Good morning,
We have come to the end of our study of Esther.
This week we will see how God triumphed over wickedness.
The Jews are safe. Mordecai has been achieved greatness is the eyes of the King and of the Jews. A holiday is commemorated to remember the occasion.
The presence of God is seen through each and every chapter. We serve an awesome God!
Chapter 9
Jews Defend Themselves for a Second Day (9:15-19)
15 For the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their hand.16 But the other Jews that were in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey,17 On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.18 But the Jews that were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.
Feast of Purim Begun (9:20-32)
20 And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far,21 To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,22 As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.23 And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;24 Because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them;25 But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.26 Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them,27 The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time every year;28 And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.29 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim.30 And he sent the letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth,31 To confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry.32 And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.
Things to think about
The enemies of the Jews were hard hearted, wicked, and stupid individuals. Instead of seeing that God was on the side of the Jews, they continued their fight at Shushan. It cost them 300 more lives.
In the provinces of King Ahasuerus, 75,000 were killed. God protected the Jews and gave them the victory.
He does that with us today, if we are willing to trust Him completely.
The holiday of Purim is a remembrance or memorial. It reminds Jews all over the world, in all generations, of how God preserved His chosen people. The Feast Of Purim is a celebration over wickedness. It is a time of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.
God will never break covenant with the nation of Israel!
Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001
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