symbol of royal authority. It was used as a stamp to seal official documents. This was duly given to Haman. He now had the permission he needed to carry out his wicked schemes.

But we need to remember that there is a higher authority, and in this we rest, even when events seem bewildering.