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Daily Readings: Esther 10 and Psalm 35 Although it was not written with the events of Esther in mind, Psalm 35 is a wonderfully appropriate Psalm to read as our reading of Esther comes to a close. With prayers like, “Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me” (v.1),…
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Daily Readings: Esther 9 and Psalm 34 Despite the king’s edict giving the Jews the right of self-defence (8:11-13), despite the fact that many people had converted to Judaism (8:17), and even despite the fact that Mordecai had risen to a position of great influence in the king’s court (9:4) leading many powerful and influential…
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Daily Readings: Esther 8 and Psalm 33 King Xerxes was faced with a conundrum. The previous decree, which had been written in his name and sealed with his seal by Haman, had called for the annihilation of the Jews. It could not be revoked legally. Yet he longed to protect the Jews now that he…
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Daily Readings: Esther 7 and Psalm 32 Despite the personal humiliation of being commanded to honour Mordecai in public (ch. 6), Haman still had his personal invitation to dine with the king and queen, and he had the decree for the annihilation of the Jews (Mordecai included) up his sleeve. All was not yet lost.…
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Daily Readings: Esther 6 and Psalm 31 As the king lay rolling around unable to sleep in the early hours of the morning, the strange thought happened to pop into his mind that listening to the recent records of events in the Empire might help him to pass the time. When he ordered this to…
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Daily Readings: Esther 5 and Psalm 30 After three days of fasting and prayer, Esther was ready to put herself into a position for God to answer her prayer. Her life would be in huge danger, approaching the king without an invitation would mean instant death unless the king held out the golden sceptre to…
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Daily Readings: Esther 4 and Psalm 29 The official decree had been made by the king, and the Jews had only 11 months before they could be annihilated and their property taken as loot – legally and with the king’s blessing. The clock was ticking on their genocide. Remarkably, instead of fleeing to another country,…
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Daily Readings: Esther 3 and Psalm 28 There is no specific Old Testament Law forbidding us to kneel down in honour of a human ruler or authority. But Mordecai refused to kneel to Haman. Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who had refused to bow to the king’s idol decades before him, Mordecai refused to bow…
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Daily Readings: Esther 2 and Psalm 27 The LORD is not mentioned once in the Book of Esther, and yet this book is in the Bible and the events it recorded inspired an entire Jewish Festival, Purim. As we read Esther we observe that God is obviously at work, even though God is not at…
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Daily Readings: Esther 1 and Psalm 26 The historical events of the Book of Esther occurred during the time of Ezra and about 40 years before Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem. Xerxes was Emperor of Persia and ruled over a vast Empire covering modern-day Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel; and parts of modern-day Egypt,…
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Dave's Diary 