Cinderella has nothing on Esther. This young woman will change the whole course of history! As the king scanned the bevy of beauties gathered for his appraisal at his winter palace in Shushan (Susa), one young lady stood out from the crowd. “Now the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor” (Est 2:9). What was […]
Parties and drinking and divorce and beauty contests and murder plots and…God turned it to good? Seven days of partying, one drink-fueled whim, followed by one brash decision. “After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus subsided, he remembered Vashti, what she had done, and what had been decreed against her” (Est 2:1). History is replete […]
No one to encourage you? With all the tools provided for the believer to face life’s challenges, David tells us the one he found essential when he seemed to be working solo. […]
“Love is patient and kind;…it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way” (1 Cor 13:4-5, ESV). The garden party had been going on for a week. On the last day of the feast, Ahasuerus gave proof that another king was right when he wrote, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is […]
We don’t often think of ourselves writing a true-life autobiography each day, but we are. Standing in the shadows is the Editor-in-Chief. He gets a say in the twists and turns of the storyline. The red-letter days happen when our story criss-crosses with His story. This story is one of those days. […]
Two drinking parties going on at the same time in the same town. They’ll soon connect. What could go wrong? The Persian emperor Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) ruled over a vast realm of “one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India to Ethiopia” (Est 1:1). The empire was divided into 20 satrapies, or territories, each governed by a satrap […]
My friend Barry served with the Brooklyn, NY, district attorney’s office. Once when I was visiting him, he was prosecuting an interesting case. Two sweet little ladies had been robbed by a young thug, it was alleged. They had just removed funds from an ATM when he supposedly accosted them and took their money. My […]
“Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face.” —William Cowper Meanwhile, back at the palace… The Book of Esther gives some of the historic events unfolding with the Jews in Persia, who hadn’t returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel, Ezra, or Nehemiah. The term “Ahasuerus” was a title, like Pharaoh or Caesar. The king called […]
Nehemiah empathized with the people’s needs, emended their mistakes, and encouraged their success. After a discussion of various responsibilities concerning the temple service—caring for stored supplies, the singers and gatekeepers—and a reminder as to why Moabites and Ammonites especially were disqualified from joining Israel, Nehemiah turns to some reforms that had been effected during his tenure as governor. First was his […]