Latest / The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal / Esther 9:1-15 - The Jews in Susa Defend Their Lives and Win

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Esther 9:1-15 - The Jews in Susa Defend Their Lives and Win · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello there, friends and faithful listeners. Thank you
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Speaker 1: for tuning in to the Bible Explained podcast on this
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Speaker 1: lovely Monday morning, and I hope you all had a
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Speaker 1: fantastic weekend. And you know what? I am so excited
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Speaker 1: that all of you guys are here to read some
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Speaker 1: Bible with me. We're going to be reading through Esther
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Speaker 1: 9 today, but only the first portion. I've mostly just
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Speaker 1: been going chapter by chapter in Esther so far. But
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Speaker 1: now in Esther 9, it is time to break it
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Speaker 1: up into two separate stories. Today, we're going to talk
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Speaker 1: about how the Jews fare in Susa specifically. And then
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Speaker 1: on Wednesday, we'll talk about how the Jews fare in
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Speaker 1: the rest of Persia when everybody is targeting the Jews
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Speaker 1: and trying to kill them based upon Haman's and King Xerxes'
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Speaker 1: previous decree. Before we dive into today's episode, Make sure
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Speaker 1: to go grab your Bible and also your cup of
1:01
Speaker 1: coffee or your cup of tea for you crazy tea
1:03
Speaker 1: drinkers while you listen to this advertisement play. Thank you,
1:09
Speaker 1: faithful listener, for cordially listening to that sponsored ad. Let's
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Speaker 1: dive into Esther 9, 1 through 15. I'll be reading
1:17
Speaker 1: this as usual from the WEB. Now in the 12th month,
1:22
Speaker 1: which is the month Adar, on the 13th day of
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Speaker 1: the month, when the king's commandment and his decree came
1:27
Speaker 1: near to be put into execution. On the day that
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Speaker 1: the enemies of the Jews had hoped to conquer them,
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Speaker 1: but it turned out that the opposite happened, that the
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Speaker 1: Jews conquered those who hated them. The Jews gathered themselves
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Speaker 1: together in their cities throughout all the provinces of King
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Speaker 1: Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who wanted to harm them.
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Speaker 1: No one could withstand them because the fear of them
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Speaker 1: had fallen on all the people. All the princes of
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Speaker 1: the provinces, the local governors, the governors, and those who
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Speaker 1: did the king's business helped the Jews because the fear
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Speaker 1: of Mordecai had fallen on them. For Mordecai was great
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Speaker 1: in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout
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Speaker 1: all the provinces. For the man Mordecai grew greater and greater.
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Speaker 1: The Jews struck all their enemies with the stroke of
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Speaker 1: the sword, with the slaughter and destruction, and did what
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Speaker 1: they wanted to those who hated them. In the citadel
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Speaker 1: of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed 500 men. They
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Speaker 1: killed Parshendatha, Dalfon, Aspatha, Paratha, Adalia, Eredatha, Parmashta, Eresai, Eredai,
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Speaker 1: and Vyasatha, the ten sons of Haman, the son of Hamadatha,
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Speaker 1: the Jews' enemy, but they didn't lay a hand on
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Speaker 1: their plunder. On that day, the number of those who
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Speaker 1: were slain in the citadel of Susa was brought before
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Speaker 1: the king. The king said to Esther the queen, The
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Speaker 1: Jews have slain and destroyed 500 men in the citadel
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Speaker 1: of Susa, including the ten sons of Haman. What then
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Speaker 1: have they done in the rest of the king's provinces?
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Speaker 1: Now what is your petition? It shall be granted to you.
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Speaker 1: What is your further request? It shall be done. Then
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Speaker 1: Esther said, If it pleases the king, let it be
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Speaker 1: granted to the Jews who are in Susa to do
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Speaker 1: tomorrow also according to today's decree, and let Haman's ten
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Speaker 1: sons be hanged on the gallows. The king commanded this
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Speaker 1: to be done. A decree was given out in Susa,
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Speaker 1: and they hanged Haman's ten sons. The Jews who were
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Speaker 1: in Susa gathered themselves together on the 14th day also
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Speaker 1: of the month Adar and killed 300 men in Susa,
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Speaker 1: but they didn't lay their hands on the plunder. So
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Speaker 1: now it is time for the Jews to finally defend themselves.
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Speaker 1: After Haman had given out that terrible decree ordering the
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Speaker 1: genocide of all of the Jews, with the king's stamp
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Speaker 1: of approval, by the way, Esther took action because she
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Speaker 1: was a Jewish woman. Nobody knew that she was a
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Speaker 1: Jewish woman. Even the king didn't know. And Haman's plans
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Speaker 1: ended up foiled. He was killed on the same gallows
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Speaker 1: that he erected in his backyard to hang Mordecai on.
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Speaker 1: And Mordecai ended up gaining power and influence in Haman's
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Speaker 1: place because Mordecai, don't forget, was the queen's cousin, who
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Speaker 1: was also a Jewish man who the king highly respected.
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Speaker 1: But even though Haman was dead, the Jews had a
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Speaker 1: big problem on their hands. The decree for them to
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Speaker 1: be genocided was still in place. And when a decree
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Speaker 1: went out, nobody could change that decree. So the king
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Speaker 1: gave Mordecai permission to do something to help the Jews.
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Speaker 1: The king didn't know what. He left that all up
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Speaker 1: to Mordecai, but he allowed Mordecai to write these letters
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Speaker 1: helping the Jews out and and stamped his name and
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Speaker 1: seal of approval on these letters. So Mordecai did just that.
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Speaker 1: He wrote letters to all of the provinces in Persia,
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Speaker 1: telling the Jews that they are allowed to defend themselves
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Speaker 1: when the time finally came for their enemies to try
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Speaker 1: to destroy them. So that is found in Esther 8,
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Speaker 1: verse 11, which says, in those letters, the king granted
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Speaker 1: the Jews who were in every city to gather themselves
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Speaker 1: together and to defend their lives. to destroy, to kill,
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Speaker 1: and to cause to perish all the power of the
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Speaker 1: people and the province that would assault them, their little
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Speaker 1: ones and women, and to plunder their possessions. On one
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Speaker 1: day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the
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Speaker 1: 13th day of the 12th month, which is the month Adar.
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Speaker 1: So the Jews are now able to defend themselves against
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Speaker 1: their attackers. So let's see how they do in Esther 9,
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Speaker 1: verse 1. Now in the 12th month, which is the
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Speaker 1: month Adar, on the 13th day of the month, when
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Speaker 1: the king's commandment and his decree came near to be
5:32
Speaker 1: put into execution, on the day that the enemies of
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Speaker 1: the Jews hoped to conquer them, but it turned out
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Speaker 1: that the opposite happened, that the Jews conquered those who
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Speaker 1: hated them, the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities
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Speaker 1: throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands
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Speaker 1: on those who wanted to harm them. So this chapter
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Speaker 1: spoils the story very quickly. In the first verse, it says,
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Speaker 1: actually the opposite happened. The Jews had a resounding success
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Speaker 1: and killed everybody who tried to harm them. So that's
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Speaker 1: the end of the podcast episode. Happy listening and God bless. No,
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Speaker 1: I'm just kidding with you guys. Okay. In verse two,
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Speaker 1: the Jews gathered themselves together in the cities throughout all
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Speaker 1: the provinces to lay hands on those who wanted to
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Speaker 1: harm them. but no one could withstand them because the
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Speaker 1: fear of them had fallen on all the people. And
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Speaker 1: all the princes of the provinces, the local governors, the governors,
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Speaker 1: and those who did the king's business helped the Jews
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Speaker 1: because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. So basically,
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Speaker 1: there's not very many people now who really want to
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Speaker 1: fight against the Jews because they are terrified of the
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Speaker 1: Jews for a few reasons. The first reason being that
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Speaker 1: probably God put the fear of the Jews on all
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Speaker 1: the people. So they lost a lot of courage when
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Speaker 1: going up to fight against them. Secondly, Mordecai was now
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Speaker 1: in power. Don't forget, in place of Haman. The king
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Speaker 1: trusted Mordecai. It sounds like quite a bit. And Mordecai's
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Speaker 1: fame ended up spreading not just in the city of Susa,
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Speaker 1: but all across Persia. And nobody wanted to get on
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Speaker 1: Mordecai's bad side is what it sounds like. So everybody
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Speaker 1: who did official business with the king, whether they were
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Speaker 1: governors of a particular province or a prince or just
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Speaker 1: anybody who did the king's business, ended up helping out
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Speaker 1: the Jews, either fighting with them or providing them with
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Speaker 1: weapons and resources to fight against their enemies. So you
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Speaker 1: might be like, well, Jen, how then is anybody at
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Speaker 1: this point in time fighting against the Jews? And that
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Speaker 1: is what a lot of commentators have tried to figure out.
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Speaker 1: I read several commentaries on this passage, and many of
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Speaker 1: them were very conflicting. Some of them saying that the
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Speaker 1: Jews actually went out themselves to go find people that
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Speaker 1: hated them and then like kill those people in their homes.
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Speaker 1: And then other commentaries were saying, well, no, there were
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Speaker 1: people that fought against the Jews because Persia was huge
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Speaker 1: and the Jewish people were pretty hated. And I am
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Speaker 1: certainly more on that side of the argument for a
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Speaker 1: couple of reasons. The first being that there was a
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Speaker 1: reason why Esther hid her Jewish identity. If hatred of
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Speaker 1: the Jews was not widespread, then Esther certainly wouldn't have
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Speaker 1: had to hide that aspect about herself. Mordecai specifically told
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Speaker 1: her to hide her identity, probably because Mordecai understood how
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Speaker 1: dangerous it was to be a Jew in Persian culture.
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Speaker 1: I mean, even look at today. It is not unfathomable
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Speaker 1: to think that there are groups of people that hate
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Speaker 1: the Jews so much that they'd be willing to go
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Speaker 1: out and kill them. And that was certainly true in
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Speaker 1: Persian culture. Jews throughout all of time, all of history,
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Speaker 1: have been deeply hated. So I'm certainly on the opinion
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Speaker 1: that Jewish hatred was spreading across Persia, and there were
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Speaker 1: plenty of people still willing to go out and fight
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Speaker 1: against the Jews. I really don't think that the Jews
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Speaker 1: were just going ham on anybody who looked at them sideways.
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Speaker 1: Specifically because if you go back to Esther 8 and
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Speaker 1: read the king's decree of what the Jews could and
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Speaker 1: couldn't do in order to defend themselves, here's what it says.
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Speaker 1: In those letters, the king granted the Jews who were
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Speaker 1: in every city to gather themselves together and to defend
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Speaker 1: their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to
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Speaker 1: perish the all the power of the people in the
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Speaker 1: province that would assault them, their little ones and women,
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Speaker 1: and to plunder their possessions. That is the only thing
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Speaker 1: the king allowed the Jewish people to do, was to
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Speaker 1: defend their own lives. Not to go out and have
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Speaker 1: like a holy crusade against anybody who said a Jewish
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Speaker 1: slur or looked at the Jews funny or sideways or
9:58
Speaker 1: something like that. No, it's fair clear here that the
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Speaker 1: Jews were only allowed to defend their lives because that
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Speaker 1: is what the law decrees. So there were certainly people
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Speaker 1: who were fighting against the Jews who were stupid enough
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Speaker 1: to do it, who were stupid enough to go against
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Speaker 1: the fear of God that they felt to fight against
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Speaker 1: the Jews. And there's people like that all the time
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Speaker 1: who ignore the calls of God, who ignore the God-given
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Speaker 1: fear that was put inside of them to go do
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Speaker 1: something very silly and very stupid. And hatred is a
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Speaker 1: strong emotion. So if you think that a people group
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Speaker 1: is causing all of the problems in your society, and
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Speaker 1: you hate that people group that much, and a law
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Speaker 1: comes out where you are legally allowed to kill the
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Speaker 1: group of people that you hate, There are plenty of
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Speaker 1: people that would go out and enact that decree, regardless
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Speaker 1: of any fear they felt. They would muster themselves up
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Speaker 1: and they would go and try to do it. But
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Speaker 1: it just didn't work. The Jews were too powerful. God
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Speaker 1: was on their side, both by putting Jewish influence into
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Speaker 1: the palace and also by putting the fear of the
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Speaker 1: Jews on the average people in Persia. So in verse
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Speaker 1: 5 of Esther 9, It says the Jews struck all
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Speaker 1: their enemies with the stroke of the sword, with the
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Speaker 1: slaughter and destruction, and did what they wanted to those
11:25
Speaker 1: who hated them. Now, that's another phraseology that I've actually
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Speaker 1: talked about before on the podcast. I think we discussed
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Speaker 1: it in Nehemiah 9 last. And the way it's phrased,
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Speaker 1: it almost sounds like the Jews are going out and
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Speaker 1: committing torture to the people who hate them. But that's
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Speaker 1: likely not the case. Instead, I think what this means...
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Speaker 1: In both contexts that I've seen this already in scripture,
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Speaker 1: the Jews wanted to destroy these people because these people
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Speaker 1: were evil and were attacking them. So the Jews destroyed
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Speaker 1: these evil men as they wanted to do. They did
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Speaker 1: what they wanted to those who hated them. And in
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Speaker 1: verse six, it says in the citadel of Susa, the
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Speaker 1: Jews killed and destroyed 500 men, including the 10 sons
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Speaker 1: of Haman in verses seven through 10. which I am
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Speaker 1: not going to try to attempt those Persian names once again,
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Speaker 1: but you guys get the picture. The 10 sons of
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Speaker 1: Haman were clearly trying to avenge their father's life, clearly
12:25
Speaker 1: probably hated the Jews, had that same hatred of the
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Speaker 1: Jews that their father had had, understandably because they were
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Speaker 1: under the same roof and their father rubbed off on them.
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Speaker 1: So they went out trying to kill the Jews themselves
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Speaker 1: and they ended up meeting their demise. but it says
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Speaker 1: that the Jews didn't lay a hand on any of
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Speaker 1: the plunder. Now that's really important. And it says that
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Speaker 1: a couple of times in Esther chapter nine, because the
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Speaker 1: Jews were proving that they were above board with everything
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Speaker 1: they were doing. They were acting in self-defense as the
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Speaker 1: king had given them permission to do, and they were
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Speaker 1: doing nothing other than that. This was not a war
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Speaker 1: to go and gain something for themselves. This was not
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Speaker 1: a war to hurt families further and take everything that
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Speaker 1: they owned. This was a war solely to defend the
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Speaker 1: life of the Jewish person. And this is a fascinating
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Speaker 1: contrast to 1 Samuel 15. Because remember, a lot of
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Speaker 1: the issues that the Jews are dealing with in Persia
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Speaker 1: right now possibly could have been avoided if Saul, the
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Speaker 1: first king of Israel, centuries before any of this takes place,
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Speaker 1: had actually just obeyed the call of God to defeat
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Speaker 1: and kill the Amalekites completely. But Saul did not do it.
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Speaker 1: And because he disobeyed God, the king of the Amalekites, Agag,
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Speaker 1: ended up getting a new clan of his own, the Agagites,
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Speaker 1: of whom Haman belonged to. You know, the guy that
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Speaker 1: caused this whole issue to begin with in the book
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Speaker 1: of Esther. So let's go back to 1 Samuel 15
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Speaker 1: and read about King Saul's disobedience to God. Saul struck
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Speaker 1: the Amalekites from Havilah as you go up to Shur,
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Speaker 1: which is before Egypt. He took Agag, the king of
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Speaker 1: the Amalekites, alive and utterly destroyed all the people with
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Speaker 1: the edge of the sword. But Saul and all the
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Speaker 1: people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, of
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Speaker 1: the cattle, of the fat calves, of the lambs, and
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Speaker 1: all that was good. and were not willing to utterly
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Speaker 1: destroy them, but everything that was vile and refuse, that
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Speaker 1: they utterly destroyed. Then Yahweh's word came to Samuel, saying,
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Speaker 1: It grieves me that I have set up Saul to
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Speaker 1: be the king, for he has turned back from following
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Speaker 1: me and has not performed my commandments. Samuel was angry,
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Speaker 1: and he cried to Yahweh all night. Samuel rose early
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Speaker 1: to meet Saul in the morning, and Samuel was told, saying,
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Speaker 1: Saul came to Carmel. And behold, he has set up
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Speaker 1: a monument for himself, turned, passed on, and went down
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Speaker 1: to Gilgal. Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him,
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Speaker 1: You are blessed by Yahweh. I have performed the commandment
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Speaker 1: of Yahweh. Samuel said, Then what is this bleeding of
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Speaker 1: the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the
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Speaker 1: cattle which I hear mean? Saul said, They have brought
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Speaker 1: them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best
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Speaker 1: of the sheep and of the cattle to sacrifice to
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Speaker 1: Yahweh your God. We have utterly destroyed the rest. Then
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Speaker 1: Samuel said to Saul, Stay, and I will tell you
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Speaker 1: what Yahweh said to me last night. He said to him,
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Speaker 1: Say on. Samuel said, Though you were little in your
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Speaker 1: own sight, weren't you made the head of the tribes
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Speaker 1: of Israel? Yahweh anointed you king over Israel, and Yahweh
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Speaker 1: sent you on a journey and said, Go and utterly
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Speaker 1: destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until
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Speaker 1: they are consumed. Why then didn't you obey Yahweh's voice,
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Speaker 1: but took the plunder, and did that which was evil
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Speaker 1: in Yahweh's sight? Saul said to Samuel, but I have
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Speaker 1: obeyed Yahweh's voice and have gone the way which Yahweh
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Speaker 1: sent me and have brought Agag the king of Amalek
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Speaker 1: and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took
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Speaker 1: of the plunder, sheep and cattle and the best of
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Speaker 1: the devoted things to sacrifice to Yahweh your God in Gilgal.
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Speaker 1: Samuel said, has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings
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Speaker 1: and sacrifices as in obeying Yahweh's voice? Behold, to obey
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Speaker 1: is better than sacrifice and to listen the fat of rams.
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Speaker 1: For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness
16:30
Speaker 1: is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you've rejected Yahweh's word,
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Speaker 1: he has also rejected you from being king. So there
16:38
Speaker 1: you go. If Saul would have just obeyed God's command
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Speaker 1: from the beginning, then possibly this entire mess in the
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Speaker 1: book of Esther would never have happened because King Agag
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Speaker 1: would have died along with all of his family. and
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Speaker 1: would not have had the chance to breed more people
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Speaker 1: that absolutely hated Yahweh and hated the Jews. And don't forget,
17:03
Speaker 1: you know, Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin. And
17:06
Speaker 1: interestingly enough, so was Queen Esther. So Esther, a woman,
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Speaker 1: hundreds of years later, had to finish the job that
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Speaker 1: Saul refused to finish. But now what Saul failed to finish,
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Speaker 1: the Jews are finishing as God had commanded. They are
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Speaker 1: killing the Amalekites, specifically Haman's family. And as Saul failed
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Speaker 1: to do, they are not taking the plunder for themselves.
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Speaker 1: They are obeying the command of God. Finally, many, many
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Speaker 1: hundreds of years later. So now in verse 11 of
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Speaker 1: Esther 9, it says, on that day, the number of
17:44
Speaker 1: those who were slain in the citadel of Susa was
17:46
Speaker 1: brought before the king. And the king said to Esther,
17:49
Speaker 1: the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed 500 men
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Speaker 1: in the citadel of Susa, including the 10 sons of Haman.
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Speaker 1: What then have they done in the rest of the
17:58
Speaker 1: king's provinces? Now, what is your petition? It shall be
18:01
Speaker 1: granted to you. What is your further request? It shall
18:04
Speaker 1: be done. Now, there is a couple interesting things to
18:07
Speaker 1: note about this conversation between King Xerxes and Queen Esther.
18:12
Speaker 1: I almost said King Esther. But anyway, she probably goes
18:19
Speaker 1: to the king once again, because it sounds like the
18:23
Speaker 1: king was talking to her in a way where he
18:26
Speaker 1: knew that she had another request for him. But take
18:30
Speaker 1: notice that King Xerxes does not offer Esther up to
18:35
Speaker 1: half the kingdom this time, because he's like, look how
18:38
Speaker 1: many people have died in Susa, including the 10 sons
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Speaker 1: of Haman. And what do you think they have done
18:44
Speaker 1: in the rest of the king's provinces? Now, nobody knows.
18:48
Speaker 1: Is the king talking in anger here over what the
18:50
Speaker 1: Jews have done? Is he talking in a way almost
18:53
Speaker 1: like he's impressed that the Jews were able to kill
18:57
Speaker 1: so many men? Or is he excited for Queen Esther,
19:01
Speaker 1: knowing that she finally got what she wanted? Honestly, any
19:04
Speaker 1: of those are within the realm of possibility. But still,
19:08
Speaker 1: he does not offer her up to half the kingdom
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Speaker 1: this time. He just says, what do you want? It'll
19:13
Speaker 1: be granted to you. What do you want? So she says,
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Speaker 1: If it pleases the king, let it be granted to
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Speaker 1: the Jews who are in Susa to do tomorrow also
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Speaker 1: according to today's decree and let Haman's 10 sons be
19:27
Speaker 1: hanged on the gallows. Now, I read a commentary that
19:30
Speaker 1: said that Esther was being crazy when she asked for
19:35
Speaker 1: this because the Jews already had such a huge success.
19:40
Speaker 1: Nobody else was targeting the Jews the next day. It
19:43
Speaker 1: was only specifically the 13th of Adar that all of
19:47
Speaker 1: this was taking place. So why did Esther Philemon feel
19:50
Speaker 1: like she needed to ask for this? Was she getting
19:52
Speaker 1: power hungry? Was she bitter against people who hated the Jews?
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Speaker 1: I don't think so. Notice that she only asks for
20:02
Speaker 1: this in the citadel of Susa. I think this was
20:05
Speaker 1: a very smart thing for her to ask for because
20:09
Speaker 1: Avengers of blood were still a thing. And don't forget
20:14
Speaker 1: that Haman had a lot of family members. If you
20:18
Speaker 1: go back a few chapters, I think it was Haman
20:21
Speaker 1: or Haman, Esther chapter, what was it? Five. Yes, Esther five,
20:30
Speaker 1: verse 10 and 11. Haman restrained himself and went home.
20:36
Speaker 1: There he sent and called for his friends and Zeresh
20:39
Speaker 1: his wife. Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches,
20:42
Speaker 1: the multitude of his children, all the things in which
20:45
Speaker 1: the king had promoted him and how he had advanced
20:48
Speaker 1: him above the princes and the servants of the king.
20:52
Speaker 1: Haman had a multitude of children is what it says
20:56
Speaker 1: right there, which means being as powerful as he was,
20:59
Speaker 1: he probably had a harem of his own. Notice he
21:02
Speaker 1: had to call his wife to him. Kind of reminds
21:05
Speaker 1: me of how King Xerxes had to call Esther to him.
21:09
Speaker 1: And we know that Xerxes had a huge harem. Haman
21:13
Speaker 1: probably had the exact same thing with a head wife
21:19
Speaker 1: and then all of the women underneath him. We have
21:22
Speaker 1: no clue how many children Haman had. But if Haman's
21:27
Speaker 1: influence rubbed off on all of his children, you can
21:31
Speaker 1: imagine that his children on the next day being avengers
21:36
Speaker 1: of blood, would possibly try to assault any Jews that
21:40
Speaker 1: had taken their brothers from them and also their father
21:44
Speaker 1: from them. I believe by asking King Xerxes for another
21:48
Speaker 1: day for the Jews to defend themselves, that she was
21:52
Speaker 1: protecting her entire family, herself, Mordecai, and the Jews in
21:57
Speaker 1: Susa from the remaining family members of Haman. It just
22:01
Speaker 1: makes the most sense. Because even though the Jews and
22:05
Speaker 1: the Persians only had one day where they were technically
22:09
Speaker 1: supposed to fight, the next day, the ordinary avenger of
22:14
Speaker 1: blood kind of laws that were in place could absolutely
22:18
Speaker 1: cause more bloodshed of the Jews the next day. Which
22:23
Speaker 1: is why I believe that Esther asked for the Jews
22:26
Speaker 1: in Susa specifically to be able to defend themselves for
22:31
Speaker 1: another day, and also that the sons of Haman be hanged.
22:36
Speaker 1: So this isn't the additional sons of Haman that he
22:39
Speaker 1: possibly had. This would be the 10 sons that had
22:42
Speaker 1: already died. Remember how I talked about how gallows back
22:46
Speaker 1: in these days weren't necessarily to hang somebody, but to
22:50
Speaker 1: actually display their dead body? That's what Esther was asking for.
22:54
Speaker 1: So this was a warning to the rest of Haman
22:58
Speaker 1: Haman's family possibly, and any other enemies that were in Susa,
23:03
Speaker 1: not to mess with the Jews when they see Haman's
23:06
Speaker 1: 10 sons hanging by order of the king. To me,
23:12
Speaker 1: that is a very smart thing for Esther to ask for. Now,
23:16
Speaker 1: why did she only ask for it for the Jews
23:18
Speaker 1: of Susa and not for the Jews in the rest
23:20
Speaker 1: of Persia? Probably for two reasons. The first being that
23:24
Speaker 1: she knew that Haman's family was an imminent threat to
23:28
Speaker 1: her life and Mordecai's life and any other Jew that
23:32
Speaker 1: she knew in the area. You know, I'm sure that
23:35
Speaker 1: Mordecai was not the only Jew that she knew. She
23:37
Speaker 1: had grown up in Susa with, it sounds like, a
23:40
Speaker 1: significant Jewish population in this city. So I'm sure she
23:44
Speaker 1: had friends in Susa that she did not want to
23:47
Speaker 1: see die from any stone not overturned, essentially. But the
23:52
Speaker 1: other reason she asked only for Susa was probably because
23:55
Speaker 1: she knew that was the only thing she could get
23:57
Speaker 1: away with. If she asked for it for all of Persia,
24:01
Speaker 1: the king would probably say no. And since Susa was
24:04
Speaker 1: where she lived, where she knew all the people, it
24:07
Speaker 1: was important for her to protect her family in Susa.
24:11
Speaker 1: And I think that's why she did this. So I
24:13
Speaker 1: don't think it was out of cruelty. I don't think
24:15
Speaker 1: it was because she was power hungry or because she
24:18
Speaker 1: was actually ruling instead of her husband. None of that.
24:22
Speaker 1: I don't think she became any more powerful after she
24:26
Speaker 1: appealed to the king and after Mordecai became powerful in
24:29
Speaker 1: the king's court. I doubt that Esther had really any
24:32
Speaker 1: power whatsoever her entire life. She was essentially a glorified slave.
24:37
Speaker 1: But God can use anybody in any situation. And that's actually,
24:42
Speaker 1: interestingly enough, what we talked about in 1 Peter on Thursday.
24:47
Speaker 1: It's crazy how the entire Bible just kind of connects
24:49
Speaker 1: itself together. But now to conclude in verses 14 and 15,
24:53
Speaker 1: it says the king commanded this to be done. a
24:56
Speaker 1: decree was given out in Susa and they hanged Haman's
24:59
Speaker 1: 10 sons. The Jews who were in Susa gathered themselves
25:03
Speaker 1: together on the 14th day also of the month Adar
25:06
Speaker 1: and killed 300 men in Susa, but they didn't lay
25:10
Speaker 1: their hand on the plunder. So Esther was very wise.
25:14
Speaker 1: She knew that there were additional enemies in Susa that
25:18
Speaker 1: would try to take the life of these Jews. And
25:21
Speaker 1: so altogether, 800 men in Susa died at the hands
25:27
Speaker 1: of the Jews. And on Wednesday, we'll talk about what
25:29
Speaker 1: happened to the rest of Persia, not just Susa, but
25:33
Speaker 1: how did the Jews fare in the rest of the
25:35
Speaker 1: ancient world? We'll talk about that on Wednesday. But I'm
25:39
Speaker 1: going to close out this episode in just a moment,
25:41
Speaker 1: right after this last sponsored ad. All right, faithful listeners,
25:46
Speaker 1: I appreciate all of you listening to the end of
25:48
Speaker 1: the episode. And for those of you who have been
25:51
Speaker 1: enjoying the book of Esther, make sure you share this
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Speaker 1: on your social media platforms and tell people that the
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Speaker 1: Bible Explained podcast exists because word of mouth is one
25:59
Speaker 1: of the best ways that this podcast can grow. And
26:02
Speaker 1: it's also an excellent way to evangelize, quite honestly, because
26:07
Speaker 1: I'm only talking about the Bible here on the podcast.
26:10
Speaker 1: And on occasion, the weather or coffee or tea for
26:15
Speaker 1: you crazy tea drinkers, but mostly I'm talking about the
26:17
Speaker 1: Bible here. So sharing this podcast around is a great
26:20
Speaker 1: way to evangelize to your friends and family members. But
26:25
Speaker 1: I haven't read a review in quite a while, so
26:27
Speaker 1: I would like to read one now. This is from
26:31
Speaker 1: Deb J44, who says, it was difficult to just sit
26:35
Speaker 1: and read the Bible for me. I felt I did
26:37
Speaker 1: not understand what I was reading, and I started to
26:39
Speaker 1: worry about my salvation. I searched for podcasts, and God
26:43
Speaker 1: pointed me to this podcast, and now I truly understand
26:45
Speaker 1: the Bible and feel closer to God. Thank you, Jen,
26:48
Speaker 1: for sharing God's Word with us. I started from the beginning,
26:51
Speaker 1: and I am so excited to listen to more and
26:53
Speaker 1: more episodes. I am also about to do your Bible
26:56
Speaker 1: study out of the mire. Well, thank you so much, Deb.
26:59
Speaker 1: I greatly appreciate that beautiful review that you shared with me.
27:03
Speaker 1: And I also recently got a review by... gd ck
27:07
Speaker 1: dis what a username who says for thousands of years
27:14
Speaker 1: studying the bible has been about having a scroll read
27:17
Speaker 1: to you looking at stained glass window in a cathedral
27:20
Speaker 1: or making notes in a time-worn bible but now the
27:23
Speaker 1: internet means we have a million new ways to read
27:26
Speaker 1: or ignore the bible it can be overwhelming So thank you, Jen,
27:30
Speaker 1: for using internet technology, podcasting, blog posts, and an online
27:34
Speaker 1: store to bring the truth of the Bible to hungry
27:36
Speaker 1: people for the word of God and thirsty for his wisdom. Yeah,
27:41
Speaker 1: that's very true. You know, it is amazing what technology
27:45
Speaker 1: can do to spread God's word. And I'm praying to
27:48
Speaker 1: God every single day that what I teach here on
27:52
Speaker 1: the Bible Explained podcast is the truth. that God is
27:56
Speaker 1: with me when we talk about this, which is why
27:59
Speaker 1: I like to really point back to scripture as much
28:01
Speaker 1: as I possibly can without putting my two cents in
28:05
Speaker 1: as often as I would like to do. But just
28:08
Speaker 1: know every single time that I insert my two cents,
28:11
Speaker 1: that's all it is. It is my two cents. It
28:13
Speaker 1: is not specifically stated in scripture. So I hope that
28:16
Speaker 1: you guys have been loving the Bible Explained podcast and
28:18
Speaker 1: that you have been gaining from it. as much as
28:21
Speaker 1: I have been gaining from it, from teaching it to
28:24
Speaker 1: all of you wonderful, faithful listeners. Well, anyway, guys, that
28:27
Speaker 1: is the end of today's episode. Hopefully I'll see you
28:29
Speaker 1: all on Wednesday as we discuss the second portion of
28:33
Speaker 1: Esther 9. And also tomorrow as we talk more about
28:36
Speaker 1: 1 Peter, specifically regarding the husbands. How do husbands submit
28:42
Speaker 1: to God in the marriage relationship? We already talked about
28:45
Speaker 1: the women on Thursday, and I highly recommend going back
28:48
Speaker 1: and listening to that episode yet if you haven't. And
28:50
Speaker 1: tomorrow we're going to talk about the men. So faithful listeners,
28:54
Speaker 1: hope you all have a fantastic rest of your day.
28:57
Speaker 1: Happy listening and God bless. I just want to take
29:05
Speaker 1: a second to thank the team at Life Audio for
29:07
Speaker 1: their partnership with me on the Bible Explained podcast. In fact,
29:11
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