- Weekend: Esther 3 - 4
- Monday: Esther 5 - 7
- Tuesday: Esther 8 - 10
- Wednesday: Job 1- 3
- Thursday: Job 4- 7
- Friday: Job 8 - 10
This week we complete the book of Esther and begin the book of Job. Both are stories of courage- the courage to stand up against a foreign regent when a massive injustice is to take place as we read in Esther, and the courage to remain faithful to God even when it appears God has turned His back on you.
Before there was Hitler, before there was Nero, there was Haman. Haman was so insulted by one Jew refusing to honor him that he set out to destroy the entire captive Jewish population. It was a planned extermination, to be carried out on a single day. As the story unfolds, it comes down to one woman, Esther, to save the Jewish people...
"Why does God allow people to suffer?" This is one of the toughest questions that people ask and in times of crisis it can be even tougher to understand the answer. The book of Job is a story that revolves around this theme. The main character, Job, is made to suffer unimaginable loss and personal tragedy- all tests of his character and integrity and his faith in the goodness of God. Job's wife and buddies seek to comfort him, but also harbor doubt and anger and uncertainty about why such disasters should come upon such a noble and faithful man of God. When pressed by such pressure, Job summons the courage to remain faithful to God, even if he does not understand whay God would allow such things to happen.
The answer to the tough question: "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Ch.2 v.10)
God bless you this week in your reading!
-Mike
I have a couple of thoughts/questions about Esther.
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 1 we see a scene with Queen Vashti that is all about "putting women in their place". This attitude is unacceptable for our society today, and we look down on those who adhere to it. How do we defend the faith to nonbelievers when they can point to this and other places in Scripture that we find distasteful?
In Chapter 9 the Jews come off as a bloodthirsty people. While I know this is not the first time this has been true, the juxtapostion of slaughter and then celebration seems callous and cruel. Do they never make a mistake and kill a "good" man? I know this is an old discussion, but it still bothers me as it has been ingrained in me to value life, even the life of a criminal.
Steve-
ReplyDeleteHere's my two cents on the issue:
To explain the deposition of the Queen, we must understand that this story in history takes place in Persia, a country that does not worship the true God. It is also a patriarchal (sp?) society where men rule the household. I do not believe this part of history is being told to defend God or even explain God, but more to set up the story of how Esther came to be the Queen of Persia.
As far as putting women in their place is concerned, Xerxes accepted the counsel of his "wise men who understood the times" and acted accordingly. The Queen was at her own banquet and plenty of women were in attendance- women who were aware of the Queen's disobedience and were probably watching carefully as this situation unfolded. If the King responded passively, the precident would have followed the women home from the banquet. But as it turns out, the Queen was deposed and the message accompanying that was also sent to the women of Persia.
It is a message and theme that is not shared by the American culture, and thus can be a topic of offense to some people. The story is a snapshot of history and the blemishes that accompany much of those times...
This is why Esther has to muster up some serious courage- she "knew her place," yet is asking the King to countermand his own edict allowing Haman to eradicate the people "who do not obey the king's laws." By speaking as a Jew on behalf of the Jews, she would have lost her crown and her life along with the lives of the Jewish population if Xerxes had dismissed her plea in favor of his deal with Haman.
The resulting bloodshed? Yeah, I am kinda torn on this as well. This was the doing of Mordecai, and I am not sure his motives to wipe out enemies who "might attack them" were altogether pure. He took advantage of the power given to him by the King to "erase" anybody he felt like on the appointed day and boy did he let loose. Kind of like a Biblical Michael Corleone towards the end of the first Godfather movie if you ask me...
I'm now out of pocket change, hope this helped or at least will spur on more discussion!
-Mike