Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
The One Year Bible TLB (175 page)
A man who loves pleasure becomes poor; wine and luxury are not the way to riches!
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The wicked will finally lose; the righteous will finally win.
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August 18It was the third year of the reign of King Ahasuerus, emperor of vast Media-Persia, with its 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. This was the year of the great celebration at Shushan Palace, to which the emperor invited all his governors, aides, and army officers, bringing them in from every part of Media-Persia for the occasion.
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The celebration lasted six months, a tremendous display of the wealth and glory of his empire.
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When it was all over, the king gave a special party for the palace servants and officials—janitors and cabinet officials alike—for seven days of revelry, held in the courtyard of the palace garden.
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The decorations were green, white, and blue, fastened with purple ribbons
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tied to silver rings imbedded in marble pillars. Gold and silver benches stood on pavements of black, red, white, and yellow marble.
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Drinks were served in gold goblets of many designs, and there was an abundance of royal wine, for the king was feeling very generous.
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The only restriction on the drinking was that no one should be compelled to take more than he wanted, but those who wished could have as much as they pleased. For the king had instructed his officers to let everyone decide this matter for himself.
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Queen Vashti gave a party for the women of the palace at the same time.
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On the final day when the king was feeling high, half drunk from wine, he told the seven eunuchs who were his personal aides—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas—
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to bring Queen Vashti to him with the royal crown upon her head so that all the men could gaze upon her beauty—for she was a very beautiful woman.
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But when they conveyed the emperor’s order to Queen Vashti, she refused to come. The king was furious
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but first consulted his lawyers, for he did nothing without their advice. They were men of wisdom who knew the temper of the times as well as Persian law and justice, and the king trusted their judgment. These men were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan—seven high officials of Media-Persia. They were his personal friends as well as being the chief officers of the government.
“What shall we do about this situation?” he asked them. “What penalty does the law provide for a queen who refuses to obey the king’s orders, properly sent through his aides?”
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Memucan answered for the others, “Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king but every official and citizen of your empire.
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For women everywhere will begin to disobey their husbands when they learn what Queen Vashti has done.
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And before this day is out, the wife of every one of us officials throughout your empire will hear what the queen did and will start talking to us husbands the same way, and there will be contempt and anger throughout your realm.
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We suggest that, subject to your agreement, you issue a royal edict, a law of the Medes and Persians that can never be changed, that Queen Vashti be forever banished from your presence and that you choose another queen more worthy than she.
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When this decree is published throughout your great kingdom, husbands everywhere, whatever their rank, will be respected by their wives!”
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The king and all his aides thought this made good sense, so he followed Memucan’s counsel
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and sent letters to all of his provinces, in all the local languages, stressing that every man should rule his home and should assert his authority.
2:
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But after King Ahasuerus’ anger had cooled, he began brooding over the loss of Vashti, realizing that he would never see her again.
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So his aides suggested, “Let us go and find the most beautiful girls in the empire and bring them to the king for his pleasure.
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We will appoint agents in each province to select young lovelies for the royal harem. Hegai, the eunuch in charge, will see that they are given beauty treatments,
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and after that, the girl who pleases you most shall be the queen instead of Vashti.”
This suggestion naturally pleased the king very much, and he put the plan into immediate effect.
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Now there was a certain Jew at the palace named Mordecai (son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite).
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He had been captured when Jerusalem was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar and had been exiled to Babylon along with King Jeconiah of Judah and many others.
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This man had a beautiful and lovely young cousin, Hadassah (also called Esther), whose father and mother were dead, and whom he had adopted into his family and raised as his own daughter.
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So now, as a result of the king’s decree, Esther was brought to the king’s harem at Shushan Palace along with many other young girls.
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Hegai, who was responsible for the harem, was very much impressed with her and did his best to make her happy; he ordered a special menu for her, favored her for the beauty treatments, gave her seven girls from the palace as her maids, and gave her the most luxurious apartment in the harem.
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Esther hadn’t told anyone that she was a Jewess, for Mordecai had said not to.
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He came daily to the court of the harem to ask about Esther and to find out what was happening to her.
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The instructions concerning these girls were that before being taken to the king’s bed, each would be given six months of beauty treatments with oil of myrrh, followed by six months with special perfumes and ointments. Then, as each girl’s turn came for spending the night with King Ahasuerus, she was given her choice of clothing or jewelry she wished, to enhance her beauty. She was taken to the king’s apartment in the evening and the next morning returned to the second harem where the king’s wives lived. There she was under the care of Shaashgaz, another of the king’s eunuchs and lived there the rest of her life, never seeing the king again unless he had especially enjoyed her and called for her by name.
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When it was Esther’s
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turn to go to the king, she accepted the advice of Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the harem, dressing according to his instructions. And all the other girls exclaimed with delight when they saw her.
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So Esther was taken to the palace of the king in January of the seventh year of his reign.
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Well, the king loved Esther more than any of the other girls. He was so delighted with her that he set the royal crown on her head and declared her queen instead of Vashti.
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To celebrate the occasion, he threw another big party for all his officials and servants, giving generous gifts to everyone and making grants to the provinces in the form of remission of taxes.
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Later the king demanded a second bevy of beautiful girls.
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By that time Mordecai had become a government official.
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Esther still hadn’t told anyone she was a Jewess, for she was still following Mordecai’s orders, just as she had in his home.
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One day as Mordecai was on duty at the palace, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh—who were guards at the palace gate—became angry at the king and plotted to assassinate him.
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Mordecai heard about it and passed on the information to Queen Esther, who told the king, crediting Mordecai with the information.
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An investigation was made, the two men found guilty, and impaled alive.
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This was all duly recorded in the book of the history of King Ahasuerus’ reign.
3:
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Soon afterwards King Ahasuerus appointed Haman (son of Hammedatha the Agagite) as prime minister. He was the most powerful official in the empire next to the king himself.
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Now all the king’s officials bowed before him in deep reverence whenever he passed by, for so the king had commanded. But Mordecai refused to bow.
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“Why are you disobeying the king’s commandment?” the others demanded day after day, but he still refused. Finally they spoke to Haman about it to see whether Mordecai could get away with it because of his being a Jew, which was the excuse he had given them.
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Haman was furious but decided not to lay hands on Mordecai alone, but to move against all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, and destroy all of them throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.
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The most propitious time for this action was determined by throwing dice. This was done in April of the twelfth year of the reign of Ahasuerus, and February of the following year was the date indicated.
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Haman now approached the king about the matter. “There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your kingdom,” he began, “and their laws are different from those of any other nation, and they refuse to obey the king’s laws; therefore, it is not in the king’s interest to let them live.
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If it please the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will pay $20,000,000 into the royal treasury for the expenses involved in this purge.”
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The king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his ring from his finger and giving it to Haman,
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telling him,
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“Keep the money, but go ahead and do as you like with these people—whatever you think best.”
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Two or three weeks later,
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Haman called in the king’s secretaries and dictated letters to the governors and officials throughout the empire, to each province in its own languages and dialects; these letters were signed in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with his ring.
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They were then sent by messengers into all the provinces of the empire, decreeing that the Jews—young and old, women and children—must all be killed on the 28th day of February of the following year and their property given to those who killed them.
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“A copy of this edict,” the letter stated, “must be proclaimed as law in every province and made known to all your people, so that they will be ready to do their duty on the appointed day.”
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The edict went out by the king’s speediest couriers, after being first proclaimed in the city of Shushan. Then the king and Haman sat down for a drinking spree as the city fell into confusion and panic.
Next on my list of items to write you about is something else I cannot agree with. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together for your communion services.
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Everyone keeps telling me about the arguing that goes on in these meetings, and the divisions developing among you, and I can just about believe it.
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But I suppose you feel this is necessary so that you who are always right will become known and recognized!
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When you come together to eat, it isn’t the Lord’s Supper you are eating,
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but your own. For I am told that everyone hastily gobbles all the food he can without waiting to share with the others, so that one doesn’t get enough and goes hungry while another has too much to drink and gets drunk.
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What? Is this really true? Can’t you do your eating and drinking at home to avoid disgracing the church and shaming those who are poor and can bring no food? What am I supposed to say about these things? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly do not!
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For this is what the Lord himself has said about his Table, and I have passed it on to you before: That on the night when Judas betrayed him, the Lord Jesus took bread,
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and when he had given thanks to God for it, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said,
“Take this and eat it. This is my body, which is given
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for you. Do this to remember me.”
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In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new agreement between God and you that has been established and set in motion by my blood. Do this in remembrance of me whenever you drink it.”
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For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup you are retelling the message of the Lord’s death, that he has died for you. Do this until he comes again.
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So if anyone eats this bread and drinks from this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, he is guilty of sin against the body and the blood of the Lord.
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That is why a man should examine himself carefully before eating the bread and drinking from the cup.
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For if he eats the bread and drinks from the cup unworthily, not thinking about the body of Christ and what it means, he is eating and drinking God’s judgment upon himself; for he is trifling with the death of Christ.
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That is why many of you are weak and sick, and some have even died.
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But if you carefully examine yourselves before eating you will not need to be judged and punished.
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Yet, when we are judged and punished by the Lord, it is so that we will not be condemned with the rest of the world.
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So, dear brothers, when you gather for the Lord’s Supper—the communion service—wait for each other;
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if anyone is really hungry he should eat at home so that he won’t bring punishment upon himself when you meet together.
I’ll talk to you about the other matters after I arrive.