Podcast: Play in new window
Class Seven- 10.10.18
~Discussion
Esther Lesson 7
Chapter 2:21-23 –
- A little while before Esther was made queen, Mordecai happened to be sitting near the palace gates, where men of influence and leadership gathered as well as likely waiting to hear news from inside the palace about Esther, when he overheard two of the king’s eunuchs talking about assassinating the king. Many in the palace were not happy with Xerxes due to his profligate ways and his resounding military losses. In August 465 BC, Artabanus, the commander of the royal bodyguard and the most powerful official in the Persian court, assassinated Xerxes with the help of a eunuch, Aspamitres.
- Mordecai contacts one of Esther’s servants and gets a message delivered to Esther about the murder plot and in turn she in turn, informs the king—not forgetting to mention that the news came from Mordecai. The eunuchs are executed (gallows) and Mordecai’s good deed is recorded in the king’s history book. It is very unusual, however, that the King does nothing to reward Mordecai for his loyalty in disclosing the assassination plot.
- Esther still has not revealed to Xerxes that she is a Jew.
Esther Chapter 3:1-6
- A few years pass by and King Xerxes has found himself a new sycophant named Haman who is an Agagite, a descendant of King Agag of the Amalekites who were descendants of Amalek, a grandson of Esau. These evil, nasty people had long been enemies of the Israelites, attacking them during the Exodus and are described as “having no fear of God. They joined with the Canaanites and Moabites and Midianites to wage war on Israel during the period of the Judges. In 1 Samuel 15 King Saul is commanded by God through Samuel to completely destroy every Amalekite and everything they have. However, Saul is disobedient to God and not only spares the life of King Agag, his armies also keep livestock as plunder. God curses Saul and eventually tears the Kingdom from him due to this disobedience. Now centuries later we see how a descendant of this very evil King is coming back to haunt the Jews.
- Haman is Xerxes head counselor, and Xerxes bestows him with honors above all the other officials and orders everyone to prostrate themselves (bow down) to Haman when he passes by.
- However, one man refuses to bow down: Mordecai. Many of the royal officials at the gate try to convince Mordecai to obey the edict to bow to Haman, but he says that, since he’s a Jew, he cannot worship a man. He only bows down to God
- Haman is outraged by this act of perceived disrespect and disobedience. His pride is hurt and he feels he has been slighted. He learns that Mordecai is Jewish and his antisemitism bubbles to the surface and spills over. He concludes that killing Mordecai alone wouldn’t be enough to punish him for his disobedience. all of Mordecai’s people must be exterminated.
- Haman’s plan is evidence of Satanic / demonic possession. Satan has always tried to exterminate the Jews because of the curse of Genesis 3:15-I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring.He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. In Christian theology, this is called the Protevangelium, what many call the first glimmer of the gospel: Because Satan didn’t know who the “Seed” was going to be he sought to kill the Jewish people. First with Cain’s murder of Abel (seed through Seth), then with Pharaoh’s orders to the Midwives to kill the babies and then the order to drown the boy children; then to Haman, on to Herod’s orders to kill all male children under 2 years of age and even further into history with Hitler and of course, finally with the Anti-Christ.
- But remember Genesis 50:20 -You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.
Esther Chapter 3:7-11
- Haman consults the Pur, like rolling dice to determine a favorable date to approach the King, or consulting your horoscope, and is given a date in Adar, almost a year in advance. Was this a coincidence or was this God’s Divine Providence at work? Proverbs 16:33 says “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” GOD RULES OVER ALL AND OVERRULES ALL EVEN WHEN IT LOOKS LIKE IT IS ALL OVER!!
- Evil Haman put his extermination plan into place and gets ready to propose his plan to the King
- So Haman goes to the King with an agenda to influence Xerxes into doing his bidding to gain revenge upon Mordecai.
- He says that there are a group of people living in the kingdom who have different customs and laws, and who won’t follow the King’s own rules. This of course is a gross exaggeration, as the only one who isn’t following the rule is Mordecai. However Hanan is a skilled and cunning manipulator and King Xerxes is a weak and greedy narcissist.
- It would be in the best interest of the King, Haman argues, to kill all of these people so as to remove the disruption to the Kingdom.
- Oh, and by the way, Haman will also see that 10,000 talents of silver -about $30 Million dollars is deposited into the Royal Treasury, if the King agrees to this plan.
- The king thinks this genocidal plot is a pretty swell plan. He gives Haman his own signet ring to sign the official decree so that it is permanent and binds and authorizes him to carry out the murders.
- King Xerxes still doesn’t know his Queen is a Jew.
Esther 3:12-15
- That very day, Haman summons all the royal secretaries and scribes to the palace and dictates letters in the official language of each province, to all the governors, military leaders and important men of each province, written in the king’s name, instructing them that every single Jew—man, woman, and child—on a specific day of the twelfth month of the year are to be killed and their wealth plundered for the Royal Treasury. The King himself sealed and sealed the letters with his official signet ring, making the edict irrevocable
- A copy of the letter was read into the books of the law, making it official and couriers are dispatched to every province in the nation to distribute the news so all would be ready to do their civic duty on the correct date – to kill all the Jews.
- This apparently causes all kinds of confusion in the royal capital of Susa—while Haman and the king sit down to enjoy a drink.
- Satan is called the Father of lies, the author of confusion and the accuser of the brethren. We see all of those titles at work here. Haman lied about the Jews, falsely accused all the Jews and the result is total confusion. This helps us sort out whether what we are feeling or seeking is from God or from Satan. When we throw up our hands and cry out “I don’t know whats true anymore” – it is from Satan.
Esther 4:1-3
- When Mordecai hears about the impending massacre, he is horrified and reacts as a good, pious Jew would: He tears his clothes and puts on sackcloth (clothing made from dark, scratchy, smelly, hot goat hair) and covers himself with ashes. He weeps, wails and cries to bitterly. The implication is he is crying out to God for help and protection and he is mourning and seeking repentance.
- 2 Samuel 3:31-“Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth
- 2 Samuel 12:16b-He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground.
- 2 Kings 19:1-When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth
- Job 42:6-Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
- Daniel 9:3-So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
- Jonah 3:5-6-So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.
- Jeremiah 6:26-Put on sackcloth, my people, and roll in ashes; mourn with bitter wailing
- Mordecai goes to the King’s gate, but isn’t allowed to enter due to his sackcloth
- All the other Jews in Susa and around the Kingdom, are also devastated about the fate that’s been prepared for them and are mourning, fasting, weeping and wailing, dressed in sackcloth and ashes.
~Class Seven Homework
Read Chapter 7 of “For Such a Time as This” and answer workbook’s questions.
*if you need to purchase a book for this study and you are local you can purchase a book at the Women’s Ministry at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church. If you want to purchase the book online click here.
