Monday, October 4, Esther 7 v.5
- 5 – Haman is trapped by his own deceit. From the tone of the king, Haman knew he was in trouble, which explains how quickly his life turned to terror (v. 6).
Tuesday, October 5, Esther 7 vv.7-9
- 7-8 – When the king temporarily left the room, Haman thought he would use the time to beg the queen for his life. Instead things went from bad to worse, for the king returned and found him falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. (Note: Most meals were eaten reclining on a couch. (Amos 6:4-7; John 13:23)
- 9 – The king had Haman hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai. Compare Matt. 26:52.
Wednesday, October 6, Esther 8 vv. 1-3
- 1-3 – Esther and Morcecai are safe. In fact, Mordecai is “promoted” to Haman’s former position. But Esther is still concerned for the rest of her people.
Thursday, October 7, Esther 8 vv. 4-11
- 4-11 – The decree of annihilation could not be revoked. But it could be countered-and that is what the king did. He issued a decree that said the Jews could defend themselves. The second decree came two months and 10 days after the first. Can you imagine how difficult it must have been for God’s people during that time? They literally would live in fear! How important to learn trust in the Lord! (Rom. 8:28; II Cor. 1:8-10)
Friday , October 8, Esther 9
Chap. 9:1-17 – Victory was given to God’s people. The conquest of their enemies was filled with amazing evidence of God’s providential hand.
Chap. 9:20-22 – The reason for the celebration was that God protected His people so He could fulfill what He had promised in Gen. 3:15. It began to take place when Ezra and Nehemiah returned from Persia to Judah with those Jews who wanted to come back to the land of promise. There they rebuilt the temple and the walls of Jerusalem waiting for God to fulfill Gen. 3:15 and Gen. 49:10. Some 500 years later God did when He sent Jesus into this world to redeem us from sin, death and hell and open up to us again Paradise.
Saturday, October 9, Esther 10
Chap. 10:3 – The Lord blessed the life and work of Mordecai and made him a blessing to many others. His courage in the face of danger was the courage of faith-the Lord made him strong for the task when he would have felt more comfortable to retreat in terror.
sacrifice for our benefit. It is because of Jesus’ righteousness that we can stand before God forgiven and sing God’s praises in this life and eternally in heaven. (Rom. 4:24-25)