Today, I am reading and commenting on Esther 8-10.

In today’s passage is a reference to a Persian law which stated that no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his signet ring could be revoked.  There is a similar reference to such a Persian law in the Book of Daniel.  On the surface this seems like a foolish law which would create all sorts of problems.  However, a law limiting a king’s ability to change edicts he had issued easily also limits the ability of the king so show favoritism.  Whether or not there is such a law is disputed by historians.  There are other stories which appear to be from Ancient Persia which are built around a similar premise.  In any case, this leaves the question of how Mordecai’s edict offset Haman’s edict.  I am not entirely sure about the answer, but I have some thoughts.  Haman’s edict directed people to kill the Jews while Mordecai’s edict gave the Jews permission to assemble to protect themselves. That is the key, Haman’s edict did not give people permission to band together while Mordecai’s did.  People gathering in groups to work together can accomplish more than people working independently; people working together can overcome more opposition than if they try to do so independently.  When we seek to do God’s work we should band together with others who are seeking the same ends.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Esther 4-7.

Something interesting I never thought about before: despite being part of the royal court, Esther was unaware of Haman’s edict against the Jews until Mordecai brought it to her attention.  Then as I read further I realized that the king also did not know that Haman’s edict targeted the Jews.  The night before Esther’s second banquet for the king and Haman, the king came across the record of when Mordecai had revealed a plot against him and had Haman honor Mordecai.  When King Xerxes told Haman to honor Mordecai, he told him to honor “Mordecai the Jew”.  The point I see here is that those who are closest to the seats of power, including those actually sitting in those seats, are often unaware of what is being done in the name of that power until someone brings it to their attention.  Something to which we should all pay careful attention.  We need to look for the ways in which power is being abused around us, the ways in which people are failing to inform us, or misinforming us.  I went a little bit down a rabbit hole there.  Those who were at the highest levels of society did not necessarily realize what was going on.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Esther 1-3.

When I began reading this I immediately noticed that Xerxes sent seven eunuchs on the seventh day to bring Queen Vashti before him and then consulted seven experts of the law when she refused to come.  Then later when Esther entered into the care of Hegai, before she went before King Xerxes, Hegai assigned seven female attendants to her.  My first thought was that these references to seven were part of the Jewish belief that seven was a number indicating completion and perfection.  However, I noticed that all of these references to seven involved the Persian royal court, in particular the first two references.  So, I looked into the significance of the number seven in Ancient Persia.  I found that seven was a very important number for the Persians.  In fact, historically we know that Xerxes would have likely sent seven eunuchs to deliver his request/command to Queen Vashti, and would certainly have had a council of seven advisors he would have consulted when she refused.  Which brings me to the significance of seven female attendants being assigned to Esther.  Hegai assigning seven attendants to Esther suggest a level of favoritism towards Esther in a way that Jewish readers would not fully comprehend.  Initially all of this was just, “well, isn’t that interesting.”  As I wrote this I realized it impacts my thoughts about the entire Book of Esther.  For some years now, I have been torn as to whether the story of Esther actually happened in a way that we would recognize from the account given here.  The argument that it is a historical novella similar to others written in the latter part of the First Persian Empire has some merit, except for one fact, none of the references to that genre mentions any other texts which fall into it.

In any case, I find myself again today looking into how we understand a biblical passage more than into a study of the meaning of that passage.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Esther 8-10.

Having exposed Haman’s plot for what it was and thus causing the king to have him executed, Esther begged the king to overrule the edict which Haman had issued in the king’s name.  The king gave Esther and Mordecai permission to issue an edict to counter that of Haman, after reminding them that no edict issued in the king’s name could be revoked.  The edict which Mordecai wrote seems to be nothing more than a mirror of the one which Haman had issued.  It gave the Jews the right to arm themselves and assemble to defend themselves and their families against those striving to carry out Haman’s edict, and to seize the property of those from whom they defended themselves.  The way in which the results of this edict are described suggests that there existed a group of people who had organized to take advantage of Haman’s edict and that Mordecai’s edict empowered the Jews to destroy the members of that group.  Perhaps the most interesting thing about this passage is the fact that it tells us that people of other nationalities became Jews because of this edict.  The lesson we learn here is that God will provide for us when we refuse to cower from those who seek to harm us because of our faith, and others who had not previously shared our faith will be drawn to stand with us.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Esther 8-10.

I have a tendency to view today’s passage as just the wrap up of the story being told in the Book of Esther.  I suspect that many others join me in that.  We do that because the “exciting” stuff happens before today’s passage.  However, there really is some stuff for us to think about in today’s passage.  The first thing I always think about is how many people of other nationalities became Jews in response to these events.  We should always think about how God’s saving power can draw others to worship Him.

Further, at Mordecai’s prompting, the Jews took it upon themselves to establish an annual festival where they would give presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor in remembrance of God’s deliverance.  They committed themselves, their descendants, and those who would join them to continuing this reminder of God’s goodness.  We should similarly celebrate the ways in which God has delivered us from disaster and include those who join us after the events we are celebrating.  Perhaps we should join the Jews in celebrating Purim, remembering not just when God rescued his people from Haman’s plot, but every occasion when God has rescued His people.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Esther 4-7.

Usually when I read this passage I like to focus either on the fact that Esther had been put in her position in order to bring about salvation for the Jews from Haman’s plot, or about how the Jews of Susa prayed and fasted for Esther before she approached the king.  However, today I want to look at how Haman’s lack of humility led to his evil behavior and downfall.  Until today I only ever really saw part of what the story about Mordecai being honored had to do with the overall story.  Previously, I had seen how Haman’s arrogance led to him being humiliated, in his own perception if in no one else’s, when the king chose to honor Mordecai.  However, I had not realized how the writer included it to show us how Haman’s lack of humility led to all of his evil.  It was arrogance and lack of humility which led Haman to become so angry at Mordecai’s failure to bow before him that Haman decided it was insufficient to punish Mordecai, but it was necessary to kill him and all of his people.  It was Haman’s arrogance and lack of humility which led him to become so angry when he once again saw that Mordecai would not honor him that he decided to build the pole upon which he would himself be impaled.  It was Haman’s arrogance and lack of humility which led him to propose honoring Mordecai in a manner which led to his own humiliation.   So, let us learn the lesson that arrogance and a lack of humility will lead to our own humiliation and downfall.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Esther 1-3.

The Book of Esther can be tricky to interpret because at no point does the writer make mention of God, or indicate that any of the individuals act out concern for Him.  Nevertheless, I choose to believe that Mordecai was a deeply religious man whose actions were motivated bu his faith.  On the basis of that, I see an interesting lesson about our interaction with government from Mordecai’s actions as recorded in today’s passage.  First, while waiting at the king’s gate to gain news of his cousin Esther, Mordecai overheard a plot to assassinate King Xerxes.  He chose to report the plot to Esther to pass on to the king, and the king took action to thwart the plot.  Perhaps he did so in order to protect Esther from what might happen to her after such an assassination, but I believe he did so out of loyalty to an authority, the king, he felt had been established by God.  Somewhat later, Mordecai refused to bow down before Haman in defiance of an order given by that same authority.  So, while Mordecai respected and supported the authority of the government, he held that there were limits to that authority.  The passage does not tell us why Mordecai refused to bow to Haman, but I believe because he felt that he should only bow before God.  In that view, bowing represents a form of worship.  In the same way, we should respect and support the authority of government, as an institution established by God, but we must resist its efforts to put itself in the place of God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Esther 8-10.

I always struggle to understand how the edict Mordecai wrote managed to offset the one which Haman had written.  However, perhaps in a way I can.  Haman had written his edict ordering the government officials to attack the Jews, but Mordecai wrote his edict allowing the Jews to defend themselves.  So, those choosing to follow the edict from Haman would have had the force of government behind them, but the Jews would have had all who would choose to side with them.  It serves as a reminder of the principle that a government can only govern with the consent of the governed, or by dividing them up.  So, Haman’s edict worked in two ways.  First, it united the people against an abuse of government power.  Second, it gave those government officials not already committed to antipathy to the Jews an excuse to refrain from attacking them.  In many ways it shows us that it does not take much to stop evil, even government sponsored evil.  Yet, the Book of Esther also reminds us that we need to be willing to take risks to face down evil.  While things ended well for those who took the risks in this account, it does not always work out that way, but it is always better to take the risks then to stand idly by.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.