Reversals of Destiny, part I

The theme of reversals of destiny is a tantalizing one to me that I had never really considered until I participated in Beth Moore’s Bible study Esther: It’s Tough Being a Woman and read Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park. It was only then that I realized that, particularly for a Christian, reversals of destiny are breathtaking. One reason for this is because of II Corinthians 5:21: “God made Him who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

One totally new thing Beth Moore taught me relative to “reversals of destiny” is the literary device called “chiastic structure.” She used a pair of sticks with two colored ends on each stick (one stick with green ends and one with pink ends) to show how one of these structures works, but the idea is like an analogy turned upside-down. For example, the juxtaposition of either “living to eat” or “eating to live,” or that II Corinthians verse above would qualify as chiastic structure.

There are actually many chiastic structures and reversals of destiny in the book of Esther, but here is one obvious one: all that Haman has originally comes to Mordecai by the end of the story, and Haman also receives many of Mordecai’s blessings, down to the gallows that have been built for Mordecai’s destruction. There are a few more twists and ironies along the way, too. In chapter two Mordecai saves King Xerxes from a conspiracy, never receiving any reward, and at the beginning of chapter three Haman is promoted to Xerxes’ second-in-command, apparently for no real cause. Regardless, from that moment on Haman has as much power as he wants in Persia, as top advisor to a weak-minded, easily overwrought king. He has power, money, a supportive wife, and ten grown sons. He also has the comfort that any little discomfort that arises can be solved by manipulating his lord, and we can guess that he may have hopes of the crown someday (and as well as I’ve gotten to know Xerxes, I’d say it totally could have happened).

In the last day of his life, Justice soundly trounces Haman as he falls into a series of pits that he has dug for others (Proverbs 26:27). First he bears the terrible blow of having to serve and honor Mordecai, whom he has planned to execute himself, then his wife and his friends withdraw their support and tell him to give up on his mission of revenge on the Jewish people, and then Queen Esther exposes him as a manipulative opportunist and a murderer, leading to his own quick execution. His ten sons, who presumably try to carry out their father’s plan anyway by attacking the Jews on the appointed date, are killed months later. In contrast, Mordecai is finally honored for his faithful service to the king, is spared from two separate executions planned for him, is rightly made Xerxes’ right-hand man, and is given power to act on behalf of both the king and the queen, specifically regarding both Haman’s decree and Haman’s own estate.

The other profound reversal, which is dearer to my heart if not to my mind and my sense of irony, is the one that lines Queen Esther up with a totally fictional character, Fanny Price from Mansfield Park. As I poured over both of these books I was struck by the tumblers in which these women found themselves, both of which were a great deal richer and more complex than “rags-to-riches” or “Cinderella stories.” I will give more delicious details in my next post!