Deeply Rooted (When I Read Your Word)

R EAD THIS: Esther 4:15- 15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” 17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?   Yesterday, we learned about Mordecai’s bold request to Esther and his even bolder statement that even if Esther did not step up to help, that God would find a way to deliver His people from the danger they were in! Today, we get to hear Esther’s response… so let’s talk about it! First, Esther tells Mordecai to gather all the people together and to fast for her and with her. All throughout the Old Testament, fasting and prayer are deeply connected. When people truly wanted to have understanding of what God was calling them to do or what to say, they often f

R EAD THIS: Esther 4:9-14 9 Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. 10 Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, 11 “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.” 12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer:  “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?   Throughout this book so far, did you ever think about ho

R EAD THIS: Esther 4:1-8 1 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. 2 But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. 3 In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.  4 When Esther’s eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5 Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why. 6 So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate.  7 Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of mo

R EAD THIS: Esther 3:12-15 12 Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language of each people all Haman’s orders to the king’s satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his own ring. 13 Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. 14 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 they would be ready for that day.  15 The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa wa

R EAD THIS: Esther 3:7b-11 And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar. 8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.”  10 So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.” WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?   Yesterday's reading ended with a lot being cast (almost like rolling dice or reading tea leaves) to decide when Haman would take down all the Jews. The lot fell on the month of Adar, which

R EAD THIS: Esther 3:1-7a 1 After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles. 2 All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor. 3 Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?” 4 Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.  5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. 6 Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.  7 In the twelfth year of King Xer

R EAD THIS: Esther 2:19-23 19 When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. 20 But Esther had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai had told her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai’s instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up. 21 During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. 22 But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai. 23 And when the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were impaled on poles. All this was recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?   This story is wild! Mordecai, who worked for King Xerxes, hears about a plot to assassinate him. Think about this… Xerxes was not  a good dude by any m

R EAD THIS: Esther 2:12-18 12 Before a young woman’s turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics. 13 And this is how she would go to the king: Anything she wanted was given her to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. 14 In the evening she would go there and in the morning return to another part of the harem to the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he was pleased with her and summoned her by name.  15 When the turn came for Esther (the young woman Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested. And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her. 16 She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the tenth month, the mo

R EAD THIS: Esther 2:5-11 5 Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, 6 who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin king of Judah. 7 Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This young woman, who was also known as Esther, had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died.  8 When the king’s order and edict had been proclaimed, many young women were brought to the citadel of Susa and put under the care of Hegai. Esther also was taken to the king’s palace and entrusted to Hegai, who had charge of the harem. 9 She pleased him and won his favor. Immediately he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food. He assigned to her seven female attendants selected from the king’s palace a

  R EAD THIS: Esther 2:1-4 1  Later when King Xerxes’ fury had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed about her.  2  Then the king’s personal attendants proposed, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king.  3  Let the king appoint commissioners in every province of his realm to bring all these beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let beauty treatments be given to them.  4  Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This advice appealed to the king, and he followed it.   WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?   Yesterday, we saw Xerxes made a law that removed his wife, Vashti, from her spot and queen and made men rulers over their wives. After some time to calm down, the King actually takes a second to realize the choices he made and the consequences they caused. Rather than make things rig

R EAD THIS: Esther 1:13-22 13 Since it was customary for the king to consult experts in matters of law and justice, he spoke with the wise men who understood the times 14 and were closest to the king—Karshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memukan, the seven nobles of Persia and Media who had special access to the king and were highest in the kingdom. 15 “According to law, what must be done to Queen Vashti?” he asked. “She has not obeyed the command of King Xerxes that the eunuchs have taken to her.”  16  Then Memukan replied in the presence of the king and the nobles, “Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes. 17 For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.’ 18 This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility w

R EAD THIS: Esther 1:9-12 9 Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes. 10 On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Karkas— 11 to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. 12 But when the attendants delivered the king’s command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger.   WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?   You may be looking at this story and wondering where on earth Esther is in all of this, but I promise you that these verses are actually so important! This passage gives us a bit of foreshadowing of the world/culture that Esther was one day going to be a part of.   Yesterday, we talked about King Xerxes and the massive banquet he held to show off his massive wealth and power to ever

R EAD THIS: Esther 1:1-8 1 This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush: 2 At that time King Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa, 3 and in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his nobles and officials. The military leaders of Persia and Media, the princes, and the nobles of the provinces were present. 4 For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. 5 When these days were over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days, in the enclosed garden of the king’s palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest who were in the citadel of Susa. 6 The garden had hangings of white and blue linen, fastened with cords of white linen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and other costly stones. 7

  WELCOME BACK TO DEEPLY ROOTED!!! Welcome back, Deeply Rooted peeps! As we kick off the fall semester for many of you, we are going to start reading a new book: Esther! Our hope for you is that this devotional can be a great place for you to continue and/or form the habit of being in God’s Word consistently each day. If you are new to us, Deeply Rooted consists of a short reading (less than a chapter every day) and a quick explanation of what it means. Then, you can read a few questions to think about during the day, an action item or challenge to practice what we learn, and listen to a song each week that ties in with what we’re reading! Are you ready?! ME TOO! Let’s talk about Esther! ESTHER INTRODUCTION: The book of Esther was written around 480 BC, and we actually don't know who wrote it. Some people believe that Mordecai, a character in this book, possibly wrote it... but no one is 100% sure! The story of Esther is about a young Jewish girl who is made queen of Persia. During