seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Esther 3:8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents(b) of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.”
10 So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”
12 Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language of each people all Haman’s orders to the king’s satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his own ring. 13 Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. 14 A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so they would be ready for that day.
15 The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.
b. Esther 3:9 That is, about 375 tons or about 340 metric tons
Oh brother.... the king doesn't know that one of the people he just ordered to be slaughtered was the pretty little girl he made queen a few years ago.
See..... this guy Haman.... he hates Jews.... and he really hates Mordecai because Mordecai won't bow down to him.
This is from the enduringword.com post.
To destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day: With this, an empire-wide death sentence on the Jews was announced by the king. This was like other attacks against the Jewish people in history, except that it was announced well in advance.
So the king and Haman sat down to drink: When the king sat down to drink, he thought he had done well – but he did not really understand what he had done. Haman also sat down to drink and thought he had done well – and he knew exactly what he intended to do. Despite this, the city of Shushan was perplexed.
The citizens of the empire knew Jewish people who lived among them, and they knew that they were good citizens who caused no trouble. Therefore, they were confused that such a decree came forth, declaring that these Jews were dangerous enemies.
Again, all this came to pass because of the insecurity and wounded pride of one wicked man – Haman.
This is from Bible.org. It identifies the rage.
Initially, the conflict was not between Haman and Mordecai but between Mordecai and the king’s servants at the king’s gate. Mordecai refused to “bow down or pay homage” to Haman. The king’s servants could not help but notice and rebuked Mordecai for refusing to abide by the king’s orders. This did not change Mordecai’s actions; he defended his actions by simply telling them that he was a Jew. To him, being a Jew exempted or prohibited him from such acts. This seems to have irritated the king’s servants who informed Haman. Now they would see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand under the scrutiny of Haman himself.
Haman was furious. How dare this man defy him and the king! Haman took Mordecai’s words seriously. Did Mordecai refuse to bow down to him because he was a Jew? Then this must mean all Jews would act in the same way. If this were true, Haman would not be content to deal only with Mordecai; he would deal with all the Jews. He waited for the opportune time. The first month was looked upon by the Persians as the time for determining the right moment for carrying out future actions. This was not decided on the basis of the position of the planets or stars but by the throw of the dice. The lot fell to the last month, the month of Adar. Specifically, in the edict which went forth, the fateful day was decreed to be the thirteenth day of the twelfth month This was the time for Haman to carry out his plot. It would be worth the wait, because fate was with him. In the providence of God, this delay gave ample time for the reversal of the king’s decree and for the Jews to defend themselves against their enemies.
OK.... the initial commentary from chapter 1 of Esther was correct.... so far.... there has been no direct interference by God mentioned.....
I play Mexican Train with a few people on Monday afternoons.... it's a domino game.... and I generally loose.... but the conversation is interesting and the game is a brain teaser. Anyway.... while we are playing... I generally bring up the latest Bible study posting and we discuss it a little. This week I said.... "So I started reading the Book of Esther in the Bible.... and it reminds me of Cinderella meets the holocaust." They didn't like that topic and skipped it.
As I mentioned before.... I started this Bible study back in Genesis because the stuff going on in the Middle East has neighbor fighting neighbor and I wanted to understand a faith based reason for the turmoil. I've seen a lot of family fighting. I mean what kind of "family" throws their brother in a hole to die? Or what kind of family will sell that same family member into slavery? These are some pretty serious stories. Then there are the neighbors who aren't from the Nation of Israel [named so because Jacob's name was changed to Israel by God]. They were living in the "Promised Land" when Moses brought the Jews out of the desert. The Nation of Israel ran all those people out of their homes and took over.
Oh... and the Israelis are not always complacent victims..... when one of their tribe was seduced [or raped, depending on who's version I read].... the brothers talked the rapist into getting every male in Shechem circumcised.... and while the men were healing and could not fight.... the brothers went in and slaughtered them to avenge the sister who had been seduced '[or raped, depending on who's version I read].
Now... finally..... it looks like current events are explained by this Biblical account of a little Jewish orphan and her uncle, who raised her. The jews don't bow down. Recently the United States recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, rather than Tel Aviv...... and the United States moved their embassy to Jerusalem. No one asked them to do that.... but they did. Recently the United States threw out a peace agreement and "opened talks" with Iran..... lay an old map over the new map.... Iran and Persia.... hhhhmmmmm.......
No... there is still no mention of God taking direct action in the Book of Esther. Esther's husband, though, the king of Persia.... he just signed her death sentence.
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