I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.
Today, I am reading and commenting on Esther 1-3.
There are a lot of lessons we can learn from this passage. I will touch on a few of them. As the introduction to the rest of the events in the book it tells the story of a party/festival which King Xerxes threw in order to show off his wealth and power. Towards the end of that party, when everyone, including Xerxes, was drunk, Xerxes decided that it would be a good idea to include his wife among those things he would use to show off his wealth and power. Queen Vashti, Xerxes’ wife, refused to be so used. Her refusal to do as he commanded angered Xerxes. He consulted with advisers, who were also drunk, about what to do. Those advisers were afraid that Queen Vashti’s action would lead their own wives to demand to be treated better, so they recommended that King Xerxes issue an edict irrevocably divorcing Vashti. King Xerxes did so. Once his temper cooled and his sobriety returned, King Xerxes regretted his decision.
I do not think that the writer intended anything more than to set the stage for the rest of what happened, but there are several lessons in just this portion of the passage. First, we have a lesson on the dangers of making life changing decisions, or really any decisions of any consequence, while drunk. Xerxes made several bad decisions here. He demanded that his wife parade herself before his quests as a demonstration of one more thing of beauty which he possessed. He consulted advisers who were just as drunk as he was, who seemed to be more concerned with advancing their own interests than in looking out for his. Finally, he divorced his wife over a drunken spat. The second lesson is contained in how Xerxes treated his wife. If he had requested her to join him, rather than commanded her, she may have responded differently. In addition, as a request, what Xerxes wanted comes across much more as, “Look how lucky I am, this beautiful woman married me,” and less as, “Look how powerful I am, this beautiful and powerful woman is at my beck and call.” Trust me, your marriage will be much more successful and happy if you take the former approach, even if you are one of the poor sods for whom the latter is true.
The second section contains further background to the story told later in the book. The first thing we learn is how Esther came to the attention of the king and became his queen. Esther quickly became a favorite with those in charge. The passage does not tell us what she did to gain that favor. However, we do know that rather than insist on the things which she thought made her attractive she took the advice of the harem master and only requested those things which he recommended. Esther appears to have been one of those people who viewed themselves, and those around them, as good enough. She did not believe that she needed to make herself stand out. Then we have the final piece of background information necessary to set the stage for the story which this book is about. This last piece is very important because it tells us that Mordecai was loyal to King Xerxes. When Mordecai became aware of a plot against the life of Xerxes, he reported it. It is worth noting that action was not taken solely on Mordecai’s report. His report was further investigated and confirmed from other sources.
Finally we get to the beginning of the actual story. King Xerxes decides to honor one of the court officials, Haman. Here we need to start reading between the lines a bit because the writer does not spell everything out. King Xerxes gave orders that people were to bow down and show respect to Haman when he passed. Mordecai refused to do so. When palace officials observed that Mordecai was not bowing to Haman, they asked him why. His answer was apparently that he would not do so because he was a Jew. We then discover that there was some palace intrigue surrounding Haman because the palace officials did not have Mordecai arrested for violating the king’s order. Instead they reported his behavior to Haman to see how Haman would handle it. Haman realized that Mordecai’s action was not unique to him, none (or, at least very few) of the Jews would bow down and pay him the sort of respect he thought he deserved. Further, Haman’s actions seem to suggest that what he was demanding of people went beyond what the king had ordered. If Mordecai’s refusal to bow was a direct violation of the king’s order, Haman could have merely gone to the guards, had him arrested and appropriately punished. Instead, Haman went to the king and offered him a large sum of money to issue an edict to kill all of the Jews. The edict which was issued suggests that Haman’s actions were motivated more by greed than by anger over Mordecai’s failure to worship him. We do not know why the capital city was thrown into confusion by Haman’s edict, but we can guess. If the Jews were being targeted now, who might be targeted next? At this point Haman is riding high. He has gotten great honors from the king. The king has issued an edict to give him revenge on one by whom he felt slighted. And he was a drinking buddy of the king.
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