I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
When Mordecai learned of the decree against the Jews, he put on sackcloth and ashes and mourned at the palace gate. When Esther heard that Mordecai was mourning at the palace gates, she sent a messenger to find out why. Mordecai gave Esther’s messenger a copy of Haman’s decree and asked that she go to the king and plead for her people. Esther replies that if she goes before the king without being summoned it could mean her death. Mordecai tells her, through her messenger, that if she does not act, deliverance for the Jews will come from another source, but she and her family will be killed. He suggests that perhaps she was made queen for just this occasion. Esther recognized the truth of Mordecai’s argument and requested that he and the rest of the Jews of Susa fast for three days and pray for her(prayer is implied rather than stated). Esther said that she and her maids would do the same.
One of the interesting things I came across is that the name of God is not mentioned once in the Book of Esther. However, we see at several places that the characters reverence God. In this passage, Mordecai suggests that Esther was made Queen for just this occasion (made Queen by whom if not God). I think Mordecai’s point to Esther is one that we should pay close attention to. When we are blessed, it is in order for us to be in a place to serve God. Sooner or later we will be called upon to risk that blessing in order to use that blessing in God’s service.
To continue with the story, after three days of fasting Esther went to the king. He extended his scepter, sparing her life. and asked her what request she had, promising to grant it. Esther requested that the king and Haman come to a banquet she had prepared for them. At the banquet, the king asked Esther what she was really after. Esther replied by asking the king and Haman come to a banquet again the next day when she would explain it all to the king.
That evening on his way home Haman sees Mordecai again and is once again infuriated by Mordecai’s failure to fear him. Haman brags to his family about his wealth and favor with the king and with Queen Esther. He plans to kill Mordecai on a spike in his, Haman’s, own courtyard. During the night, King Xerxes cannot sleep, so he orders an attendant to read the book of the history of his reign to him. One of the accounts read is about the plot to kill the king that Mordecai had uncovered. The king inquires what had been done to reward Mordecai. When he discovers that no reward was given, he plans to fix that in the morning. In the morning, the king asks Haman what he should do to honor a man he wished to honor. Haman assumed that he was that man. Haman recommends that the king have the man dressed in royal robes and mounted on a royal horse and paraded around the city declaring that he was a man favored by the king. King Xerxes immediately orders Haman to do this for Mordecai. Haman follows the kings instructions but returns home dejected. Haman’s advisers tell him that it would be fatal to continue plotting against Mordecai and the Jews, but it is too late. As they tell him this the king’s eunuchs arrive to escort him to Queen Esther’s banquet.
At the banquet the king once again asks Esther what she really wants. She tells the king that she wishes her life and the lives of her people to be spared, that their lives had been sold for annihilation. The king asks who would dare to threaten Esther. Esther reveals to the king that it is Haman who so plotted. The king is furious and in his desperation Haman makes matters worse. One of the king’s eunuchs tells the king that Haman had set up a sharpened pole that he intended to use to impale Mordecai. The king orders Haman impaled upon it. This story reminds us that evil plots often rebound upon the plotters.
Paul starts off his teaching on spiritual gifts by declaring that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. I do not think in either case Paul is limiting this to just the words. That is, if someone says “Jesus is Lord” but the rest of their teaching is that Jesus is not Lord, they are not speaking by the Holy Spirit. Paul goes on to tell us that there are different kinds of spiritual gifts and different kinds of service, but only one God that we worship and serve. Paul here links our spiritual gifts to the service we are called to. I think this reflects an important principle about spiritual gifts. They are given in order to allow us to fulfill the service that God has called us to. Often times in the Church we study what spiritual gifts someone has in order to determine what type of ministry they are called to. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, except that sometimes God does not give the spiritual gift until after we have followed His call into service. We, as a Church, need to do a better job of extending God’s call to His people. I have taken part in several “gifts discernment” processes that were personality tests given a “spiritual” veneer. There is nothing wrong with these. They are a good starting point to understanding where we are likely to be able to serve God. After all, God gave us each certain personality traits in order to suit us to particular ministries. But that is not what Paul is talking about when he discusses spiritual gifts here. Paul is talking about gifts wherein we do and say things that when we look back on it we go, “Where did that come from?”
I will give an example from my life. When I was in college one night I was returning to my dorm when I came upon a woman I knew only vaguely who looked distraught. She asked me if I knew where a mutual friend of ours was. I did not. But I continued to speak with her. As we talked about what was troubling her, it came out that the root of her current problem was partially due to an inaccurate view of God that she had learned in her childhood. As we spoke, I began quoting scriptures, including the reference to where they were found, which showed how her perception was wrong. I had never memorized those verses. The next day I could not remember exactly where they were found, but that night, as I was speaking to her, I knew the chapter and verse for them. That night I was given the spiritual gift of wisdom and of knowledge. The thing about spiritual gifts is that they allow us to do something that we cannot take credit for. I cannot take credit for what I said that night because I did not know those verses before I uttered them and I did not know them the next morning, but when they were needed the Spirit provided them. If you find yourself in a situation that calls for abilities and talents that you do not possess, do not be afraid to step forward and act. God will give you what you need. Certainly, if others are present who possess those personality traits and/or skills, allow them to take the lead. But if you see a need that no one is filling, take action. God will bless you, either by revealing abilities you did not know you possessed or by granting you a spiritual gift to meet those needs at that moment. Just as Esther was Queen at that time to save the Jews from Haman’s plots, so we are where we are to serve God’s purpose and He will grant us what we need to do so.
Here we learn that the wicked do not realize how wicked they are. The wicked do not attempt to turn from their wickedness because they refuse to acknowledge that they are wicked. This in a round about way shows us an important part of following God. We must learn to acknowledge when we do that which is wicked and sinful. We must turn from such behaviors and seek instead to do that which God desires. This is a cycle that goes both ways. As we acknowledge our sins and seek God’s help in overcoming them, we become aware of other sins in our lives and develop a desire to correct those as well. On the other hand, if we refuse to acknowledge a sin as sin, we will soon find ourselves committing other sins that we no longer are willing to consider sin. I pray to God that I never again find myself on that latter cycle.
The first proverb tells us that if we seek righteousness, we will find it. Along with righteousness we will find life and honor. But this also tells us that if we perceive a need to behave dishonorably in pursuit of our goals, those goals are not righteous. The second proverb tells us that in a contest between strength and wisdom, the side with wisdom will emerge victorious.