When the king had issued his new proclamation and many young women were being brought to Susa, Esther was among them. She too was put in the royal palace in the care of Hegai, who had charge of the harem. Hegai liked Esther, and she won his favor.
May I find favor in the eyes of others one day, Father.…
…But when the servants told Queen Vashti of the king’s command, she refused to come. This made the king furious.
Now it was the king’s custom to ask for expert opinion on questions of law and order, so he called for his advisers, who would know what should be done. …He said to these men, “I, King Xerxes, sent my servants to Queen Vashti with a command, and she refused to obey it!
From his royal throne in Persia’s capital city of Susa, King Xerxes ruled 127 provinces, all the way from India to Ethiopia.
Wow. The entire known world at that time.
For six whole months he made a show of the riches of the imperial court with all its splendor and majesty.
I suppose that more than anything is the objective to accumulate riches.…
They celebrated for seven days, and on the eighth day there was a closing ceremony, as required in the Law.
Little by little the Law becomes god (Matthew 27:6).
“Through the sea you made a path for your people and led them through on dry ground.”
Make a path for us once again, Lord (Isaiah 42:16)!…
Nehemiah 8:9 – 13:36 Read More »
…every day, from dawn until the stars came out at night, half of us worked on the wall, while the other half stood guard with spears. …I didn’t take off my clothes even at night, neither did any of my companions nor my servants nor my bodyguards. And we all kept our weapons at hand.
There will always be those who make the work more difficult (Hebrews 13:17).…
Nehemiah 4:1 – 8:8 Read More »
When I heard all this, I sat down and wept. For several days I mourned and did not eat. I prayed to God…
I never experience this depth of emotion. Is there something that isn’t quite right with me, Father?
The emperor asked, “What is it that you want?”
What those in authority have to ask all day long. Perhaps it better to remain in obscurity.…
Nememiah 1:1 – 3:38 Read More »
I assembled the entire group by the canal that runs to the town of Ahava…
Spoken in the first person and from Babylone, so before Ezra 7:1.
…I gave orders for us all to fast and humble ourselves before our God and to ask him to…
I don’t fast and pray little. Please help me, Father.
…When we reached Jerusalem, we rested three days.
Work on the Temple had been stopped and had remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of Emperor Darius of Persia.
Everything takes time and you have to expect (and accept) interruptions.
…Emperor Darius issued orders for a search to be made in the royal records that were kept in Babylon. But it was in the city of Ecbatana in the province of Media that a scroll was found…
May the relevant authorities find the scroll that I am trying to obtain, Father!…
In the first year that Cyrus of Persia was emperor…
This is like a continuation of Chronicles. To note that the kings of Judah and Israel are no longer the point of reference.
……everyone …whose heart God had moved got ready to go and rebuild the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem. All their neighbors helped them by giving them many things: silver utensils, gold, supplies, pack animals, other valuables, and offerings for the Temple.
After King Josiah had done all this for the Temple, King Neco of Egypt led an army to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates River. Josiah tried to stop him…
Doing what is good and right doesn’t necessarily lead to good circumstances. Josiah clearly based his actions on the promise to die in peace (2 Chronicles 34:28), but this was putting God to the test (Matthew 4:5-7).…
2 Chronicles 35:20 – 36:23 Read More »