Last time on the Bible for Busy People, King Xerxes sees the great chose a new queen. Her name was Esther, a beautiful young Jewish woman who was raised by her cousin Mordecai, a man who loved God. Mordecai and Esther stayed close, even though Esther’s life had changed so dramatically. Mordecai even heard of a plot to take the king’s life, and he informed Esther and she told the king, and those palace guards were executed. We pick up the story today in Esther chapter three. Unfortunately, it’s time to meet the antagonist of our story.
Show Links:
- Who Is Jesus?
- Have a prayer request? Leave it HERE.
Transcription:
Last time on the Bible for Busy People, King Xerxes sees the great chose a new queen. Her name was Esther, a beautiful young Jewish woman who was raised by her cousin Mordecai, a man who loved God. Mordecai and Esther stayed close, even though Esther’s life had changed so dramatically. Mordecai even heard of a plot to take the king’s life, and he informed Esther and she told the king, and those palace guards were executed. We pick up the story today in Esther chapter three. Unfortunately, it’s time to meet the antagonist of our story.
Some time later, Kings Xerxes promoted Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite over all the other nobles, making him the most powerful official in the empire. All the king’s officials would bow down before Haman to show him respect whenever he passed by for so the king had commanded, but Mordecai refused to bow down or show him respect. Then the palace officials at the King’s gate asked Mordecai, why are you disobeying the king’s command? They spoke to him day after day, but still he refused to comply with the order. So they spoke to Haman about this to see if he would tolerate Mordecai’s conduct since Mordecai had told them he was a Jew. When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or show him respect, he was filled with rage. He had learned of Mordecai’s nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes. So in the month of April during the 12th year of King Xerxes reign, lots were cast in Haman’s presence. The lots were called purim to determine the best day and month to take action, and the day selected was March 7th, nearly a year later. Then Haman approached King Xerxes seasons and said, there is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire, who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live. If it please the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 10,000 large sacks of silver to the government administrators to be deposited in the Royal Treasury. The king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his signet ring from his finger and giving it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.
Quick note here, the king does not realize at this point that he is married to a Jew. Queen Esther is Jewish, and that the who just saved his life by telling his queen about a plot that was hatched against him, was also a Jew. He had no clue. All right, let’s pick up the story.
The king said, the money and the people are both yours to do with as you see fit. So on April 17th, the king secretaries were summoned and a decree was written exactly as Haman dictated. It was sent to the king’s highest officers, the governors of the respective provinces and the nobles of each province in their own scripts and languages. The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. Dispatches were sent by swift messengers into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order that all Jews, young and old, including women and children, must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. This was scheduled to happen on March 7th of the next year. The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them. A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all peoples so that they would be ready to do their duty on the appointed day at the King’s command. The decree went out by swift messengers, and it was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa fell into confusion.
Esther, chapter four, now verse one.
When Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on burlap and ashes, and went out into the city crying with a loud and bitter wail. He went as far as the gate of the palace for no one was allowed to enter the palace gate while wearing clothes of mourning, and as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes. When Queen Esther’s maids and eunuch came and told her about Mordecai, she was deeply distressed. She sent clothing to him to replace the burlap, but he refused it. Then Esther sent for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, who had been appointed as her attendant. She ordered him to go to Mordecai and find out what was troubling him and why he was in mourning. So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the square in front of the Palace Gate. Mordecai told him the whole story, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the Royal Treasury for the destruction of the Jews. Mordecai gave hat Hathach a copy of the decree issued in Susa that called for the death of all Jews. He asked Hathach to show it to Esther and explain the situation to her. He also asked Hathach to direct her to go to the King to beg for mercy and plead for her people. So Hathach returned to Esther with Mordecai’s message. Then Esther told Hathach to go back and relay this message to Mordecai: All the king’s officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited, is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter. And the king has not called for me to come to him for 30 days. So Hathach gave Esther’s message to Mordecai. Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace, you’ll escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this,
Goosebumps now.
…deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?
What will Esther reply? We’ll find out next time. Until then, you are loved.
Thank you so much for listening to the Bible for Busy People. If you need prayer or you’re ready to go a little deeper in your faith, we’ve posted some resources for you in our show notes. We’d love for you to share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review. It helps us reach even more people with the hope of Jesus. This podcast is part of Purposely, a podcast network designed with practical podcasts to help you find and live in God’s purpose for your life. Find more podcasts that will recharge you at onpurposely.com.
Follow this podcast:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
YouTube
Amazon Music
iHeartRadio
