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Nehemiah 13 – Esther 4
We are in the Nation Stream reading from the New Century Version.
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Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis
Lord, we see people who are caught in dilemmas – for we have been there ourselves. What an inspiration Esther is to step in for your people in this critical hour – and for Nehemiah to rise to the occasion as he did. We realize this is the family of God at work; our family. Amen.
Neh. 13 – Nehemiah returns from a time with Artaxerxes and finds all kinds of shekanery in process back in Judah. Men had hitched up with foreign wives who had been raised in a cauldron of squalid paganism. Y’can hear their excuses, “yea, but she was so prrrettyyyy….”. That was going on plus rooms in the Temple area were being used for storage facilities by someone who in no way deserved such privileges. The Temple grounds were being misused, and desecrated, people were not paying in their tithes. As for the Sabbath, the attitude of some was, “yeah, right, whatever…!” Nehemiah comes back to town (like Clint Eastwood – if you can picture this) and he set everything straight despite the obstacles and whining or excuses. If leaders would be so forthright today, what a change the world would see. Not one to then ride off into the sunset, Nehemiah lived long and led virtuously for God’s sake the rest of his days in Judah. And he passed on around 413 B.C.
Esther is a surprise book, as is Ruth. Biblical history is marching along in all its colorfrul splendor [and gore] and then Ruth is dropped in there. It’s a book stating’oh, by the way’ let me tell you about the heavenly grace and virtue of one of Jesus’ great great grandmothers”. Esther is another, “oh, by the way, let me tell you about a wonderful maiden-turned-queen who stepped to save our nation from being annhiliated.” Esther happened before Ezra and Nehemiah though it is listed in the Bible after them. Just so you understand, Esther is made queen in Persia in 478 B.C. Ezra went Persia to Jerusalem in 457 B.C. Nehemiah did the same in 444 B.C.
Esther 1 – What paved the way for Esther to become queen was that the current queen cops-an-attitude and won’t obey the King during a moment at the end of a protracted feast celebrating his greatness. Don’t get distracted by all the gender tension prattle that marks the current culture today. The issue isn’t that men are loud and bossy and get more so after several drinks, nor that women who are their own women (hear them roar – ‘won’t be bossed around no more), This is not the issue. The matter is that the way is being cleared for Esther to step into one of the most latently powerful positions on earth. And surprise – there’s a vacancy on the queen’s throne.
2 – Esther is gorgeous and chosen to be taken into the king’s realm for her year of beauty treatments. Now, any of us enjoys a spa day here and there. Well, eat your heart out folks, Esther has a spa-YEAR!! and is given numer-ous tenants. When her ‘time with the king’ arrives, he is smitten and she is chosen to take the top place; Xerxes dubs her the new Queen. The favor of Esther skyrockets when she relays an assassination plan to the king that her uncle discovered. It proved to be true and the men behind the plot are hanged. The king favor and trust undoubtedly grew toward Esther. And it’s interesting that he still did now know her origin, nor that she was a Jew.
3 – The plot develops as a certain Haman is promoted in the kingdom, and Esther’s uncle Mordecai won’t bow to the chump as he walks by. Haman’s heart isn’t right as we learn. Mordecai knows this and won’t pay him homage. Mordecai is obviously Jewish and his ethics stink in Haman’s mind. Who’s in the wrong here, Haman or Mordecai? The current culture has the same ire toward Evangelicals. Why? Because we don’t bow down to the tide of secularism and ludeness that is being taught in the government schools, by the media, and is all signed off by politicians as it has for generations. Do any of us need to be more like Mordecai today v.s. remaining silent about the crass pop culture? Haman is mad as murder at Mordecai. He wants him and all the Jews killed because of it. He gets political, pulls a duplicitous stunt, and gets the king to sign off on this plan. StressStressBaby
4 – The gavel had been dropped, the Jewish nation was on death row and time was running out. Mordecai got word to Esther the Queen… it was becoming clear that a devastating plot was unfolding at a runaway rate. Mordecai gives Esther a word that becomes among the most famous lines in all literature. You know it and we’ve all heard it much of our lives, ” … for such a time as this…!” it makes chills go up your spine. What is Esther going to do?
What would you do? The pagans on the loose across the world are out to close churches, demonize pastors, ridicule Christians, tax and threaten them into silence. execute every one they can find between Morocco and Burma/Myanmar. Paganism and bad religion is forced into the minds of the young all over the world while prayer to the God of Abraham/Isaac/Jacob/Moses/David; prayer to Jesus is vehemently censored. Are you going to remain silent so (in your mind) you don’t ruffle feathers at work and can thereby hang on to your 401K? What if Esther did this?