Sunday, November 28, 2021

Esther, Week 8

This is week 8, we've got one more week after this one. Thanks for hanging in there with this study!

Recap 

This week all happened between Esther's first and second banquets. The King can't sleep so he has the scrolls read aloud to him. He's reminded that Mordecai had saved his life and that nothing had been done to honor Mordecai for it. 

The next morning the King asks Haman how such a man should be honored. Haman thinks the King wants to honor him so he really lays it on thick! The man should be given some clothes the King has worn, be placed on a horse, paraded through the city while someone calls out "This is what the king does for the man he really wants to honor!" 

Then the King makes Haman do all these things for Mordecia! At this point, even Haman's wife says he can't win. Haman will fall to Mordecai. 

Queen Esther had the finally word last week. She asks the King to spare her life and her people. And she identifies Haman as the evil one who has it in for the for Jewish people!  

This week we'll see how the King responds and what will happen to Haman and the Jewish people!

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Sunday, November 21, 2021

Esther, Week 7

 Recap

Last week, Esther caught the King's eye and invited him and Haman to a banquet. They drink wine and the King asked Esther what she wanted.  He offered up to half the kingdom.  All Esther requested was for the King and Haman to come to another banquet. 

Haman leaves the banquet feeling pretty good. He feels important to be asked to not one but two banquets of the Queen. One his way home, he passes Mordecai who again refuses to bow to Haman. So Haman goes home enraged. And, like so many of us, he gathers his friends and family to vent to them. He brags about the banquets and complains about Mordecai. Everything is going great but the sight of Mordecai ruins everything. His wife and friends recommend that he have a 75 foot gallows built so he can hang Mordecai.  Keep in mind that there is already a law that will annihilate, kill and destroy the Jews soon. 

Oh how many times have I done this? Everything is going great but 1 bad thing happens and the day is ruined. Haman reminds us to not let the negatives overtake the positives. 

This week, the story will start moving fast. Get ready!

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Sunday, November 14, 2021

Esther, Week 6

 Recap

This week Mordecai found out about Haman's plan to kill the Jews. He asked Esther to speak to the King about the situation. Our rule following Esther is reluctant because if she approaches the King without being summoned they can be put to death.  And Esther knows what happened to Queen Vashti. 

So, Mordecai says to Esther "Don't imagine that because you are part of the King's household you will be the one Jew who will escape. If you keep quiet at this time, liberation and protection for the Jews will appear from another source, while you and your father's household perish. It may very well be that you have achieved  royal status for such a time as this!"

Remember that at this time only one other person in the palace know that Esther is a Jew. She will be found out and will be killed along with everyone else. This gets through to Esther. She asks Mordecai to have all the Jews fast and she will fast as well. Traditionally, fasting also includes praying. At the end of the fast Esther will go to the King and whatever happens, happens. 

Once again, Esther shows that she's beautiful and smart. She finds a way to get the King's attention without breaking the rules. She loiters in the hall across from the King until he sees her and invites her in. This week we'll see what Esther and the King decide to do. 

Mordecai's appeal to Esther is an often quoted verse - perhaps you were placed here for such a time as this.  Of course she has been placed here by God. And you are in where you are because God placed you there. God has appointments for us every day. We just need to be open to them and ready to show His love.

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Sunday, November 7, 2021

Esther, Week 5

Recap

This week Haman took his rage to King Ahasuerus. Haman told the King there was a people who did not follow the King's laws.  He also offered to pay for the destruction of these people. Without even asking who the people were, the King gives Haman the go ahead, handed over his signet ring, and told Haman to keep his money. 

The decree was sent out again in every language, just like the decree about wives honoring husbands, and was sealed with the King's signet ring. The ring represented the King's signature. Once again, the King has shown himself to be very suggestible, a go-a-longer. Not much of a leader, if you ask me. The decree went out in the first month and announced the destruction of the Jews in the twelfth month.  

Mordecai was devastated. As was custom, he dressed in sackcloth and walked through the city. He did not, however, enter the King's gate because it was illegal to enter the gate in sackcloth. I love our rule following Mordecai. 

As you might image, Jews across the kingdom were scared and upset. They cried out, dressed in sackcloth and put ashes on their faces.  Eleven months is a long time to wait be destroyed, killed and annihilated. But it's enough time for God to work!

Esther finds out that Mordecai is upset. She sends clothes out to him but he rejects then. Esther then summons one of the King's eunuchs, Hathach, and asks him to go to Mordecai and find out what's wrong. 

This week we'll find out how Esther reacts to the news of the decree.

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