Emily: welcome to immerse: the daily bible reading experience.
Day 300 and 56
Immersed in Esther.
As the Hebrew Bible was growing, several small books were grouped
together and named The Five Scrolls.
These five books, song of Songs, Ruth Lamentations, Ecclesiastes,
and Esther were each assigned to be read at a different Jewish festival
or special day of observance.
The last book Esther was read at the festival known as Purim.
After Israel's exile and Babylon, the Jewish people made a concerted effort to
renew their commitment to God and to his instructions given in the law of Moses.
Part of this commitment included faithfully observing the festivals
and special days prescribed therein.
However, in this post exilic period, the Jews began to celebrate a
brand new festival called Purim.
But what is Purim?
And how could a new festival be added to those already given in the law?
The Book of Esther answers these questions by telling the intriguing, fast-paced
story that lies behind the celebration.
The account is set in the period of the Persian Empire, 550 to 330 bc.
Some Jews have returned to the land of Israel and are trying to rebuild a
Jewish society there after the exile.
But others have remained abroad and face the challenge of crafting a distinctive
identity and way of life as God's people while living in a foreign land.
The Book of Esther tells the story of two courageous exiles, a beautiful young
woman named Esther and Mor Mordecai, the devout uncle who raised her after her
parents' deaths at great personal risk and aided by God's providential intervention.
Esther and Mordecai stop a plot to destroy all the Jews in the Persian empire.
They turned the weapons of their enemies against them and save the Jewish people.
The whole Jewish community agreed that this was a deliverance to be remembered
and kept from generation to generation and celebrated by every family throughout
the provinces and cities of the empire.
Purim became a particularly joyous festival of feasting and gift
giving, highlighting the continuing gifts of life and protection.
And so the Book of Esther Explains, another festival was established to be
kept at the appointed time each year.
This book also gives us important insight into how biblical storytelling came to
function in the community of God's people.
The story of Esther contains six references to banquets, two at
the beginning, two in the middle, and the two at the end that
celebrate the Jewish victory.
The book was very likely read during the feasting that was a regular
part of the Purim festivities.
So each new generation of Jews comes to relive the story as they're put right
into the action by following this pattern of reading and rereading the scriptures.
Today, the ancient stories can become our stories through regular feasting on God's
word, especially during our own festivals and celebrations of God's work in history.
We can enter the drama of the Bible ourselves.
We tell and retell the stories in the Bible in order to be shaped
into people who play our parts well.
In the ongoing story of redemption from Esther, we learned that
we too must sometimes take bold actions for the sake of others.
We too must be courageous, trusting that God is providentially working.
And we must be willing to confront the dominant powers of our world in creative
ways that each generation can rightly celebrate the good gifts of community
and life that we receive from God.
The Book of Esther,
these events happened in the Days of Kings Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces,
stretching from India to Ethiopia.
At that time, Xerxes ruled his empire from his royal throne at the fortress of Suse.
In the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet for all his nobles and officials.
He invited all the military officers of Persia and media, as well as the
princes and nobles of the provinces.
The celebration lasted 180 days, a tremendous display of the opulent
wealth of his empire, and the pomp and splendor of his majesty.
When it was all over, the king gave a banquet for all the people
from the greatest to the least, who were in the fortress of suse.
It lasted for seven days and was held in the courtyard of the Palace Garden.
The courtyard was beautifully decorated with white cotton curtains and blue
hangings, which were fastened with white linen cords and purple ribbons to
silver rings embedded in marble pillars.
Gold and silver couches stood on a mosaic pavement of porphyry marble,
mother of pearl and other costly stones.
Drinks were served in gold, gobles of many designs, and there
was an abundance of royal wine reflecting the king's generosity.
By edict of the king, no limits were placed on the drinking.
For the King had instructed all his palace officials to serve
each man as much as he wanted.
At the same time, queen Vashti gave a banquet for the women in
the Royal Palace of Kings Xerxes on the seventh day of the Feast.
When King Xerxes was in high spirits because of the wine,
he told the seven Eunuchs who attended him, Mahoan, bta, har.
Abha thar and carcass to bring Queen Vashti to him with
the royal crown on her head.
He wanted the nobles and all the other men to gaze on her beauty for,
she was a very beautiful woman, but when they conveyed the King's order
to Queen Vashti, she refused to come.
This made the king furious and he burned with anger.
He immediately consulted with his wise advisors.
Who knew all the Persian laws and customs for, he always asked their advice.
The names of these men were Ena Shear, ed Meha, Tarshish, meez, Marcina, and Mcan.
Seven Nobles of Persia and Media.
They met with the king regularly and held the highest positions in the empire.
What must be done to Queen Vashti?
The king demanded, what penalty does the law provide for a queen who
refuses to obey the king's orders properly sent through his Unix makin
answered the king and his nobles queen.
Vashti has wronged not only the king, but also every noble and
citizen throughout your empire.
Women everywhere will begin to despise their husbands when they learn that
Queen Vashti has refused to appear before the king before this day is out.
The wives of all the king's, nobles throughout Persia and media will hear
what the Queen did and will start treating their husbands the same way.
There will be no end to their contempt and anger.
So if it pleas the king, we suggest that you issue a written decree, a law of the
Persians and Meads that cannot be revoked.
It should order that Queen Vashti be forever banished from the
presence of king's Xerxes, and that the king should choose another
queen, more worthy than she.
When this decree is published throughout the king's vast empire, husbands
everywhere, whatever their rank will receive proper respect from their wives.
The king in his nobles thought this made good sense.
So he followed kin's counsel.
He sent letters to all parts of the empire, to each province in its own
script and language proclaiming that every man should be the ruler of his own
home and should say whatever he pleases.
But after Xer, Z's anger had subsided.
He began thinking about Vashti and what she had done and the decree he had made.
So his personal attendant suggested Let us search the empire to find
beautiful young virgins for the king.
Let the king appoint agents in each province to bring these beautiful
young women into the royal harem at the fortress of Suse Hegi, the
king's eunuch in charge of the harem.
We'll see that they are all given beauty treatments.
After that.
The young woman who most pleases the king will be made queen instead of Vashti.
This advice was very appealing to the king, so he put the plan into effect.
At that time, there was a Jewish man in the fortress of Suse whose
name was Mordecai, son of Jayer.
He was from the tribe of Benjamin and was a descendant of Kish and Shiai.
His family had been among those who, with King Jo Hoan of Judah had been exiled from
Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebu Nazar.
This man had a very beautiful and lovely young cousin Hadassah,
who was also called Esther.
When her father and mother died, Mordecai adopted her into his family
and raised her as his own daughter.
As a result of the King's decree, Esther, along with many other
young women, was brought to the King's Harem at the fortress of
Suse, and placed in Haggai's Care.
Haggai was very impressed with Esther and treated her kindly.
He quickly ordered a special menu for her and provided her with beauty treatments.
He also assigned her seven maids, specially chosen from the King's
palace, and he moved her and her maids into the best place in the harem.
Esther had not told anyone of her nationality and family background because
Mordecai had directed her not to do so.
Every day, Mordecai would take a walk near the courtyard of the
harem to find out about Esther and what was happening to her.
Before each young woman was taken to the king's bed, she was given the prescribed
12 months of beauty treatments, six months with oil of mur, followed by six months
with special perfumes and ointments.
When it was time for her to go to the King's Palace, she was given her
choice of whatever clothing or jewelry she wanted to take from the harem.
That evening, she was taken to the King's private rooms, and the next morning
she was brought to the second harem where the king's wives lived there.
She would be under the care of she Ash gas, the King's Euch
in charge of the concubines.
She would never go to the king again unless he had especially enjoyed
her and requested her by name.
Esther was the daughter of Abigail who was Mordecai's.
Uncle Mordecai had adopted his younger cousin, Esther.
When it was Esther's turn to go to the king, she accepted the advice of Hagi,
the eunuch in charge of the harem.
She asked for nothing except what he suggested, and she was
admired by everyone who saw her.
Esther was taken to King Xerxes at the Royal Palace in early winter
of the seventh year of his reign, and the king loved Esther more
than any of the other young women.
He was so delighted with her that he set the royal crown on her head and
declared her queen instead of Vashti.
To celebrate the occasion, he gave a great banquet in Esther's Honor for
all his nobles and officials declaring a public holiday for the provinces
and giving generous gifts to everyone.
Even after all the young women had been tr transferred to the second harem, and
Mordecai had become a palace official, Esther continued to keep her family
background and nationality a secret.
She was still following mordecai's directions, just as she did when she
lived in his home one day, as Mordecai was on duty at the King's Gate, two of
the King's eunuchs, big Thena and Tars, who were guards at the door of the King's
private quarters, became angry at King's Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him.
But Mordecai heard about the plot and gave the information to Queen Esther.
She then told the king about it and gave Mordecai credit for the report when an
investigation was made and Mordecai's story was found to be true, the two
men were impaled on a sharpened pole.
This was all recorded in the book of the history of Kings Xerxes Reign.