"Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for 17 August 2012"
Today's Blog Title: "Esther Agrees to Help the Jews"
Today's Blog Scripture Reading: Esther 4:1-17
Today's Blog Key Verse: Esther 4:15 "Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: "Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!"
In verses 1-3, we read that Mordecai "rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes." These customs were attested in widely separated Old Testament Periods (genesis 37:34; 2 Samuel 1:11; Isaiah 3:24; Daniel 9:3) and were practices by other nations (Isaiah 15:3; Ezekiel 27:30-33) as well as by the Israelites. the law against wearing sackcloth in the king's gate is not otherwise attested, but it is certainly credible (Nehemiah 2:2).
Access to the king was strictly limited, since he needed to be protected both from attempts on his life and from vexation with peoples problems. Even his wife had no right to approach. That she had not been called for "thirty days" is just one more indication how abnormal life was in the palace at Susa.
The response of Mordecai put pressure on Esther, for he reminded her that she risked death whether she approached the king or not (verse 13). There are three lines to his argument: (1) Esther herself will not be exempt from destruction under the edict (2) He reveals his own conviction that God will not permit the extinction of His people, for if Esther were to fail, God will have another way of saving the Jewish people, since God's purposes are not thwarted by the failure of one individual to respond positively to His leading and (3) The outcome of her decision is so far reaching that, without exaggeration, she is now at the very moment when her life's purpose is at stake (verse 14).
The reply of Esther is a confession of faith as she implies that she accepts the suggestion of Mordecai as her duty, but that she is full of apprehension at the thought of fulfilling it. Her statement, "If I perish, I perish" is not a blind fatalism or a hopeless resignation, but rather a confidence in God's Will and His Wisdom.
JESUS REGINS!!! May God's Love, Peace, Strength, and Grace be with you all.
Your Sister in Christ,
Cindi
Today's Blog Title: "Esther Agrees to Help the Jews"
Today's Blog Scripture Reading: Esther 4:1-17
Today's Blog Key Verse: Esther 4:15 "Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: "Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!"
In verses 1-3, we read that Mordecai "rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes." These customs were attested in widely separated Old Testament Periods (genesis 37:34; 2 Samuel 1:11; Isaiah 3:24; Daniel 9:3) and were practices by other nations (Isaiah 15:3; Ezekiel 27:30-33) as well as by the Israelites. the law against wearing sackcloth in the king's gate is not otherwise attested, but it is certainly credible (Nehemiah 2:2).
Access to the king was strictly limited, since he needed to be protected both from attempts on his life and from vexation with peoples problems. Even his wife had no right to approach. That she had not been called for "thirty days" is just one more indication how abnormal life was in the palace at Susa.
The response of Mordecai put pressure on Esther, for he reminded her that she risked death whether she approached the king or not (verse 13). There are three lines to his argument: (1) Esther herself will not be exempt from destruction under the edict (2) He reveals his own conviction that God will not permit the extinction of His people, for if Esther were to fail, God will have another way of saving the Jewish people, since God's purposes are not thwarted by the failure of one individual to respond positively to His leading and (3) The outcome of her decision is so far reaching that, without exaggeration, she is now at the very moment when her life's purpose is at stake (verse 14).
The reply of Esther is a confession of faith as she implies that she accepts the suggestion of Mordecai as her duty, but that she is full of apprehension at the thought of fulfilling it. Her statement, "If I perish, I perish" is not a blind fatalism or a hopeless resignation, but rather a confidence in God's Will and His Wisdom.
JESUS REGINS!!! May God's Love, Peace, Strength, and Grace be with you all.
Your Sister in Christ,
Cindi
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