I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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

    When we read the Book of Esther, King Xerxes is just a sort of supporting character. We do not normally pay a lot of attention to him. However, it is worth noting that he had a couple of characteristics which led to bad things happening, both for himself and for others. First, he tended to be impulsive, especially when he was drinking (but not only when he was drinking). It was this impulsiveness which led to him divorcing Queen Vashti, an action which he came to regret when he was sober. However, this same impulsiveness also led him to Haman’s plan to commit genocide against the Jews, another action which he came to regret. Now, there was more than just impulsiveness to blame for Xerxes agreeing to Haman’s plan, since Haman offered a large amount of silver to Xerxes in order to gain his agreement. Nevertheless, Xerxes failed to explore all of the ramifications of approving Haman’s plan.

    King Xerxes was not the only one who regretted the consequences of his actions. Mordecai refused to bow and show respect to Haman. The passage does not tell us why Mordecai behaved this way, but the implication is that there was a connection between Mordecai’s Jewishness and his refusal to bow down to Haman. The passage seems to suggest that Mordecai did not bow to Haman because to do so would have been idolatrous. It is worth noting that while Xerxes actions were impulsive, Mordecai’s was calculated. We are told that the palace officials spoke to Mordecai day after day before they brought his refusal to bow to Haman’s attention. It is clear that Mordecai chose not to bow down and show respect to Haman despite the fact that he knew there would be negative consequences. The lesson of this passage is that we should be aware of the consequences of our actions before we act, but sometimes we need to do things which will have unpleasant consequences.