Fellowship Around the Table
Great conversations about life, faith, and the Bible from Fellowship Bible Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma (www.fbctulsa.org).
Fellowship Around the Table
Esther: A Queen's Bravery and God's Hand w/ Scott L. Johnson (Part 3 of 3)
Discover the power of bravery as we wrap up our journey through the book of Esther, joined by the insightful Scott L. Johnson. Our final episode revisits the dramatic beginnings of a Persian beauty contest and unveils the rise of a queen who takes courageous steps to save her people. From the grandeur of royal banquets to Mordecai's defiance and a queen's perilous choice, we traverse a tale that intertwines divine timing with human courage.
Venture into a night where a king's insomnia triggers a twist of irony, with Scott offering his perspective on the complexities that unfold. We're amused by the thought of historical records as a sleep aid, yet captivated by the ripple effect of a king's concern for an overlooked hero. The narrative's rich detail paints a vivid picture of ego and irony as we witness Haman's pride turned to humiliation and a queen's cunning strategy to save her people.
The episode concludes with a thoughtful reflection on the authorship, themes, and cultural nuances of Esther, pondering the divine orchestration of events. We also pay tribute to Jeff Bennett, who had a passion for our Impact classes. His legacy, much like the stories we've explored, leaves a lasting impression on our hearts and minds, and this finale is dedicated to the friendship he generously shared.
You are listening to Fellowship Around the Table.
Heath Casey:Welcome back to Fellowship Around the Table and your host today, heath Casey, and we are in week three with Scott L Johnson.
Scott L. Johnson:Hey Heath In the book of Esther, a Scott Ready to go.
Heath Casey:I'm excited. Yep, me too. The conclusion here we're going to bring this in for a landing. That's right. Can you catch us up again and we'll be right in the story.
Scott L. Johnson:So at the beginning King Xerxes, also known as Ahashveresh, has a big meeting basically with a bunch of his governing officials and military advisors and supervisors, and at the end of that he has this week long drunken party for all the men in the city. Right, sounds like a fantastic idea. And at the end of that he asks his queen Vashti, who apparently was very attractive, to come and kind of show herself off. We don't know exactly what that meant, right, but whatever it meant, she basically says I'm not coming to your drunken party to show myself off.
Scott L. Johnson:He flies into a rage which we've looked at, that word and that word really finds its way into several verses in this book. It's heat, anger and personal offense, indignation. And so he asks his advisors what he should do, and they suggest that he banish Queen Vashti and issue an edict that the man is the boss of the house, basically. And so they do that. And then he feels sad that he doesn't have a queen and they say, well, hey, let's have a contest, let's sort of scoop up all the attractive young women and bring them into the harem and give them beauty treatments for one year.
Heath Casey:Yeah.
Scott L. Johnson:Can't imagine what that entailed. And then, whoever pleases the king the most you can pick as the queen. So Esther gets brought into the palace and she goes through that process, and we talked about this. This is pretty uncomfortable. We talked about this, I think, the first session, but when the women left to go see the king, they came from the part of the harem they had been living in, but when they were finished with the king on an overnight visit, they returned to where the concubines stay, which is a clear indication that there was some intimacy going on with the king. In any event, esther wins his affections and he likes her better than everybody else, and so he names her the queen. And at the end of chapter two, mordecai, who is her cousin, who has raised her as if he were her father, hears about a plot to assassinate the king. And so the king finds this to be true, he investigates it, finds it to be true, he has these two guys executed, which means they were killed and then impaled on long, sharpened wooden poles and sort of hoisted up for display. I picture them being propped up at an angle, so the bodies are kind of up in the air.
Scott L. Johnson:One really important feature is that Esther and Mordecai are both Jews. They're in Persia, as you were pointing out, that week, when they probably should have returned or they could have returned, but they haven't, along with a number of others. And Mordecai has strictly instructed Esther not to tell anyone that she's a Jew. So nobody in the palace, the king, doesn't know it, nobody there knows it, nobody knows Mordecai is the Jew because he shares that information. And so then we get to Haman.
Scott L. Johnson:Haman somehow rises in the king's view to be his number two man, and Haman has a thing against the Jews. And so the king has basically ordered that everyone should bow down to Haman. He's my number one guy besides me. Basically is the king's position. And as everyone else bows down, mordecai does not. He purposely stands, does not bow down, and Haman goes into a rage.
Scott L. Johnson:The same word. He's hot, angry, personally offended, and he's really powerful. So he goes to the king and he says king, there's a people group living in your kingdom who have their own set of laws. Further, they don't observe your laws and it's not in your best interest to let them live, so we should have them exterminated. And one thing that's really interesting there, I think Heath, is when he says they have their own laws, that's completely true. The Jews do have their own laws. When he says they don't follow your laws, that's really patently false and we know that from so many other instances where the Jews were living in another land. So we don't believe that for a minute. But the king seems to be rather careless to me in this situation and he kind of says to Haman yeah, do whatever you want.
Scott L. Johnson:He gives him a signet ring which is basically a rubber stamp. Haman issues an edict that says that everybody can kill the Jews 11 months later and take all their stuff. And of course everybody's really confused. So Mordecai puts on sackcloth, burlap basically, and ashes, and he's wailing and weeping in the streets and Esther becomes aware of this. Esther has no idea about this proclamation and so she sends a new suit, a new set of clothes to Mordecai, I think, to sort of cheer him up. He returns it and says I can't wear it. And he sends a copy of the edict and says you've got to go to the king. And she writes back to him via messenger and says I can't go to the king because he hasn't summoned me for 30 days and if I go uninvited I'm probably going to be put to death. That's a law. And so Mordecai writes back the famous phrase that we've seen before, which is if you don't go, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another source.
Scott L. Johnson:And who knows, but you have come to your royal position for just such a time as this. So she receives that message and she sends back a message that says I'll do it, but I'm going too fast for three days and I need you and everyone you know to also fast for three days. And up until that point it's so interesting because it says Esther has been doing everything Mordecai instructed her to do. And now it says Mordecai set out to do everything Esther instructed him to do Now so he's going to fast, he's going to get all of his friends and all the Jews to fast. And it's also interesting we touched on this last time there's a word conspicuously absent from that they're going to fast, but it doesn't say they're going to pray.
Scott L. Johnson:And in our way of thinking it's always prayer and fasting, fasting and prayer. Those two are linked together so often that the absence of the word pray is really quite conspicuous. I don't think that means that they didn't pray, and so we'll talk about that at the end of our session today. So they do all this. The queen shows up unannounced. I'm guessing it was, let's say, 75 feet plus or minus from the throne to the other end of the room that the throne was in. Where she appears in the doorway, she's all made up in her royal attire. The king sees her. I'm positive he was extremely intrigued because nobody does this. I mean, who's going to show up there at the risk of their own life? So he holds out the golden scepter to her, which is an indication that he's spared her life, and he says what do you want Up to half my kingdom? She says I want you and Heyman to come to a banquet tonight. The king is clearly excited because he says hurry up and get Heyman so we can go do as Esther has asked. They go to the banquet and they have a nice time, and this is while they're drinking wine.
Scott L. Johnson:The king says again to Esther what do you want up to half my kingdom. And she says and this is really a key point for me, I don't know that it's. I don't think this point gets much attention, but I find this fascinating because as long as I've thought about this book and tried to put myself in Esther's shoes which would be difficult because I have large feet as much as I tried to put myself in Esther's shoes, I could come up with two options. In that moment my heart's pounding. The king's asking me what do I really want? I know I'm there to tell him about the evil Haman and the proclamation he's issued in the king's name. But my options A are to go ahead and tell him spill the beans, but I'm accusing his number one man. Option B is I get cold feet and I abort and I just say I just wanted to see you for dinner.
Scott L. Johnson:I just haven't seen you for a while. I just told Esther in such high regard. She comes up with a third option here which I just don't think. Whatever have occurred to me. And what she says is if it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come again tomorrow night to another banquet, and I think she has this king in the palm of her hand. I think, he's already intrigued. She's risked her life to invite him to dinner. How often does he get an invitation? I mean, he's the guy calling the shots.
Scott L. Johnson:He doesn't get surprise invitations, and so I think this is fantastic for him and his mind and I think this just ups it. It just raises everything to a whole new level of wow. This is just really neat.
Heath Casey:Yeah, and I think we touched on it a little bit last time. But the wisdom there to read the room and know this wasn't the right spot.
Scott L. Johnson:Right, that's exactly right. And so she buys 24 hours having no conceivable, possible, imaginable idea how important that's going to be, which we're going to talk about in this session. Right and so.
Heath Casey:Here come those fingerprints.
Scott L. Johnson:Yes, that's exactly right and to your point. God's name is never mentioned in any form in this book, but his fingerprints are all over it and this is chapter five, which we covered last time in chapter six, which we'll cover next, are the most obvious example of God's fingerprints being all over it. So one thing we touched on last time too is Heath. When you can't sleep, what might you do?
Heath Casey:Read. We talked about reading.
Scott L. Johnson:Talked about reading.
Heath Casey:I might listen to a podcast, but something like that.
Scott L. Johnson:Yeah, we're going to come back to that. We're going to recall the idea that if you can't sleep, you might read. That's one of the things you might do, and we're going to see that in action right here. So Haman leaves this first banquet and he's really super happy until he sees Mordecai once again not bowing to him. He gets home, he has a bunch of his friends over and his wife and he basically boasts about his fabulous wealth, his 10 wonderful sons, the fact that he's the second only to the king and that he's the only one invited to this banquet with the queen. And he goes on to say and that's not all, I've been invited again to another banquet tomorrow night.
Scott L. Johnson:And then, if you remember how we closed last time, he says all this means nothing, it's wild, or it does mean no good. As long as I have to see Mordecai the Jew not bowing to me, basically, wow. So it's unbelievable to me. This man really does have everything you could imagine on earth in that place and time. And it means nothing, he says, as long as he has to see Mordecai the Jew. So his wife says well, here you know, impaling is the way we put people to death, make a super giant pole, 75 feet long, and in the morning have Mordecai killed and impale him and put his body up there so everyone can see it. And Haman thinks that sounds like a great idea. So he goes out to see the king in the wee hours of the morning. The king is there and that is about where we're going to pick up in chapter six.
Heath Casey:Okay, Now in chapter six, like you said, where we're at now, it's one of your favorite parts of the story. It really is. Tell us why.
Scott L. Johnson:So let's start at the beginning of chapter six, okay, and we'll get right into it. So there's just so much heath that happens in chapter six and the funny thing is I can cover and we'll do this in a minute. I can cover chapter seven, eight and nine really in about three words. Okay, so we'll get there. But chapter six is packed with really super interesting stuff. So six one says throughout that night the king was unable to sleep. So what might you do if you can't sleep? Maybe you read. You might read. He didn't have podcasts to listen to then, right, that wasn't there yet. So he decides to read. But here's the hilarious thing he's the king. He doesn't have to read himself. He has people that do that for him, of course. Right. So he summons an aid and he asked for the book containing the historical records to be brought.
Heath Casey:And it says, as the records were being read in the king's presence yeah, and to that point, if I'm going to read to fall asleep, I'm definitely going to read dry, boring history, right.
Scott L. Johnson:Right, right, or like. I like to read a book that has. It doesn't require me to have the whole thing in my mind. Yes, like, so I can read a few pages at a time and it's interesting and it's satisfying.
Heath Casey:I can put it down and I can come back to it a couple nights later. I can see you with just a pile of like technical manuals.
Scott L. Johnson:Well, let's not get carried away, let's not get carried away. But so the king has the record brought and the records being read in the king's presence. I just love the fact that he doesn't have to read for himself because he's the king Now, somehow. If you remember how long has gone between the time Esther was made queen and now Was it four years, five, five. Okay, the first part of the book, between the banquet and Esther's coronation, is four years.
Heath Casey:Okay.
Scott L. Johnson:Another five years have gone by. Wow. So we're you know, like, between the beginning of chapter one and the end of chapter two, four years go by. It's a sort of astonishing. And now five more years have gone by. So five years worth of history has been written in these books. Wow, but somehow, by coincidence, right? Sure Not, I mean, god's fingerprints are right here. So the book is opened to the very story about how Mordecai saved the king's life and reported this conspiracy to kill him. So as the records are being read, it says in chapter six two, it was found written that Mordecai had disclosed that Big Thana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs who guarded the entrance, had plotted to assassinate King Ahasuerus. The king asked what great honor was bestowed on Mordecai because of this. The king's attendants who served him responded not a thing was done for him. So it's interesting to me that this king, who I find, generally speaking, pretty self-centered, asks what did we do for that?
Heath Casey:guy.
Scott L. Johnson:And the assistant says we didn't do anything for him. Okay, so now God enters again. He's going to be here the whole time in this chapter. The king said who's that in the courtyard Now? Haman had come to the outer courtyard of the palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows. We know this really means to kill him and impale him on the pole that he had erected or constructed for him. The king's attendant said to him it's Haman who's standing in the courtyard. The king said let him enter. So Haman came in and the king said to him what should be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor. It says Haman thought to himself. Now I want to pause right there, because my initial reason for teaching this book is that what we just read is extremely unusual in scripture. It's extremely unusual in anything where the subject that we're talking about is not part of the authorship, and it is Haman thought to himself. How does the author know that?
Heath Casey:Wow, I've never seen that Right. How does the author know that? And we?
Scott L. Johnson:don't know how the author knows that, except that we know that all scripture is inspired by God. This isn't the only place in the scriptures where it says somebody thought this to himself, but here we're told that Haman thought this to himself, which I find just fascinating, and that is a rare find in any sort of actual historical record, and we have that here in the book of Esther. So Haman thinks to himself well, who is it the king would want to honor more than me?
Scott L. Johnson:Right, so he thinks the king's asking him how would you like me to honor you? Okay, so he goes over the top. So let's really soak this in. Haman said to the king for the man whom the king wishes to honor, let them bring royal attire, which the king himself has worn Like. Look at that little detail, not just one that's in the closet ready for you, but one that you've worn. So the person wearing this is going to touch royalty in a sense.
Scott L. Johnson:They're going to wear the same garment that you've worn and a horse on which the king himself has ridden, one bearing the royal insignia. So again, not just one of the king's horses, but one that you have yourself ridden on. Let this clothing and this horse be given to one of the king's noble officials. So we're not just going to give it to the man the king wants to honor. Let it be given to his noble official. Let him, the noble official, clothe the man whom the king wishes to honor and let him lead him through the plaza of the city on the horse calling before him. So shall it be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor. So it's not just let him do this, it's have an official, someone high up in the kingdom, lead him around and acknowledge him.
Heath Casey:I mean we see his ego when there's frustration with his intense anger with Mordecai. We do.
Scott L. Johnson:Wow, wow, what an ego. Yes, what an ego. And can you imagine? Let's enter Heyman's mind here for a moment. He's got to be giddy right, Because he came to ask to have Mordecai stuck up on this thing and all of a sudden, if you're Heyman, you're thinking oh wow, the king really wants to honor me Like this is really fantastic.
Heath Casey:It's interesting too. We talked about the risk of going to the king unannounced. Yes, his anger has driven him to take a risk. I mean he feels confident that the king's going to let him kill Mordecai. Right, still right. He kind of overlooks that risk in some sense because of his anger was driving him so wild. Yes, because he goes to see the king.
Scott L. Johnson:Yeah, yep, okay. So I want let's stay in Heyman's mind here for a moment. The king said to Heyman go quickly. Now once again here, go quickly. And by the way, in a couple of other versions it says something like excellent, quick. So, like the king is thrilled with Heyman's suggestion, he thinks this over the top stuff is. This is perfect. The king says to Heyman go quickly, take the clothing and the horse just as you have described. Now remember you're Heyman. Yeah, and do just as you indicated to Mordecai the Jew. All right, now what are you thinking if you're Heyman at this moment?
Heath Casey:I can't. Imagine.
Scott L. Johnson:I think what do you think? I think he's thinking what, what just happened? What just happened Like, how on earth did that happen? Right Go and do everything you said to Mordecai the Jew said to the kingscape, and get this. Don't neglect a single thing of all that you've said. Or, in another version, make sure you do everything you suggested.
Scott L. Johnson:The king is delighted with the detail that Heyman has the clothing you've worn, or is that you've written? Let the noble clothe him with it and let the noble lead him around the city shouting this is what the king does to delight the man he wishes to honor. I mean, it went from being this is the best day to this is my worst nightmare. Of course, the king has no idea. So 611, Heath is even more packed. Okay, 611 is even more packed.
Scott L. Johnson:Heyman took the clothing and the horse and he clothed Mordecai. Let's pause there for a moment. All right, If you're clothing somebody, okay, let's just get a picture of this a man standing there, you're removing the clothes he has on let's just say down to his undergarments, probably, and then you're putting other garments on him. Is there a word that describes that sort of relationship that might come to your mind? I'm putting on this spot here again. I don't know. I would suggest servant. Oh well, of course, All right. So Mordecai, who has Haman in a rage of anger, heat, indignation, poison, is now being served by Haman, Literally. He's literally dressing him, Wow. So he's taking the sackcloth off, presumably he's wearing the sackcloth still, and he's putting the king's royal robe, which he imagined was going to be going on him.
Heath Casey:Right.
Scott L. Johnson:He's now putting it on, the one man who is the cause of all this other stuff, meaning nothing, or does him, does does me no good. Remember the quotes he had from chapter five the man who's the cause of all that he is now serving, and it's going to get worse. Okay, so he clothed Mordecai. He let him about on the horse throughout the plaza of the city. I want you to think about this. He gets Mordecai up on the horse. Have you ever ridden a horse? Yes, okay, I have too. How high are you when you're riding a horse? It's always surprising. You're way up there. Yeah, you are up there. Okay, so Haman is ticked that Mordecai will not bow down to him. Now I want you to picture. Mordecai is sitting up on the horse. I'm guessing his head is seven to eight feet off the ground something like that, and Haman is leading the horse around.
Scott L. Johnson:So not only is he serving Mordecai and dressing him, mordecai is now physically towering over Haman as Haman acknowledges him, leading him through the city. You see, it's a mind boggling juxtaposition and it's happened for Haman essentially in an instant, in one conversation. That's happened.
Heath Casey:Wow.
Scott L. Johnson:So the mental image of that is just fascinating to me. And he leads him around calling before him so shall it be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor. So those two verses, six 10 and six 11, are just packed with stuff. That is, if you just climb into Haman's mind a little bit, it's just astonishing.
Heath Casey:And I think it's fascinating what leads up to these events, like the way you've been laying this out and the fact that Esther went with option C, correct and to me the king's giddy, which I almost infer is why he couldn't sleep he was so excited about the next night. It could be, it could be.
Scott L. Johnson:It could very well be, I don't know. It's just funny. Somebody else, I think in a class that I taught just last month, suggested that Okay, and that thought had never occurred to me before. One of the women in that class suggested it, and you've suggested it today. It could very well be, and isn't that? Even add a little more intrigue to the whole thing, however, it doesn't tell us what the king was thinking.
Heath Casey:No no.
Scott L. Johnson:But the fact that he can't sleep. And Esther, when Esther goes for option C, she cannot have any clue how important that's going to be.
Heath Casey:No, it's almost like a stall technique, you know, just to find the right moment yes, Like just a delay.
Scott L. Johnson:Exactly, she doesn't know, she has no idea. And it turns out that God is going to use that one extra day to bring all of this about. Wow. So yeah, God's fingerprints are everywhere. I think if we dusted off in the Bible we'd see his fingerprints. We'd be able to see him right there, Okay. So Mordecai, it says, sat again at the Kingsgate and Haman hurried away to his home mournful and with a veil over his head. So he has been shamed. I don't know how he could be any more shamed. Right, and he goes. I mean, if you think about it, he goes from top of the hill. He just knows the king is talking about him.
Heath Casey:Yeah.
Scott L. Johnson:And in an instant he finds out everything he suggested he's now going to have to do himself for his arch enemy, who the king has no idea is his arch enemy, mordecai. And now he dresses him as if he's a servant and he leads him around on a horse where Mordecai is physically towering over him the whole time. Wow, so quite fascinating. Haman gets home and he relates to his wife and his friends everything that happened to him. It says these wise men, along with his wife Sarah, said to him if indeed this Mordecai before him, whom you have begun to fall as Jewish, you will not prevail against him. No, you will surely fall before him. I think this is fascinating because they say here, if he's.
Scott L. Johnson:Jewish, you're not going to win. Did they know he was Jewish?
Heath Casey:I mean the king did. He said to do this to Mordecai the Jew.
Scott L. Johnson:Yes, and so let's go back to 513 for just a moment. Okay, because in 513 is when he's recounting to him all his how wonderful his life is, his sons, his money and all this stuff.
Scott L. Johnson:Oh yes 513 says all this means nothing as long as I have to see Mordecai the Jew. So apparently the night before when he said Mordecai the Jew, it just went over their heads. Okay, it was. They weren't paying attention. They didn't see any gravity to the situation. Nobody could see what was going to be coming overnight. So they knew the night before Mordecai was a Jew. But I'm thinking this, nobody noticed it, they just weren't paying any attention. But now now they say, a little late, mordecai is a Jew, you'll never prevail against him.
Heath Casey:What do you think's the their inference there?
Scott L. Johnson:I think the God of Israel has some kind of a reputation doesn't he always? I mean, he always has some kind of a reputation and I think he has a reputation there.
Heath Casey:But they must know that the edict that Haman got passed.
Scott L. Johnson:Oh, they have to know which is to exterminate that people group.
Heath Casey:Yeah, it's a great question, Interesting. Yeah.
Scott L. Johnson:Like how do they get to this point without someone saying to him that's a bad idea? Yeah.
Scott L. Johnson:I don't know that's a great question. Keep in mind too that when he says to the king back in chapter three I think it is that there's these people that have their own laws that don't obey your laws, he never tells the king it's the Jews Correct? And the king is so careless he doesn't ask. That's a good point. He just says, yeah, whatever, go ahead and do with them whatever you want. Yeah, but he's never said that to the king. So here we are, okay. So chapter six ends. It says while they were still speaking with him, the king's eunuchs arrived. They quickly brought Haman to the bank with the ester had prepared. So he can't even finish commiserating and it's time to go to dinner. And they're like, hey, come on, we got to go, let's go. Wow, haman still at this moment has no idea who ester is.
Heath Casey:Right.
Scott L. Johnson:Right, other than being the queen, of course, he has no idea she's a Jew more specifically. So he's going to go to this dinner. He's probably pondering all this. He's concerned, very concerned. Yeah, I'm guessing he gets the dinner thinking at least I've got, I don't have to worry about it for a little while, right, because I've got nice dinner with the king and ester. It was great last night. It's going to be great again tonight. This is good. Give a little more time to process all this is my guess.
Heath Casey:Now on to chapter seven. We're getting toward the end of the book and we're at the second banquet.
Scott L. Johnson:Correct. So the king and Haman came to dine with Queen Esther and on the second day, while they were drinking wine, the king asked ester, what's your request? Queen ester, it shall be granted to you. And what's your petition? Up to half the kingdom, the same verbiage. This is the third time he said it, because he said it when she appeared when he was on his throne. He said it at the first banquet and he's going to say it again now, at the second banquet. Let's climb into Haman's head again here for a minute. And the kings, but especially Haman's, she says if I have met with your approval, O king, and if the king is so inclined, grant me my life as my request and my people as my petition, for we have been sold, both I and my people, to destruction and slaughter and annihilation. Now, if you're the king listening to this, what's going through your mind? Confusion.
Heath Casey:I think, I think so I think that's exactly right. Like what it feels, like it's coming out of left feeling what, what?
Scott L. Johnson:We have this banquet. We had a banquet last night. It's a nice banquet tonight. What are you talking about? Right, if you're Haman, I'm not sure you've connected the dots yet. Yes, because you don't know that Esther is a Jew yet, and you know this proclamation, but it's probably seems like a distant memory today. Yeah, based on everything that's happened these last couple of days, you're not really focused on that, I'm guessing. Sure, so I'm thinking Haman finds this troubling and maybe he's starting to put the dots together, but I'm guessing he's going to take a minute to arrive. Okay, so she says we've been sold to slaughter and annihilation. If we'd been simply been sold as male and female slaves, I would have remained silent, for such distress would not have been sufficient for troubling the king. Now, I doubt she would have remained silent there. She really doesn't have to worry about what she would have done, because that's not the circumstance, but just notice how deferential she is.
Scott L. Johnson:She continues to be very deferential to the king's position. I mean, she really understands her role and she really understands, I think, her audience. Yeah, and she just plays this perfectly. So King Ahasuerus responds to Queen Esther who is this individual? Where is this person to be found, who is presumptuous enough to act in this way? Esther replied the oppressor and enemy is this evil Haman? Wow, so for the first time, yes, yes, exactly, that would come right after Haman. So there's an evil Haman. So now Haman, he knows he's toast. Basically, wow.
Scott L. Johnson:So Haman, it says, became terrified in the presence of the king and queen. I can imagine that in rage, same word again. The king arose from the banquet of wine, or left his wine and withdrew to the palace garden. Meanwhile, haman stood to beg Queen Esther for his life, for he realized the king had now determined a catastrophic end for him. When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet of wine, haman was throwing himself down on the couch where Esther was lying. This is interesting because I think it's clear that Haman is begging for his life. He knows he's really done it, he knows he's really stuck his head all the way into the news. And the king exclaims will he attempt to rape the queen while I'm still in the building? I think that was pretty far from Haman's mind, but the king looks at this and that's just kind of how he spouts off about it.
Scott L. Johnson:I guess we would say so. As these words left the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. Harbona, one of the king's eunuchs, said indeed, there is the pole that Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke out in the king's behalf. It stands near Haman's home and is 75 feet high. The king says impale him on it. So they impaled Haman on the very pole that he had prepared for Mordecai. The king's rage then abated. So chapter seven is fairly short, but it just has to do with this banquet, basically what happens there.
Heath Casey:I never noticed the pole. He put it by his house.
Scott L. Johnson:I mean going back to this guy.
Heath Casey:Yes, oh my goodness the ego, Isn't that the truth?
Scott L. Johnson:And 75 feet high Teeth that's 12 and a half times my height. I mean we talked about this last time, but it's like a five or six story building. Basically five or six story commercial building is about how high that is. That's really up there.
Heath Casey:Well, you've said you can teach chapters eight, nine succinctly. How so?
Scott L. Johnson:I think I can describe eight, nine and three words.
Heath Casey:Are we playing name that tune? I can name that tune in four notes.
Scott L. Johnson:So here's the first word he, the. Oh. No, that's not very helpful, is it? Let me give you the second word the Jews. The Jews, win, win.
Heath Casey:Okay, that's summary of chapters eight and nine.
Scott L. Johnson:So eight and nine are interesting, but if I'm being honest about it, just for myself, they're not as interesting as the rest of the book, because God has set everything in motion and now it just plays out to its obvious conclusion it's inexorable conclusion. Okay, there isn't any more. Someone has to wake up in the middle of the night. They recorded this thing five years earlier. There's just no more of that. That's done. And basically Mordecai and Esther come to the queen. He now knows that she's Jewish. Clearly he's fine with it. Because of what happens in the rest of the book. He gives the signet ring which he's taken back from Haman to Mordecai. So now Mordecai is number two in the kingdom and he basically says do what you need to do. I'm just going to summarize this because we can summarize this pretty quickly and pretty succinctly. He basically says do what you need to do Now.
Scott L. Johnson:They can't repeal the edict already written, and I listened back to our first podcast and I love you said something like isn't that kind of a flaw in their system? And I think it is. I mean, but that's how it was. Even the king can't change his own mind. So he basically says to Mordecai do whatever you need to do so. They write another proclamation. It goes out in the script and language like we talked before of all these different people and it basically says the Jews are authorized, on that same date, to act first. They can defend themselves, but it has the effect of saying you can make the first move. So there wasn't a direct repeal?
Heath Casey:No, there was not and they couldn't they weren't allowed to do.
Scott L. Johnson:That, that's right, yeah. So they issue a proclamation that's sort of I guess you could say it's sort of neuters. The other one, it sort of knocks the strength out of it by empowering, legally, empowering the Jews to make the first move. And they do, and so they strike their enemies and they kill hundreds in the city and thousands out in the country, and the reports come in of what's happened, and so we see all this kind of play out.
Scott L. Johnson:There are several things that I like to highlight in this part of the book, and so I'm going to do that. But I want to do that, heath, besides just saying the Jews win, and they win decisively. So this is over. And, by the way, this leads to the Feast of Purim, which is named for the Pur or the lot that they cast, and, if I understand it right, they read the Book of Esther each time. They enjoy a meal together, in fellowship with friends, they provide gifts or meals for the poor, and maybe there may be another element. I know you have done studies on the Feast of Israel. Am I missing anything?
Heath Casey:It's definitely more celebrated in the Middle East yes, certain areas than it is outside, outside, outside of that Right by Jews here for example. Yeah, because it's not one of the seven decreed Feasts in Leviticus by God, but this is a longstanding tradition. Yes, not unlike Hanukkah, which most people don't realize was called the Feast of Dedication, and in John 10, jesus goes to the Feast of Dedication. How cool, yeah. So it's a tradition. It's a celebration of a great victory, yeah.
Scott L. Johnson:That's exactly what it is, which is common within people, groups and nations and, clearly, if it was initiated here by Mordecai and Esther, which it was, it postdates Leviticus by a long, long, long time, oh yeah.
Heath Casey:Yeah, scott, I do think it's interesting in this time period that God has put in the canon that clearly, with the Babylonians being the world power and now the Persians, that we consistently see him putting heck, let's go back to Egypt, with Joseph, yes, consistently putting his people in these number two spots yeah and yes, oh. I find that fascinating.
Scott L. Johnson:It gives me goosebumps. It gives me goosebumps and the fact that throughout the Old Testament although it's rarely our focus he talks about all nations being blessed or all people's being blessed through his chosen people.
Heath Casey:Yeah, and I have no doubt that that's continued, even though we don't get the confirmation from Scripture all throughout, even our time, right, I love this bumper sticker.
Scott L. Johnson:It says my boss is a Jewish carpenter. I love that one. I mean, ultimately, our savior is Jewish, which I think a lot of Christians, maybe even more American Christians, tend to forget. Like Jesus was a Jew among Jews. That's right, yeah. I want to bring out a few points along the lines of who wrote the book.
Scott L. Johnson:We don't know who wrote the book, and so I promised we'd come back to that at the end of the book and we're going to look at that carefully in chapter 10, which is only three verses, but for right now let me bring some things out. So, chapter 8, verse 16, when all this, when the Jews are winning, and all this, they get the upper hand, it says for the Jews there was radiant happiness and joyous honor. Now, when we read that heath, does it sound like the author identifies with the Jews?
Heath Casey:No, it sounds like he's talking about a people group.
Scott L. Johnson:Yes, it's very third party.
Heath Casey:Yeah.
Scott L. Johnson:It's very for them. There was radiant happiness and joyous honor. 817,. I love this. Many of the resident peoples depending on the translation, it may say pretended to be Jews or it may say, became Jews because the fear of the Jews had overcome them. Wow, so not only did they fear the Jews now, but they became Jews Now. Once again, no mention of God. They didn't fear God. According to the author, right, they feared the Jews or they became Jews. Okay, so we have that which I find fascinating.
Scott L. Johnson:If we jump up to chapter 9, verse 2, it says no one was able to stand before the Jews, for the dread of them fell on all the peoples. Again, it's third party dread of those people fell on everybody else. 9.3. All the officials, the satraps, the governors and those who performed the king's business were assisting the Jews, for the dread of Mordecai had fallen on them. Not the dread of God is the way it's written Right, but the dread of Mordecai. But again, does it sound like the author personal identifies with the Jews? No, it really does not. It does not. Then we get down to a little note here. In chapter 9, verse 7, 8, 9, and 10, it says they also killed and it names the 10 sons of Haman. For some reason it takes three verses to name all the sons. I'm not sure why. Because, like you think about some, the verse where Esther said the message back to Mordecai is four or five sentences in one verse.
Heath Casey:But, here.
Scott L. Johnson:There's only three names in one of the verses. So it names the sons and in 9 10, says they killed the 10 sons of Haman, son of Hamadotha, the enemy of the Jews, but they did not confiscate their property. Now, if you bounce down to 9 13, when Esther and Mordecai go to the king and he says what else do you want? She says Let them hang the 10 sons of Haman on the gallows. Now again, we know that's really. Let them impale them on the poles Right. But this is further evidence. They were killed the day before.
Scott L. Johnson:They weren't killed by being impaled or hanged, which I think is just a really bad translation. They were already dead, and so what she's asking for is permission to impale and display the bodies on the sharpened poles because they're already gone. So we're going to bounce forward to 9 22. Okay, they celebrate these days what becomes Purim 9 22 as the time when the Jews gave themselves rest from their enemies. Now does this sound like someone who's Jewish writing this.
Heath Casey:No.
Scott L. Johnson:It really doesn't to me. Now, it could have been, and I'll explain what. Some of the what one of the theories is there, but this person sounds like not only are they not talking about their own people group, but they're talking about these people with no knowledge of their God is really how it sounds like the author is writing this following that in 9 22, the month when their trouble was turned to happiness and their morning to a holiday, doesn't say when God turned their trouble to happiness. It just says when their trouble turned to happiness. So many things in this book are written where it seems to me the author has to go out of his or her way to write God out of it. Even the verse where Mordecai sends the message to Esther and he says if you don't act, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place. Wouldn't it have been easier to say God will deliver the Jews?
Heath Casey:Yes, yes.
Scott L. Johnson:But he says it will arise like this I don't even know what, I don't know how to describe that in terms of English grammar, but it's like this sort of thing this unseen, unspoken, unnamed force is going to step in and do something, but he never. He never says that and the author goes to great pains, he or she, to really avoid that. So I find lots of references in here that sound like the author does not personally identify with the Jews. And let's look at chapter 10, which is very short. Chapter 10, verse 1, just says King Ahasuerus then imposed forced labor on the land and the coast lands of the sea. How interesting is that? From a Jewish perspective, it's not is it?
Scott L. Johnson:So that doesn't sound like someone who's Jewish. It sounds like someone who's Persian, basically, doesn't it? It sounds like the author is more affiliated with the king than he is the Jewish people.
Scott L. Johnson:But it's a short, very short 10-2. It says now, all the actions carried out under his authority and his great achievements, along with an exact statement concerning the greatness of Mordecai whom the king promoted, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia? So again, we don't have any real reference. We're really talking about the greatness of the king and all the great stuff he did, with the mention of the greatness of Mordecai, but the person really seems focused on wrapping this up with a bow about the king More than Mordecai. Then 10-3, and I want you to think again as I'm reading this, about whether it sounds like it was written by a Jew. I'm not saying that it wasn't, and I'll explain that in a minute, but it doesn't sound like it was.
Scott L. Johnson:So 10-3, mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus. He was the highest ranking Jew and he was admired by his numerous relatives. He worked enthusiastically for the good of his people and was an advocate for the welfare of all of his descendants. It just sounds very once removed. Right, as an observer, not as a participant in that people group, is how it comes across to me. One other little clue about the authorship of the book is way back to chapter one, really Way back to chapter one, and this is the sort of thing I know, heath, you would draw out if you were teaching this book. Okay, so I just want to pay you a little homage there because.
Scott L. Johnson:I know this is the sort of thing you would draw out. Chapter one, verses one and two the following events happen in the days of Ahasuerus and then in parentheses are sort of off to the side. He says I'm referring to that Ahasuerus, who used to rule. So this is written after the king is no longer ruling. Who used to rule over 127 provinces. In the chapter one, verse two in those days, as King Ahasuerus said on his royal throne. So this is written some, probably a decade or more, after the events actually happened.
Scott L. Johnson:It seems clear it had to be written by someone who was there or in close proximity at the time. Here's the two possibilities that I see for the authorship, none of which affects our salvation you know the gospel and none of which is really very terribly important. It's just kind of interesting, very interesting. So number one is it could have been a person. It could have been a person who was present or close to the events when they happened. That would have had significant firsthand knowledge. And if you think about all the references in the scriptures to all the nations and all the peoples being blessed, would it not be cool that a non-Jew wrote a book that made it into the Bible. I mean, I honestly just think that would be really cool. It wouldn't be. The only one Was Luke. We just don't know.
Heath Casey:It seems like it's plausible that Luke was a Gentile, but it's not certain, yeah.
Scott L. Johnson:So we could say it might not be the only one. Sure, okay. Or the other theory is that it was written by Jews, but they were very intentional keeping God's name out of it, perhaps because they were afraid that if they put God in the way, they might want to have that when the Persians absorbed this into their record, they would have changed it to one or more of the Persian gods, not wanting the Hebrew God to be featured prominently in their own record.
Heath Casey:Yeah.
Scott L. Johnson:So maybe it was written by a Jew who could be more of the one. It could be Mordecai and Esther, for example. They could have written it. Mordecai could have written it. Another Jew who was there at the time and was familiar with the events could have written it. But maybe it was written by a Jew who was very intentional and surgically excised even before it made it to paper any reference to God.
Scott L. Johnson:The coolest speculation I think came from a class of little old ladies if I can say that I hope I don't offend any of them that I've taught several times. Yeah, I just taught them this book last month and one of them said maybe it was one of the eunuchs. Wow, think about that because the eunuchs.
Heath Casey:There's a lot of inside information there.
Scott L. Johnson:Yes, they would have been there. Now I don't want anyone listening to this to say Scott said a eunuch wrote the book. I don't know. Yeah, my answer to this is I don't know.
Heath Casey:It does seem like somebody like the kind of historian biographer, because they place dates, they place names. Yes, that in some sense had access to Esther and Mordecai yes In. Haman In the king Right, you go back, and this author feels confident in knowing what Haman thought.
Scott L. Johnson:Yes, yeah, which I think I'm comfortable saying.
Heath Casey:God inspired that part of the text, the whole thing right.
Scott L. Johnson:Yeah, so, but I find the idea of a eunuch particularly intriguing, because all the details of how Esther got there could have been filled in by Esther and Mordecai later. To a person who was otherwise present for the banquet and was attending the king or was aware of what was happening with the selection process for the queen, I honestly find that like the most intriguing suggestion I've heard. I love it, but the fact is, I really don't have any idea.
Heath Casey:Yeah, and it doesn't change the reality that it's in the canon. That's exactly what the God's fingerprints are all over it.
Scott L. Johnson:That's for darn sure.
Heath Casey:Yeah, I love it yeah.
Scott L. Johnson:That's for darn sure. Okay, so I know, at the end of this book, after talking about the author, I wanted to ask you, now that we've spent three sessions almost three hours, I think, talking about the book. What do you find interesting that has come up in our conversation?
Heath Casey:Oh man, there's just so much more depth and detail than what I remember. I knew the framework of the story had been a while since I'd really gotten into it. I have such admiration for Esther and Mordecai frankly. Yeah, me too, but I'm not one who's terribly bothered by all the cultural sensibilities, just probably an avid history reader. That just doesn't strike me the way. I know it strikes a lot of people.
Scott L. Johnson:Well, I don't think we should allow ourselves to be rubbed wrong by that if this is how God chose to work it out, yeah.
Heath Casey:I think I'm very comfortable with what you just said there. So those kinds of things just don't strike me that way. So I don't have that wall to overcome in this story, if that makes sense.
Scott L. Johnson:I agree.
Heath Casey:It was fun just the stuff you've pulled out in detail along the way that. I don't think I'd seen over the years Just the king's giddiness.
Scott L. Johnson:Yes, get him in comfortably.
Heath Casey:I didn't remember that it's been a year Getting ready for the king and I know we refer to the beauty treatments. This is what the text kind of says, but I do kind of have that big million, my fair ladies story where they had to be Brought up to what it is to be like in the Royal household, culturally, culturally.
Scott L. Johnson:I thought that was an excellent.
Heath Casey:Yeah, that's fascinating and just the big picture. I think one of the reasons I've always thought this story is here is there were probably more Jews that remained in the Persian Empire than went back. Interesting, it refers to those went back in the thousands and a small remnant. Yes and so To hear the story of those who remain and see that God's still at work. Yes, God is Involved even in the world power. You know, like he just gives us those little hints and drops that I'm still in charge of all this.
Scott L. Johnson:That's exactly right. You know something you just said that I find fascinating. I hadn't thought about this before. But if you're a Jew and you're living there and you're established, you're tolerated, except for Heyman, except for this sort of blip on the radar. Yeah, you've made a life, you have a home, you have a business or a family or whatever. How anxious are you to go back and start rebuilding something? I mean in God's economy? Yes, right, I'm all in, but in the realities of day-to-day life, but wait a minute. I'm observing what I know of the law of my people and I'm doing it with the okay, basically, of where I live and and I have a life here.
Heath Casey:Yeah, for those of you know that time period Before, people went back with 70 years and this has happened even past that point. Yeah, so we're maybe 70 90 years in. That's a couple generations that have put down some roots.
Scott L. Johnson:And a lot of them don't know anything else.
Heath Casey:In fact, only the very oldest of them, yeah, would have any idea of what it had been like before that right there were just a couple who went back and saw the temple rebuilt, which is nothing of the glory of Solomon's temple and right wept when they saw it Right they. That's just just a couple, right, yeah now. I just thoroughly enjoyed remembering this story and seeing it in this level of detail and seeing the fingerprints the Fingerprints they're all over.
Scott L. Johnson:They're all over they're all over so many things in this book that are just so fascinating.
Heath Casey:Yeah, and I think to pull it down and think about it in my own practical life. It's such a a great reminder, in a Strengthener of my faith and confidence, that God's fingerprints are in my life like this.
Scott L. Johnson:Yes.
Heath Casey:I love how you brought it out. And you said I said I like to go back and picture Putting myself in their shoes and living their day life. And you said I like to think about the fact that they don't know what's around the corner. Exactly right, we have the whole story in mind even when we're reading it and knowing it's gonna turn out fine.
Heath Casey:They live that moment-to-moment, not knowing that's exactly right and we live our lives every day and there's situation, circumstances that bring anxiety and fear and unknown and we forget. But it's all in God's hands. It's exactly right and this is a great reminder of that. What one thing I like to remember?
Scott L. Johnson:in that situation. He's like when we're in the crucible and we're in the furnace. Yeah, we're really anxious, not sure how it's gonna turn out. One thing has been helpful to be over the years is God does see what's around the corner.
Heath Casey:Mm-hmm.
Scott L. Johnson:We can't see it. Yeah, but when these people were going through it, god could see it. Yeah, and I love to imagine what it looked like to them. I mean Esther showing up uninvited to see the king. I think her heart was about to burst out of her chest. It was something so hard, heyman, when the king says, do everything that you've said to Mordecai the Jew, like, think about the, the turnaround, the complete reversal of fortune that had to go through his mind. But God knows, in our circumstances, as well as esters or or Ruth's or anybody's, that I teach what is around the next quarter. Yeah, he already knows how we're gonna get out of it. He already knows what it's gonna look like at the other end and all that very comforting.
Heath Casey:Yeah, it's a great, great reminder. So what was it that originally made you want to teach Esther?
Scott L. Johnson:The very first thing that I found so intriguing was Heyman thought to himself Okay, the fact that we're told by the author what he thought to himself. Okay that is the exclusive purview of God. Yeah, none of us, unless someone else tells us, can know what another person's thinking. And even when they tell us, we don't know for sure if they're telling us the truth or they're telling us everything. And they're probably not, but somehow the author is inspired by God to say Heyman thought to himself.
Heath Casey:Yeah, and the Hebrew writer is reminds us. I think we could draw all this inference, but he makes it very clear that only God is able to judge the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. That's right, yeah, that's right Now.
Scott L. Johnson:The thing that I find the most fascinating now, having taught it many times now, is this option C that Esther comes up with. I just because I've thought and thought about what would I do if I'm sitting there with the king and Heyman and it's put up or shut up, and those are the only two options I could come up with put up or shut up and she Invents, creates a third option for herself. I think she gets a little cold feet, but she doesn't abandon the man. Yeah, she stays with it, but she buys another 24 hours. And then I get a chill here just talking about it. God Uses that 24 hours in an amazing way. Only God could have brought that about.
Heath Casey:Man, I and this probably a little bit of my personality, but I've been in business situations, probably family, church situations, where you do need to deliver. Some tough news some kind of tough news and I have been in situations where I've read the room and I'm like this isn't the right time. I don't know if that was right or wrong, but it just sense that this isn't the right time or place to remember this, that's right. Maybe it's marriage that teaches you that.
Scott L. Johnson:I think marriage teaches you there's never the right. I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry about that, honey.
Heath Casey:All right, I think. Lastly, scott, what else have you discovered in this book that keeps you energized about and just wanting to teach it again and again, and again?
Scott L. Johnson:Just so many little things. He the fact that Mordecai discovers the plot it's written in the book the fact that the king can't sleep but he has people that read for him. He doesn't have to read himself. He asked for the book to be brought. It just happens to open. Ha ha, just happens to open there.
Heath Casey:It just happens it just that could be a great Sub title of this whole book, yeah, so happens, but also even the fact that the Jews, from the authors apparent Perspective, are a third party.
Scott L. Johnson:The author does not appear ever to personally identify with the Jewish people. They're always written about as those people and there's just so many things like that in here that I just find quite Fascinating. And, like I said, you know I can get behind on teaching this and the people I'm teaching it to like We'll have one more session, and they're like are we gonna be able to finish? I'm like we're gonna be able to finish the chapters eight, nine are the Jews win right, we can go right to chapter 10.
Heath Casey:Yeah, I love it. This was fun. Yeah, I've thoroughly enjoyed it, as always. As always, thank you. I Ready to do this again.
Scott L. Johnson:Let's go for it.
Heath Casey:Thanks a lot, he's. Thanks everybody. We'll see you next week. I.
Scott L. Johnson:Thank you for joining fellowship around the table. If you would like to learn more, go to FEC, tulsa org. I Only knew him through Classes and things, but he took Job twice. And when I teach Job toward the end I asked when I explain how counterintuitive is what God says and Job's reaction to it. Yeah, I asked someone to play the part of the judge and Jeff played it twice. I love it that was. That was fun.
Heath Casey:Yes, he, he loved impact. He came to my classes over the years. Yeah, this is he here. There at the end, scott and I were reminiscing about our good friend Jeff Bennett, who went to be with Christ, and all the times we had with him and our impact classes. I thoroughly enjoyed all the years I had here at FBC with Jeff, being in small group together and being in impact classes together, so thankful for how much Jeff cared about my family and loved my family and All of us here at FBC. Love you, bud. Can't wait to reconnect. We will rise again, resurgent.
