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Esther 8:8 "And you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king's ring; for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring cannot be revoked."

 

King Ahasuerus (aka Artaxerxes) has now been fully informed of his advisor Haman's plot against the Jews, and has been asked by Queen Esther to issue an order to counter the letters that Haman had sent out in the king's name ordering a slaughter of all the Jews (Esther 8:3-5). The king agrees, and tells Mordecai, Esther's cousin and guardian, to write such a counteracting order and seal it under the king's seal.

 

The king says an edict under his seal cannot be revoked, yet Haman's letters went out under the king's seal, and are being revoked by these new orders. The difference is that the king did not knowingly issue the orders Haman sent out. His seal was affixed fraudulently. They were signed by "autopen", if you like. So those orders can be revoked, because is the king who has the power, not his seal. The seal is merely a symbol of the king's power, one that is meant to indicate his intent. If it is used fraudulently, it loses any official effect It was meant to have.

 

It is difficult, if not impossible, for ordinary people to distinguish between fraudulently issued orders and those the king meant to issue. This is where our own personal rightly formed conscience should come into play. If we receive an order from the king, or in our case, are required to comply with a law, that clearly defies God's law, we are actually under a moral duty to not obey. While God's law requires us to obey rightful authority, our duty to obey His law comes first, always. And if the order was issued fraudulently, we are under no duty to obey it, since it did not come from rightful authority anyway. 

 

It's worth keeping in mind that evil is always at work. It does not stop trying, nor does it ever willingly give up. If the forces of evil cannot control the king, they will look for someone lower down the line who they can control, like Haman here. The evil they are trying to do is not as secure if they don't control the king, but the likelihood of their success is great if there are no people willing to oppose them. In this case, the fraudulent order most likely would have been carried out and the Jews slaughtered if God had not raised up Esther to be queen. 

 

When we see authority, or the trappings thereof, being used to promote an evil agenda, it is our duty to resist and speak up. It may be that the "king" will punish us for doing so, that is a risk of the moral life, one that Esther faced as well. But it also may be that we expose a bad actor to the king, who then stops the evil being done in his name.