Lesson 6 - Esther 4 & 5

[Music] I think if there's one theme that is woven through the book of Esther the kind of brings it all together it is that of God's determination to preserve the Jewish nation from extinction and thus that's the reason for the celebration of Purim which we had here last night now never before in the history of the Hebrews prior to this incident in Esther was there such a blatant unswerving plainly stated desire from a Gentile government to wipe out the Jewish race in the days of their Egyptian captivity the goal of the Pharoah was never genocide rather it was to keep his hold upon a permanent class of Hebrew slaves in order for him to achieve his goals of building roads and canals and grand edifice 'as thus releasing Egyptian workers to form a nationalist army that could defend and extend Egypt's boundaries in the Babylonian captivity the goal was not to wipe out the former citizens of Judah but rather to punish them for their rebellion they were indeed removed from their homeland and sent to Babylon but the purpose was to assimilate the Jews to use their talents and their abilities to add to the greater economy rather to the economy of the greater Babylon that Nebuchadnezzar envisioned not to kill them thus they were treated quite well ironically the Jews greatest danger has now come not during a time of captivity or oppression because the Persian king Cyrus had fifty years earlier freed the Jews but rather it has come during a time of the freedom of us seeming well-being a time when they felt secure when they felt almost at home out of the clear blue comes a highly placed influential Persian government official who has some inexplicably deadly bent against the Jews that results from a personal feud with a single Jewish person Mordechai but when we find out in chapter 3 verse 1 that this government official is called come on the Agra gate we then understands good oh I knew that was coming thank you I sure take that one I'm not gonna say it again got me all off my game now so come on we then understand the commonness and amel açaí and he's carrying a spirit of anti-semitism that even he doesn't recognize as having come from his family heritage he harbors a hatred of God and so of God's people that began when God separated and divided those twin brothers Esau and Jacob into two very different spiritual destinies Jacob would carry forth God's covenant promise made to Abraham while Esau would represent those who opposed God's people and God's covenant with them amalek Esau's grandson became the epitome of that spirit of opposition such that in Exodus 1716 the Lord says this of Amalek because their hand was against the throne of yah god adonai will fight Amalek generation after generation thus the story of Esther is but a continuation of the everlasting enmity and war between Amalek and the kingdom of God and of course the story ends in victory for God's people well since the celebration of Purim is upon us we all had such a great time with it last night then this question arises why should Gentile Christians think that we ought to celebrate an observance that has always been about God rescuing Jews and I think the answer is clear because without the Jews none of us have a savior pretty simple Bible prophecies predicting the source of a savior as the tribe of Judah begins as early as Genesis 49 later we find out that Messiah must come from a specific clan of Judah that of King David's and then the New Testament gives us this lengthy genealogy of Yeshua to prove that he met all those requirements Satan using his human minions we had a few of those running around last night as thus always tried to thwart God's plan for Messiah if the Jewish race could be exterminated then we would have no Savior and God would be defeated so in our story of Esther we read last week of Mordecai telling Esther in chapter 4 verse 14 that for if you fail to speak up now relief and deliverance will come to the Jews but from a different direction but you and your father's family will perish who knows whether you didn't come into your royal position precisely for such a time as this and the idea is that whether Esther takes up the fight and gets involved in saving her people the Jews from this coming genocide or not to choose will survive as Mordecai says relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from a different direction so the continuing existence of the Jewish people is divinely guaranteed it hasn't been placed solely upon Esther's delicate shoulders to bear as the only means to their survival rather it is that since God has put her miraculously in a position to be able to help his chosen people her own people then if she doesn't she and her father's family will perish as a consequence God has blessed Esther with a unique opportunity that has come any sliver of time to serve him in a great way but that opportunity comes with danger and it comes with a caveat and the Lord is not pushing all of his chips to the center of the table win with Esther or go bust so why should Christians love and comfort the Jewish people because we can because as Christians we have been given the knowledge now the opportunity to be used of God to help deliver his chosen people and that is what see the Bieber ham ministries is all about why should we join with the Jews and celebrate God's victory over the intended Persian genocide of the Jewish people dream because our Savior is Jewish and he can only be Jewish no Jews no Christ no eternal security for any of us the story of Esther couldn't be any more relevant for those who call Jesus Lord whether Jew or Gentile but today since the devil has already lost because the Jews didn't produce God's Messiah and messiahs work on the cross can't be undone there are only two remaining battlefields where the fight is ongoing the souls of human beings and the Land of Israel every human that dies without Christ is a victory for Satan it is and we must work tirelessly beginning with our own families to prevent any more losses to the evil one that has to be and if Satan can somehow get the Jews to lose their modern nation of Israel to pagans then the place where Christ shall return and said of his kingdom can't be used and the evil one will have one another bow now am i saying that victory over Satan regarding the land of Israel's and down no I'm saying that the Lord has allowed us to live at a time has offered us the unmerited opportunity to help and to comfort his people to join in the fight to save his land from the enemy now if we choose not to is the Holy Land lost no like Esther was told relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from a different direction but you and your father's family will perish fellow believers I'll say this to you unequivocally you we we have been given an opportunity to help God's people to stay and their land the promised land God's kingdom land but that opportunity comes with a price it is dangerous and I'm telling you we're not going to make very many friends if we do help and if we don't help when we have the knowledge that we can and we should clearly there will be divine consequences for our shying away now as for me and my family we stand with God and we stand with his people and with his land and since this principle is at the very heart of this ministry if you feel otherwise I have no idea why you're listening or you're even here today we're now going to read or rather reread Esther chapter four and this time I'm going to include the Greek additions we didn't read those last week and we'll discuss them briefly Esther chapter 4 depending on your Bible you'll have some of this or you won't Esther chapter 4 with the Greek editions when Mordecai learned what had happened he tore his garments and put on a sack cloth and ashes by the way I'm reading out of the Jerusalem Bible when Mordecai learned what had happened he tore his garments and put on sackcloth and ashes then he went right through the city wailing loud and bitterly until he arrived in front of the Chancellery which no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter and in every province no sooner had the royal edict been read than among the Jews there was great mourning and fasting and weeping and wailing and many lay on sackcloth and in ashes when Queen Esther's maids and eunuchs came and told her she was overcome with grief she said clothes for Mordecai to put on instead of his sad cloth but he refused them then Esther summoned hatak eunuch whom the King had appointed to wait on her and ordered him to go to Mordecai and inquire what was the matter why was he still acting in this way and hatak went out to Mordecai who was still at the city square in front of the Chancery and Mordecai told him what had happened him personally also about the sum of money which Amnon had offered to pay into the royal treasury his compensation for the destruction of the Jews excuse me he also gave him a copy of the Edict of extermination published in Sousa for him to show Esther for her information with the message that she was to go to the king and employ his favor plead with him for her people remember your humbler circumstances he said when you were fed by my hand since him on the second person in the realm has petitioned the King for our deaths invoke the Lord speak to the king for save us from death the top came back told Esther what Mordecai had said and she replied with the following message for Mordecai all the king's servants and the people of his provinces know that for a man or a woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned there is one penalty death unless by pointing his golden scepter towards him the King grants in his life I have not been summoned to the King for the last thirty days these words of Esther were reported to Mordecai who sent back the following reply do you suppose that because you are in the king's palace you're going to be worth you're going to be the one Jew to escape no if you persist in remaining silent at such a time relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place but both you in the house of your father will perish who knows perhaps you've come to the throne for just such a time as this whereupon Esther sent this reply to Mordecai go and assemble all the Jews now and souza and fast for me do not eat or drink day or night for three days from my part I am my maid's will keep the same fast after which I will go to the king and spy into the law and if I perish I perish Mordecai went away carried out Esther's instructions Mordecai's prayer then calling to mind all the wonderful works of the Lord he offered this prayer Lord Lord King and master of all things everything is subject to your power there is no one who can withstand you in your will to save Israel yes you have made heaven and earth all the Marvel's that are under heaven you are the Lord of all and there is none who can resist you Lord you know all things you know Lord you know that no insolence arrogance vainglory prompted me to this for this refusal to bow down before proud him on I would readily have kissed his feet for the safety of Israel but what I did I did rather than place the glory of a man above the glory of God I will not bow down to any but you Lord in so refusing I will not act in Pride and now Lord God King God of Abraham spare your people for men are seeking our ruin and planned to destroy your ancient heritage do not overlook your inheritance would you redeem for your own out of the land of Egypt hear my supplication have mercy on your heritage turn our grief into rejoicing that we may live to him your name Lord do not suffer the mouths of those who praise you to perish and all Israel cried out with all their might for they were faced with death Esther's prayer Queen Esther also took refuge with the Lord in the mortal peril which had overtaken her she took off her sumptuous robes put on sorrowful Hornung instead of expensive perfume she covered her head with ashes and dung she humbled her body severely and the former scenes of her happiness and elegance were now livered with tresses torn from her hair she besought the Lord God of Israel in these words my lord our King the only one come to my help for I am alone and I have no helper but you and I'm about to take my life in my hands I have been taught from my earliest years and the bosom of my family that you Lord chose Israel out of all the nations and our ancestors out of all the peoples of old times to be your heritage forever and that you have treated them as you promised but then we sinned against you you handed us over to our enemies for paying honor to their gods Lord you are just but even now they are not satisfied with the bitterness of our slavery they have put their hands in the hands of their idols and to abolish the decree that your own lips of utter to blot out your heritage to stop the mouths of those who praise you to quench your altar in the glory of your house and instead to open the mouths of the heathen to seeing the praise of worthless idols to Forever IVA lies a king of the flesh do not yield your scepter Lord to non-existent beings never let men mock in our ruin turn their designs against themselves make an example of him who leads the attack on us remember Lord reveal yourself in the time of our distress as for me give me courage king of gods master of all power put persuasive words in my mouth when I face the lion change his feeling into hatred for our enemy that the latter and all like him may be brought to their end as for ourselves save us by your hand come to my help for I am alone I have no one but you Lord you have knowledge of all things you know that I hate honors from the godless that I loathe the bed of the uncircumcised of any foreigner whatsoever you know I'm under constraint that I loathe the symbol of my high position bound around my brow when I hear the court I loathe it as if it were a filthy rag n'e and don't wear it on my days of leisure your handmaid has not eaten at Aman's table nor taken pleasure in the Royal banquets nor drunk the wine of libations nor has your handmaid found pleasure from the day of her promotion until now accept a new Lord God of Abraham oh god whose strength prevails over all listen to the voice of the desperate save us from the hand of the wicked free me from my fears these two editions that I read to you are known as Mordecai his prayer and Esther's prayer and we're not going to study them but I do want to make a couple of brief comments about them clearly the goal of whoever the writer might have been of the Greek editions it was to add direct references to God in a book the Hebrew version which is otherwise devoid of them but when we read it carefully we also find that the writer of the Greek essentially alters the character of the story in some ways and then Mordecai's prayer for instance we read but what I did I did rather than place the glory of man above the glory of God and I will not bow down to any but you Lord and so refusing I will not act in pride now on the surface this sounds wonderfully pious until we understand that the writer is here saying that Mordecai is refusing to bow down to Haman for no other reason because Haman is a man and no good Jew would ever buy before any human but only God and we discussed last week that this is simply factually incorrect it doesn't represent reality and we have been given example after example in the Bible of Jews appropriately and customarily bowing down to kings and potentates even aristocrats rather there was but one specific man of authority to whom Mordecai would not bow down hema and the reason for this is that Haman was known to be an a milot it-- the sworn enemy of God there for a while most of the centum expressed in the Greek additions to Esther are quite good it is my opinion that they are merely uninspired glosses they are editorial opinions that should have been recorded as footnotes of commentary never included in the passage as though they were scripture and by the way we find this same sort of thing in a couple of critical places in the New Testament Esther's prayer also takes us down a different Road then where the Hebrew text alone has led us in the Hebrew texts we see an Esther who's not at all melancholy or resistant or feeling like a prisoner is the queen of Persia in fact we see a tone of her doing what must be done to become the King's wife not trying to throw the contest so that some other virgin girl gets the prize in fact almost all films and plays based on Esther adopt the Greek editions is the theme and their tone for their scripts because of this drama that they inject thus and Esther's prayer we hear oh you know I'm under constraint I love the symbol of my high position around about my brow when I appear at court I love it as if it were a filthy rag and do not wear it on the days of my leisure your handmaid has not eaten at him on stable nor taken pleasure in Royal banquets nor dropped the wine of libations so with these Greek editions we now hear of an Esther who's been coerced into everything she hates her position she hates wearing her crown she goes to banquet but she won't enjoy them so as with Mordecai's prayer a different esther emerges and the prayerful words that are placed into her mouth by this editor words that would surely please the rabbis in a later era who despised Gentiles and they find fault with every element of non-jewish life so it's my opinion that these Greek editions need to be set on the Shelf so as chapter 4 opens Mordechai has learned of the decree to murder all Jews of Persia and he is dressed in sackcloth he's mourning he's walking around the city of Susa Shushan shouting bitterly to the city's inhabitants as he arrived near the place where he often sat as a Persian official he had to turn away because it was the law that no person dressed in mourning garb could be present at the Kings gate the news had by now reached most of the provinces and the districts and the shocked Jews reacted much as Mordecai did first for explains because Esther was in the Queen's Quarter she was shielded from the public and from the outside world in general and she only heard about Mordecai's distress through her servants and since Mordecai was her adoptive father she sent fresh clothes to him that he might be made presentable enough to enter the Royal harem and come to her to explain the matter she probably assumed that something of a personal nature had happened to hammer perhaps some family member had passed and she wanted to know about this they tried but Mordecai refused and as a side note as of this time Mordecai's relationship with Esther must not have been known inside the palace otherwise Esther's Jewishness would have been assumed from the beginning so it must have been disturbing to these servants that nakai refused the queen's call to come to her yet this would have been thoroughly in character for this stubborn old man who precipitated this madness in the first place by refusing to show respect and courtesy to the man who was now second in command over the entire Persian Empire come on Esther can't leave the harem so she sends hatak a higher official who had been assigned to do her bidding she sends him to Mordecai Mordecai opens up and he tells to talk about the decree of even about the 330 talents of silver that himand used to ply the King and agreeing with his request to annihilate the Jews and since this issue of the silver wasn't included in the decree but it had been a private matter between King Xerxes and come on no doubt Mordecai had close contacts within the palace because that's the only way that he could find out this sensitive information that certainly wasn't public knowledge well hatak had to meet mordecai at the courtyard near the Kings gate because Mordecai was still wearing a sad cloth he also gave him a copy of the decree to take in to the Queen now Esther was supposed to then go to her husband and plead with him to call off this coming atrocity atop dis he was asked but Esther was none too keen on this idea she more or less says luck as any court official knows one doesn't just invite oneself to go see the king the fact is there's a legal code about all this is to be done and it is that only when summoned may anyone have an audience with the king and if anyone comes uninvited that please death the only exception is if the King extends his scepter to this uninvited visitor indicating he takes no offense at this but says Esther the King hasn't called her for a month not good 30 days is a long time for this King not to at least what to feast his eyes on whom he had not long ago determined was the most beautiful girl in his empire no hint of what the trouble might be but Hester sees this as a bad sign and she has no interest in being executed for her trouble but Mordecai isn't taking no for an answer the matter is too important Esther represents I think a dilemma that most of his face at one time or another a situation suddenly arises that we intensely want to avoid but we're caught as a fish on a farm hook circumstances demand that we act even if the outcomes unknowable our courage to act could mean loss of friendships status wealth health maybe even life and freedom exercising faith suddenly changes from being this comfortable theoretical to an uncomfortable reality as any believer has learned after living long enough doing God's will is no guarantee of a satisfactory outcome for us at least on this present earth so Mordecai offers Esther three very good reasons why she needs to take the risk and go see the king first she isn't to think that while all of her Jewish family and friends are being destroyed she's gonna somehow be spared she is after all a Jew and the Kings decree is that all Jews everywhere are to be killed no exceptions and in Persia we've already seen that not even the King goes against the law no matter how ridiculous the law might be in afterthought Mordecai second reason is the one we discussed at the beginning in today's lesson it is that if Esther decides not to conquer her fears and instead hopes that someone else picks up ball and runs with it she shouldn't assume that the Jews are done for and this is because Mordecai is certain that God will use another means to deliver his people from this unprecedented calamity that they're facing however if she does decline to help she can be assured that she and her family will be destroyed the reason for her and her family's demise is not directly stated but the context is self-evident that the one who will save the Jews no matter what the Lord will see to it personally the Esther and her family suffers death for her unfaithfulness the third reason is one that's really become a well-known saying and judeo-christianity for such a time as this Mordecai infers it's no random happenstance that Esther a Jew was deemed the most beautiful and winsome girl and all the media Persian Empire it wasn't a coincidence that in a contest of the most beautiful girls and among the kings many wives she was given the crown as queen of Persia no she didn't set out to enter the royal harem it wasn't her goal to become a queen but the girl Lord had equipped her for the position even if she had never recognized it before that moment that she left Mordecai to enter the Miss Persia pageant now on the surface becoming the queen seems so selfish so decadent so frivolous in God's eyes it must have seemed trivial and unimportant she probably thought but Mordecai tells her you know perhaps this moment is what it was always going to be about the unmerited genetics that made her stunningly beautiful the inner character that that raised her above and separated her from all the other beautiful girls and then the absurd antics of a drunken and a narcissistic King who had committed the rash act of dishonouring his wife Vashti now he needed a replacement turns out to be Esther could it be that all of these seemingly disconnected things and random acts that they've been orchestrated by God to achieve but one purpose for just a fleeting moment in history to deliver his people from genocide at the hands of Hamad it's mind-boggling I can tell you without hesitation then while my personal story is nothing as dramatic or important as Esther's I can't identify to a degree with what Mordecai and Esther must been reflecting upon how do we get here from there I could never have foreseen the winding road of my life leading standing before you today as a minister and a Bible teacher first being educated at University in archaeology and Egyptology before settling on business of racing cars for a number of years to satisfy a selfish ambition starting my own high tech company simply because I was too bored at my job and then later selling it to a larger one only to find myself managing a substantial number of manufacturing locations in the US and Europe marrying my wife who was a staunch believer a people person who loved the Lord and prayed for many years for a way to serve Him in a more substantial way then suddenly unexpectedly finding myself retired lost and directionless in my mid-40s chancing upon a small book called the Jewish New Testament and the library of a dear friend a retiring Bible teacher and pastor discovering my Hebrew roots and teaching a Sunday School class at a Baptist Church then due to the subject matter of that class causing doctrinal issues within that church reluctantly leaving in order to keep peace but when we left a hundred people insisted that they wanted to continue studying God's Torah this resulted in the formation of seed of Abraham ministries and now we're privileged to lead and to serve a congregation an online retail store and online bible teaching ministry and not one but two vibrant ministries in Israel nothing I ain't for nothing I prepared for I didn't seek it believe me nothing I could have ever imagined myself doing nothing I ever wanted to do and yet here we are for such a time as this a ministry just full of people with a heart to help and comfort God's chosen one once again they are under rising pressure from a world that once rid of them all I can tell you is this no matter what is going on in your life what has happened to you up to now if you love God be prepared for a surprise it is amazing how a bunch of disjointed experiences and false starts and stops and personal failures inexplicable triumphs can suddenly come together at precisely the right moment not to achieve something you plan for but something else that God planned for you that you never saw coming but as it was with Esther the truth is there's always a catch whatever purpose that God has determined to use you to bring about is going to happen with or without you I have no doubt that if my wife and I had not said yes to God's plan to create this ministry having no idea what it would mean or where it would lead us each of you somebody else probably somebody else better and much more qualified as this passage in first sphere 14 says so clearly God will bring about his purposes even if you're not willing to obey Him take a risk and accept the assignment but don't ever think that you might have another opportunity if you declined the one that's offered for it was such a time as this one that you were created not some other time of your own choice and your own design this one the one God presents to you in verse 15 Esther responded just as Mordecai hoped she would yes she'll take a risk she'll take the matter of the Jews before the king but Esther also orders that all of the Jews and souza join with her and with her servants in a fast this is a long fast really no eating or drinking for three days what's the purpose of the fast it isn't stated but we must always take the Bible in its Hebrew context unless it's otherwise stated a fast is invariably for the purpose of preparing oneself to petition God for his favor and to accept the result the final words of Esther that in this chapter are then I will go into the King which is against the law and if I perish I perish now while there's a great spiritual element to this statement of putting her fate into God's hands after fasting and praying Esther is also speaking on a practical level what she is about to do violates the laws of Persia violating civil laws to do what seems right to us or to do what God seems to be telling us to do is a real dilemma for followers of Christ sometimes we forget that there are other civil law codes in this world than the laws of the United States of America they are just as valid and often just as justifiable and it was so in ancient times as well so what was Esther to do what are we to do when there is a direct conflict between God's laws and our nation's laws this problem has divided the church on numerous occasions and regularly divides families usually this problem is called a matter of conscience on the one hand the Lord has told us to obey our governments because God's established them on the other hand he's instructed as to faithfully obey God's command that's regardless of the earthly consequences there's a dilemma Yeshua anticipated this problem among his many followers and he promised us that when we're facing our civil authorities for refusing to obey civil laws that fly in the face of God's laws he says I'll give you the words to say and yet make no mistake he never assured us that these words he would give us would lead to our quills rather these words are meant to establish God's truth among people who have perhaps never heard it not to save us from a bad circumstance Esther was doing what she knew she must do in order to try to save her people but it violated the civil laws of Persia to do it and there were no guarantees it was gonna work therefore she is determined to step forward to take the lead and to assume the responsibility for her actions she fully understood this could result in the loss of her life Hulu with this fickle King might decide let's move on to chapter 5 Esther chapter 5 short-lived chapter page 10 93 if you have a complete Jewish Bible on the third day Esther put on her royal robes she stood in the inner court of the king's palace opposite of the Kings Hall the King was sitting on his royal throne in the Kings Hall across from the entrance to the hall and when the King saw Esther the Queen standing in the courtyard she won his favor so the King extended the gold scepter in his hand towards Esther and Esther approaches and touched the tip of the scepter what is it you want Queen Esther the King asked her whatever your request up to half the kingdom it will be given to you if it is alright with the King answered Esther lent the king and Haman come today to the banquet I prepared for him the King said bring him on quickly so that when what Esther has asked for can be done so the King and her mom came to the banquet Esther had prepared and at the banquet of wine the King again said to Esther whatever your request you'll be granted it whatever you want up to half the kingdom it'll be done and Esther answered my request what I want is this if I have won the Kings favour if it pleases the King to grant my request and do what I want let the king and Haman come to the banquet which I prepared for them tomorrow I will do as the king is said that day Hamad went out happy in good spirits but when a Mon saw Mordecai at the Kings gate that he neither rose or moved for him Hammond was infuriated was Mordecai and nevertheless Amon restrained himself and went home where he summoned and brought his friends and so his wife come on boasted to them but his vast wealth as many sons everything connected with how the king had promoted him and given them precedence over the other officials and servants of the King and indeed him on a headed Esther the Queen let nobody in the banquet with the King that she had prepared except myself tomorrow - I'm invited by her together with the king yet none of this does me any good at all as long as I keep seeing Mordecai the Jew remaining seated at the Kings gate that this Suresh his wife and his friend said to him we'll have a gala 75 feet high constructed and in the morning speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on it then go in and enjoy yourself with the king at this banquet come on like that idea so he had a gallows maid now I'll tell you Esther did more during those three days of fasting than pray she worked on a plan and just how to approach the king and how to circumvent this problem of himand and the Kings certified decree to destroy the Jewish people so she engineers the circumstances under which she might turn the tables on this evil Haman Mordecai is nowhere in the picture whatever we see Esther doing she's doing it on her own or better as I think is the point of the three days of fasting as she was given direction by the Lord there is no mention of direct inspiration but her plan came together to perfectly for it to be anything other than by God's providence not surprisingly banquets are involved since banquets and drinking parties have been the backdrop of nearly every circumstance that is arisen in this book if we can just kind of back away from the text far enough just as it is what happens in this and in the next couple of chapters reads like a comedy first one tells us that the three day fast ended and immediately esther sprang into action esther put on her royal robes went to the inner Court of the king's hall and this indicated that her visit was official business this was not a lonely wife looking to spend alone time with her husband it was respectful it told all present that it was a a formal audience that she sought with the king however by going to the inner court this means she went or only a person who was summoned may go it was a bold move immediately esther caught the king's attention and we were told that immediately she won his favor he was happy to see her and in keeping with protocol the king extended his golden scepter towards her which forgave her for appearing without being called esther touched the top of the scepter which apparently was the proper response and the king then asked Esther in the most literal translation clerk will vow esther our complete Jewish Bible says would he want that's the wrong tone the better meaning is what's the matter what's troubling you he knows Esther Esther is not one who asks for favors she wouldn't bother the King for something trivial rather her appearance tells him that she's troubled and the matters important or she wouldn't think to approach him so he then asks the second question what's your request and to show how pleased and attentive he is to her he is gracious to say that whatever it is can be up to half in kingdom and he'll give it to her now without doubt this is an expression of a grand courtesy and affection but it's not literal he is willing to be very generous towards her but he's not about to give her half of his kingdom merely because she might like to have it nonetheless it means that Esther has not fallen out of favor some unspoken circumstance has caused the king to not call for her for 30 days okay she's made it to first base and next week we'll watch her clever plan unfold and then watch Haman and trap himself there you go please rise [Music] you see [Music] yes you

Channel: Torah Class

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Keywords: Esther, Old Testament, Torah, Prophet, Seed of Abraham, Torah Class, Tom Bradford, Bible Study

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Length: 55min 1sec (3301 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 14 2019