|
|
|
 A Bible Teaching Ministry of Galyn Wiemers
|
|
|
|
| |
|
May 14 - Evening
"It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.
‘What honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this?’ the king asked.
‘Nothing has been done for him,’
his attendants answered.
The king said,
‘Who is in the court?’
Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to speak to the king about impaling Mordecai on the pole he had set up for him.
His attendants answered,
‘Haman is standing in the court.’
'Bring him in,’ the king ordered.
When Haman entered, the king asked him,
‘What should be done for the
man the king delights to honor?’
Now Haman thought to himself,
Who is there that the king would rather honor than me? So he answered the king,
‘For the man the king delights to honor, have them bring a royal robe the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head. Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them robe the man the king delights to honor, and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, “This is what is done for the man the king
delights to honor!” ’
‘Go at once,’ the king commanded Haman.
‘Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended.’
So Haman got the robe and the horse. He robed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city streets, proclaiming before him,
‘This is what is done for the man the king
delights to honor!’ ”
- Esther 6:2-11 |
 |
|
| Xerxes Rewards Mordecai |
|
|
Persian kings are known in history for providing lavish rewards on people who had provided some kind of notable service. So, Xerxes was shocked to find that Mordecai had received no reward when the chronicles of Xerxes’ reign record that Mordecai had saved Xerxes life. (Xerxes would be assassinated in his bedchamber in 465, eight years after this event with Haman and Mordecai.)
By the time the account of Mordecai’s heroic unveiling of the conspiracy to assassinate King Xerxes was read it was early morning and Haman had arrived in the court with the hope of asking permission to execute Mordecai. The king asked for any advisor who happened to be in the court at that time to be brought in and to be asked advice concerning rewarding Mordecai.
Because, Haman had been thinking so highly of himself and his pride had lifted his thoughts to a level of being blind to reality, Haman thought the man the king wanted to honor was, of course, Haman himself. But, instead of honoring himself Haman described the reward that the king would be giving to Mordecai!
| 485 |
- Xerxes begins to reign.
- Samaritans take this chance to file a complaint. (Ezra 4:6)
|
Xerxes
Ezra 4:6 |
| 483 |
Xerxes displays his vast wealth and military power at a banquet in preparation for his invasion of Greece as seen in Esther 1 |
Esther 1 |
| 481 |
Xerxes goes to war against Greece. Persia fights the battles of:
- Thermopylae – This battle is the basis of the movie “300” that features the Spartan king Leonidas and his 300 men who fight the invading King Xerxes and his Persian troops.
- Salamis – Persians occupy Athens and burn the temple.
The Persians move their ships into a strait through a bottle neck thinking the beached Greek trireme ships are trapped. Xerxes watches from his ivory throne placed on a hill in disbelief as his ships are rammed, congested and unable to maneuver while Persians ships continue to sail into the bottle neck. Xerxes heads back to Persia, leaving behind 1/3 of his troops which then burn Athens to the ground.
- Plataea – In what looked like a rout of the Greeks, the Persians fail to stay organized and are driven from Greece.
These Greek battles fulfill Daniel 11:2: “a fourth Persian king, who will be far richer. . .will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.”
This sets the stage for the rise of Alexander the Great who will seek deliverance and revenge for the burning of Athens in 336 BC. |
Battles of:
- Thermopylae
- Salamis
- Plataea
Daniel 11:2 |
| 478 |
Esther goes to Xerxes and becomes Queen in Dec/Jan in Esther 2 |
Esther 2 |
| 474 |
• Esther’s fifth year as queen.
• April 17 is the date set to meet to determine fate of Jews.
- Esther 3:7 - "In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the pur (that is, the lot) was cast in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on[a] the twelfth month, the month of Adar."
|
Esther 3:7
Haman
Esther
Mordecai |
| 473 |
• According to Haman’s plans and Xerxes order, the Jews are to be killed in Persia on March 7
• March 7, the Jews defend themselves. The Jews kill 500 men in Susa and 10 of Haman’s sons. |
Esther 3:12-14 |
| 465 |
• Xerxes is inside his bedchamber when he is assassinated by 3 conspirators. They convince Artaxerxes, Xerxes’s son, to slay his older brother. They then try to kill Artaxerxes who is only wounded but kills his attacker.
• Artaxerxes becomes Persian Emperor and will reign for 41 years.
• Esther would be about 38 years old if she became queen when she was 25. |
Artaxerxes |
| 464 |
• Artaxerxes orders the rebuilding of the rebellious city, Jerusalem, to stop.
• Samaritans send a letter to Artaxerxes to say Jerusalem is a rebellious city. (Ezra 4:7)
• Artaxerxes replies: “this city will not be rebuilt until I so order.”
(Ezra 4:21) |
Ezra 4:7-23
Ezra 4:21
Daniel 9:25 |
| 458 |
• In Artaxeres’ seventh year he issues the decree to rebuild and restore Jerusalem.
• Ezra leaves Babylon on April 8 and arrives in
Jerusalem on August.
• December 19 the people assemble and the investigation of
intermarriage begins.
• The 70 weeks (or, 490 years) of Daniels prophecy in Daniel 9:25 begins with Artaxerxes’ decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem in 458 BC. The decree is found in Ezra 7:12-26. The 70 weeks (490 years) are interrupted after 69 weeks (483 years) with the coming of the Messiah. 458 BC minus 483 years equals 25/26 AD which is when John the Baptists will introduce the Messiah to the Jewish nation. |
Decree to Rebuild
Ezra
Ezra 7: 8-9
Ezra 7:12-26
Daniel 9:25
Ezra 10:9-16 |
| 457 |
Ezra committee ends their three month long investigation into intermarriage by Mar/Apr (Ezra 10:17) |
Ezra 10:17 |
| 446 |
Nov/Dec, Nehemiah is in Susa and hears a report from a Jew from Jerusalem that the walls of Jerusalem have not been rebuilt |
Nehemiah
Nehemiah 1 |
| 445 |
- Artaxerxes 20th year
- Mar/Apr, Nehemiah, Artaxerxes cup bearer, speaks to
Artaxerxes about Jerusalem’s ruined wall system. (Neh. 2:1)
- August 10, Nehemiah begins to rebuild the walls of
Jerusalem.
- Opposition to building the walls. (Neh. 4, 6)
- October 2, The walls of Jerusalem are completed in 52 days.
(Neb. 6:15)
- October 8, Ezra reads the law to public for first time in
thirteen years. (8:2)
- October 9, the people of Jerusalem celebrate the Feast of
Tabernacles. (8:13)
- October 30, Israel confesses their sin. (Neh. 9)
- If Esther were 25 when she married Xerxes she is now 58
|
Nehemiah 2:1
Nehemiah 4
Nehemiah 6:15
Nehemiah 8:2
Nehemiah 8:13
Nehemiah 9
Esther is 58 |
|
|
 |
“Of all religions, Christianity is without a doubt the one that should inspire tolerance most, although, up to now, the Christians have been the most intolerant of all men”
- Voltaire
|
 |
Paul refers to a letter he wrote to the Laodicean church in Colossians 4:16. This letter has never been found, but sometime before the 300’s AD someone felt the need to create this letter and forged a document that was rejected by the Eastern Greek Church, but accepted by the Western Latin Church for a while. This “Epistle to the Laodiceans” consists of statements taken from Philippians and Galatians. Scholars unanimously agree this letter is a pseudograph, but they are uncertain when it was written or who created it.
Fittingly, the forger of this 20 verse letter ends with this final verse in his Epistle to the Laodiceans: "And see that this epistle is read to the Colossians and that of the Colossians among you."
How clever!
(Details here, here and here.) |
|
| |
 |
|
 |
Episkeptomai (Gr) – Visit (Eng) – a Greek word used in Hebrews 2:6 as a visit from God to help and in Luke 7:16 as a visit from God when Jesus raised the widows son from the dead in Nain. Episkeptomai means a “to inspect.” |
|
The fact that songs/poems like the ones called “The Harper Songs” from the tomb of Neferhotep in Egypt and other laments from Egypt existed during the time of Solomon help reinforce the authenticity of Solomon’s authorship of Ecclesiastes. Solomon had very close relations with Egypt (married Pharaoh’s daughter, bought Egyptian chariots and horses, etc.) In fact, a song from a tomb in Egypt called the Intef Song calls people to enjoy life since the graves are silent. This is also a theme of Solomon’s in Ecclesiastes, but Solomon combines this with the concepts of:
- enjoying life as a sign of gratitude to God (Ec.9:9);
- enjoying life in a manner that is acceptable to the
God who judges
(Ec. 11:8-12:8)
.
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
 |
Do I blind myself to reality by thinking more highly of myself than I should?
Do I miss opportunities to learn and do God's will because I am focused on myself?
I will evaluate myself without being self-promoting and arrogant.
I will think of the needs of others and listen to their comments during conversations. |
|
"Each heart knows its
own bitterness,
and no one else can
share its joy."
- Proverbs 14:10 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Efficient at work |
Stand firm in face of opposition and persecution |
Education |
El Salvador |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| Reps & Sets is a daily Bible devotional for Christians from Generation Word Bible Teaching used each morning and evening. |
| |
|
|
