I'm following the structure of a DayOne book called "Esther: God's invisible hand" by Helen Clark and, fitting nicely with the theme of Esther, it was amazing to see that, on my busiest Wednesday, I have one of the shortest chapters.
Anyway, as it's such a short section, I'll paste the passage here and leave you to it (and I thought I'd leave the highlighting for you seen as they correspond to the bits in the main text):
Esther 2 v 19 – 23
19 When
the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s
gate. 20But Esther
had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai had told
her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai’s instructions as she had done
when he was bringing her up.
21 During the
time Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthana and Teresh, two of
the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired to
assassinate King Xerxes.22 But
Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported
it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai. 23 And
when the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were
impaled on poles. All this was recorded in the book of the annals in the
presence of the king.
Esther 2 v
19 – 23
This next bit is quite short and doesn’t seem to follow on
from last time.
(Who can remember what
we looked at last time?! - The king wanting to find a new queen; Esther being
one of the many young girls chosen to go through a vigorous routine before
spending one night to try please the king; Esther being chosen as the new queen;
God’s unseen hand in all of this – Remember now?)
This chapter goes from celebrating Esther’s coronation as
queen and the next we are with her cousin at the king’s gate. However, this
small section becomes vitally important later on in the book so we’ll have a
look and you’ll have to try and remember it for another week.
Mordecai at the king’s gate
(v19-20)
Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate which was the
official place where people in office sat. It would have been similar to today’s
law courts. Issues would have been raised there and decisions made by people in
authority. This suggests that Mordecai held a position of authority and also
suggests why (particularly later) he can so easily swap messages with Esther
while she was in the palace.
This again is God working his hand in what is happening.
Although this seems insignificant now, later on it’s very handy that he’s in
such a position and is still able to contact Esther.
We’re also reminded again (v20) that Esther had obeyed
Mordecai and not revealed her Jewish heritage. Her allegiance was still with
him and it would be tested to the limit later.
A plot uncovered (v21-22)
Mordecai’s position also enabled him to find out about the
plot to kill the king. We don’t know why these two officers wanted to kill the
king or why they held such a grudge against him but that doesn’t matter as
Mordecai was able to get word to Esther and the two officers were arrested
before any damage could be done.
Again, God’s positioning of Mordecai in the right place at
the right time is showing through and later we will see just how important this
is.
The investigations prove the
plot to be true (v23)
Just like today, in Persia, any charges brought against a
person were always investigated first before they were convicted. When Esther
told the king about the plot he didn’t just take her word for it.
Similarly, we need to get the facts first before we go about
spreading news. It’s unfair to gossip as we could be spreading an untrue rumour
and be the cause of making someone’s life unfairly miserable.
Nevertheless, in this case, the two officers were found
guilty and their punishment was the death sentence.
As we go through there are still probably a number of point
that still seem like coincidences. However, remember, they are being guided and
put in place by God. In particular, re-read the last sentence in verse 23.
Mordecai was not immediately rewarded for saving the king’s
life, which, in those times, was very unusual. You might not have thought much
of it and it may still seem insignificant now but trust me, it will be
important later on revealing this to be more than just a ‘coincidence’.
In the next chapter, we start to see what Esther will have
to come up against and things start to get worse and worse for her and her
people. However, God has his hand in it all as we will see.
In the meantime, remember these points:
- - Esther still hasn’t revealed her Jewish roots
- - Mordecai is yet to receive a reward for uncovering the plot and saving the kings life
- - What happened was written down in the palace records. It would have also have been recorded that no reward was given
These points may seem irrelevant now but these are the
beginnings of God setting up situations that turn out to be more than just a
little beneficial later on.
Think about your life: are there some things that make no
sense, that seem pointless and you’re not sure why they’re happening. It may
not be clear now but if we trust God we can be sure that he is using those
situations and working for the best in our lives. We may not see it now, but it
will be clear eventually.
(Also, modified set of information at the end!)
Current book I'm reading: Counterfeit gods
Listening to music? If so, what?: Yes: Shortwave, Part 1, by Alan Lastufka and Luke Conard
Last thing I watched: I think it was an 'owlssayhooot' YouTube video
Current NaNoWriMo count: 4538
Words left to reach the daily goal of 2000: 1462
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