Word gets out and the mourning begins. As Jews hear of the new edict, they begin to fear for themselves and Mordecai senses something must be done. In Esther 4, he clothes himself in typical mourning clothing, sackcloth and ashes, and makes an appearance outside the gates of the emperor. Mordecai is seeking to gain the attention of his sister, the queen.
Esther seems to be oblivious to what is going on, for she sends clothing to Mordecai, thinking he just needs new clothes. But Mordecai sends word to her, he knows the plot of Haman, all the sordid details. But what can Esther do? She is not allowed to see the emperor unless summoned and it has been several months since she has even seen the emperor?
This is not the time to be timid, comes Mordecai's reply. If you do not act, surely your family will be destroyed; even another comes to rescue the Jews, Esther and her family will perish. Esther then decides on a course of action. The Jews are called together to fast for three days, Esther will fast as well. Of course normally fasting and sackcloths are partnered with prayer to bring about God's action but no prayer is mentioned. Clearly this is all on Esther.
The three days of fasting are over, and in Esther 5, Esther puts her plan in action. She approaches the emperor, who lifts his scepter, meaning he will see her. In touching the scepter, she is asking for favor and the emperor grants it, "anything dear" he responds. But Esther only asks for his presence, and that of Haman, at her own banquet. (What is it with these banquets?) They both attend, and again the emperor pushes her to name her favor. But Esther only asks for the emperor's presence and that of Haman again the following day at another banquet.
But in a very cunning way, in gaining the emperor's attendance at the banquet, Esther has virtually guaranteed his support of her favor, which is in accordance with custom.
Meanwhile, as Esther plots his downfall, Haman is relishing in his status. He even points out that the queen wishes his audience at her private banquets with the emperor. Does it get any better than this? (Haman needs to look up irony in the dictionary.) In his self-adulation, his wife offers to him that he should built a gallows and have Mordecai killed. He loves the idea. (Would gallows humor be bad form about now?)
Luke 11
Perhaps the encounter with Mary and Martha has created a desire of Luke's to focus on the more important things, like prayer. In Luke 11, Jesus is off praying and his disciples ask him to teach them to prayer. A couple of notes on the prayer, first it is communal. This is not about us as individuals but about us as community. "Our Father", "Our daily bread" and so forth. Next, it is centered on a benevolent God who listens and provides, which leads to Jesus further explanation. Do not fear to ask, do not fear to approach God, for your prayers will be answered. Do you not respond to a persistent neighbor, then why would God not respond? And when God responds will it be with good or evil intents? Surely God for what parent gives a child a snake when they want a fish? Prayer is a matter of persistence, it is a learned discipline, a practice.
Maybe even another larger thing, better thing to focus on is the power of God. As Jesus casts out demons, he shatters the power of Satan. God is more powerful than Satan, so why should we fear? If God is more powerful than Satan and God hears our prayers, then truly what else do we need? However, a caveat to this is, there is a need to listen and obey. We can be freed from Satan but if we do not follow Christ, then we can just as easily fall back under Satan's influence. "Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it."
Another larger things, is being observant of what is going on around us. We also look for "signs" but do we see that which is in front of us? All the Ninevites saw was a prophet pronouncing God's judgment, yet they responded. We get to see Jesus, do we respond? Do we recognize him? Look around, see the signs already.
Finally, Jesus reminds us that a larger thing is understanding that God has made us for God's own self and not for our traditions. Our religious traditions, our rituals must reflect God's glory and be created or perpetuated to exalt ourselves.
Backlogged Posts
2 Kings 13-14
Our focus now turns back to the kings of Israel in 2 Kings 13 and it can get a little confusing with the names. The kings are descendants of Jehu and for the most part they fail to live up to the standard set for kings. Jehoahaz is plagued by military defeats to Hazael but an unnamed savior comes and at least rescues Israel from Aram. However, Jehoahaz dies a rather broken and defeated king.
Jehoash now reigns and he fares a little better, a large part because of Elisha's intervention. However, Jehoash's weak faith and lack of zeal means his victories will be partial and fleeting. Elisha dies but his prophecies live for Jehoash is able to defeat Aram three times.
It now comes fast and furious this procession of kings. In 2 Kings 14 we read about King Amaziah who seems to be ok. He tries to walk with God and does pretty well with that, he is successful militarily. But then he attempts to free Judah from a vassal status with Israel, which probably began under Ahab. Amaziah is soundly defeated. This defeat probably lead servants to kill Amaziah and his son Azariah becomes king.
Meanwhile, Jeroboam II becomes king of Israel and very little positive is said about him. However, history notes the Jeroboam II is one of the most success kings of Israel and Judah, at least in worldly terms.
2 Corinthians 6
Now is the time for the Corinthians to accept the salvation of God, for Paul's fear is that they will turn away. Paul defends his own actions, first by pointing out the hardships he has suffered in order to come to them. But then he also points out the truthful motives of his coming. It was not to deceive or dishonor, but in other to make God known to them. This God is made known to them by the grace Paul has received in his own life.
The final part of the chapter calls the believers to separate themselves from a decadent society, to turn away from the sins of the community.
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