Esther 3:7b-11 — Do you sign off on you?
READ 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 would be about March-ish to us (calendars have changed a lot over the centuries). After deciding on Adar, Haman then convinces the king to send out a message that commands all the Jews be destroyed. King Xerxes gives Haman all the power to do this by giving Haman the signet ring. Signet rings were rings that had crests or initials on them that would be used to seal official documents...like those Haman could now send out in the name of the King to kill all the Jews.
Reread verses 8 and 9. Notice the reasoning Haman uses on the king. The Jews should be destroyed because they keep themselves separate from everyone else and don't do the things everyone else does. On top of that, they don't obey the king's laws like everyone else. So, that hurts the king, and he should respond. On that information, King Xerxes acted. He doesn't ask about which laws the Jews refuse to keep or why they remain separate. Instead, he heard it didn't help him, and that was enough to agree.
THINK ABOUT IT:
1. If you were King Xerxes, what information do you think would be necessary to attack the Jews? When would be a time that you'd be willing to hand off your signet ring?
2. In what ways should Christians resemble/look like the Jews in this segment of the story? Are there ways you think we shouldn't resemble the Jews? Why or why not?
TRY THIS:
Wear a ring or a string or draw a ring on your hand. Imagine that everything you say can be sealed by that ring. How much of what you say do you want to be sealed and delivered upon? Do you have enough information to be saying what you're saying?
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