Latest / The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal / Esther 5 - Esther Risks Her Life to Save Her People

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Esther 5 - Esther Risks Her Life to Save Her People · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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  Speaker 1: Life Audio.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, faithful listeners, and welcome to the Bible Explained
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  Speaker 2: podcast on this lovely Monday morning. And I am so
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  Speaker 2: thankful that you chose to start out your week reading
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  Speaker 2: some scripture with me. And we are in a fascinating
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  Speaker 2: chapter of the Bible. You know, the book of Esther,
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  Speaker 2: I just feel like it gets more and more climatic
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  Speaker 2: the more it goes on. And yeah, we are definitely
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  Speaker 2: getting to the climax of the book of Esther. So
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  Speaker 2: today we're going to talk about how Esther must go
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  Speaker 2: into the king to beg for the life of her people.
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  Speaker 2: And also her life is on the line right now
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  Speaker 2: in this chapter because King Ahasuerus or King Xerxes, as
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  Speaker 2: history calls him, was a nasty guy. He is not
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  Speaker 2: looked at as a generous or a kind king. He
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  Speaker 2: is considered by history to be actually quite cruel. And
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  Speaker 2: we can see that in the book of Esther as well.
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  Speaker 2: So we're going to talk about this chapter and see
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  Speaker 2: what Esther does to try to save her life and
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  Speaker 2: also save the life of all of her people. We'll
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  Speaker 2: get into this, but first, please listen to a message
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  Speaker 2: from one of my sponsors. And thank you, faithful listeners,
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  Speaker 2: for listening to that sponsored advertisement. Let's get into Esther
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  Speaker 2: chapter five and read the entire thing. I'll be reading
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  Speaker 2: as I usually do from the WEB. Make sure to
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  Speaker 2: grab your delicious beverage, whatever it may be. Usually I
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  Speaker 2: have a cup of seven weeks coffee in front of me,
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  Speaker 2: but today I have water because I've already drunk too
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  Speaker 2: much coffee for today. So I had to switch my beverages,
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  Speaker 2: but drink some coffee for me so that I can
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  Speaker 2: live vicariously through you or some tea for you crazy
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  Speaker 2: tea drinkers. And no, I will not live vicariously through
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  Speaker 2: you tea drinkers. You can just drink your leaf water
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  Speaker 2: and I will be happier with my plain cold water.
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  Speaker 2: You guys know I love ribbing all of you tea drinkers,
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  Speaker 2: but I am teasing.
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  Speaker 1: I'm teasing mostly.
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  Speaker 2: All right, let's read Esther chapter five, the entire thing
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  Speaker 2: and give reverence to God's word together. Now on the
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  Speaker 2: third day, Esther put on her royal clothing and stood
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  Speaker 2: in the inner court of the king's house next to
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  Speaker 2: the king's house. The king sat on his royal throne
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  Speaker 2: in the royal house next to the entrance of the house.
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  Speaker 2: When the king saw Esther, the queen standing in the court,
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  Speaker 2: she obtained favor in his sight and the king held
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  Speaker 2: out to Esther, the golden scepter that was in his hand.
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  Speaker 2: So Esther came near and touched the top of the scepter.
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  Speaker 2: Then the king asked her, What would you like, Queen Esther?
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  Speaker 2: What is your request? It shall be given to you
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  Speaker 2: even to half of the kingdom. Esther said, If it
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  Speaker 2: seems good to the king, let the king and Haman
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  Speaker 2: come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.
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  Speaker 2: Then the king said, Bring Haman quickly, so that it
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  Speaker 2: may be done as Esther has said. So the king
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  Speaker 2: and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
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  Speaker 2: The king said to Esther at the banquet of wine,
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  Speaker 2: What is your petition? It shall be granted to you.
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  Speaker 2: What is your request? Even to half of the kingdom
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  Speaker 2: it shall be performed. Then Esther answered and said, My
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  Speaker 2: petition and my request is this. If I have found
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  Speaker 2: favor in the sight of the king, and if it
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  Speaker 2: pleases the king to grant my petition and to perform
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  Speaker 2: my request, let the king and Haman come to the
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  Speaker 2: banquet that I will prepare for them, and I will
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  Speaker 2: do tomorrow as the king has said. Then Haman went
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  Speaker 2: out that day, joyful and glad of heart. But when
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  Speaker 2: Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he didn't
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  Speaker 2: stand up nor move for him, he was filled with
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  Speaker 2: wrath against Mordecai. Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home.
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  Speaker 2: There he sent and called for his friends and Zeresh,
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  Speaker 2: his wife. Haman recounted to them the glory of his
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  Speaker 2: riches and the multitude of his children and all the
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  Speaker 2: things in which the king had promoted him and how
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  Speaker 2: he had advanced him above the princes and the servants
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  Speaker 2: of the king. Haman also said, Yes, Esther the queen
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  Speaker 2: let no man come in with the king to the
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  Speaker 2: banquet that she had prepared but myself, and tomorrow I
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  Speaker 2: am also invited by her together with the king. Yet
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  Speaker 2: all this avails me nothing, so long as I see
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  Speaker 2: Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate. Then Zeresh
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  Speaker 2: his wife and all his friends said to him, Let
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  Speaker 2: a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the
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  Speaker 2: morning speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on it.
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  Speaker 2: Then go in merrily with the king to the banquet.
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  Speaker 2: This pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made. Last
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  Speaker 2: we left off, Esther had just heard the disturbing news
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  Speaker 2: that all of her people were going to die in
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  Speaker 2: a genocide. Because Haman, with his hatred of the Jews,
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  Speaker 2: had gone and talked to King Ahasuerus about killing them all.
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  Speaker 2: And King Ahasuerus, who clearly cared about nobody other than himself,
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  Speaker 2: was just kind of like, oh, you want to genocide
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  Speaker 2: all these people?
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  Speaker 1: Okay, I don't really care.
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  Speaker 2: Go ahead and do it. You're my best friend. I
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  Speaker 2: trust your advice. So if you think these people are
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  Speaker 2: no good, then by all means, Haman, go out and
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  Speaker 2: kill millions of people, and I will support you in
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  Speaker 2: this endeavor that you have. And so together with the king,
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  Speaker 2: Haman made a decree that went out that in December
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  Speaker 2: of all of the Jews would die. That meant most
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  Speaker 2: likely that the Jews could no longer walk around freely,
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  Speaker 2: that they probably had to be labeled as Jews, that
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  Speaker 2: they could not leave Persia, that they could not flee
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  Speaker 2: from this coming destruction. But they were under constant surveillance
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  Speaker 2: from the Persian army that on a given date in December,
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  Speaker 2: they would all die. So Esther, who is a Jewish
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  Speaker 2: woman herself, hears about this decree way later on, because
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  Speaker 2: even though she was the queen, She really had no
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  Speaker 2: political standing in Persia. She was just kind of like
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  Speaker 2: a trophy wife. She didn't have any say in what
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  Speaker 2: King Ahasuerus was doing. She didn't have any understanding of
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  Speaker 2: political matters whatsoever. So she has no clue that all
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  Speaker 2: of her people, herself included, are about to be killed
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  Speaker 2: in a genocide against the Persians. And when a decree
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  Speaker 2: from the king went out, it was binding. Not even
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  Speaker 2: the king himself knew. could change that decree. Once a
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  Speaker 2: law was made, it was made. So this meant that Esther,
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  Speaker 2: if anybody found out that she was a Jew at
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  Speaker 2: any point in her life, she would die if she
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  Speaker 2: remained silent because that was the law that King Ahasuerus
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  Speaker 2: had made. So Mordecai, who was Esther's caretaker, adoptive father,
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  Speaker 2: and also cousin, talked to Esther through some messengers and
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  Speaker 2: told her that she needs to go make a petition
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  Speaker 2: to the king. Because at this point in time, nobody
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  Speaker 2: knew that Esther was a Jewish woman. She had successfully
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  Speaker 2: kept her heritage a secret. And this was a very
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  Speaker 2: smart thing for her to do, because likely the Jews
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  Speaker 2: were not looked favorably upon in this moment in history.
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  Speaker 2: So Mordecai effectively told Esther to keep her heritage a secret,
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  Speaker 2: and she did. And he also told her to keep
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  Speaker 2: their relationship a secret, not to let anybody know that
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  Speaker 2: they were family members. Maybe Esther could get away with saying, oh, yes,
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  Speaker 2: he helped raise me when I was a kid because
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  Speaker 2: I was an orphan. But otherwise, she was not supposed
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  Speaker 2: to tell anybody that they were related by blood and
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  Speaker 2: as close as they were even. But Mordecai would go
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  Speaker 2: into the king's courtyard day after day just to be
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  Speaker 2: near Esther, to see how she's faring, to talk with
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  Speaker 2: the king's guards and just get along with people. If
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  Speaker 2: I were to guess, he was an older gentleman that
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  Speaker 2: lived close by and cared deeply about Esther, thought of
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  Speaker 2: her as a daughter, and wanted to see how she
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  Speaker 2: was faring. It could be that Esther was the only
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  Speaker 2: family that Mordecai had. But still, they weren't really able
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  Speaker 2: to have much face-to-face communication, either because they were really
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  Speaker 2: trying to keep their relationship secret, or because Esther just
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  Speaker 2: really wasn't allowed to see a lot of men, because
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  Speaker 2: she was part of the king's harem, and so the
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  Speaker 2: only men she could really see were the ones that
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  Speaker 2: were approved by the king himself. But either way, Mordecai
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  Speaker 2: lets Esther know that there is a genocide on the
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  Speaker 2: horizon and she is the only person that can potentially
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  Speaker 2: stop this genocide. And he tells Esther, he says, perhaps
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  Speaker 2: you were made queen for such a time as this.
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  Speaker 2: So Esther, hearing those words from Mordecai, told him to
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  Speaker 2: go and fast with all of the Jews in the
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  Speaker 2: city of Susa and that she also would fast for
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  Speaker 2: three days along with her maids.
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  Speaker 1: So that is what they did.
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  Speaker 2: So now we leave off in Esther chapter five, where
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  Speaker 2: it says in verse one, on the third day, meaning
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  Speaker 2: the third day of her fast, Esther put on her
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  Speaker 2: royal clothing and stood in the inner court of the
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  Speaker 2: king's house next to the king's house. Okay, so the
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  Speaker 2: way that Persian houses were set up is very different
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  Speaker 2: than what you and I have nowadays, because most of
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  Speaker 2: us just have our little piece of property and our
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  Speaker 2: house on it. But the king's houses back in these
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  Speaker 2: days were courtyards and gardens and People could come and
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  Speaker 2: go just like how Mordecai was able to go into
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  Speaker 2: the king's court. That was a public location where a
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  Speaker 2: lot of people would come in and out. And it
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  Speaker 2: was probably a bustling place. But the inner court, meaning
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  Speaker 2: the king's house, no one was allowed inside that courtyard.
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  Speaker 2: You could only go in there under special circumstances if
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  Speaker 2: the king called you. If the king did not call you,
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  Speaker 2: it didn't matter who you were, man, woman, servant, friend,
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  Speaker 2: didn't matter. You would die unless the king saw you
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  Speaker 2: and held out his golden scepter to you. Okay, this
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  Speaker 2: like thing that he would hold in his hand. That
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  Speaker 2: would be the only way somebody would not die. So
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  Speaker 2: Esther knows this rule. And this is one of the
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  Speaker 2: reasons she did not want to go see King Ahasuerus
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  Speaker 2: was because he hadn't called for her in 30 days.
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  Speaker 2: And Esther did not want to go in there unprompted
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  Speaker 2: because if she did, she thought she would die. She
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  Speaker 2: had no reason whatsoever to think that King Ahasuerus, as
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  Speaker 2: cruel and genocidal as he was, would save her. She
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  Speaker 2: had no reason to think that, especially considering what happened
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  Speaker 2: to the last queen. But Esther musters up all the
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  Speaker 2: courage that she can have. And so she goes to
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  Speaker 2: the inner court of the king's house next to the
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  Speaker 2: king's house. And the king sat on his royal throne
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  Speaker 2: in the royal house next to the entrance of the house.
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  Speaker 2: It kind of sounds like there is an area inside
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  Speaker 2: an area where there was like a palace that Queen
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  Speaker 2: Esther was allowed in. And then in order to get
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  Speaker 2: into the inner court, maybe you had to pass through
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  Speaker 2: a gate. Maybe you had to pass through some guards.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know exactly. But she had to go into
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  Speaker 2: this like inner courtyard that was only reserved for the
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  Speaker 2: king and whoever the king called. And then there was
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  Speaker 2: the king's house. It was like a private residence for
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  Speaker 2: him only that nobody was allowed in. And that was
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  Speaker 2: where one of his thrones were and any other luxury
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  Speaker 2: that he wanted surrounding him. So his throne, it sounds
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  Speaker 2: like in verse two, was like looking out into his
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  Speaker 2: inner courtyard. And he sees Esther standing in the inner court.
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  Speaker 2: So it doesn't seem like she got too close to him.
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  Speaker 2: It kind of seems like she sort of tiptoed in
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  Speaker 2: and stood there. And by the way, she's dressed to
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  Speaker 2: the nines, it says. She was in her royal clothing.
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  Speaker 2: So she really made herself look beautiful. She's standing sort
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  Speaker 2: of tiptoeing into the inner court, doesn't get too close
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  Speaker 2: to the king because she wants to see how he's
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  Speaker 2: going to react. And she did not want to, you know,
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  Speaker 2: presumptuously just walk up to the king. She was going
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  Speaker 2: to stand there for a moment to see what he does.
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  Speaker 2: And it says in verse two, when the king saw
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  Speaker 2: Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor
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  Speaker 2: in his sight. And the king held out to Esther
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  Speaker 2: the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther
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  Speaker 2: came near and touched the top of the scepter. So
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  Speaker 2: there you go. The king sees her. She's standing far away.
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  Speaker 2: He thinks she looks quite beautiful and she obtains favor
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  Speaker 2: in his sight. Now, why do you think she obtained
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  Speaker 2: favor in his sight? Well, probably because she looked terrified.
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  Speaker 2: That's what I would guess anyway. She probably looked like
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  Speaker 2: a lost puppy. She probably looked very beautiful to him
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  Speaker 2: and He could see the fear on her face. I
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  Speaker 2: am certain of it. Just being a woman myself, trying
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  Speaker 2: to put myself in this situation, which I can't even
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  Speaker 2: imagine it. But if I had to be in a
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  Speaker 2: situation like this, I would be absolutely terrified and it
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  Speaker 2: would be showing on my face. So he looks at
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  Speaker 2: her with kindness and he holds out the golden scepter
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  Speaker 2: to her, which means I am not going to kill you.
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  Speaker 2: You can come near to my throne and ask me
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  Speaker 2: for what you're about to ask. So she comes near,
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  Speaker 2: and I guess it was customary to touch the tip
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  Speaker 2: of the scepter. And the king asks her, what would
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  Speaker 2: you like, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall
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  Speaker 2: be given to you even to half of the kingdom. Now,
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  Speaker 2: there's no for sure that when kings said something like this,
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  Speaker 2: we see this a few times in scripture, actually. There's
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  Speaker 2: no guarantee that if a king says this, he actually
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  Speaker 2: means it, that you can have up to half the kingdom.
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  Speaker 2: It could have been like a weird customary thing that
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  Speaker 2: kings did. And it probably would have been very bad
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  Speaker 2: if someone was like, yes, give me half the kingdom.
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  Speaker 1: For that person.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, I don't think that this was something that
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  Speaker 2: Queen Esther could have just been like, sure, yeah, I'll
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  Speaker 2: take half of the kingdom. But even if that were
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  Speaker 2: the case, and, you know, King Ahasuerus was being genuine
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  Speaker 2: right here where he's like, Queen Esther, you can have
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  Speaker 2: up to half of my kingdom. That wasn't enough for
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  Speaker 2: Queen Esther, if you think about her request, because half
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  Speaker 2: of the kingdom was only saving half of her people.
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  Speaker 2: And that didn't even guarantee that it would save her
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  Speaker 2: people because.
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  Speaker 1: The word from the king was absolute.
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  Speaker 2: And even if she did have up to half of
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  Speaker 2: the kingdom, that does not mean that the king's word
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  Speaker 2: still wouldn't go through or that she really would have
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  Speaker 2: any control of it whatsoever, honestly. He could probably just
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  Speaker 2: take it from her whenever He wanted to, maybe. I
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  Speaker 2: don't know, unless he made it a law, then maybe
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  Speaker 2: he couldn't. But yeah, so she says in verse four,
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  Speaker 2: if it seems good to the king, let the king
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  Speaker 2: and Haman come today to the banquet that I have
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  Speaker 2: prepared for him. So some people wonder, why did Esther
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  Speaker 2: prepare a banquet right here? But if I were to
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  Speaker 2: put my two cents in, which you guys know I
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  Speaker 2: love to do that, I would say that Esther wanted
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  Speaker 2: a more intimate location. where she could be a little
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  Speaker 2: bit more comfortable, you know, because this banquet would take
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  Speaker 2: place in her house. And there is something comforting about
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  Speaker 2: your own house, isn't there? Rather than going to somebody
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  Speaker 2: else's house. Like it's nice when people invite you out
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  Speaker 2: to dinner, but sometimes it's even more nice to just
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  Speaker 2: have a dinner at your house with some friends.
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  Speaker 1: And it feels very intimate because.
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  Speaker 2: It's in your home. And, you know, you're the one
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  Speaker 2: cooking the food and taking care of people. And, you know,
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  Speaker 2: it could have been that she wanted the king to
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  Speaker 2: trust her. to enjoy some good food before she makes
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  Speaker 2: her request. So that's my two cents as to why
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  Speaker 2: she didn't just beg the king right then and there
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  Speaker 2: to grant her request. She wanted something more intimate. She
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  Speaker 2: wanted to, you know, feed the king's belly, I guess,
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  Speaker 2: so that he would be in a better mood. I
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  Speaker 2: don't know. So, I mean, that's my guess anyway. And
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  Speaker 2: she invites Haman to come along, probably again to expose
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  Speaker 2: him in an intimate location. And this ended up being
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  Speaker 2: a very good idea for her to do as we're
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  Speaker 2: going to find out. So she invites only the king
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  Speaker 2: and only Haman to this banquet. And the king grants
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  Speaker 2: this request immediately. It says in verse five, the king said,
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  Speaker 2: bring Haman quickly so that it may be done as
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  Speaker 2: Esther has said. So the king and Haman came to
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  Speaker 2: the banquet that Queen Esther had prepared. And the king
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  Speaker 2: said to Esther at the banquet of wine, what's your petition?
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  Speaker 2: It shall be granted to you. What is your request?
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  Speaker 2: Even to half of the kingdom, it shall be performed.
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  Speaker 2: So he asks her again because he knows that she
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  Speaker 2: hasn't really asked for what she wants yet. And so
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  Speaker 2: he knows there's something on her mind. So he asks
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  Speaker 2: her again, what do you want? And the queen says,
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  Speaker 2: come to another banquet tomorrow with Haman, just you and Haman.
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  Speaker 2: And tomorrow I will tell you what's on my heart.
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  Speaker 2: So she stalls. She stalls for time. I don't know
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  Speaker 2: if it's because she's terrified. I don't know if it's
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  Speaker 2: because she saw that something was not quite right at
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  Speaker 2: this banquet. I don't know. Maybe it could be that
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  Speaker 2: the king and Haman were way too friendly. She didn't
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  Speaker 2: get an opening.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know.
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  Speaker 2: It could be that she just knew that this was
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  Speaker 2: not the right time.
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  Speaker 1: You know what?
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  Speaker 2: We'll do it tomorrow. Just come to another banquet. Just
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  Speaker 2: enjoy your time tonight. Don't worry about me right now.
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  Speaker 2: Let's have another banquet. And tomorrow, I promise I will
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  Speaker 2: tell you what's on my mind. So Mordecai goes home
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  Speaker 2: in verse nine, joyful and glad of heart is what
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  Speaker 2: it says, because he was just invited to a personal
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: banquet with just the king and queen.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: Now think about that.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: Imagine the king and queen of whatever nation inviting just
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: you to a personal banquet. You would also be happy
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: and joyful and glad of heart because you'd be like, wow,
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: the king and queen like me, but on his way home,
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: Mordecai ruins it for him. Because don't forget, Haman hated Mordecai.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: He hated this man because Mordecai wouldn't bow to him
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: and pay him homage every single time he saw him.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: And Haman hated that. And he hated the fact that
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: Mordecai was a Jew also, which was one of the
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: reasons why he had so much hatred for the Jews
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: and wanted to do this genocide against them was because
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: he disliked Mordecai. And so Mordecai is standing in the
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: king's gate which indicates that Mordecai had taken his morning
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: clothing off, by the way. He had fasted, don't forget,
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: for three days. And it was time to go back
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: to the king's gate. He probably wanted to know how
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: Esther fared. I am sure that he was terrified, thinking
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: that she might die. He might not even know the
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: news yet as to whether or not she had lived.
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: And he couldn't go into the king's court in Sackloth.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: He had to actually dress properly to go into the
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: king's court, which does make some sense. And Haman sees Mordecai,
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: but Mordecai didn't stand up nor move for him. And
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: so he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. But nevertheless,
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: Haman restrained himself and went home. And there he sent
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: and called for his friends and Zeresh, his wife. So
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: Haman is a man that is very wealthy in his
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: own right, probably has many, many wives in his own right.
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: and a harem full of women, and also a bunch
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: of political friends because he was a politician himself. So
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: he calls his wife and also all of his friends
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: to come to him so that he can, you know,
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: boast about himself and recount all of the riches of
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: his glory and the multitude of his children and all
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: the things in which the king had promoted him, verse 11,
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: and how he had advanced him above the princes and
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: the servants of the king. So he's just like having
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: this party and to celebrate himself and to boast about himself.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: And then he says at the end, but yes, Esther,
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: the queen, let no man come in with the king
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: to the banquet that she had prepared, but myself. And
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: tomorrow I am also invited by her together with the king.
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: So he's like, look at me. I have another banquet
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: to attend tomorrow with just the king and queen. Just
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: look at me. But then he's like, but this Mordecai
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: guy is just ruining it for me. I have all
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: this glory and riches and honor and sons. And, you know,
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: I'm honored by the queen and king. But this Mordecai,
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: he just ruins it. His face kills me. I hate
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: this guy so much. That's what he says right here
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: in verse 13. Yet all this avails me nothing so
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: king's gate. He's like, I see this guy at the
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: king's gate all the time. I don't know why he's
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: there all the time. I just hate this guy so much.
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: I just want to kill him so bad. So in
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: verse 14, Zeresh, his wife and all his friends said
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: to him, So they're like, you.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: Know what?
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: If you hate this Mordecai guy so much, why are
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: you bellyaching about it? You can do whatever you want.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: You're a powerful politician. You are the best friend of
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: the king. You can get what you want. So just
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: kill this guy. If he's bothering you that badly, just
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: kill him. Let's make a gallows that's like super duper high,
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: 75 feet tall, by the way. Let's go ahead and
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: make this gallows. And tomorrow, just go early to the
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: king and just ask him like, hey, king, can you
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: please kill this Mordecai guy? He's a bad, bad man.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: And I made a gallows for him to be hung on.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: And the king will certainly let you do this. And
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: Mordecai is like, that's a great idea. So he had
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: the gallows made. 75 feet high gallows, okay? Now, there
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: is some debate whether or not this was actually to
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: hang somebody on, like, you know, to drop them and
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: hang them, which it could have been. I mean, I
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: wouldn't want to fall 75 feet with a rope around
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: my neck.
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: That'd be horrific.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: But it also could have been like a display case
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: of sorts. where somebody would like hoist a man up
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: to view how he was publicly executed from a far
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: way off because 75 feet is quite tall. And a
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: lot of people could see that far and they'd see, oh,
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: there's a man hanging there because he did something dishonorable.
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: So Haman wants to add insult to injury with Mordecai
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: by publicly shaming his body and letting it rot out
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: in the sun, letting the birds eat it, letting people
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: see him as they pass by essentially a public shaming
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: and humiliation. This is how bad Haman hates this guy,
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: that he wants to make sure everybody can see the
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: public disgrace of Mordecai. But what is going to happen?
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: Is Haman going to succeed? We will find out on Wednesday.
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: We will see what happens to Mordecai and Haman in
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: the next chapter. But before I wrap up this episode,
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: please listen to one last sponsored advertisement. Thank you so much,
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: faithful listeners, for sticking with me to the end of
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: the episode. And I hope that all of you guys
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: have been enjoying the Book of Esther so far. I
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: didn't expect to fly through the Book of Esther like
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: we have been. I was, for some reason, I was
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: thinking that we're going to have to make it a
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: whole season. No, we're about 10 days into this season
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: and we're already halfway through the Book of Esther. So yeah,
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: we're going to be in the Book of Esther, I
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: would guess, for another 10 days and we'll be out
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: of it.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: So no.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: I am not going to switch the season to season 13. Instead,
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: we will get into the book of Job after this.
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: And after Job is finished, we will then switch to
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: the next upcoming season. And I'm not going to lie.
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: Job is both exciting for me and also terrifying. You know,
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: a few books back, I'm like, oh, Job, it's going
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: to be great. I love the book of Job. I'm
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: excited to talk about it with all of you guys. And,
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: you know, the closer it gets, the more I'm like, hmm,
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: I'm a little bit stressed about the book of Job.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: I have the same feelings about Revelation as well. You know,
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: back in Matthew, when I was first starting this podcast,
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: I didn't even think about Revelation.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: I was like, yeah, you know, I'll get there when
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: I get there. It'll be great. And now we're almost
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: in the book of Revelation.
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: I'm like, oh boy, we're going to have to talk
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: about this book, aren't we? Yeah. So, I mean, there's
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: great things in both the book of Revelation and Job.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: And sometimes the books that I dread the most end
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: up being the most fulfilling and wonderful books that I
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: have covered just personally in my own life. Because the
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: one thing I always say is I'm learning right alongside
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: you guys, you know, because I do my research and
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: I'm teaching everything that's happening. And a lot of these
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: things that we end up talking about are things that
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: I have just learned myself. And it's, it's really neat
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: to go through the Bible with all of you guys
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: in this way. It's just been a blessing in my
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: own life.
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: That is amazing. for sure.
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: And I hope that you guys have considered this podcast
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: a blessing in your life as well. Faithful listeners, have
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: a fantastic rest of your day. I will see you
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: guys on Wednesday as we continue on through the book
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: of Esther or tomorrow as we're over on the New
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: Testament side of stuff and we discuss 1 Peter.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: See you then at 6 a.m. or whenever you choose
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: to wake up. Happy listening and God bless.
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: I just want to take a second to thank the
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: team at Life Audio for their partnership with me on
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: the Bible Explained podcast. In fact, if you go to lifeaudio.com,
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: you'll find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network.
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: They've got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.