Mordecai or the Millennium?
Ancient History, Pop-Prophecy, and the Meaning of Zechariah 8:23
(Part 2: The Words of Peace and Truth)
Copyright © Robert E. Cruickshank, Jr. (August 16, 2024)
All Rights Reserved
Eric Ogea and Daniel E. Harden (Editors)
The previous article stressed the importance of understanding Zechariah’s prophecy in terms of his own time period.[1] Clear, textual connections were made to the Restoration Period in general, and Mordecai and Nehemiah in particular. While the prophecy pundits insist that the passage speaks of a future “thousand-year period” when “every promise ever given to the nation will be fulfilled,”[2] the promises of Zechariah 8 have been fulfilled – God made good on his promises to the returning exiles.[3]
Specifically, the promise of Zechariah 8:23 was fulfilled through Mordecai at the time of Esther. This second article will focus on the parallels between Zechariah 8 and Esther 8 and the importance of Mordecai in Jewish history. Modern pop-prophecy erases this hero from the pages of Zechariah 8 and replaces him with the futuristic scenarios they create.
Zechariah 8 and Esther 8
In Zechariah 8, God promises His people that He will “save” them, that they will “become a blessing,” and admonishes them to “not fear” and to let their “hands be strong” (Zech. 8:13). Their courage and faith in God will result in “the inhabitants of many cities” (Zech. 8:20), “many peoples” and “mighty nations,” coming to “seek the Lord” and “entreat the favor of the Lord” (Zech. 8:21). This will be the time when “ten people from all the nations will grasp the garment of a man, a Jew (ish Yehudi), saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you’” (Zechariah 8:23).
The book of Esther opens with “a man, a Jew” (ish Yehudi) named Mordecai in the streets of the Perian capital city, Susa (Esth. 2:5). By the end of the story, this same Jewish man is clothed in royal robes, and fine garments, and showered with praise in the streets of that same city (Esth. 8:15). Because of Mordecai’s letter written with the king’s approval, the Jews fearlessly and courageously annihilate the entire army of those who set out to annihilate them (Esth. 8:8-11). And then, the climax of the whole narrative, the direction “toward which this whole story is moving,”[4] is reached when “many of the peoples of the land became Jews, for the dread of the Jews had fallen on them” (Esth. 8:17).
Zechariah 8 and Esther 8 are mirror images of each other. The only difference is that Zechariah peered forward to the events of 510 BC while Esther’s writer looked back upon them. The trifold motif of conflict, courage, and celebration underscores both narratives. And both accounts focus on “a man, a Jew” (ish Yehudi) who leads his own people to victory and leads “many” other “peoples” to the Jewish faith (Zech. 8:22; Esth. 8:17).
The Man, The Jew, The Moses of His Generation
In the epilogue of the story, “the man, the Jew” (ish Yehudi), Mordecai, is “second only to King Ahasuerus” and is known as “the one who sought the good of his people and the one who spoke for the welfare of his whole nation” (Esth. 10:3). As evident in the Rabbinical text, Esther Rabbah,[5] later Jews came to view Mordecai as the Moses figure of his generation:
“Mordekhai, in his generation, was the equivalent of Moses, in his generation, as it is written about him: ‘And the man [veha’ish] Moses was very humble’ (Numbers 12:3). Just as Moses stood in the breach, as it is written: ‘He said He would destroy them, were it not for Moses His chosen one, who stood before Him in the breach…’ (Psalms 106:23); also Mordekhai did likewise: ‘A seeker of good for his people and spokesman of peace for all his descendants’ (Esther 10:3). Just as Moses taught Torah to Israel, as it is written: ‘See, I have taught you statutes and ordinances’ (Deuteronomy 4:5), also Mordekhai did so, as it is written: ‘Matters of peace and truth’ (Esther 9:30), and as it is written: ‘Buy truth and never sell it’ (Proverbs 23:23)” (Esther Rabbah 6:2)” [6]
If we were to put that last line into modern terms, it would look like this: don’t be a sellout! Moses wasn’t a sellout, and neither was Mordecai. Both stood their ground, stood for their God, and stood for the good of their people. This testifies to the importance of “the man, the Jew” (ish Yehudi) in the minds of his people.
The Words of Peace and Truth
The rabbinic text above touches on another theme that solidifies the thematic connections between Zechariah and Esther – the theme of “peace and truth.” In Esther chapter 9, Mordecai sends a second letter to the Jews of all 127 provinces of Ahasuerus’s kingdom confirming the Feast of Purim as an officially appointed celebration – following Israel’s four days of fasting over the events of the exile (Esth. 9:25-31).[7] Mordecai’s words in this letter are specifically designated as the “words of peace and truth” (Esth. 9:30). The connection to Zechariah (written 10 years earlier) is all but transparent:
“And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore, love truth and peace” (Zech. 8:18-19).
As Jon D. Levenson points out in his commentary on Esther, Esther 9:30 is a clear “echo of the clause” found in Zechariah 8:19.[8] Interestingly, the writer of Esther reverses the word order. Esther says, “peace and truth,” while Zechariah says, “truth and peace.” For modern readers, this reversal may seem to downplay the idea of an allusion to Zechariah. For an ancient Jew, however, the word inversion would solidify the connection.
Inverting the “original lemma” is actually “the general rule for intra-biblical citations” during this period in Israel’s history.[9] In other words, if a Biblical writer wants to reflect back to a previous Biblical writer, this is precisely what they often do. This is known as Zeidel’s Law – after the scholar M. Zeidel, who found numerous parallels between Isaiah and Psalms employing this stylistic device.[10] And this makes perfect sense if you think about it. Reversing the word order of an earlier passage is a beautiful and poetic way of capturing the concept of an echo back. As such, Esther 8:30 is a loud echo back to Zechariah 8:19.
As Micheal Fishbane points out, the writer of Esther understood the “Zecharian prophecy in the light of contemporary events,” and Zechariah’s “exhortation to ‘love truth and peace’ has been “transformed.”[11] It now serves as the signet of Mordecai’s decrees, called ‘words of peace and truth.’”[12] “With the inversion of terms characteristic of intrabiblical citations,” writes Levenson, Esther 9:30 “bears striking similarity to the prophecy of redemption in Zech. 8:19.”[13] On this basis, Levenson concludes “that the author of Esth. 9:29-32 may have seen a fulfillment of ancient prophecy in the events narrated in the book to which he appended this passage.”[14]
In Zechariah 8:19, the fasts and lamentations over the events of the exile are turned into celebrations of joy and cheerful feasts. It is a reversal, restoration, and redemption from their previous state. This is precisely what happens in Esther. Thomas Wetzel puts it all together:
“Esther notes that ‘[t]hese days of Purim shall be observed at their proper time, as Mordecai the Jew—and now Esther the queen—has obligated [the Jews] to do, and just as they have assumed for themselves and their descendants the obligation of the fasts with their lamentations’ (9:31). The narrator clearly connects the process by which Purim is made a perpetual feast with that of the fasts and lamentations that are under discussion in Zechariah. The narrator also connects the observance of these celebrations with a way of life. The proper practice of these festivals requires šalôm and ʼĕmet, richly complex terms in Hebrew that convey the ideas of peace, balance, and right-orderedness, as well as honesty, a truthful life, and transparency or steadiness. Significantly, the revised celebrations instituted in Zechariah, like the new celebration of Purim, reflect a time in which mourning was turned to gladness, when (as MT Esther puts it) ‘the opposite happened’ (Esth. 9:1), and what seemed lost was recovered.[15]
Zechariah’s prophecy of “peace and truth” finds its fulfillment in Mordecai’s words of “truth and peace.”
The Word and a Piece of the Truth
The events narrated in Zechariah’s prophecy have nothing to do with the narrative of modern pop-prophecy. Zechariah is writing after the return from exile, as the restoration was underway, and speaking to the events of his own day. Zechariah 8:23 is not about the Millennium or modern-day Israel. It’s about a man, a Jew, who came through. He came through for his people. He came through for his God. And in the process, he drew many other people to His God.
Just as Mordecai’s letter was called “the words of peace and truth,” each study of God’s Word should leave us with a piece of the truth. Unfortunately, the prophecy profiteers are only interested in getting their piece of the pie. Sensationalism sells, and by the time they’re done with God’s word, the true hero of Zechariah 8:23 becomes nothing but a forgotten piece of history.
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[1] Once again, many thanks to Jan Logsdon, Brett Prieto and Rick “Big Daddy” Carter for their feedback and suggestions on the early drafts of this and the previous article. Thanks as well to Gary DeMar for reviewing these articles.
[2] John MacArthur Jr., “Turning the Fast into a Feast” https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/2163/turning-the-fast-into-a-feast
[3] To his credit, MacArthur recognizes Zechariah’s original context and historical setting. Nonetheless, this does not dissuade him from setting his own sights far into the distant future from the prophet’s own time. MacArthur claims that “God has said all through the prophecy of Zechariah that that is only like a token or a preliminary to what God is going to do, ultimately, in the restoration of the nation in the millennial kingdom.” According to MacArthur: “…all that Zechariah has been saying about the rebuilding of the restoration temple and the restoration city is only a preliminary or a token or only a down payment as it were on the ultimate inheritance that will come in the millennial kingdom.” The problem is that Zechariah never says that the near fulfillment was merely “a preliminary or a token or only a down payment,” nor does Zechariah mention anything about the Millennium. All of this must be imported into the text.
[4] Kou, Ibid., p. 11.
[5] Esther Rabbah, also known as “Midrash Achashverosh” or “Midrash Megillah,” is a midrash on the Book of Esther consisting of two distinct parts: the first, compiled around the sixth century, provides verse-by-verse interpretations. The second, compiled around the 11th century, retells and expands upon the Esther story. The two parts were likely compiled into one work around the 12th or 13th century. https://www.sefaria.org/Esther_Rabbah?tab=contents
[6] https://www.sefaria.org/Esther_Rabbah.6.2?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en
[7] “The four fast-days commemorate (1) the siege of Jerusalem, on the tenth of Tebeth (cf. 2Kgs . 25: 1–2; Jer. 52: 4–7); (2) the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem, traditionally on the seventeenth of Tammuz (cf. Jer. 39: 2, where the date is the ninth); (3) the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, traditionally on the ninth of Ab (cf. 2Kgs . 25: 8, where the date is the seventh; also Jer. 52: 12–13, where the date is the tenth); (4) the day of the murder of Gedaliah, traditionally on the third of Tishri (cf. 2 Kgs. 25: 25; Jer. 41: 1–2)” [Fishbane, Michael, Biblical interpretation in ancient Israel (Oxford University Press, 1985), p. 504, fn. 1122].
[8] Levenson, Jon D., Esther: a commentary (Westminster: John Knox Press, 1997), p. 130.
[9] Fishbane, Michael, Biblical interpretation in ancient Israel (Oxford University Press, 1985), p. 504.
[10] Grant-Henderson, Anna L., Inclusive voices in post-exilic Judah (liturgical Press, 2002), p. 14, fn. 37.
[11] Fishbane, Ibid., p. 504.
[12] Fishbane, Ibid., p. 504.
[13] Levenson, Ibid., p. 130.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Wetzel, Thomas A. Violence and the Survival of Israel in the Book of Esther. Diss. 2015., p. 151. https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/22801840/WETZEL-DISSERTATION-2015.pdf?sequence=4&isAllowed=y
