Bibledoorajar looks at Persian Royalty

     The kingdom of Persia was great at the time of the story of Esther. We learned in the book of Daniel that Persia ruled over 120 provinces at that time. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had previously invaded Jerusalem and taken many Jews captive to Babylon. When Persia defeated Babylon about seventy years later, Persia allowed the Jews to return home to rebuild Jerusalem and God's temple. However, only a remnant of Jews went home. By the time of Esther the remnant was in Israel and royalty in Persia ruled over 127 provinces. These stretched from India to Ethiopia. The kingdom and the kingship was in the hands of Ahasuerus. Ahasuerus was a title rather than a personal name and meant mighty or venerable king. The king's queen was Vashti who was a descendant of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. Ahasuerus planned to improve his worldly posture even more by invading Greece. He planned and plotted for a long time about this. He consulted military and political resources who served the king across the vast empire.
      As the story of Esther opens, Persia's mighty king has decided to hold two feasts or banquets. The first would be for the nobles and princes and the second would be for the people of the land both great and small. The rooms of the palace in Shushan the capital would be filled for 180 days and the palace was filled with the dazzling wealth and splendor of the kingdom. The palace and all its' trappings were very elegant. The stewards were told to serve each man what he wanted from the royal abundance of food and wine.
     Vashti, the queen whose name means "the best", also gave a banquet for the women in the royal apartment. While the Queen was involved with her banquet, the king being in high spirits from wine, sends the seven officers who attended him to bring the Queen with her crown in to his banquet. He was anxious to show her off for the record states that she was a beautiful woman. But Vashti refused to come at the order of the king  given by the seven officers. The king was livid. Why did Vashti fail to keep the king's summons? The scriptures do not say. It could be that her ancestry dictated a lack of loyalty to the king and she wanted to embarrass the king. Whatever her motive, her actions backfired on her. 
Vashti reminds us of Israel. God, through seven major prophets, summoned "the best" to return to Him, but she refused. The councils of heaven instituted plans for the church. The temple and its glory passed away and Israel's peoples were scattered. There is a lesson for us here. May it never be said of the church that when God summons us we do not come to him so that He might show forth our beauty. Do you agree?

Bibledoorajar examines power in secular events

     King David proclaimed in Psalms 22...

...future generations will be told about the Lord.

They proclaim his righteousness, 

declaring to a people yet unborn:

HE HAS DONE IT!

 vs. 29-31

        This same sentiment about God echoes in the book of Esther even though His name is never mentioned. The writer of Esther is not named but many attribute the book to Ezra or Mordecai himself. I personally favor Mordecai because whoever wrote the book had a great deal of knowledge about life in the kingdom of Persia. Who better to write the book than an eyewitness to the events presented? And, who better to speak of an absent God doing something in the context of the fabric of a foreign nation in which he lived than a loyal Jew? Some don't believe that God intervenes in secular events, but David also said in Psalms 22 that "the royal power belongs to the Lord and He rules the nations (vs. 28)." Therefore, I believe God orchestrated the events in the kingdom of Persia to achieve an objective...freedom of His people. A pretext to enable a godly objective. Esther and Mordecai were caught up in events not of their own resolution or planned purposes. Nowhere in the story is there a report of their personal strength and resolve but rather the story presents two people who are emboldened in the events by the experiences they have had of God over time.

     The writer of the book spoke assuredly about the events that took place. He said in the opening of the book--"this is what happened" and said in chapter 10 of the book that the events "are written about in the annals of the kings of Media and Persia." To me, it is as if the writer is saying, this is what was going on in Persia when God worked in the secular events of Persia to save His people. HE DID IT! How do you see it?

Bibledoorajar begins our visit with Hadassah or Esther

      After the Nuremberg trials, ten of Hitler's henchmen were hanged for war crimes against the Jews. As Julius Streicher, Hitler's minister of propaganda approached the gallows, he was heard to say, "Purim 1946! Purim, 1946!" Apparently, somewhere along the way someone had taught Streicher about the lesson of Purim circa 583 B.C. (as recorded in the book of Esther). Streicher had apparently learned it well enough to apply it to the events leading to his death. And indeed, from the book of Esther and from the war crimes against the Jews, one learns that anti-semitism will not go unaddressed by the God of the heavens even if it is made the law of the land. God did not intend for the historic events of this book to be forgotten by Jews or their enemies. The festival of Purim is celebrated annually among the Jews to remember the defeat of a plot to exterminate them and the Esther scroll is read. The Holy Spirit has seen that the story is a permanent part of the Holy Scriptures. Enemies of the Jews, read and beware! Purim is the Persian term for "casting of lots." Men may see casting lots as chance involved with random events, but the book of Esther reveals a sovereign God behind the scenes controlling outcomes. Because of so great an assurance, Jews celebrate Purim with unbridled joy and they don't mind mocking their enemy Haman, the villain of the book! They drown out his name with noisemakers and loud shouts when it is mentioned in the retelling of the story.
     There is much to be learned about the historic events that led to this festival. For me, it warns me against believing that the Jews are forever cursed and are no longer regarded by God. For me, righteous Gentiles will love Israel and pray for their salvation even as we pray for all other men under heaven.  There are two main plots in the book of Esther. The first involves how a series of events leads to Esther becoming queen. The second involves how circumstantial happenings places Mordecai, Esther's uncle, in a place to receive the generosity of the king and to avoid death. So next week, we will begin our look at this story humbling beseeching God to deliver us from any deceits or biases of tradition that would hinder our reaping the most from this teaching and its purpose for our lives.

"Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit,

after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not

after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."

     Colossians 2:8-9

Bibledoorajar concludes our visit with the King and His beloved

"You who dwell in the gardens, The companions listen for your voice,

Cause me to hear it. Make haste, my beloved, And be you like a roe

deer or a young hart, On the mountain of spices."

Song of Solomon 8: 13-14

     When we started our discussion of the country girl's relationship with the shepherd she expressed awareness that the virgins loved him and ran after him. But early on, she asked him to draw HER in such a way that she alone hears him. Now in the last passage that we will consider from the Song, our girl addresses the King as his wife. She reminds him that she offers herself to be his completely. She is aware of all the activities of his sphere--his garden--his dwelling place. She is aware of all the companions of the court who attend him and constantly are listening to his voice. But she asks, "cause ME to hear it." The courtiers are ever alert to the King, but she says he must have a unique bidding for her, for after all, she is his wife. She would rather not have to wait for him. She wants him to be so attracted to her that he comes quickly to the place they share together. Let their relationship be full of joy and happiness. Let him "leave the guys" and swiftly come to her, his one and only. In the garden, among the spices, a beautiful aroma ascends from such dedicated love.

     Israel was supposed to have such a dedicated love to God. From the temple mount in Jerusalem, incenses from the spices were to ascend to their Holy Husband. Traveling to the Temple Mount to find Him was meant to be consumed by mutual love. He was there, if only they would respond in truth. Those who were "caused to hear" would journey from afar to be in that Holy place with Him.

     As modern "country girls" turned Bride of Christ," our challenge is to ask Him to "cause us to hear" so that we might spend time alone with Him. Just where will we be together? The Bible says that we may be seated with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2)--the heavenly Jerusalem--the mountain of spices. Here we may talk and share together as we await the time when we will be with Him continuously and forever.

     As we close this lesson, I wish to give special honor to the Holy Spirit. Praise Him for the bond of our union with Christ. Surely, He will accomplish the complete work of this bonding. If He raised our Christ, then we the bride will surely follow as a body following its' head. This will happen through the power of the Spirit of Holiness. Thus our journey from a nondescript country life will have been completed and our conformation to His glory will be manifested. All the Way with Jesus--thank you Holy Spirit for the process of bringing us from death to eternal, glorious life. Even so, CAUSE US TO HEAR!  Help us to remain faithful. Amen.

     Next week, join us as we begin lessons from the book of Esther. See you then.                 

Bibledoorajar is drawn to thoughts of purity

     Yesterday was a wonderful day of fellowship and celebration of our nation's freedom. Late at night, as I watched a fireworks display from a dear family's boat on the waters of Lake Martin, I was reminded of our pledge of allegiance. As I recited it again in my mind, declaring my devotion to my country, I thought of those who wish to take out the phrase "under God" from the pledge.  The challenge to keep this aspect of one's devotion is ever the same. God called to Israel to be His and His alone, maintaining a spiritual purity. But alas, the prophets let us know that they dropped "under God" from their vocabulary and actively pursued false gods. In doing so they became unappealing to Him for they had dropped the most precious privilege--to be taught by God and to have a relationship with Him.
   As our story of the country girl and the king is drawing to a close, we find her protesting that she will not drop her allegiance to the king. The light and love that He has imparted has reached her heart. Unlike her country as a whole, she is willing to "board up" her heart with boards of cedar(Song of Solomon 8). This is surely a test for all of us--has all of the knowledge we have been taught of divine things reached our hearts and affected its' loyalty? The apostle Paul writes in 2 Cor. 4:6: "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Our beginning vineyard was not kept very well, but now we are like the country girl. We are so affected that we seek to prune and clean our vineyard for Him. The Spirit has elevated us to a higher plane and we are now better able to evaluate much of the silliness and vanity of the world. We place "cedar planks" around our heart to protect it from "this present world" and behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus so that we may be "changed into the same image, from glory to glory as by the Spirit of God." So here is our challenge, as we ponder our independence from the world, are we allowing spiritual fireworks to illumine our lives and to regulate our lives? Oh, Holy One keep shining in our hearts!