Wednesday 3 November 2010

Esther 2 v 19 - 23

So, BEDESO is over and I'm sure you're missing my daily presence *cough* and I'm now busy with NaNoWriMo, but I still have other important things to do which means that, despite it being gone ten and I still need to write around 1500 more words for today, you still get what I have prepared for this week's Christian Union.

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 Mordecai23 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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