May 27, 2019
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Esther? Here’s today’s reading:
Esther 8 (ESV)
On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her.....Continue Reading
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God’s people preserved once again.
Justice
Getting control of Haman was just one step in this process. Queen Esther has the presence of mind to follow through to help save all the Jewish people throughout the Persian Empire.
It is important to remember the urgency of what is transpiring.
Esther 3:12-13 (ESV) tells us that the plan was devised in the thirteenth day of the first month. Haman wanted this genocide to be carried out on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar.
Esther 8:9 The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day.
So a couple of months have now passed and Haman’s edict has already been distributed. There is no electronic communication, and the empire is vast, India to Ethiopia; getting the message to everyone is a big task. The king sends out his best horses to ensure the message to protect the Jewish people is received in time.
I had wondered at the end of this passage how others could claim to be jewish and then remembered that it is both a religion and a people, and so that means a there was a lot of converts.
And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. 2And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
15Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown and a robe of fine linen and purple, and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. 16The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. 17And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.
I have been reading, just falling asleep before posting. What a great chapter of God turning the tables on evil and bringing good out of a situation that just days before was set to perpetrate evil. I do like the way Esther makes her request to the king. She elicits kindness for her people based in the king’s affection for her. This also shows how important the deacon is to her as well. But then she asks if this is something he sees as good as well. It is always better to help people to make conclusions on their own and see the value and validity of something themselves, especially when you are dealing with someone in authority. I was struck by how expansive this communication needed to be and assume there would be an efficiency in that that may not equal email, texting and mass communication. but would also be better than we might assume. The running of an empire that large depended on it! Naturally this communication would need to be as expansive as the other one that put the Jews in danger. And don’t miss the result of God’s glory being made evident…people of other nationalities choose to become Jews. Our faith and the work that God does in our lives should be contagious……