You are
beginning another book of the Bible. Time to celebrate! Esther is the second of
two books that highlights the events in the lives of a godly woman whom the
Lord used in His plan of redemption.
Esther 1-3
Chronologically,
the events of Esther happen between chapters 6 and 7 of Ezra. There is a
57-year gap between the finishing of the temple and the coming of Ezra. In the
world, a Persian king named Darius I (not Darius the Mede of Daniel) allowed the
Jews to finish the temple and then went off to try to become a part of the
European Union by conquering Greece. The Greeks killed Darius I at Marathon
near Athens, and Persia made his son Xerxes (Ahasuerus) king. Xerxes wanted
revenge, so he wined and dined all of Persia to sign up to fight against those
"handkerchief dancers." That is where we begin Esther. Tradition says
Xerxes went to Greece with 2 million men and returned with about 5,000.
Apparently, the Greeks were in a generous mood. The famous battle with the 300
Spartans is part of that history. That war took place between chapter 1 and
chapter 2 of Esther.
Regarding
the book of Esther: I recommend taking it at face value. Some people read in
disobedience on the part of the Jews, since they hadn’t returned to Jerusalem;
but it should be noted that Ezra hadn't returned yet, and I don't want to call
him disobedient. Also, some people see grave immorality in Xerxes' request to
have Vashti show her beauty. I don't see that. Actually her behavior might have
had more to do with her repulsion of Xerxes' drunkenness and lack of character.
Just read the book for yourself and get your own opinions.
The book
of Esther is very unusual in that it is the only book of the Bible where God is
not mentioned. In that sense, it is a test of the faith of the people to
understand the unseen hand of God working on their behalf. In education there
is a thing called a "close test" to test the reading comprehension of
students. A page of text is given and certain ____ are left out. A student
should be ____ to figure out what those _____ are from the context. The same is
true in Esther. Since Esther is in the Bible, the people apparently saw God in
the events.
One more
thing: the events of Esther and the hatred toward the Jews is easier to
understand if you know the first six chapters of Daniel. The Jews had favored
people status in the Babylonian Empire. This protected them racially and
religiously. That made a lot of people jealous of the Jews. When Persia
inherited the Jews by conquering Babylon, it happened again; and, boom, the
Jews were suddenly a favored people with rights that no other peoples in Persia
had. Now in Esther, it will happen again. Particularly now, it was crucial that
God did at this time, what He had done over the last hundred years to protect
His people. The decrees at the end of Esther enabled the Jews to survive and
continue that very special status, worshiping their God only. It is because of
these events that Ezra was commissioned to teach the returned remnant the law,
and Nehemiah was able to come to Israel and rebuild Jerusalem.
“The Three
Returns from Exile” and “Chronology of the Postexilic Period” will also be
helpful as you read Esther.
Esther 1
Vs. 1-12
Notice that the time reference says this took place in the third year of Ahasuerus'
(Xerxes') reign. Since the book of Esther is not about world history, it
doesn't say what the party was for. The point isn't even to tell us why Vashti
refused, but now we know why the king was mad. Given the event, it is Xerxes'
pride that was hurt. He appears to have been a petty, childish hedonist. He
lost face before all of his leaders and kingdom and now this would be news.
Xerxes already had plenty of wives, with more to follow. Vashti was only
national "bling" for the king.
Notice
that the seven-day feast was after the 180 days of showing the royal glory. It
was on the final day of the feast when the fiasco with Vashti occurred. The
drunkenness surrounding this event is probably what the women were mad about.
Vs. 13-22
This judgment and edict would have taken place before Xerxes went out to face
the Greeks. It was the height of his pride. He wouldn't return so proud.
Vs. 19-20
Notice that Vashti remained a wife, but was never to see the king again. It is
thought that Vashti was the mother of Artaxerxes, the next king.
V. 22
Thankfully, the respect of men in the Persian Empire was saved!
Esther 2
Vs. 1-4
Xerxes came back a defeated man. He had wives, but no queen. There was no
special relationship between him and his queen, as we'll see later; but for
ceremony and national appearance, Persia needed one. Persia was now shamed in
the face of all nations because of those skirted gyro-chompers.
This was
more than a contest to be queen. Each of the girls selected would become his
wife. I don't know if there was anything official before the wedding night, but
the wedding night sealed the deal. In this sense, all of the girls
"won." They became a wife of Xerxes, king of Persia and whatever
privileges and benefits that entailed for them and their families. It would
have meant money for the family giving up the daughter. It wasn't
"losing" not to be queen. And since this was marriage, becoming a
part of the king's harem wasn't "immorality" as we understand it,
except maybe in its sheer magnitude and excess.
Vs. 5-11
This is where the plot thickens and you begin seeing (or not seeing) the
working of the Lord. Again, some of this looks familiar, if you know Daniel
(which took place in captivity about 100 years earlier).
V. 5
Mordecai has a Babylonian name, suggesting, in spite of his brief genealogy, he
was born in Babylon.
V. 8
Esther was gathered up with the other
young women, meaning it was not Mordecai's doing.
V. 9 Hmmm.
Sounds like Daniel chapter 1 (or the story of Joseph, if you can remember back
that far). Receiving favor from others was one of the ways the Lord put Joseph
and Daniel in key positions.
V. 10 I
think this was because of the animosity toward the Jews.
Vs. 12-18
I'm sure you're seeing God's hand in all of this.
Vs. 12-14
This was the preparation. I can't imagine that this took a year, but then I
hate having to do more than brush my hair before I go out the door. What would
six months of oil of myrrh treatment look like?
Vs. 15-18
Esther won! What a surprise.
V. 16 Did
you notice the hidden time reference here? Esther became queen in the 10th
month of Xerxes' 7th year. Since Esther had a year of preparation, it would
mean that the search for a queen probably occurred in his 6th year. So now,
four years have gone by since chapter 1.
Vs. 19-23
This is now after Esther was queen. I don't know why Xerxes did this again, but
I don't know much about maintaining a respectable and well-ordered harem.
Esther obeyed Mordecai and didn't say she was a Jew.
What a
coincidence that Mordecai saved the king's life. It is equally as important
that God had them overlook giving Mordecai any reward. These are good things
for us to observe and keep in mind as we see the Lord working. Sometimes He
allows us to be forgotten too, but all for good reason.
Esther 3
Vs. 1-6 After these things gives us the idea of
a passage of time. Notice again that Mordecai was at the king's gate. Some suggest that this means Mordecai had some
minor post in government.
So, why
didn't Mordecai bow? You get the idea that he was just a grumpy, nasty,
hook-nosed little guy. Part of the clue here is that when asked why he didn't
bow, he said he was a Jew. And they
let him go, as if that explanation did the trick. So? I'm part Greek and part
German. What does that have to do with anything? Now I'm going to crawl out on
a limb here and suggest what might have been happening.
God's work
in the book of Daniel gave the Jews the right to worship only their God. It
became law. All other peoples in Babylon had to worship all the gods, including
Nebuchadnezzar himself…but not the Jews. In fact, Nebuchadnezzar commanded that
if anyone forced them to worship any God but their own, that person would be
killed. Boy, did that save the Jews, but that was Babylon. This was Persia. So
then, read Daniel chapter 6. A law was made compelling everyone to worship and
pray to Darius the Mede. As a result of Daniel 6 another command was issued
protecting the Jews which became a law of the Medes and the Persians which cannot be revoked. This became
binding for the entire Persian Empire, protecting Jews from having to worship
or pay homage to any god, or representative thereof, other than their own,
under penalty of death to anyone who forced them.
So if
showing homage to a person, king or otherwise, was actually thought of as
paying homage to a god, and that person was a representative of that god, it
would explain things. If this was the case, Mordecai's response totally
answered their question. He was a Jew, and therefore, he was exempt. This would
also explain why Haman couldn't just get off his horse and make Mordecai bow to
him. According to Persian law, if my theory is right, it would have made
Haman's act punishable by death.
Vs. 7-15
Here is another time reference. It is now the twelfth year of Xerxes. Four and
a half years have gone by between the selection of Esther and this event.
Notice how lucky it was that the lot was cast and gave the Jews a year to get
ready.
V. 8 Haman
mentioned that the Jews did not keep the king's laws. This was because of
edicts issued by Darius the Mede and by Cyrus. See Daniel 6.
V. 9 Haman
must have been extremely wealthy. This might be why King Ahasuerus was so taken
up with him. A talent weighed 75 pounds. That was tons of silver. It is
interesting to think that a man of this wealth and position was shaken, because
one little guy wouldn't recognize him.
V. 15
After planning to kill the Jews and then having to send word throughout the
entire empire, I'll bet they were beat. There is nothing like being able to
kick back after a hard day's work. So what do you gather about the character of
this king?
We have
seen before, and it will be true of the first six chapters of Daniel, that
disaster often precedes blessing. By now we should understand that this is also
true of us in the harvest. The Father prunes vines that bear fruit. God often
uses problems to bring us to our knees and do things that we never would have
imagined possible.
1 Corinthians 11:17-34
Vs. 17-19
These are the divisions Paul mentioned in chapter 1. Basically, chapters 11-14
have something to do with their public meetings.
Vs. 20-34
Apparently, this church celebrated communion as a part of a larger meal, sort
of like what took place at the Passover where Jesus introduced communion. Jesus took the cup, after supper. So, they
apparently had supper first, and then celebrated communion. What was happening
in Corinth was a mess.
V. 23 Paul
received these instructions personally from Jesus Himself. Communion must be an
important remembrance, if Jesus made sure He passed it on to Paul personally.
Vs. 27-32
Notice that this warning is aimed at believers, not unbelievers. The sin is a
serious sin for someone who knows better and desecrates the body and blood of
the Lord anyway. Many, if not most, of the people in the world who take
communion on any given Sunday are probably unbelievers, doing it out of sheer
ignorance. I think the prohibition and the penalty is for those who know better
and are partaking in sin. Of course, anyone who intentionally would think to
mock communion, even in ignorance, would be in danger too.
V. 30 I'm
glad God doesn't do this today, or does He?
V. 31 A
person is called to self-examination before the Lord, before they participate.
V. 32 This
is God chastening His children. According to Romans 8, we cannot be condemned.
God keeps His children from imitating the world in their utter disdain for Him
by keeping us humble, in affliction if necessary.
Vs. 33-34
The abuse of the Lord's Supper was one of the issues that they wrote to Paul
about to gain some clarity. Paul addressed key issues, but apparently there
were other, less important, questions that he would choose to address later.
Psalm 35:17-28
In one
sense, when you read all of what David asks for, he is only asking God to be
true to His character and to do what He has spoken in the Word. In a video/song
I found for Psalm 25, there is a line that has stuck with me: "It is your
reputation that makes me outrageously brave." I think this is what David
means here. David knows that God will show justice and save him, and I guess
he's asking God to do it sooner than later.
Vs. 17-18
I don't think David was bargaining with God, but he definitely wanted some help
quickly. Praising God publicly was one of David's constant refrains.
Vs. 19-21
These are all the things David feared would come upon him if God didn't help.
David's enemies didn't think God would help David. And David feared he would be
shamed for having waited on the Lord.
Vs. 22-25
God had seen all of this and David knew it. David cried for vindication. I
don't think it was vindication of his righteousness or innocence, as much as it
was vindication of his faith in the Lord. Verse 25 seems to emphasize their
arrogance and their confidence in putting David to shame.
V. 26 This
is another way of saying, "Let what they have planned for me happen to
them."
Vs. 27-28
David knew, in faith, that God would come through. David knew he would be
telling of God's righteousness and
praising His name. Through David, others would have the courage to wait for the
Lord. We need that same kind of faith and assurance as we wait on the Lord,
following Him in the harvest.
Proverbs 21:19-20
It seems
like both of these verses have to do with "control" issues. Or
really, maybe both of them have to do with fully appreciating the blessing and
love of God.
If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year
Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't
work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/
and click on “Every
Day in the Word.”
I'm writing these comments to and for those who are
following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple,
following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship
culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging
each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make
disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our
growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here
or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some
explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My
comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on
Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups
will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with
and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the
harvest.
If you would like a complete description of this model
of being and making disciples you can find it in my book: Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is
still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's
keyed to the NIV, so the result is the commentators are constantly telling you
what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.
I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in
fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is
encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the
comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding,
that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but
only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.
Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like documents containing an entire month
of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download
these to use on your computer or to print.
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