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 8-10.

    Because of the nature of law in the Persian Empire, the edict which Haman had issued in the King’s name could not be repealed. That edict had ordered complete genocide against the Jewish people, with those who carried it out entitled to claim the property of the Jews for themselves. However, the King allowed Mordecai to issue another edict. Mordecai’s edict gave the Jews permission to band together to defend themselves against those who would attack them. Those who wished harm upon the Jews had planned to attack them with the tacit support of the government. Instead what happened was that the Jews had the explicit approval of the government to defend themselves. One result of the edict authorizing the Jews to defend themselves was that many people converted to Judaism. There are two things I want to make a point about here. The reason the Jews survived was because they were able to defend themselves. If you look at other genocides in history they have all occurred in situations where the victim population had their ability to defend themselves diminished before the genocide began. I want to place some distance between this first conclusion and the second point I want to make. When we stand up for our beliefs in the face of opposition people become attracted to those beliefs and are more likely to see our example and adopt our beliefs for themselves.