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872. Bible Study: Esther 1 (Ancient "Iran" King -Historical Account of Esther- a Jew!) · Faith by annm2705

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Today is the 25th of February and currently we are studying
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the books of the prophets and I've been going in order of all
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of the prophets and when they when they served and, and just
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tying it into the different kings.
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Now there are in my study Bible, they have a bracket that kind of
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shows the the overlap of certain prophets and who's who served
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1st and who gave their prophecy first and then what kings were
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in place between Judah and Israel, the two separated
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kingdoms. And it went through all of that.
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And there were three prophets that were not included in my
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study Bible, but I looked at the timing of them and hey, guy,
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that was written about 5:20 and 5:20 BC.
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And so I did do an A podcast episode on that.
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It's episode 656, so it's been quite some time ago.
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I don't remember why I did it, but I think something else that
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I was reading referenced that. And then we it was 2 chapters,
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so it was completed pretty quickly.
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And then we still have Zechariah to finish and Malachi.
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Those are two more prophets that we have before we complete all
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of the prophets. But the reason I am switching
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over now to the book of Esther, it's somewhat in the same time
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frame. It's a it's more of a historical
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account of what happened rather than anything else.
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And so we're going to read through that book.
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And this book has 10 chapters. And the reason for this is the
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timing. We actually have 7 days from
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today, which is the celebration of Purim this year, 2026.
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And ironically, this is, there's also going to be a blood moon on
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that day, which is a lunar, a total lunar eclipse where the
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moon looks red. And this is the third time a
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blood moon has been that has happened on the, the holiday or
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the remembrance of called Purim or Purim.
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And so this is, it was 2425 and now 26.
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This is the third time and the date changes on the calendar.
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So it's, it's interesting, but maybe we'll read in here that it
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always gets tied to that to a lunar eclipse.
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But I'm not sure because I haven't, I've read this before,
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but it's been a while. So I don't recall all the
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details. But as soon as we get in to it,
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we're going to go through all the details anyway.
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The the thought is I might do a few chapters a day for this one
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because I would ultimately like to complete the Book of Esther
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on the day of Purim, which is March 3rd this year, 2026.
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So let's get started. I will read from the Study Bible
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because it has a great introduction that kind of does
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the place, setting of where and when and how all of this is
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happening. So the introduction for the book
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of Esther says why read this book?
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Have you ever wondered if God is really involved in the
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circumstances of your life? Do personal or political crisis
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make you question God's role in human events?
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The book of Esther, much like much of the Bible, tells the
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story of God's involvement with his people.
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Unlike the rest of the Bible, however, this book shows God's
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work indirectly. In fact, God's name is not
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mentioned once, nor is there any explicit reference to God,
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though his influence permeates the narrative.
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The book demonstrates how God worked in the lives of His
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people, and it will encourage you to trust Him to work in your
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life today. Who wrote the book?
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The author is unknown, but it is clear from the book's tone and
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details that the author was a devout Jew.
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Possibly Mordecai, Ezra, or Nehemiah wrote it.
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Why was it written? It was written as a history of
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the events leading to the establishment of the Jewish
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observance of Purim, and that's found in Chapter 9, verses 24
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through 32, and as a way to assure God's people, especially
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the Jews, of His protection. When and where was it written?
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In Persia between 460 and 350 BC.
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Esther became queen in 479 BC. Now for those who have studied
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Bible prophecy, we know that Persia is modern day Iran and
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this date February 25th 2026 is a pretty tense moment right now
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in Iran. We don't know what's going to
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happen. There are I many ships that are
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over in Iran and Iran current leadership, I mean, they are
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having civil unrest. They have people who are
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rejecting the current leadership because of the harsh laws and
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killings that they've done. I've heard numbers like up to
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32,000 people, civilians in Iran have been killed by their own
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ruling authority. We don't know what's going to
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come of this, but the timing of this is very interesting
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relating to the biblical observance of the I don't know
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whether to call it a holiday or a day or a commemoration of
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forum. So anyway, this is very timely
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with what's happening in the world.
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And when I read it the last time, I did notice some things
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that I thought symbolically again pointed to Jesus.
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Even though God is not mentioned, there are some things
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that are very symbolic of Jesus. And what I found in Scripture is
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that often literal events point they, they, I mean, they are
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literal events that happen, but there is a symbolism in it that
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relates to God. And, and so it's, it's both a
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literal event and then it's also symbolic.
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And that's what I found in this book as well.
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And of course, Iran's leadership, their current
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leadership, they are Shiite Muslims and they hate Israel and
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even more so hate the United States.
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They proclaim death to America and they are behind.
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They are actually funding 3 different entities, Hezbollah,
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the Houthis, and there's a third one too, Hamas, I guess the
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third one, they, they fund all of them.
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And their ultimate goal is to wipe out the Jews, wipe out
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Israel. And so they are behind all of
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this. They are funding these entities,
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these military entry entities that are scattered around in
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different places in the Middle East.
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So this is a very interesting time period and and biblically
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there could be some some things that unfold here.
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I mean, maybe this what we're going to read is going to show
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us something about the future as well.
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I wouldn't necessarily call the book of Esther prophetic in any
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way, but you'll see when we read it.
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So what to look for? Look for revelations of God's
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character, his faithfulness, and how he provides for those who
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trust in Him, even through events you might view as tragic.
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Notice the indirect allusions to God's involvement in the lives
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of his people. All right, chapter 1 Queen
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Vashti is deposed. This is what happened during the
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time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces
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stretching from India to Kush. That's part of Egypt area.
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And then so I'm going to read this like who was Xerxes?
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Because that's important because there are so many different
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names and it gets confusing when different versions of names.
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And the study Bible explains this really well.
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Xerxes is Greek for Assurius who which is Hebrew for his Persian
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name which is Kesharasha. I'm probably not pronouncing any
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of them correctly, but we just see that there are three
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different names that all mean the same thing in different
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languages. So if you know the actual
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historical name then you will know this is what it's referring
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to. So Xerxes ruled the Persian
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Empire or the Iranian? You know modern day Iran from
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486 to 465 BC. This vast realm was the dominant
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military and economic power of its time.
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Xerxes was the son and successor of Darius One the Great, the
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first the Great, whose reign saw the restoration of the Jerusalem
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Temple in 516, and you can read about that in the book of Ezra,
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chapters 5 and 6. So Darius is the one and he was
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from modern day Iran that I, I guess I, it was like Cyrus too
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was involved in there. Cyrus is another figure who
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helped to rebuild the temple. So that's another interesting
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point because we all know are many of us probably know that
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the Temple Institute has architectural plans and all of
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the articles that would go into a temple, they're ready to go
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and and there's like signage. There's all this preparation in
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Jerusalem for 1/3 Temple. I think there's signage.
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There's like a railway that they're trying to complete so
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that people can circumvent traffic and be able to get to
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the temple. They are thinking this is going
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to be that temple for all nations.
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There's a lot that is of a part of this.
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So again, this might be significant in learning from
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history and I, I've always said, and we've always, we've all
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heard it. History repeats itself.
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And I heard recently, and I can't recall like who it was.
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It was on a podcast. But then he said, I can't take
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credit for it. It was actually someone else who
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said, I don't know if it was Mark Twain who said it before
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him, but history doesn't repeat itself.
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But it it does give a reflection.
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I don't think that was the right word that they even said, but it
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was. It's very similar.
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It gives a pattern. History gives us a pattern of
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things. It's act.
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It's not an exact replication of it, but it is a pattern.
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There are patterns that are seen in history and we certainly see
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that when we read the Bible, the patterns between God and Israel
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and what happens. So talking a lot, I'm going to
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get back to the Scripture. At that time, King Xerxes
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reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa, and in the
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third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his nobles and
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officials, the military leaders of Persia and media.
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Both of those areas represent modern day Iran.
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Just for placement, the Princess and the nobles of the provinces
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were for a full 180 days. For six months OK, He displayed
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the vast wealth of his Kingdom and splendor and glory of His
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Majesty. When these days were over, the
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king gave a banquet lasting 7 days in the enclosed garden of
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the King's palace for all the people from the least to the
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greatest who were in the citadel of Susa.
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Now right here I'm seeing symbolism of Christ.
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So from the least to the greatest, the Kingdom of God is
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going to have the least and the greatest.
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It's not a matter of your ranking within the world
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according to world values, but it will have those very humble
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and it will have some, you know, more prominent people who are,
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who have humbled themselves and are focused on God.
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But we're going to see in God's Kingdom there's going to be a
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wide range of people. It's not just going to be those
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successful people of the world that are there.
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In fact, probably many of the people, the successful people of
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the world who didn't ever turn to God won't be present in God's
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Kingdom. So we're going to see something
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completely different. And again, this doesn't relate
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to Jesus, but I do see that this is there's something here that
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is very symbolic. And there's also the the wedding
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supper of the lamb. And it says like, blessed are
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those who are invited or who are invited or chosen to, you know,
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to attend the wedding and the wedding supper of the lamb.
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And it sounds like that's in the Book of Revelation.
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And it sounds like there's kind of two parallel wedding suppers.
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There is a protection or there's a place where God has his people
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where they they are gathered. But there is also like a worldly
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the great supper that's referred to in the Book of Revelation,
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which is the wrath of God. And at that point the angels are
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calling on all the birds in the air to eat the kings that have
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fallen and all kinds of people from the least to the greatest,
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who have been who, who've received justice from the Lord
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quite honestly. And the birds will, you know,
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devour them afterwards. So there's a a beautiful picture
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of a wedding supper. And then there's also this other
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supper that's not beautiful and we're going to be in one of
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those events. We're going to be either at the
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wedding supper with the lamb or we're going to be being devoured
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by the birds of the air because we never reconciled with God.
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So like I said, this is. And then the lasting 7 days is
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really interesting. I'm sure that has to do with
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tradition and culture where it would last that long.
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But it, you know, this is interesting.
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I don't know if this is, I don't know if this is actually
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prophetic or not. I never thought of it.
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And the book isn't titled as a prophet or anything.
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But there was this six months. He displayed his vast wealth of
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the Kingdom and the splendor and the glory.
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I don't know if that's going to be significant in the future or
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not. I shouldn't read into the the
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Bible. But then when I see this, the
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king gave a banquet lasting 7 days in the enclosed garden of
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the King's palace. So that's like some private
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place. Like is God going to take his
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people? We've heard of the the, the week
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of I guess tribulation and wrath that comes.
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And according to the book of Daniel, and so does God shelter
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his people, those who are reconciled with him during seven
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years? There's some debate on whether
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it's actually 3 1/2 years or if it's a full 7 years.
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And I'm not certain where there's there's a lot of
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discussion and I'm not going to get into that.
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But anyway, there is a final seven years period that Daniel
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the prophet refers to, and so does God gather his people
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before this, this last week of years and shelter them while the
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rest of the world who is not reconciled with God suffers the
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wrath. Just something to think about.
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OK, so the garden had hangings of a white and blue linen
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fastened with cords of white linen and purple material to
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silver rings on marble pillars. They there were couches of gold
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and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyr.
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I don't know marble, mother of Pearl and other costly stones.
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We do know that there's going to be this in the new heaven and
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the new earth that comes down from above.
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There are going to be these like semi precious stones and they're
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it's described as a giant Pearl is going to be a gate it.
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I don't know if it's to be taken literal or if it's just those
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are the best words to describe what these prophets saw, the
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visions that people had. Both Ezekiel and John, you know,
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had visions of this. So wine was served in goblets of
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gold. Each one was different from the
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other, and the royal wine was abundant in keeping with the
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King's liberalty. By the King's command, each
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guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions, for the king
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instructed all the wine Stewarts to serve each man what he
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wished. Now that's not the same as what
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Jesus would say, or it doesn't align with the Bible drinking.
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Of course, Jesus, you know, multiplied wine in his first
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miracle that he did in the, IT was at a wedding and the wedding
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in Cana. And so from Scripture and plus
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he drank wine. That was the drink that people
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had at that time culturally, as I understand it.
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So he drank wine during, you know, with his disciples.
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And there isn't anything in Scripture that I've seen that
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says that alcohol is forbidden or wine is forbidden.
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It doesn't say that. In fact, I think in one of
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Paul's letters to Timothy or vice versa, they're talking
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about have a little bit of wine to settle your stomach or
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something, you know, to that effect.
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So wine in moderation is seems to be OK within the Bible, but
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anyone who drinks outside of moderation is.
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Not OK in the Bible. It in fact, these were things
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that I read the first time I read the Bible that stood out to
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me that really concerned me because it says no drunkard will
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inherit the Kingdom of God. So that's like a there's a lot
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of people that go out and get drunk and our world celebrates
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that and a lot of things that we go to socially and encourage
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that. And so this is something that if
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we don't read the Bible and see how strong it is talked about in
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the Bible, that a person who continues in that path is not
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going to inherit the Kingdom of God.
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It's just something that the Bible convicts us.
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That's the purpose of it. It is the living word of God.
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It teaches us, it rebukes us, but the whole purpose of it is
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so that we can come to repentance and so that our
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relationship can be made right with God once again.
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So this is not to the only purpose is to restore us and to
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make us aware that if we if we continue to be a drunkard, then
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we we haven't repented. So we can't enter the Kingdom of
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God like that. Now, a lot of people that you
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know that there's an addiction and there's a whole nother
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subject about that. But if we turn to God, God can
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heal. So the key to that is
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repentance. The key to that is asking Jesus
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for the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is who gives us
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self-control. That's a gift of the Holy
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Spirit. It's fruit of the Holy Spirit.
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If you have the fruit of the Holy Spirit, you will have
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self-control. Well, what does an addict not
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have? self-control?
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So that means that an addict does not have the Holy Spirit,
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but if you turn to God, you will receive the Holy Spirit and then
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you will be able to have power from God to overcome this.
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And people, Christians today don't seem to be living with the
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power and the authority that is promised to us in the Bible.
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And I feel very convicted about saying that to people these days
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because there is so much power that you learn about in the
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Bible. And it's not to be used for
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worldly reasons, but for the good of all other people and to
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serve other people. But God gave us the information
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here in the Bible. That's why the Bible is so
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critical. OK, let's go back to the
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Scripture, verse 9. Queen Vashti also gave a
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banquet, banquet for the women in the royal palace of King
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Xerxes on the 7th day when King Xerxes was in high spirits from
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wine. So he's drunk, right?
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He commanded the seven eunuchs who served him.
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Now these eunuchs are males who have been castrated and they are
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they oversee some of the women, but obviously they can't do
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anything with them. So when or he commanded the
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seven eunuchs who served him. And it gives their names, which
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I probably will not be able to pronounce correctly.
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The human biztha harbona, bigtha AB bactha zethar and carcass to
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bring before him Queen Vashti wearing her crown in order to
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display her beauty to the people and nobles for she was lovely to
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look at. So you know it's like it says in
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the Bible in scripture it says be alert and of sober mind
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because the devil pouts looking for his next victim.
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Do you think a man would do that with his wife if he wasn't under
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the influence? I mean, if he had the Holy
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Spirit, he wouldn't because he wouldn't want other men to be
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looking at his wife naked with a crown on.
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But this is a little bit different.
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He's drunk. And how many times do people get
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drunk and then say, oh, I wouldn't have done that if I
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hadn't been drunk? Like, that's not me.
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You wonder why there's a spiritual influence behind that.
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OK, so let's see. But when the attendants
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delivered the King's command, Queen Vashti refused to come.
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Then then the king became furious and burned with anger.
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That's another says something about not going to bed in anger.
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And it also says before you make any sacrifices to God, if there
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is a dispute between you and another, go and solve that
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first. And anger is the foothold of the
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devil. That's what it says in
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Scripture. So we're seeing a lot of fruit
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of an unholy spirit coming out. First of all, he's getting
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drunk. Then he is, you know, presenting
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his wife to others with lust, which is another sin.
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And then he's burning with anger on top of that.
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So all of these things are manipulative.
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I mean, drinking wine, you know, people feel good when they start
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drinking wine. There is nothing bad about a
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naked person who is your spouse. There's nothing bad about that.
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That's a good thing. God made us that way and it's
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supposed to be that way, but not for everyone else.
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And then to become furious and burn with anger.
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It says that believers should never in in the book of
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Proverbs. It says something about don't,
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don't be associated with a hot temper person or there's more to
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it than that, but it's in the book of Proverbs and but it
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basically you become like them if you associate with them.
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So there's lots of warnings like helpful advice in the Bible that
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can almost be used as counseling.
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If we read the Bible, if we just close, get close to God, he will
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explain stuff to us and it's the everyday things of life that
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will become clear. So verse 13, since it was
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customary for the king to consult experts in matters of
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law and justice, he spoke with the wise men who understood the
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times and were closest to the king.
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Kharshena, Sithar, Edmatha, Tarshish, Mears, Marcena, and
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Memukan, the seven nobles of Persia and media who had special
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access to the king and were the highest in the Kingdom.
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So now he's probably in his drunken state, he's angry that
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his wife is not listening to him.
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And so he's calling on other men who are, you know, highest in
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the Kingdom. Well, if they were highest in
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the Kingdom, they're probably at his party.
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They're probably also drunk. So here's where you're getting
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like in you're getting insight or counselling from a bunch of
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drunken people. Do you think that's going to go
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well? OK, verse 15, according to the
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law, what must be done to Queen Vashti?
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He asked. She has not obeyed the command
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of King Xerxes that the eunuchs have taken to her.
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Then Mamukhan replied the In the presence of the king and the
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nobles, Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the
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king, but also against all the nobles and the peoples of the
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provinces of King Xerxes. For the Queen's conduct will
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become known to all the women, and so they will despise their
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husbands and say King Zergski's commanded Queen Vashti to be
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brought reformed, but she would not come.
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Actually, you know, this is really interesting because this
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is almost what's happening in Iran right now.
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The women are kind of revolting against being told how they need
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to dress and these other restrictions that are on them.
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And there were, you know, I mean, the there is no freedom of
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speech. There have been men like
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Olympians who have been hanged or executed because of their
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rebellion against the authorities who are in control
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right now. And so this is this is very
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relevant to us right now. I mean, this King Xerxes, all of
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these nobles, all the people that are in leadership positions
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are saying, wait, we can't let this woman say no.
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If she does that, she's going to get all the other women on
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board. That's kind of what's happening
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right now in Iran. This very day, the Persian and
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Median women of the nobility who have heard about the Queen's
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conduct will respond to all the King's nobles in the same way.
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There will be no end of disrespect and discord.
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Therefore, if it pleases the king, let him issue a royal
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decree and let it be written in the laws of Persia and media
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which cannot be repealed. So this is this is like warning
30:05
right here. There's a bunch of drunk people
30:08
making some rules that cannot be repealed.
30:12
I've seen this before. The same thing that happened
30:15
with Daniel when he got thrown into the den with the lions.
30:20
The Babylonian king had written something and that couldn't be
30:25
repealed. And when David was seen
30:27
worshipping the one true God, he was then because he wasn't
30:32
worshipping the king, he was then thrown into the den with
30:36
the lions. So this is a, you know, a
30:40
repetitious of something, you know, things get repeated so
30:45
which cannot be repealed. That Vashti is never again to
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enter the presence of King Xerxes.
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So that's I guess not as severe. Like she just can't come in
30:57
front of him again because of this.
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Also, let the king give her royal position to someone who is
31:05
better than she, so now they're going to replace her with
31:08
somebody else. Then the King's edict.
31:12
Then when the King's edict is proclaimed throughout all his
31:16
vast realm, all the women will respect their husbands from the
31:22
least to the greatest. So these nobles were fearful
31:26
that, hey, our wives are going to do this.
31:28
If the King's wife does this and she gets away with it, all of
31:31
our wives are going to do this first. 21 The king and his
31:37
nobles were pleased with this advice.
31:39
So the king did as Mamukan proposed.
31:43
He sent dispatches to all parts of the Kingdom, to each province
31:48
in his own script, and to each people in their own language,
31:52
proclaiming that every man should be ruler over his own
31:57
household using his native tongue.
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Now, this part doesn't necessarily disagree with the
32:04
Bible. God himself has a a, a role or
32:11
an order of things. So Jesus is above all.
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But then in a marriage, both the husband and the wife submit to
32:21
Christ and they also submit to one another.
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And it's kind of neat in the Bible how it says like a three
32:29
strand cord is hard to be broken.
32:33
So if you have a three strand cord, Jesus, husband, wife,
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that's going to be hard to break.
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When both the husband and the wife are submitted to Christ, he
32:45
is the head and then they also submit to one another.
32:50
That's a very much of a servant type attitude towards one
32:55
another. Like the wife will will respect
32:57
her husband and the husband will do all he can for his wife.
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And so it's a, it's a mutual agreement and it's something
33:05
beautiful that God put together. So the, the part about
33:09
respecting your husband is true. They're just going about it in a
33:13
bad way because it was something unholy, ungodly that they were
33:19
wanting that the king was wanting his wife to do and she
33:22
was saying no, I'm not going to do that.
33:25
And so under God's law, God probably would not want her to
33:30
do that either. But also, you know, there is an
33:34
order, but if something contradicts God, you would stand
33:38
up for it. So anyway, that is the end of
33:42
chapter 1 and I'm going to read the study Bibles questions and
33:46
answers for this chapter. So where was Susa?
33:50
The mounds of ruins that were once the city of Susa are
33:54
located about 150 miles north of the Persian Gulf in the present
33:59
day province of Kuzitan in southwestern Iran.
34:05
What kind of quote display would have gone on for six months?
34:09
Xerxes lavish and prolonged banqueting sets the stage for
34:13
the Book of Esther. Xerxes immediate purpose was
34:16
probably to rally military leaders under his authority and
34:20
win their loyalty for a future battle with the Greeks.
34:24
This over the top feasting establishes that Xerxes was a
34:28
man of unparalleled wealth and power, a force to be reckoned
34:33
with. He was a man who did whatever he
34:35
pleased. The odds were hopelessly stacked
34:38
against God's people. What did it mean to drink with
34:43
no restrictions? According to Persian law, guest
34:46
at the King's table could drink only when he drank.
34:50
Xerxes set aside that law, giving permission for his guest
34:54
to drink as much as they liked. This indicates both extravagance
34:59
and the revelry of Xerxes banquet.
35:04
Should a wife submit to her husband, even if disobedient, or
35:08
even if obedience means violating her conscience?
35:13
Queen Vashti did the unthinkable.
35:16
She refused a direct order from the king of Persia.
35:19
Scripture gives no reason for Vashti's refusal to heed the
35:24
King's summons. Most scholars speculate that she
35:27
did not want to betray her dignity before the King's
35:31
drunken guest. A few have suggested that there
35:34
was a political motive behind her defiance.
35:38
In any case, her disobedience posed a threat to the King's
35:42
authority that, in the minds of the King's advisers, open the
35:45
door to quote disrespect and discord.
35:50
A Christian marriage of today is very different from the
35:53
relationship between a king and a queen in ancient Persia.
35:57
All believers are commanded to submit to one another out of
36:00
reverence for Christ. In a family, the wife is to
36:04
submit to her husband, and the husband is to love his wife.
36:09
Husband and wife together are to submit to Christ who instructs
36:13
their conscience and guides their understanding in all
36:17
things. The husband and wife should seek
36:21
to honor Christ. This applies in decision making
36:25
as each spouse works hard to avoid violating the other person
36:30
person's conscience and seeks the good of the other person.
36:35
Spouses should never entice one another to do wrong, but if that
36:40
should happen, each one's first obligation is to obey Christ.
36:48
Why was there a separate banquet for women?
36:51
Such segregation was probably not the norm in Persia.
36:54
Perhaps the atmosphere the King's banquet, which involved
36:58
serious drinking, was deemed too vulgar for the presence of noble
37:02
women. In any case, this verse makes it
37:05
clear that Vashti was not at Xerxes banquet, which sets the
37:09
stage for his summons and her subsequent refusal.
37:15
Had the King's top aides been castrated, it is not clear.
37:19
The Hebrew word translated here as eunuch can mean an officer, a
37:24
castrated male, or both. Since these men had access to
37:29
the King's harem, they may have been castrated to protect the
37:34
King's interest, but the title may also reflect their close
37:39
relationship to the king. Why did Queen Vashti refuse the
37:44
King's summons? Considering the importance of
37:46
the occasion in her position, she may have had a political
37:50
motive, or she may have anticipated an unpleasant and
37:54
awkward situation. According to Jewish historians,
37:57
Vashti was to appear wearing only her crown.
38:02
The prospect of being old by a drunken crowd, regardless of
38:07
what she was to where, could explain her refusal.
38:12
So that concludes Chapter 1 and we will end that here.
38:19
So if you're not subscribed, please subscribe and come back
38:23
for the next chapters. We're going to try and go
38:25
through this book relatively quickly because we have 10
38:28
chapters to complete in seven days.
38:31
So some of these others may be a little bit shorter, I don't
38:35
know, or I might do a couple of them in a day.
38:37
So anyway, I hope if this was beneficial to you, please share
38:42
it with other people. And if the podcast is
38:44
beneficial, please share the podcast with other people.
38:46
I just want the word of God to be to go out to people.
38:51
It's so important how our relationship and our
38:55
reconciliation with God that we do reconcile with God and we get
39:00
close to Him, especially during these days.
39:03
Thank you.