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?

SONG OF THE WEEK:
 
Listen to the song of the week imagining that you were Esther (a Jew but also the queen) who just heard the news of what Xerxes is signing off on...

Listen on YouTube or Spotify!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Luke 8:19-21 — Jesus's Fam!

R EAD THIS:  Luke 8:19-21 19 Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” 21 He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Ummmm, hold up, is Jesus dissing on His family here? I mean, I know He is God's Son and all, but at first glance, this passage makes it seem like He is kind of hating on His family! However, if we really look into this passage, it's actually a lot more about us than it is about the family of Jesus.  In case you forgot, the last few passages have features Jesus telling and explaining different parables to a large crowd as well as His disciples. Clearly, the crowd has gotten so large that Mary and Jesus's brothers (yes... Jesus had brothers!) couldn't even reach Him. When someone told Jesus "hey dude, your fam is here an
Read more

WELCOME BACK! Hebrews Introduction

WELCOME BACK TO DEEPLY ROOTED!!! Greetings fellow Bible readers and Jesus journey-ers! We're stoked to get back in the swing of things with y'all. For any new readers, this section would usually be where our handful of Bible verses will be. The section below would break down what in the world the verses mean. Then, there are some debrief questions for you to dive deeper and an application point. A new addition this year is the Song of the Week! We'll share a song that ties into the theme of the next few verses...if you gaze ahead and have song suggestions, comment below or text! HEBREWS INTRODUCTION: As with any book of the Bible, different Biblical scholars say different things about this letter, but we'll tell you the most probable take. So here it is: Hebrews is a letter written to a group of Jews who were being persecuted for deciding to follow Jesus. It is a letter to encourage them and to show that Jesus truly is the best person to follow despite how hard it was g
Read more

Galatians 2:1-5 — Marathon Training

R EAD THIS:  Galatians 2:1-5 1 Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2 I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.   WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Yesterday, we learned about how Paul went to Jerusalem and shared the incredible things Jesus did, but today, we are hearing about Paul's second time visiting Jerusalem... 14 years later. Paul talks about a bunch of things that happened durin
Read more