Esther 2 - A beauty contest won, and an assasination plot foiled

2:1-18

After he had calmed down a little, Xerxes decided he needed to look for a replacement queen. The prime characteristic of this new queen was that she was to be beautiful. So he appointed commissioners to gather together a harem of beauties, they were to be somewhat pampered, and then Xerxes would choose the one he liked best as the new queen. Mordecai was a Jew who had been carried into exile by Nebuchadnezzar; he was in charge of bringing up a cousin, Esther, who happened to be very beautiful. Esther was one of the bimbos taken to the palace. Esther ended up winning the beauty contest. She had kept her ethnicity secret, under Mordecai’s instruction. While she was in the palace Mordecai did his best to keep an eye on her.

Esther followed the guidance of Hegai, the king’s Eunuch who was in charge of the harem. Xerxes made Esther queen and held a great banquet in order to show off his new queen. A national holiday was declared.

2:19-23

So Esther was installed in the palace. While Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate he became aware of a plot to kill the king. He told Esther and she reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai, so the plot was foiled and the plotter were put to death, details of the matter were recorded in the official records.

Esther 1 - Rebellious women!

1:1-22

The book starts by setting the scene for how the situation arose.Xerxes was the ruler over a vast empire, based in Susa. He was proud of his wealth, and held a vast banquet demonstrating his wealth. Today we still see many proud rulers. It seems that this banquet was just for men, and Queen Vashti held her own banquet for the women. It seems that Queen Vashti was something of a “trophy wife” and Xerxes wanted to show her off, but she refused to come. This made the king furious. He consulted his advisers and they agreed that she had done a terrible thing, and there was a danger that the women in general would become rebellious. So Vashti was effectively deposed from her position, and he sent out an edict to all the people that “every man should be ruler over his own household”. Women could not be allowed to get too uppity!

Esther - Introduction

Introduction

Esther, like the Song of Songs, does not mention God explicitly. However, the hand of God is definitely present. The Jews’ very existence is threatened, by people who hate them, just as many today still hate Israel and the Jews. God rescues them through Esther winning a beauty contest! God moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform. Just because there is no obvious move of God (i.e. no prophet, no godly leader) it does not mean that God is not at work.

We don’t know who wrote the book, It is set in the period 483-473 BC. As well as God not being mentioned, the book of Esther is not quoted in the New Testament either. Nor have any copies been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Moreover, there is no reference to practices of the Law, though I guess it would have been difficult for them to follow Jewish practices in Persia.

Then there is the question of why the book was written. It was probably written in Israel based on reports of what had happened, or by someone who was actually an eye-witness. The purpose may have been to encourage the people in Israel that God was still working among their fellow Jews in far off lands.

Nehemiah 13:10-30 - Putting things right

13:10-13

He also learnt that there were other problems, the Levites had not been receiving their proper allocations, and so some had abandoned their duties and returned to their fields. We can sometimes take the attitude that those who work “full-time” for God should be happy to be poor for the sake of the Lord, but this is not a Biblical attitude. God’s workers still need to live and to look after their families, and the rest of us should ensure that they are properly provided for. Of course, this can be taken to excess, but this is not often the problem in the UK, though it can be in the USA.

13:14-30

Another problem Nehemiah discovered was the breaking of the Sabbath. Again Nehemiah took firm steps to eradicate the problem. So he put guards on the gates, and the doors were locked on the Sabbath. Nehemiah took steps to ensure the purity of the nation.

Nehemiah 12:1-9 - Deadling with problems

13:1-3

We now get more consequences of the Law having been read out. After the exodus The Ammonite and Moabites had refused to help Israel, but had hired Balaam to curse them. However, God had turned the curses into blessings. However, Their refusal to help was still held against Israel, and Ammonites and Moabites were to have no part in Israel, the people decided to expand this and to exclude all who were of foreign descent. It is still a mistake to treat Israel badly. Various Western nations should remember this!

13:4-9

As well as overt enemies, churches all have “useful idiots”. Eliashib was one such person in Israel. He had been put in charge of the storerooms in the house of God. He was also a close associate of Tobiah. If you remember from earlier parts of the book, Tobiah was one of the enemies of Israel. Eliashib provided Tobiah with the use of one of the storerooms, the storeroom had been used for offerings and tithes. All this happened while Nehemih had returned to Babylon for a time. He learnt of these things after he returned and took firm action to sort them out. He ejected all of Tobiah’s goods from the storeroom and had the rooms purified, and then returned to their proper purpose.

Nehemiah 12 - Priests and Levites

12:1-26

The lists continue with the priests and Levites, and the heads of families.

12:27-47

The wall was dedicated to the Lord, the Levites and musicians were brought in to lead the joyful singing. The priests and Levites purified themselves, then purified the people. Two large choirs were assigned to give thanks. Note the importance given to worship throughout the old testament. One of the features of this chapter seems to be a concern about doing things the way that David had set them up, or wanted them done. In a way, David was the focal point of life in the Old Testament. They knew that God had promised that he would always have someone on the throne. Now Jesus is the focal point of life under the gospel. The two choirs wen in opposite directions around the walls.

Nehemiah 11 - Repopulating Jerusalem

11:1-36

Jerusalem was relatively sparsely populated, partly because of the rubble and the state of the walls. Now the walls and gates had been repaired it was time to set about repopulating the city.  The leaders were settled in Jerusalem, setting an example. We then get a list of those who had settled in Jerusalem. These included descendants of Judah and Benjamin, the two tribes of the southern kingdom, priests and Levites and gatekeepers. Musicians were also provided and play an important role in the daily activity. Jerusalem was seen as an important place, and still is today,