One Night with the King

This is a 2006 movie about how Hadassah, whose Persian name was Esther, became the queen of the Persian Empire and saved her people from genocide. The storyline followed closely the biblical book of Esther. However there was an interesting twist in which the story was presented.

The movie claimed that the enmity between Haman the Agagite, and the Jews started 500 years before when Saul, the first King of Israel defeated King Agag, the king of the Amalekites. Instead of killing all the people and live stocks as God had ordered, Saul kept back some animals and kept alive King Agag (I Samuel 15:20-33).

In the movie, Agag’s wife escaped. She was pregnant and survived to give birth to a child. The Agagites started a blood feud with the Jews and formed a sort of secret society to exterminate the Jews. Their chance for revenge came when Memucan made use of the Agagites to get rid of Queen Vashti. In the process, Haman an Agagite gained power until he came to be trusted and promoted by King Xerxes to hold the royal seal. Then he set in motion his plan to exterminate the Jews in the empire which included those living in Jerusalem, seeking revenge for what Saul did to Agag, and the Amalekites. This is an interesting twist in describing the reason for Haman’s hatred of the Jews which is more than just been slighted by Modecai. I love the guest appearances by Peter O'Toole and Omar Sahrif.

The Book of Esther is foundation of the Feast of Purim. The Feast of Purim was not established by the Mosaic Law. It was commanded by Mordecai and by Esther. The two-day feast was for remembering the goodness of God working through a number of circumstances to protect His people from extinction.

Mordecai wrote a proclamation that the Jews were to celebrate the event annually with eating, rejoicing, giving food, and sharing with the poor. The feast was called Purim because of Haman’s use of the pur . . . the lot to determine the time of the execution of the Jews in the Persian empire.