While Haman has been defeated, his evil plot lives on, for the edict still stands. So Esther and Mordecai must act to save the rest of the Jews in Esther 8. Again, Esther petitions the emperor but this time it is to reverse the edict passed by Haman. Esther is very clear to lay the blame at the feet of Haman and not the emperor, but an edict issued in the emperor's name cannot be simply reversed.
The emperor, however, gives Mordecai the same position as Haman, and allows Mordecai and Esther to write another edict, which while not reversing the previous edict, gives the Jews the ability to rally and fight off any attempts to harm the community. The fastest messengers are sent to the far reaches of the empire and word spreads.
It would seem that either the Jews constituted a rather sizable minority population in the empire or they were popular within the empire because many side with the Jews, going so far to proclaim themselves as Jews, or Jewish sympathizers. The Jews are safe, the community responds with joy and celebrations, a festival is begun.
While Esther 8 seems to speak of a peaceful celebration, Esther 9 demonstrates the bloodshed that occurred as the Jews rose up to defend themselves. In the capital city of Susa, five hundred enemies of the Jews are killed, while across the empire around 75,000 are put to death. It would seem that the Jews had quite a number of enemies in the empire. Due to the numbers that are put to death the first day of the edict, Esther asks for a second day and it is granted. The Jews secured their position in the empire.
The rest of the chapter describes the celebration of Purim and how Mordecai issues an edict to the Jewish community of how and when to celebrate Purim. Finally Esther 10 closes the book with praise of Mordecai who now is the second most powerful man in the empire. Not bad for a man who had been targeted for death not too long ago.
Luke 13
Having spoken about faith, Jesus now tackles the topic of repentance of renewal. He references two events that his contemporaries must have known about, although historically we do not have records of the events. The question is, does a tragic death mean one has sinned more than others? Jesus answers that no, that is not the case. All can die tragically, but the true tragedy is for those to die apart from God. The real need is to repent, so death is not an end but a beginning.
But repentance is more than just saying words and confessing sins, it is about bearing fruit worthy of God as the parable of the fig tree reminds us. The fig tree is frequently used as a metaphor for Israel, a tree that bears fruit is a sign of repentance and covenantal faithfulness. A barren tree is a sign of sin and selfish desires.
If anything, tragedy and personal heartache are less signs of sin but signs of a broken world, a brokenness that God has come to mend. As Jesus heals the crippled woman, he points out that her brokenness was not her sin but bondage enforced upon her by Satan. To not heal her would to allow God's work to be ignored and to allow Satan to win. Clearly, Sabbath restrictions do not apply here.
These small actions can demonstrate the kingdom, these healings, these signs of repentance. It is these small signs of the kingdom that can grow and take over the broken world. We all play a part in this, as Jesus points out. Many will try but unless we are willing to walk on the narrow path and enter the narrow door, we will be like the others who want Jesus to recognize yet will not because our deeds did not match words. In this case, we would end up like Jerusalem, in ignorance.
Backlogged Posts
2 Kings 17-18
Hoshea is king, not for long. It is rather interesting that the narrator does not disparage Hoshea, even though Hoshea is the final king of Israel. Yes, he did sin but he certainly was not the worst Israelite king, is what the author says. But Hoshea must pay the price for his predecessors and the people, they have failed to follow God and now they will be punished, they will suffer the fate that God promised would be their final punishment, they will be exiled.
In 2 Kings 17, the Assyrian army descends upon Israel and after a two year siege, finally takes Samaria, the capital. It would seem that perhaps Israel could have been a vassal state but Hoshea, and others, must have petitioned Egypt to help intervene. The Assyrians did not take to kindly to such action and decide to take the country and evict the Jews of Israel and replace them with other peoples.
The author then explains why this happened, this was an act of God; a punishment for the disobedience of Israel. Even after God had sent prophets and messengers, the people and leaders of Israel failed to follow God, now God has acted to bring judgment. But the judgment is not just against the people of Israel, God continues to punish the people of the land when the new residents come. Since they fail to heed the law of God the new residents are attacked by lions and many are killed. It is disconcerting enough for the Assyrian overlords that they find a priest of Israel and send him back so that the people can be taught about God. This is rather interesting, if you really ponder it. God is having new people taught about God, new people not of the chosen people.
Yet like the chosen people, they continue to worship other idols.
While the north is taken away, Judah still stands. A new king, a good king, Hezekiah sits on the throne. He is given high praise by the authors in 2 Kings 18, for he has done like very few others, he has taken down the high places, he is zealous for the Lord and he even stands up to the Assyrians. This action cannot be allowed by the Assyrians who come against Judah after Judah attempts an alliance with Egypt.
Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, sends messengers to Jerusalem to attempt to sway the people not to follow Hezekiah, for Hezekiah is being punished for not following God and removing places of worship. (Actually, Hezekiah was following God by doing this but the Assyrians are trying to fool the people.) Hezekiah has tried to offer riches and a tribute to the Assyrians but evidently this is not enough. Hezekiah needs advice. He will turn to Isaiah.
2 Corinthians 7
It would seem that Titus played a tremendous role in bringing peace to the situation between Paul and the church in Corinth. Titus had been sent ahead and returns to Paul with word that the church had a longing to see Paul. This is great news, and speaks to the desire to repent or to turn back to Paul with love. This consolation and turn to Paul is a process of grieving that leads to a renewal of relationships.
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