[Brother V]

Esther 7-10

Today we get:

• Esther's banquet
• The jews fight back
• Mordecai's ascent

Esther 7

1 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.

Remember, Esther had been granted audience with the king, and all she wanted was a wine picnic with the king and with his bestest buddy Haman.

So at the picnic the king asks her what she wants.

4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage.

The king was wondering who was going to kill her and her people (like I said before, he's not too bright). Were there several genocides that were going on at that point?

6 And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.


Haman was like... crap!

7 And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.

Haman was like... crap!

8 Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.

Haman accidentally fell on the bed with Esther and the king thought he was trying to have sex with her, which (if we remember back to Adonijah and Abishag) having sex with the kings wife/concubine is another method of usurping the throne.

One of the servants told the king that Haman had a gallows made for Mordecai, and that it'd be ironic if they killed Haman on it.

10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.

Remember back in Esther 2, his wrath was appeased... this time it's pacified. Ahasuerus had someone killed every time he was angry.

Esther 8


1 On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews' enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her.

Not only was Haman killed, but all his belongings were given to Esther (as though she needed more being the kings favorite wife).

2 And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

Who else had a ring?

Joseph
Genesis 41:42 And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;


The ring was a symbol of the power of the king. Wearing the kings ring granted you nearly the power of the king.

3 And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.

Esther begged the king to stop the upcoming slaughter of the jews.

8 Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring: for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse.

The king said he couldn't, because that would mean that his law wasn't absolute. He was able to add some caveats to the law though.

11 Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey,

Originally, the jews were just supposed to stand there and be slaughtered, but the new amendment made it so they could fight back.

This new amendment was sent out to all the jews in all the provinces that they could fight back.

17 And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.

Remember, this took place under Xerxes 1. He was the father of Artaxerxes 1. Artaxerxes wine taster was none other than Nehemiah. Nehemiah was the guy who (with Ezra) purified the line of the jews after it got corrupted.

So the story of Esther happens BEFORE Nehemiah. So, the people who Nehemiah kicked out of Israel when he made the new covenant were probably some of the converts in Esther 8:17.

Esther 9

1 Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them

Purim had come, it was time for someone to get killed. Was it gonna be the jews or the Persians?

2 The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people.

Remember, the 10,000 talents of silver had already been paid to people who wanted to kill the jews, so those people were honourable enough to go and try to kill as many as they could.

5 Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them.

Killing people who hate you is an acceptable behaviour. It must be, because the Jews still celebrate Purim.

11 On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the palace was brought before the king.

The king told Esther that 500 people were killed AND 10 sons of Haman. The king asked her if it was enough. She asked for one more day of anti-semite killing.

14 And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.

The 10 sons were killed then defiled by hanging.

The next day, they killed 300 more people.

16 But the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey,

All together, Purim celebrates the killing of more than 75,000 people who hated the jews, during the captivity in Babylon.

Mordecai sent letters out to everyone saying that from then on, they were to celebrate the killing.

21 To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,

The jews couldn't remember to keep worshiping the LORD, surely they skipped Purim?

27 The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time every year;

28 And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.

What is missing from this story?

Esther 10

2 And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?

Dunno, there are several Mordecai's mentioned but we don't know if it's the same guy.

So what have we learned today?

1. The jewish holiday of Purim celebrates the killing of 75,000 jew haters. The jews holidays are some of the bloodiest of any people's holidays.

2. Haman got hung on the gallows he prepared for Mordecai. He was not sent to the "Island of Perpetual Tickling".

3. There are several words that are not in Esther. Doing a keyword search on Biblegateway.com reveals... (Number in front represents that occurrence in the Bible (KJV1611))

LORD
3351. Nehemiah 10:35 And to bring the firstfruits of our ground, and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, unto the house of the LORD:

3352. Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

God
1496. Nehemiah 13:31 And for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.

1497. Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

That's correct, the book of Esther does not reference the LORD God at all. After following the ME-centric book of Nehemiah, it doesn't reference God at all.


YIC
V

[SUV]

By the Careening Christ, Brother V - are you Sure you picked up the Correct "Bible"?!!!!!

PS By the way" Should you require any more help here, just let me know. "KJV with Brother V and SUV" does have a Certain cachet to it

[Ezekiel Bathfire]

Keep at it Brother V - it just gets better!

[Pastor Billy-Reuben]

Originally Posted by Brother V

The king was wondering who was going to kill her and her people (like I said before, he's not too bright). Were there several genocides that were going on at that point?

Ahasuerus was probably drunk at the time and didn't remember doing it. The man liked to party.

Originally Posted by Brother V

So what have we learned today?

1. The jewish holiday of Purim celebrates the killing of 75,000 jew haters. The jews holidays are some of the bloodiest of any people's holidays.

Also, Purim is a Jewish celebration of the triumph of Mordecai and his hot cousin Esther over Haman and Vashti. It is COMPLETELY UNRELATED to the Bablyonian festival that celebrated the triumph of Marduk and his hot cousin Ishtar over Uman and Mashti.

[Brother Temperance]

Originally Posted by Brother V

The king said he couldn't, because that would mean that his law wasn't absolute. He was able to add some caveats to the law though.

11 Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey,

Originally, the jews were just supposed to stand there and be slaughtered, but the new amendment made it so they could fight back.

You have to admire how law-abiding those Jews were. If they didn't have permission, they would've just stood there and been genocided, but as soon as they heard that the King said it was cool, they were only too willing to go out and smite their enemies by the thousand. This also gives an insight into how far downhill modern Jews have gone - did the King of Poland give permission for the Warsaw Ghetto uprising? I don't think so.

21 To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,

The jews couldn't remember to keep worshiping the LORD, surely they skipped Purim?

Maybe if the Lord wanted them to keep on worshiping Him, He should have found some way for the Joos to eat little cakes shaped like hats, or possibly ears, as a way of doing so? Jews never forget anything if there's some kind of ear/hat cake involved.