Tag Archives: Esther 3

Daily Bible Study

June 7, 2024 Bible Study — Lessons About Maintaining a Relationship

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

There are multiple lessons we can take away from this passage.  I am going to start with the lessons on relationships we can learn from the account of the interactions between King Xerxes and Queen Vashti.  I am going to make some assumptions about the motivations of those involved which are not spelled out in the passage, but which I think likely.  King Xerxes and Queen Vashti threw joint parties: King Xerxes threw a party for all of the men of significance in his kingdom and Queen Vashti threw one for all of the women.  When both parties were in full swing and King Xerxes was rather drunk, he decided to show off how beautiful his wife was.  So, King Xerxes sent for Vashti to come to him.  I think it is safe to assume that Queen Vashti was probably having a rather good time herself at her party and she didn’t want to leave her party to go be made a spectacle of in front of a bunch of men.  King Xerxes summons to Vashti was likely intended as a compliment to her beauty, but it did not come across that way to Vashti.  Instead, she interpreted it as being objectified, being seen by Xerxes as another one of his possessions (and that might indeed have played a role in his thinking).  So, she refused to come to Xerxes summons.  At this point, from a relationship perspective, both Xerxes and Vashti have made mistakes.  Xerxes mistake was that he summoned Vashti, rather than telling her that he wanted his “friends” to see how lucky he was to have such a beautiful wife and asking her to join him (and perhaps bringing some of her guests with her).  Vashti’s mistake was in angrily rejecting Xerxes summons, rather than coming to him and telling him in person why he had angered her, and thus giving him a chance to correct her misunderstanding of his motivation, or correct his behavior if she was correct.  Xerxes then compounded his mistake by angrily asking his, also drunk, “friends” what he should do about her rejection.  Instead of doing that, and, worse, acting on their advice, Xerxes should have gone to Vashti and talked to her about why he was angry and why she had refused his request.

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

Daily Bible Study

June 7, 2023 Bible Study — Respect And Support The Authority Of Government, But Do Not Worship It

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.

Daily Bible Study

June 7, 2022 Bible Study — Why Did Mordecai Refuse To Bow To Haman?

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

I noticed a couple of things I find interesting today when I read the beginning of the Book of Esther.  In his anger after Queen Vashti refused his order to appear before him, Xerxes consulted his experts into the law to see what he could do.  That reads to me as if he was seeking an existing precedent in law to take action against her.  His advisers were unaware of any such precedent, but they wanted there to be one, so they gave Xerxes advice to create one.  I am unsure that there is any significance to that, just something I found interesting.  Also interesting, Haman did not notice that Mordecai refused to bow down or otherwise give him honor.  He only became aware of it when other officials reported it to him.  We do not know why Mordecai refused to give honor to Haman, but the writer seems to link it to him being a Jew.  Or, at least, the fact that Mordecai was a Jew was why the other officials wanted to see if his actions would be tolerated.  So, Haman felt it necessary to make Mordecai pay for failing to honor him, even though Mordecai never did so in a way which brought itself to Haman’s attention directly.  Not only that, but Haman wanted to punish all of the Jews for Mordecai’s refusal to honor him.  In doing so, Haman demonstrated an ambition which exceeded his grasp.  A wise official would have chosen to ignore Mordecai’s “insubordination” so long as they did not observe it themselves, an official who was not a fool would have satisfied themselves with bringing suffering to just Mordecai for the slight he had committed against them.

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

Daily Bible Study

June 7, 2021 Bible Study Not Every One Who Serves God Needs To Advertise Their Faith

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

There are a lot of different things which we can focus on here, but I am going to write about a few things which I never noticed before (or, implications of them which I never noticed before).  The Book of Esther starts out with the story of King Xerxes divorcing Queen Vashti. One can look at it and learn some lessons about marriage and about respecting one’s spouse.  However, I realized today that the story is here for two reasons.  The first is obvious: it explains how and why Esther could become Queen.  The second is more easily missed.  I realized that I missed it because I have always read the Book of Esther in parts.  Perhaps someone who was studying the Book of Esther would more quickly recognize this reason.  What happened to Queen Vashti explains Esther’s trepidation about approaching King Xerxes later in the book.  It also explains why she does not just come right out and confront Xerxes with the fate he has allowed Haman to decree for her people.

Another point of interest is the fact that God is not directly referred to anywhere in the Book of Esther.  It is the only book in the Bible where this holds true.  However, we indirectly learn that Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman because he was a Jew.

Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.

Clearly the implication here is that Mordecai told them he was a Jew as a means to explain why he would not bow down to Haman.  Further the implication of that is that he would only bow down before God. This is not the only place in the book where Mordecai’s faith in God is implied without being mentioned outright.  Mordecai neither advertised his faith in God, nor did he hide it.  Some of us are called to live in a similar manner.  Yet, when the time came Mordecai stood up and served God.  The same is true of Esther, who initially hid her faith because Mordecai instructed her to do so.

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

Daily Bible Study

June 7, 2020 Bible Study There Is More To the Story of Esther Than We Usually Notice

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.

Today, I am going to look at the unwritten backstory to the story told in the Book of Esther.  Perhaps I am seeing something which is not there, but I will let you be the judge.  Apparently the Jews throughout Persia were already subject to some level of persecution.  Otherwise, why would Mordecai have told Esther to keep her nationality and family background a secret when she was taken into the palace?  When Haman petitioned the king to allow him to kill the Jews, his petition suggests that this persecution resulted from the Jews sticking to the commands of God.  Finally, we see that Xerxes was a corrupt king.  He sold the lives of a large number of people (which unknown to him includes his queen) to Haman for a large sum of money.  Looking at this we see that God arranged for Esther to be Queen at this time for more than just to stop Haman’s evil plan.  In fact, while Haman’s plan would likely have never come about if Esther had not become Queen, sooner or later, someone else would have made a similar plot.  Esther becoming Queen allowed her to prevent Haman’s evil plot from coming to fruition, but it also brought the animosity to the Jews into the open where it could be addressed.

Daily Bible Study

June 7, 2019 Bible Study — Setting the Stage

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.

The Book of Esther is in many ways a perfect model for storytelling.  Each of the first three chapters is a self-contained story which sets up the one which follows.   Each one of them contains lessons we can learn from.  The first chapter can be used to illustrate many mistakes which can be made in a marriage relationship.  However, I believe that only one of them was put there on purpose by the writer.  Herodotus wrote that when the Persians had a big decision to make they would get drunk and debate what should be done.  Then when they sobered up they would review their decision, and only if it still seemed like a good idea would they implement it.  In this story, King Xerxes and his advisers made a decision while they were drunk, and immediately implemented it.  The decision making process described by Herodotus may have some merit, if used carefully.  The decision making process described here will lead to many regrets, as we see in the next chapter.

The second chapter builds upon the first.  King Xerxes came to regret his decision to depose Queen Vashti.  His advisers came up with a plan to avoid losing their position for giving him advice he regretted.  Again, there are many lessons which this passage can be used to illustrate, but there are only two  to which I want to pay particular attention.  When Esther was brought into the king;s harem, she was humble and friendly.  She acted in a manner which earned her the friendship of the eunuch in charge of the king’s harem.  She could have been haughty and dismissive of the eunuch as many beautiful women would have done.  Or she could have been resentful and angry towards him, as many other women would do in a similar situation.  (Note: I am not saying that these are failings which are unique to women).  Instead, Esther acted in a way which earned the man’s friendship.  Then when she was called to the king’s bed, she took the eunuch’s advice.  She did not connive or scheme how she could manipulate the king.  Once gain she displayed humility and friendliness, which earned her the king’s favor.

The first two chapters were introduction.  They set the stage.  Here in the third chapter the story actually starts.  The chapter begins by introducing the last of its characters, Haman.  The first thing we come across is that Mordecai got away with not obeying the king’s command to bow to Haman, which brings us to the second lesson from the second chapter.  Mordecai could do this because he had demonstrated his loyalty to the king by revealing a plot to assassinate the king.  If Haman had tried to punish Mordecai, he would have been revealed as the petty man that he was and because Mordecai had revealed his loyalty to the king previously doing so might have also cost him his postion.  So, when Haman realized that he could not make a direct example of Mordecai, he sought another way to make him pay.  And Haman had the power and cunning to pull off this plan.  He was able to convince the king, through slander and bribery, to allow him to order the death of all of the Jews, which only “incidentally” included loyal Mordecai.  Which gives us a fourth lesson.  Standing up to powerful people may cost us a price we did not anticipate.

Daily Bible Study

June 7, 2018 Bible Study — Lessons In Decision Making

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.

    The first chapter of the Book of Esther was written as the setup for the rest of the story, but there are still lessons we can learn. Some of those lessons involve reading back into the story things I doubt the writer would have seen, but they are still valid. King Xerxes made a series of bad decisions. First, he held a festival to show off his power and wealth. While bragging is generally a bad idea, this may not have been. Sometimes a ruler can forestall other problems by demonstrating the extent of his power and wealth. However, King Xerxes combined this demonstration of his wealth and power with heavy drinking. That is always a bad decision and is what led to his other bad decisions. Next, he ordered his wife, who was holding her own celebration demonstrating their combined wealth and power, to join him. When she refused him he got angry and declared their marriage over. Something he regretted when he became sober. The lesson here is that a) alcohol tends to cause us to use poor judgment and b) the consequences of that poor judgment lasts longer than the alcohol. When I started this paragraph I intended to discuss how this chapter illustrates aspects of a bad relationship, but I think the reader can see those for themselves.

    In the second chapter the focus shifts from King Xerxes to Esther and Mordecai. These two offer us positive role models throughout the rest of the Book. Esther was clearly a beautiful and attractive woman. The passage tells us that each of the women were allowed to choose what they wore in clothing and jewelry on the night they went to the king for the first, and usually only, time. The wording of the passage suggests that Esther was unique in only wearing those items recommended to her by Hegai. In doing so, Esther demonstrated the willingness to take advice from those with more experience than herself. Actually, this is the second time she followed such advice because we are told that she followed Mordecai’s advice to keep her nationality and family background a secret. As a result, no one knew she was Jewish or related to Mordecai.

    Mordecai’s behavior is more ambiguous. First, he demonstrates his loyalty and wisdom by getting word of an assassination plot against the king to the king through Esther. I think the loyalty part of that is obvious. However, the wisdom part takes a little thought. Mordecai had no way to know who else was involved in the plot besides those he had overheard. By telling Esther of the plot he bypassed the various levels of the bureaucracy, any of which may have been also involved in the plot. The second part of his personality revealed in today’s passage is more ambiguous. That is his failure to bow down or otherwise show respect to Haman, despite the king’s orders to do so. We do not know why Mordecai chose to take this action. Perhaps he held Haman in contempt for some reason. Perhaps, he believed that it was idolatrous to bow to anyone but God. Perhaps he believed in the equality of all men and thought that bowing would indicate that Haman was superior to others. Whatever his reason, by choosing this course of action he angered Haman, a powerful man in the kingdom.

    Which brings us to Haman, an individual who demonstrates the bad judgment which results from excessive pride. When Mordecai refused to offer him the outward signs of respect which he thought he deserved he became angry. However, it was not enough for Haman to get revenge on Mordecai for his lack of respect. No, Haman chose to go after all of Mordecai’s relatives and people (this suggests the possibility that Mordecai’s failure to bow to Haman was religiously based). If Haman had limited himself to the person by whom he felt offended, things would likely have turned out differently. And even better would have been for Haman to speak with Mordecai concerning his reasons for acting as he did. Perhaps if Haman had done the latter he would have learned that Mordecai’s action was not an expression of disrespect.