Queen Esther

Esther is the second book of the Bible to be named after a woman. 

Before we meet Esther, however, we have Queen Vashti.  Vashti is married to King Xerxes and after a one hundred eighty day party, the king had a seven day banquet which ended in him wanting to show off his queen before all of his guests.  So he commanded her presence...now.  She refused to leave her women's banquet and the king could not allow such disrespect.  So, as punishment, he declared Vashti could never be in the presence of the king again and demoted her to a lower position.  This was done to send a signal to the other women of the realm that they, too, could lose everything if they did not obey their husbands.

Sometime later, the king realized his decree meant he no longer had a queen.  

This would not do, so there was a search to bring all the young virgins to his palace; one of which would be his future queen.  The women would be pampered and groomed until, after a year of preparation, they would be brought to the king for evaluation.  He would pick his next queen from this group.

Esther was one of these women.

Esther was beautiful, smart... and Jewish.  He uncle, Mordecai, advised her to hide her nationality and family background, as he knew this might not work in her favor.  Esther did as she was asked.  She used her beauty, her loyalty and her wits to become King Xerxes' second queen.  

Shortly after Esther is named queen, Mordecai discovers a plot to assassinate the king.  He tells Esther, who in turn tells the king, giving Mordecai the credit.  The report is investigated, found true, and the men are impaled on poles.  Mordecai's part is recorded in the annals of the king.  

Sometime later, the king names Haman to the highest position in his court.

I think this power went to Haman's head, as he was infuriated when Mordecai refused to bow down before him.  So Haman declared, in the kings name, that all the Jews (men, women and children) in the land were to be killed on a single day - the thirteenth day of the twelfth month.  This confused everyone - why would the king want to annihilate the Jews?  When Mordecai heard the decree he went to the city walls, fasting, weeping and wailing.

Esther sent a servant to see what was happening and Mordecai told Esther (through her servants) what Haman had decreed.  He warned Esther that not even she would escape what was to come.  So, Esther made a plan and went to the king.  She asked the king to prepare of banquet and invite Haman.  Now, Haman thought this invitation meant he was in her good graces.  But, Mordecai was still a problem.  Haman had a pole prepared on which he planned to impale Mordecai.

Esther, however, had a plan of her own.

She reminded the king that Mordecai had saved his life, but had never been honored for doing so.  The king then asks Haman (who thinks the king is talking about him) what should be done for a man the king would like to honor.  Haman names every grand thing he can think of and is mortified when the king orders him to do those things for Mordecai.  

And, he still has to go to Queen Esther's banquet.

The king asks Esther what she wants, what is her petition.  He will grant her anything.  She asks that the Jews be spared - and Haman be punished.  The king orders Haman be impaled on the very pole Haman erected to kill Mordecai on.

That same day, the king gave Haman's estate to Esther and honored Mordecai with his signet ring and the right to make any decree he wishes in the king's name.  Mordecai reverses Haman's decree and says the Jews now have the right to defend themselves against their enemies.  Esther asks that all of Haman's sons be killed and her wish is granted.

So, instead of the thirteenth day of the twelfth month being a day of mourning, the Jews celebrate their good fortune on the fourteenth and fifteenth day with a festival.  The festival was called Purim and is still celebrated to this day, just as Mordecai and Queen Esther decreed. 

What a story - it is like something out of the movies.

Coincidently, my husband's paternal grandmother - a woman of beauty, quick laughter and intelligence - was named Esther.  I wonder if she realized what power her name held?  

Nehemiah

For such a short book, it sure took me a long time to finish Nehemiah.

It has been a busy month, so I will give myself some grace.  My father-in-law moved to Colorado after a lifetime of living in the Midwest.  We helped him find an apartment, get settled in and tried to make him feel happy that he made this move.  It has been hard on him, I am sure.  He lost his wife of sixty years, said goodbye to friends and family, and moved across the country during a global pandemic.  But, sometimes, a fresh start is just what is needed.

Nehemiah, like Ezra, is a book of fresh starts.

The book of Nehemiah parallels Ezra, but Nehemiah is told by Nehemiah himself.  (I am not sure who wrote the book of Ezra.)  He often speaks in first person.  He details out his former life (a cupbearer to the king who hears about the walls of Jerusalem being destroyed, prays to God for help rebuilding the wall, and is eventually sent by the king to Jerusalem to do just that.)  Nehemiah goes from cupbearer of the king to governor of Judah in one swift move.  He frequently asks God to remember him with favor - look at all the good I have done.

Nehemiah finds Jewish descendants from all over to come help build the wall.

They arrive in Jerusalem and begin to rebuild the walls and the gates.  Nehemiah is governor who, in his own words, treats the Jews fairly by not taxing them.  He does encounter opposition to the wall, but is able to get past that, assuming the opponents were just afraid of God and all the help he is giving the Israelites.

With the walls and gates repaired, Nehemiah sets to fill the city with houses and people.

He makes a list of all the exiles who return to the city.  Then he has Ezra read the law to the people of Israel.  And the Israelites confess their sins by reviewing the history of their people, from Egypt to today.  They confess the failings and betrayals of their people, along with praise for God's frequent forgiveness.  They ask God to set them free once again and promise to obey his word.

Of  course, as soon as Nehemiah goes back to Babylon, someone messes up.

When he hears what is going on, Nehemiah asks for permission to return to Jerusalem.  Upon his arrival, Nehemiah chastises the priest in charge of the Temple, as the priest let a friend live in a part of the sacred house of God.  The priest wasn't giving the Levites what they were allotted so they, along with the musicians, all left.  People were working on the Sabbath.  Men are marrying foreign women.  What a mess!

So, Nehemiah has to set it all straight, again.

He concludes his writing by reminding the reader (and God) of all the bad everyone else did, how he set them straight and saved the day, asking God to remember him with favor.