Tag Archives: Esther 6

Daily Bible Study

June 8, 2024 Bible Study — Accepting the Risk of Doing God’s Will

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

When Mordecai asked Esther to appeal to the king on behalf of the Jewish people, she expressed the danger to herself for doing so.  Mordecai points out that she is at risk anyway.  Esther then asks Mordecai to have all of the Jews of the city fast for three days, at the end of which she will approach the king.  Mordecai’s message to Esther contains an important lesson for us.  If we are in a position to act to protect God’s people from harm, if we refuse to take that action out of fear for ourselves, our position of privilege will not protect us.  In fact, God has probably given us that position of privilege in order to act on behalf of His people.  However, there is more to this passage, there is also Esther’s response to that message from Mordecai, “If I perish, I perish.”  Once she heard Mordecai’s message, she knew he was right.  She was in a position of privilege and luxury, God had put her in that position in order to do something.  That did not mean that God would protect her from the risk of taking action, but it did mean that she needed to accept that risk.  In the same way, each one of us must be willing to accept the risk which comes from doing God’s will.  Each of us is where we are in life in order to do something for God.  That something involves taking risks.  We need to be willing to take those risks.

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

Daily Bible Study

June 8, 2023 Bible Study — Learning From Haman’s Example

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.

Daily Bible Study

June 8, 2022 Bible Study — Mourning And Fasting When Tragedy Threatens

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

When the Jews in Susa, and then later in other parts of the Persian Empire, learned of the edict against them they went into mourning by fasting, weeping, and wailing.  Then, before Esther takes the risk of going before the king without being summoned, she asks Mordecai to have all of the Jews in Susa fast for her.  Nowhere in the Book of Esther does the writer mention God, or prayer.  Yet, I find it hard to believe that the writer did not mean to imply that the Jews were praying to God for deliverance when they mourned and fasted.  I am also convinced that when Mordecai told Esther that deliverance would come from somewhere else if she did not act that the writer meant us to understand that Mordecai was expressing his faith in God.  My main point is that deliverance came to the Jews because they fasted and prayed.  We live in a nation facing great problems brought upon us by those who rule over us.  As Christians within this nation, we need to fast, pray, and pour out our hearts in mourning before God for the wickedness around us and ask for His deliverance.  There is much more to this passage than this, but this is what calls out to me.  I fail to pray as I ought and fasting has rarely been part of my spiritual discipline.  I feel called out by this passage today to change that.  Perhaps it is time for Christians to fast before God in prayer, seeking His guidance in the face of the terrible violence which occurs around us.

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

Daily Bible Study

June 8, 2021 Bible Study God Has Placed Us Where We Can Do His Will

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Esther 4-7. When Mordecai sent word through Esther’s emissary about what Haman had initiated, she replied with her concern about approaching the king.  Mordecai’s response is perhaps one of the most important lessons any one of us can learn.  Mordecai told Esther that “keeping her head down” would not save her from the coming genocide.  More importantly, the reason she had been blessed with her position was likely just so that she could act against this coming atrocity.  When we see something happening, or about to happen, that we are uniquely positioned to be able to stop, we should consider that God likely put us into that position in order to do so.  Actually, it is not just atrocities which we should see this way.  When we find ourselves in a position to help someone, we should consider that God likely put us in that position for a reason.  This entire passage shows us how God’s providence works.

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

Daily Bible Study

June 8, 2020 Bible Study Seeking To Be Honored for the Sake of Being Honored Will Lead To Downfall

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 4-7.

It seems like everyone recognizes that the Book of Esther makes the point that God has put us into the situation we are in in order to fulfill His purpose.  And further that if we decline to take the risks which allow us to fulfill the role God has given us, He will accomplish those purposes in another way, but we will not benefit from His purpose.

However, I found another lesson in today’s passage which I have never heard anyone comment on.  Haman brought his fate upon himself because of his arrogance and pride.  We see how Haman started down a road to humiliation and death because he was unwilling to accept that others did not honor him.  Rather than doing things worthy of being honored because they should be done, he assumed that he was deserving of honor and sought ways to receive even greater honor.  I noted on this read through that we have not only the evidence of what Haman did, but how others reacted to him.  In yesterday’s passage, Haman became aware that Mordecai did not bow to him because other members of the court brought it to his attention.  Today, when the king turned on Haman, members of the court quickly pointed out the pole he had constructed intending to impale Mordecai upon it.

Daily Bible Study

June 8, 2019 Bible Study — There Is Purpose In Why We Find Ourselves In the Position We Are In

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 4-7.

The exchange between Mordecai and Esther contains themes we can all understand.  Mordecai publicly mourned over the threat to the Jewish people posed by the edict Haman had issued.  We have lost a sense for petitioning God in the way that Mordecai was doing here.  Throughout the Old Testament we see numerous examples of this sort of prayer and petition to God.  I am not even sure how to give a generalized description for what they did, for what Mordecai was doing here.  It seems to me that Mordecai spent the time he would normally have spent on his personal grooming crying out to God for rescue. And because he was not going to take any care of his clothes, he wore only the cheapest possible clothes.   I was not planning on going this direction with this, but as I read the passage and began writing I felt a need to write about it.  As a society today we could use a revival of this very public abandonment of decor in order to cry out to God, whether in repentance for our sins, or for rescue from our troubles.

Now, back to the point I was going to make before I took that detour.  When Mordecai asked Esther to use her position to address the threat to her people, she was reluctant to approach the king.  To be precise, she was afraid to do so.  I can only imagine Esther thinking, “Why me? Why do i need to do this? Couldn’t someone else do it?”  Mordecai’s response to Esther was a message we all need to hear, “You are where you are because God put you there for this very purpose.  If you don’t do it, God will use someone else, but this is your purpose in life.”   We can all sympathize with Esther’s dilemma, hopefully we will also act as she did.   When Esther decided to act, she asked her support group to fast and pray for God to guide her actions and intervene on her behalf.

I want to make one final point about the contrast between Haman and Mordecai.  Haman sought glory and recognition.  His actions were intended to advance himself.  Haman was angry because Mordecai did not stroke his ego and was not afraid of him.  He acted in ways to increase his importance and in order to make sure everyone knew how important he was.  Mordecai, on the other hand was humble.  He had saved the king from assassination and then went on about his business without any special recognition.  Haman’s arrogance and pride led to his downfall, while Mordecai’s humility led to his elecation.

Daily Bible Study

June 8, 2018 Bible Study — There Is No Safety From Violent Mobs

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 4-7.

    When Mordecai first asked Esther to approach the king regarding the decree calling for genocide against the Jews, she pointed out the danger to herself in approaching the king proactively. Mordecai replied by pointing out that her presence in the king’s household would not be sufficient to shield her from the genocide and that perhaps she had been placed there for this very reason. I am not going to go into much more detail about the events recorded here. It is a short passage and an easy read at that. Instead I want to focus on the idea that God places us in particular places at particular times for a reason. In this case, God arranged for Esther to become queen in order that she might counter Haman’s hatred.
    There is another lesson to be learned here as well. Once the doors of violent hate are let loose upon society, no one is safe. No matter how wealthy, or politically powerful you are, when violence and hate are turned loose only the hand of God can keep you from falling victim to it. If you look around, you will see people encouraging anger and violence, thinking that they can direct it against their political enemies. While this sometimes works, history is replete with examples of people who set the mob on their enemies only to find themselves overwhelmed by it.

    We have another lesson here as well. Haman was arrogant and proud. When the king asked for his advice on how to honor someone who pleased the king, he assumed the king was asking how he himself would like to be honored. As a result, Haman was forced to honor throughout the city the man whose death he had come to the king to request. Haman had taken the time to research the fact that Mordecai was a Jew, but he had failed to discover that Mordecai was also responsible for saving the king’s life. Haman had become so caught up in his own self-importance that he could not see the dangers which were coming his way.