In centuries past in the Middle East…
...in the land once known as Persia, which is now the nation of Iran, lived a king by the name of Ahasuerus. At the time of his reign, however, evil counsel was given to him by a man by the name of Haman. Heeding Haman's advice, a plan was hatched to exterminate the Jewish race.
With a plot now underfoot to kill all the Jews, a Jew by the name of Mordecai, whose niece, Esther, had since been made the Queen of Persia, alerted her to the plot. So Esther, being Jewish herself, began to think of a way to warn the king so that Haman's goal of starting a holocaust would not come to pass.
Yet while she was pondering what to do, her uncle encouraged Queen Esther with these words, "If you don't speak up now, we will somehow get help, but you and your family will be killed. It could be that you were made queen for such a time like this" (Esther 4:12-14 CEV).
Thankfully for the Jews, the planned extermination did not come to pass. The Lord, knowing ahead of time what was in the works, caused the right people to be placed in the right position for such an occasion. As always, the Lord knows the "end from the beginning" and He declares "the things that are not yet done, as if they already are" (Isaiah 46:10).
Therefore, today being the Jewish holiday known as Purim, where Queen Esther is traditionally honored, is when I like to reread her story in the Old Testament. Esther is one of my favorite characters in the Bible. I'm looking forward to the day when she and I will meet.
D.B.
With a plot now underfoot to kill all the Jews, a Jew by the name of Mordecai, whose niece, Esther, had since been made the Queen of Persia, alerted her to the plot. So Esther, being Jewish herself, began to think of a way to warn the king so that Haman's goal of starting a holocaust would not come to pass.
Yet while she was pondering what to do, her uncle encouraged Queen Esther with these words, "If you don't speak up now, we will somehow get help, but you and your family will be killed. It could be that you were made queen for such a time like this" (Esther 4:12-14 CEV).
Thankfully for the Jews, the planned extermination did not come to pass. The Lord, knowing ahead of time what was in the works, caused the right people to be placed in the right position for such an occasion. As always, the Lord knows the "end from the beginning" and He declares "the things that are not yet done, as if they already are" (Isaiah 46:10).
Therefore, today being the Jewish holiday known as Purim, where Queen Esther is traditionally honored, is when I like to reread her story in the Old Testament. Esther is one of my favorite characters in the Bible. I'm looking forward to the day when she and I will meet.
D.B.
