Sun.’s Devo - The Goodness of God

Read: Esther 1:1-3:15; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34; Psalm 35:17-28; Proverbs 21:19-20
Many of the Jews didn’t opt to go back to Jerusalem and the story of Esther is the story of those who stayed in Babylon. Babylon was taken over by the Persians and Cyrus, the Persian king had allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple. Darius had made them stop rebuilding for a time but then allowed them to finish. Once they had completed the temple some of the enemies of the Jews had written a letter telling the king that they had built this temple to revolt against Persia. It was a lie, of course, but it shows us that the Persian government was very fickle when it came to the Jews. But, God was faithful to his people no matter where they were.
A new king had come to reign called Xerxes. He ruled over 127 provinces of which one of them was Susa. Susa was the summer palace of Xerxes and was a magnificent city. Xerxes was a very generous king who loved elaborate parties and invited the great and the poor. He served wine in golden goblets and had no limit. His banquets lasted weeks long. He was very wealthy and extravagant. His queen was Vashti who had her own banquet for the women. Vashti was summoned to the wild men’s side to show off her beauty at the request of her drunk husband. She refused to leave her humane party to attend her husband’s drunken orgy.
When the ordeal was over, the king was enraged and called in his advisors to seek help in settling Vashti’s act of disobedience. They were thinking more about what this might cause in their own families if the queen refuses her husband, what might that mean to them. They went so far as to tell the king that this information might get to their enemies and cause them to disrespect the king. It was enough pressure to cause the king to agree to banish Vashti and find another queen more qualified than her.
When Xerxes was ready for a new wife, his officials went throughout his kingdom gathering promising candidates. Meanwhile, in Susa, there was a Jewish exile named Mordicai who had adopted his niece named Esther. She was beautiful and one of the women taken as a candidate. Mordecai had warned her not to reveal that she was a Jewish exile. He checked on her every day through the fence around the courtyard where the harem was that she was staying. She had to go through a 12 month beauty regimen before she would appear before the king.
When her time came, she was chosen as the queen. As queen she had ear to the king so when Mordecai learned of a plot to kill the king, she was able to warn the king and gave the credit to Mordecai. While God was planting his seed in the kingdom, Satan was planting his own. Satan’s seed was named Haman. He had gained favor of the king and was rising to power. He hated the Jews and especially Mordecai because he refused to bow dow before him. Haman was so insensed that he not only wanted to get rid of Mordecai, but the whole Jewish race.
Haman and king Xerxes were planning the calendar for the next year and when they came to the last month of the year, Haman unleashed his sly plan to kill the Jews. He convinced the king that there were a people in his kingdom who opposed him and needed getting rid of. The king allowed him to do whatever he wanted to to them. So a decree went out telling the people of the calendar and especially what would happen the last month of Adar.
In Corinth, the observance of the Lord’s Supper was looking like one of Xerxes’s banquets. Some got their early and were drunk before the others arrived. Paul reminded them of what the Lord’s Supper was about. It was not about eating a drinking but remembering their Lord and Savior. They were to wait till they could all get there and celebrate it together with soberness and sincerity.
Lord, today, may we go to our churches and worship you the same way and not just take for granted the freedom we have to meet and worship you as a body.