Honor Belongs To The Lord

Esther 2:19–3:15 (CSB)

19 When the virgins were gathered a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the King’s Gate. 20 Esther still did not reveal her family background or her ethnicity, as Mordecai had directed. She obeyed Mordecai’s orders, as she always had while he raised her.

21 During those days while Mordecai was sitting at the King’s Gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, became infuriated and planned to assassinate King Ahasuerus. 22 When Mordecai learned of the plot, he reported it to Queen Esther, and she told the king on Mordecai’s behalf. 23 When the report was investigated and verified, both men were hanged on the gallows. This event was recorded in the Historical Record in the king’s presence.

1 After all this took place, King Ahasuerus honored Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite. He promoted him in rank and gave him a higher position than all the other officials. 2 The entire royal staff at the King’s Gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, because the king had commanded this to be done for him. But Mordecai would not bow down or pay homage. 3 The members of the royal staff at the King’s Gate asked Mordecai, “Why are you disobeying the king’s command?” 4 When they had warned him day after day and he still would not listen to them, they told Haman in order to see if Mordecai’s actions would be tolerated, since he had told them he was a Jew.

5 When Haman saw that Mordecai was not bowing down or paying him homage, he was filled with rage. 6 And when he learned of Mordecai’s ethnic identity, it seemed repugnant to Haman to do away with Mordecai alone. He planned to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout Ahasuerus’s kingdom.

7 In the first month, the month of Nisan, in King Ahasuerus’s twelfth year, the pur—that is, the lot—was cast before Haman for each day in each month, and it fell on the twelfth month, the month Adar. 8 Then Haman informed King Ahasuerus, “There is one ethnic group, scattered throughout the peoples in every province of your kingdom, keeping themselves separate. Their laws are different from everyone else’s and they do not obey the king’s laws. It is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. 9 If the king approves, let an order be drawn up authorizing their destruction, and I will pay 375 tons of silver to the officials for deposit in the royal treasury.”

10 The king removed his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 Then the king told Haman, “The money and people are given to you to do with as you see fit.”

12 The royal scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and the order was written exactly as Haman commanded. It was intended for the royal satraps, the governors of each of the provinces, and the officials of each ethnic group and written for each province in its own script and to each ethnic group in its own language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the royal signet ring. 13 Letters were sent by couriers to each of the royal provinces telling the officials to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jewish people—young and old, women and children—and plunder their possessions on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month.

14 A copy of the text, issued as law throughout every province, was distributed to all the peoples so that they might get ready for that day. 15 The couriers left, spurred on by royal command, and the law was issued in the fortress of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, while the city of Susa was in confusion.

The TSA agent that annoyed me years ago.

The Bible teaches that Honor is earned by pleasing and conforming to God. Not everybody agrees- today’s shows what happens when we think honor is based on anything other than our relationship with God. We are going to see two men letting pride get in the way of reason in the name of their honor.

Honor Belongs To The Lord: The Text In Its Context

After Esther was crowned queen, there was a second gathering of virgins. The when of 2:19–23 is not as clear as the where and the what. The author could possibly mean that the virgins who remained in the first harem were transferred to the concubines’ quarters, which was overseen by Shaashgaz (2:14). The author could also mean that even after Esther was chosen, the king commissioned another gathering of women—not to give anyone a crown but to serve his cravings. Would anybody be surprised that Xerxes would do that? Based on what we have observed of him, this seems much more like a probability instead of a possibility. Whatever the second gathering of women was about, we know it most likely occurred sometime between Esther’s being crowned in Ahasuerus’s seventh year of reign (2:16) and Haman’s casting lots in the king’s twelfth year (3:7).

We also know that Esther’s new position had not changed Mordecai’s influence on her life. Despite being crowned queen, Esther still concealed her ethnicity because of Mordecai’s command. It is wrong to hide that we belong to God. It was wrong for Medecai and Esther back them, and it is wrong if we do it today.

This, no doubt, would be considered good policy on Mordecai’s part, and lovely obedience in Esther, but it was real unfaithfulness to God, often duplicated in our own times.… If they cover their nationality, and shame Him so that He hides His name too, He will make them nevertheless the instruments of His providence. — H. A. Ironside

We see God’s providence- the hidden hand of God- in Mordecai stumbling upon a conspiracy to kill Xerses. Mordecai foiled the assassination plot by reporting it to Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to Xerxes, giving due credit to Mordecai. All of this was recorded in the annals of the king. Herodotus refers to an official list recorded in the Persian archives naming the king’s “benefactors.” Acts of loyalty were usually rewarded immediately and generously by Persian kings, but Mordecai’s reward was apparently overlooked. Although this attempt on Xerxes’ life was foiled, Herodotus reports that a subsequent attempt succeeded when the king was assassinated in his bedroom in 465 b.c.

Mordecai had done the right thing, and it went completely unrewarded. Contrast that with Haman being promoted to a high position, even though there was no explanation of why he deserved that reward. The author of Esther places the promotion of Haman just where the original readers would have expected a report of Mordecai’s reward as a benefactor of the king. Surprise, Mordecai’s good deed goes unrewarded yet the bad guy gets promoted.

Haman demanded that all bow before, because Xerxes had commanded this to be done. All the officials at the king’s gate knelt and paid honor to Haman because the king had commanded it—all of them, that is, except Mordecai. Mordecai’s refusal to give Haman the honor commanded by the king is left unexplained. Perhaps he resented Haman’s promotion when he himself deserved, but had not received, a reward for his loyalty to the king. However, as much as five years may have passed (cf. 2:16 and 3:7), and if this was Mordecai’s reason for not bowing to Haman, it apparently was not obvious to his colleagues. They asked him repeatedly to explain himself, but he refused. so they reported his behavior to Haman to see if Mordecai the Jew would be given an exception to the king’s command (3:4).

This suggests a lurking tension between the Jews and Gentiles of the court.Interpreters throughout the ages have offered explanations for Mordecai’s refusal. It is known from other sources that in general, Jews did bow to pagan officials of the Persian court. It was not a religious act but one of court protocol, much as moderns still curtsy or bow to the British queen. This suggests that Mordecai’s refusal was not religiously motivated, but personal and specific to Haman. It is possible that the cause of Mordecai’s refusal to bow was his anger at Haman being promoted for no reason while Mordecai was ignored when he saved the kings life. That would explain Mordecai’s refusal to bow, but why did Haman have such a passionate hate for the Jews?

In Hebrew narrative the characteristic described when a character is introduced is key to understanding his or her role in the story. When Mordecai is introduced in 2:5, he is identified not as a wise man or as an official in the court, but as a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin. When Haman is introduced, he is identified as an Agagite. The Bible reveals that the Jews and Agagites have an ancient enmity. Apparently that hatred drove Mordecai and Haman to hate each other.

Agag was the king of the Amalekites at the time Saul (also of the tribe of Benjamin) was the first king of Israel (1 Sam. 15). The Amalekites were a nomadic people of the southern desert region who frequently raided Israel from the beginning of its history. This pagan nation had the dubious distinction of being the first people of the world to attack and try to destroy God’s newly formed covenant nation. Because of this, God promised Moses that he would completely erase the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven and would be at war with them from generation to generation (Ex. 17:8–16). In Deuteronomy 25:17–19, God commanded Israel, once they were settled in the land, to be agents of his promise and so war against the Amalekites as to blot out their memory forever.In the years between Moses and King Saul, God gave Israel the land as promised. When Saul came to power, God instructed him through the prophet Samuel to “attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them,” and to “put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys” (1 Sam. 15:1–3). Saul did attack the Amalekites as commanded, but he took Agag their king alive and spared his life along with the best of the sheep and cattle, in disobedience to God’s command.

Over the centuries after Saul spared Agag’s life, other perennial enemies of Israel were called Agagites, even though they had no ethnic relationship to the Amalekites. In the first century of this era, for example, Jewish writers referred to the Romans as Agagites. In our own time, the Palestinians in Israel are sometimes referred to by that ancient appellation. The New York Times reported on a violent incident in Israel by saying that “a core of militant Jews has preached a doctrine of intolerance, often with the Arab as the biblical enemy Amalek.”

Esther had been queen for five years when Haman skillfully manipulates the king to gain support for his evil plan. He begins by bringing an accusation certain to arouse the king’s attention—that there is “a certain people” who do not obey the king’s laws. It may have been true that the Jews observed certain distinctive customs even in Persia, but in narrative fact it is only Mordecai who does not obey the king, and then only one specific command—to bow to Haman. Haman carefully avoids mentioning that these people are the Jews, and the king is apparently too apathetic to ask which people are so charged.

Haman then appeals to the king’s need to replenish the treasury depleted by Xerxes’ disastrous war with Greece. Herodotus reports that the annual revenue of the Persian empire under Xerxes’ father, Darius, was 14,560 thousand talents.7 This revenue was generated by receiving tribute (i.e., taxes) from the satrapies. Haman’s offer to provide ten thousand talents of silver (about 300 tons) represents a substantial contribution to the royal coffers. Haman may have thrown out an exaggerated figure of ten thousand talents to sell his idea. Presumably, whatever revenue he promises will come by plundering the possessions of those killed (cf. 3:13).

To determine the propitious time for an attack on the Jews, Haman consults the pur (pl., purim) or lot. Archaeologists have unearthed samples of purim, which were clay cubes inscribed with either cuneiform characters or dots that look almost identical to modern dice.8 “Casting the lot” literally meant throwing the dice. But unlike their modern use, the ancient lot was used not for gambling but for divination. It was a way of asking the gods for answers to questions about the future.

Haman casts the lot in the first month, Nisan, the month the Jews celebrate Passover. It falls on the twelfth month, Adar. Haman will have to wait eleven months for the propitious day to attack the Jews, but immediately he sends out the decree sealing their fate. The edict of death is sent out on the thirteenth day of the first month, which ironically is the very eve of Passover (cf. Ex. 12:18; Lev. 23:5; Num. 28:16). The decree orders the citizens of Persia to take up arms against their Jewish neighbors, killing young and old, women and children, exactly eleven months later, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month.

Passover commemorates the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, the event that constituted the founding of God’s covenant people as a nation. It celebrates the existence of the Jews as a people and their special relationship to God. The joy of this holiday is turned to sorrow in Persia when the decree is delivered on Passover, calling for their annihilation simply because they are Jews. The coincidence of the decree with Passover is tragically ironic, but serves to heighten the glory of the subsequent deliverance and links it to the ancient covenant of Sinai.

Doesn’t it seem like this was a powder keg just waiting to explode? It does to me, and all it took to light the fuse was focusing on personal honor over God’s honor.

Both Mordecai and Haman’s actions stem from their sense of being denied due honor. Shame and its opposite, honor, are foundational social values in the ancient Mediterranean world. Westerners tend to think of these being based on individual actions and worth but for Mordecai and Hamas they were group values. Shame didn’t mean personal feelings of guilt over doing something wrong. It was a matter of one’s public reputation. Gaining status and esteem brings honor for the community; losing such status brings shame to the community. This is absolutely foreign to our way of thinking, and we need to start thinking more in these terms. We should all desire to bring honor and glory to God by obeying His commands and living right- AMEN? And our brothers and sisters honor and shame is tied into our own- because we are family in God.

In the ancient world, shame was connected to one’s public reputation. It refers to a person’s internal experience of disgrace, fearing that others will see how he has dishonored him/herself, often resulting in a preventative attitude that one must remain out of sight in order to avoid being disgraced. If someone violated the societal expectations but was not discovered, there was no shame because the deed was not done before the eyes of the public. They were less concerned about what happened to them then they were afraid people would know what happened to them!

When a psalmist cried out to God for deliverance from oppression, it was not for mere relief. Instead, God was often asked to minimize the shame and preserve the supplicant’s honor:

Psalm 25:2 (CSB)

2 My God, I trust in you. Do not let me be disgraced; do not let my enemies gloat over me.

Significantly, the honor of the supplicant and the entire Israelite nation was tied to God’s honor:

Isaiah 37:17–20 (CSB)

17 Listen closely, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see. Hear all the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God. 18 Lord, it is true that the kings of Assyria have devastated all these countries and their lands. 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but made from wood and stone by human hands. So they have destroyed them. 20 Now, Lord our God, save us from his power so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are God—you alone.

This is something we need to grow in. We need to be driven by the World’s disrepect of Jesus by loving each other more and sharing the Gospel of the Good News of Jesus Christ with our community. Praying fervently that they see the truth and repent. The ancients thought that individual actions reflect on their deity. Shaming God brings believer’s shame, shame which would be wiped out when God acts to reveal Himself.

Mordecai felt shame that his actions, which saved the king’s life, were not rewarded. And Xerxes had a reputation of always rewarding those types of actions. When Hamas was effectively made second in command of the realm did he feel personally slighted? Whatever the reason Mordecai refused to bow to Haman. This wasn’t a problem till Mordecai’s coworkers pointed out that he was not bowing. Realizing he was being shamed by Mordecai, Hamas looked deeply into the life of Hamas and discovered that he was Jewish. This triggered rage at both Mordecai and the Jews at large. Perhaps there was a reputation for Jew’s being difficult with their unique customs? The attack was wildly disproportionate to the offense. The Jewish people bowed to Persian officials as a whole- this was one man’s rebellion. Yet Hamas went straight to the nuclear option.

Whose actions were most heinous here? I vote Mordecai- because he should have known better.

Proverbs 24:10–12 (CSB)

10 If you do nothing in a difficult time, your strength is limited. 11 Rescue those being taken off to death, and save those stumbling toward slaughter. 12 If you say, “But we didn’t know about this,” won’t he who weighs hearts consider it? Won’t he who protects your life know? Won’t he repay a person according to his work?

Isaiah 1:16–17 (CSB)

16 “Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from my sight. Stop doing evil. 17 Learn to do what is good. Pursue justice. Correct the oppressor. Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow’s cause.

Regardless of who was most at fault for the situation the reality was the Jews were in dire danger. And think about the date that they found out about their need. The edict was drafted on the thirteenth day of the first month, which would have been the day before Passover. On the day the Jews would have been preparing to celebrate God’s deliverance, they found themselves in need of him once again. Each year God’s people remembered how he rescued their forefathers from the clutches of Pharaoh and then provided for them his law and land. Having to celebrate Passover outside the promised land was a good reminder to them of their disobedience and the Lord’s discipline. Perhaps receiving the edict on that particular day caused some to believe God had fully and finally abandoned his people and in eleven months they would meet their end. Certainly others would have been led to pray, “God, our death has been decreed and we are in need of you, our Deliverer, once again.”

Psalm 70:5 (CSB)

5 I am oppressed and needy; hurry to me, God. You are my help and my deliverer; Lord, do not delay.

By stating Haman was an Agagite the author is that Haman was an enemy of the Jews. The original readers would have understood this one clue as introducing yet another episode of the age-old conflict between Israel and the powers that sought to destroy her. God’s promise to protect Israel and to be at war with Amalek in every generation was given within the context of the mosaic covenant. (Ex. 17:8–16). Would that promise still stand for the Jews living in exile precisely because they had violated that covenant? Could they expect God to be faithful to his covenant promises when they had failed to keep theirs? In other words, was the covenant between God and his people still in effect? This is the underlying question that would have generated plot tension in the minds of the original readers. And Mordecai himself was not blameless in this- He lit the fuse by shaming Haman needlessly. Spoiler Alert:

God Is Sovereign Over Honor And Shame: Our Contemporary Application

The answer to every question and problem is to first turn to God.

Habakkuk 3:17–19 (CSB)

17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the flocks disappear from the pen and there are no herds in the stalls, 18 yet I will celebrate in the Lord; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! 19 The Lord my Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights! For the choir director: on stringed instruments.

Are we in any way guilty of seeking our honor over God’s?

Are we seeking our honor to the detriment of those around us?

Are we more offended when our honor is impugned than when God’s is?

John 12:43 (CSB)

43 For they loved human praise more than praise from God.

Paul exhorts the church at Galatia,

Galatians 6:9–10 (CSB)

9 Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.

As we interact with our neighbors, coworkers, doctors, mechanics, plumbers, and whomever else the Lord brings into our paths, their good should be our goal. And as for those who do not work for our good? As believers, we are called to forgive and work for the good of even those who wound us most.

Paul tells the church at Rome to

Romans 12:14–20 (CSB)

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. 18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord. 20 But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head.

The gospel of Christ transforms the way we view and treat the people who harm us most. The gospel demands that we not treat our enemies as they deserve to be treated; rather, we treat our enemies as Christ has treated us. What makes the gospel community special is not just how we treat other believers but how we treat those who hate us because of Christ. We are disciples of him who died for his enemies. We have already been told whose good we should strive for: everyone’s—even a pagan king’s.

Make no mistake, in Esther 2:19–3:15 God’s people found themselves in the same position we have always found ourselves in since the garden of Eden. A position we find ourselves in today as a nation. A decree of death hangs over us from which we cannot deliver ourselves. Far worse than Mordecai’s refusal to honor Haman is our refusal to honor the Lord. We have not desired to give him the glory and honor he is due but instead have chosen to live for our own glory. We thus stand in need of rescue from our rebellion. God alone can save his people, and he has chosen to do so at great cost. Though Haman used his money to purchase death, God uses Christ’s death to purchase life. No greater price has been paid for liberation, and that price has been paid in full.

Points To Ponder

“GOD’S MYSTERIOUS WORKING” by Karen H. Jobes

Most of us like to think that through thoughtful planning and wise living we can successfully direct the course of our lives. While much of the time life might cooperate with our plans, all of us can probably look back and see how circumstances beyond our control have redirected our lives, whether for good or for sorrow. Our sense of ultimately being in control is at times revealed by life’s circumstances to be an illusion.

Whether we like it or not, we often feel caught in circumstances beyond our control. Life is full of seemingly insignificant events that in retrospect we recognize as changing the course of our lives. Every new day brings circumstances and decisions, and we cannot know how one event will lead to another. Only God knows the end of a matter before it has even begun. The author of Esther is demonstrating the workings of divine providence. God works mysteriously, patiently, and inexorably through a series of “coincidental” events and human decisions, even those based on questionable motives and evil intents. All of the “chance” events in life are really working toward the end that God has ordained.

Esther suffered the humiliation of being taken into the king’s court to be sexually used. Apparently no one considered what plans she might have had for her life, plans perhaps to be a godly wife with a home and family.9 Her plans for her life were forever changed when the king’s men seized her from her home. Mordecai suffered the humiliation of being deprived of his rightful reward after putting himself at risk to save the king’s life when he reported the treacherous eunuchs. To add insult to injury, Haman was all the while gaining the power that would eventually be turned against Mordecai and his people. There is the sad irony that when the wicked do prosper, God’s people are often overlooked and unrewarded.

It is frustrating when our best plans are overturned and our good deeds and hard work go unnoticed and unrewarded. Most bitterly, we often see others prosper who are less deserving, at least in our own opinion. Such injustice hurts, but the example of Esther and Mordecai give us reason to bear such situations with patience and grace. Mordecai’s forbearance when he did not receive the expected reward allowed that injustice to lead to greater good when it was finally put right. God is invisibly at work, making even life’s greatest disappointments a link in a chain of good things yet to come. We cannot see the end of things from the middle and must walk by faith, not by sight. The Lord will bring a greater good, his perfect plan, out of all the frustration we feel and out of all the evil we experience. When all is said and done, God uses even injustice to fulfill his promises to us. As Joseph explained to his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” (Gen. 50:20).

Paradoxically, Satan channeled wrath against Jesus through human agents who nailed him to the cross, but it was simultaneously God’s work of atonement. The apostle Peter preached that the human agents involved in that action were ignorant of their role and were acting from their own instincts and interests (Acts 3:17). Nevertheless, “this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets” (Acts 3:18). When Peter and John were released after being arrested in Jerusalem, they led the church in a prayer that indicted all the worldly powers for the death of Jesus (Acts 4:27–29):

Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. (emphasis added)

It was not in spite of the greatest injustice and most concerted evil against Jesus that God achieved his work of atonement, but through those very acts of injustice and evil. What mind-boggling mystery!

God’s absolute sovereignty is displayed magnificently in the great paradox that even Satan’s wrath and retribution working through worldly powers is nevertheless constrained by God’s eternal decrees. God works concurrently through the very forces that Satan means for evil to bring about his perfect good. It was with this confidence that the early church prayed for boldness to preach the gospel while facing life-threatening opposition. With this same confidence, Christians today can face the powers of evil arrayed against them.

Encouragement for persecuted Christians. The book of Revelation was written to encourage Christians who, like the Jews of Susa, found their existence threatened when the government under which they lived turned beastly. American Christians probably cannot fully appreciate this situation, for there has never been a time in our nation’s history when the government has issued a decree outlawing the church or demanding a “respect” that compromises allegiance to Christ. Unfortunately, this has not been the experience of Christians in other parts of the world. One source reports that in this century alone, an average of 300,000 Christians have been martyred each year.10

Because Christians (and Jews) throughout history have typically been executed on the charges of political treason rather than for religious piety, it is sometimes debated whether such numbers include Christians killed for reasons other than faith. Regardless of the precise number of those martyred, the church around the world still suffers in many ways at the hands of governments who are ideologically antithetical to the fundamental principles of Christianity. The prayer of the earliest Christians, “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness,” must still be the prayer of the church today, offered up with a confidence in God’s powerful providence.11

The book of Revelation shows that despite the terrible power world empires now hold, the true King of kings will have the victory over these ungodly empires of the world. Christians are to live faithfully for that day, even under the shadow of persecution and death. After describing the beast and his satanic power, John acknowledges that, like their Lord, Christians will suffer and die when the government turns against them, just as the Roman empire did. However, because Jesus arose never to die again, we are safe in Christ even when the beast threatens to devour us. “He who has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints” (Rev. 13:9–10).

God intends to save and protect his people in Christ (e.g., Rom. 8:28) and ultimately to destroy those who wickedly remain opposed to Christ. There is no power, no enemy, that can thwart God’s electing purpose. We, too, like David in Psalm 16, can praise God because he has made our lot secure in Christ.

[Karen H. Jobes, Esther, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999), 127–129.]

Question Needing Answers

Why is doing what is right for people who have done us wrong so difficult? How can the gospel fuel our obedience here?

Why do we so easily seek earthly rewards and forget about kingdom rewards? How can we give more consideration to the eternal rather than the temporal?

Why do you think we’re surprised when, after walking in obedience, we seem to be rewarded with struggle?

In what ways do we treat God as if he owes us? How can the gospel free us from thinking we are owed something after doing what we should be doing all along?

How can we minimize our personal desires to be honored and maximize our interest in God’s honor?

How can we demonstrate compassion even to those who conspire against us?

How can recalling God’s faithfulness in the past fuel our trust and faithfulness in the present?

In what practical ways can we join Paul in saying, “My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death” (Phil 1:20)?

The Jews would have certainly been tempted to be fearful and anxious because of the decree. What, if anything, are we as Christians currently fearful or anxious about? How can we cast our cares on him?

In what ways are you demonstrating that you are pro-life?

[Landon Dowden, Exalting Jesus in Esther (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2019), Es 2:19–3:15.]

A Week’s Worth of Scripture

Monday

Psalm 70 (CSB) For the choir director. Of David. To bring remembrance. 1 God, hurry to rescue me. Lord, hurry to help me! 2 Let those who seek to kill me be disgraced and confounded; let those who wish me harm be turned back and humiliated. 3 Let those who say, “Aha, aha!” retreat because of their shame. 4 Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; let those who love your salvation continually say, “God is great!” 5 I am oppressed and needy; hurry to me, God. You are my help and my deliverer; Lord, do not delay.

Tuesday

Psalm 25:1–22 (CSB) 1 Lord, I appeal to you. 2 My God, I trust in you. Do not let me be disgraced; do not let my enemies gloat over me. 3 No one who waits for you will be disgraced; those who act treacherously without cause will be disgraced. 4 Make your ways known to me, Lord; teach me your paths. 5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; I wait for you all day long. 6 Remember, Lord, your compassion and your faithful love, for they have existed from antiquity. 7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my acts of rebellion; in keeping with your faithful love, remember me because of your goodness, Lord. 8 The Lord is good and upright; therefore he shows sinners the way. 9 He leads the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. 10 All the Lord’s ways show faithful love and truth to those who keep his covenant and decrees. 11 Lord, for the sake of your name, forgive my iniquity, for it is immense. 12 Who is this person who fears the Lord? He will show him the way he should choose. 13 He will live a good life, and his descendants will inherit the land. 14 The secret counsel of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he reveals his covenant to them. 15 My eyes are always on the Lord, for he will pull my feet out of the net. 16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am alone and afflicted. 17 The distresses of my heart increase; bring me out of my sufferings. 18 Consider my affliction and trouble, and forgive all my sins. 19 Consider my enemies; they are numerous, and they hate me violently. 20 Guard me and rescue me; do not let me be disgraced, for I take refuge in you. 21 May integrity and what is right watch over me, for I wait for you. 22 God, redeem Israel, from all its distresses.

Wednesday

Hosea 4:6–7 (CSB) 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from serving as my priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your sons. 7 The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against me. I will change their honor into disgrace.

Thursday

Galatians 6:7–10 (CSB) 7 Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap, 8 because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9 Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.

Friday

Habakkuk 3:17–19 (CSB) 17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the flocks disappear from the pen and there are no herds in the stalls, 18 yet I will celebrate in the Lord; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! 19 The Lord my Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights!

Saturday

Romans 12:14–20 (CSB) 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. 18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord. 20 But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head.