Esther Reading Plan – W10D1

Prayer

As you come to spend time with Jesus, calm your mind and body until you feel fully present. Thank God that he has given you His salvation, eternal life with Him and ask Him to teach you more from His word today.

Bible Reading: Esther 8:1-14

Read these verses three times slowly.

That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. The king took off his signet ring, which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman’s estate.

Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite which he had devised against the Jews. Then the king extended the gold scepter to Esther and she arose and stood before him.

“If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces. For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?”

King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have impaled him on the pole he set up. Now write another decree in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal it with the king’s signet ring—for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.”

At once the royal secretaries were summoned—on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. They wrote out all Mordecai’s orders to the Jews, and to the satraps, governors and nobles of the 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush. These orders were written in the script of each province and the language of each people and also to the Jews in their own script and language. Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king’s signet ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king.

The king’s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children, and to plunder the property of their enemies. The day appointed for the Jews to do this in all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

The couriers, riding the royal horses, went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa.

Reflection & Questions

We begin a new week of readings and the evil plot that Haman had conspired to make is continuing to be unraveled. Mordecai receives the king’s signet ring. Esther receives Haman’s estate. But what about her people? They still face an edict of annihilation that cannot be revoked. Esther begs the king to do something on behalf of her people “For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?” Because the edict cannot be revoked, a new edict is made. “The king’s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children, and to plunder the property of their enemies.” Should anyone act on Haman’s edict to destroy the Jews, the Jews can now respond in kind.

But what is amazing in these verses is to see the transformation of Esther. In chapter 2, she may well have been content to take Haman’s estate and live with no worries. But a transformation has happened in her heart and that would not satisfy her any longer. Esther is stepping up and pleading on behalf of her people. There is a challenge for us is this: Having received salvation are we content to do our own thing until heaven? Or are we pleading with God on behalf of our ONEs? Are we praying for doors to open to share with them? Has a transformation occurred in our heart where we are stepping into the gap like Esther and working on behalf of those around us?

1. Who is your ONE (the person you are praying for and sharing Jesus with)? Pray for them today that God would open their eyes to the good news, and that He would give you an opportunity to share this week.

Prayer

Pray in response to today’s reading.

Worship Song

You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:

Have a favorite worship song you think would be helpful to others? Email Pastor Ed your ideas