Esther

 

 

The book of Esther is not about Esther

God would have us understand,

Rather, it is about God whose name is not,

And His wonderful redemptive plan.

 

God is not mentioned, that you can see

But He is definitely behind the scenes,

Behind every act and every scene involved

The God of the Bible can be seen.

 

Let us note the four principal characters

And the roll each one plays

As they negatively or positively portray

God’s miraculous power to save.

 

Many see it as just a great story

But it can be easily checked for its truth,

The event involves Medo-Persia and Israel

And secular history supplies the proof.

 

 

Over one hundred twenty-seven provinces:

From India to Ethiopia Ahasuerus reigned,

Such was the might of the Medes and Persians

Having risen to second world-power fame.

 

Haman is the villain as we all can see

And he solicits the support of the King,

His objective is to execute Mordecai

And genocide to all of Israel bring.

 

Mordecai on the other hand is a Jew

And he will not take this sitting down,

The King at this time desires a new queen

Hence, a ring and a wedding gown.

 

And here enters the beautiful Esther

A descendant of the Benjamin tribe,

Emerging top of the list of the prospective queens

Esther becomes King Ahasuerus’ bride.

 

This was the scarlet thread for Mordecai

As he put his rescue plan in place,

If he does not counter wicked Haman’s plot

Of the Jews there would not be a trace.

 

Hence, a dangerous job for the new queen,

Before King Ahasuerus she must stand

But in order for her to do such a thing

This must be at the King’s demand.

 

To do such a thing could mean her death

But Mordecai determined that she must,

If something was not done, and very soon,

Every Jew would lie in the dust.

 

Can you not see what that would mean?

There would be no promised Messiah,

Perhaps Mordecai also knew this

And that’s why he persuaded Queen Esther.

 

However, he was convinced if she refused,

Deliverance would come some other way

But if Esther had come to the throne for this

Then King Ahasuerus she could sway.

 

If I perish I perish, were Esther’s words

And into the king’s presence she went,

He received her with such acknowledgement

You would think that for her he had sent.

 

The king had issued an irreversible decree

On information Haman had supplied,

He knew not that the information was false

And so, every single Jew must die.

 

However, Mordecai had saved Ahasuerus' life

When he told of plot to overthrow the king

And while reading his diary one sleepless night

The king came upon this very thing.

 

On this information he sent for Mordecai

And offered to make amends

But because the decree could not be retracted

He could not reverse that trend.

 

Instead, he made a counter decree

That allowed the Jews themselves to defend,

And with that a massive victory they won

That throughout the provinces extend.

 

As for Haman, he died on his own gallows:

The one he had built for Mordecai,

Like Pharaoh, Herod and many others,

To stymie Messiah's coming is to die.

So, Esther is not some fairy tale

Around which Hollywood movies are made,

But it takes its rightful place in the Canon

And deserves the highest grade.

 

It appears to be around the same period

As that of Ezra and Nehemiah

And clearly from these two prophets

That’s when the 70-year exile expired.

 

They were able to rebuild the temple

And repair the breeches in the walls

After King Cyrus in adherence to the prophecy

Suggested they should no longer stall.

 

 

However, not all the Jews had returned

From Daniel and Ezekiel’s time

So, Jerusalem was still under Medo-Persia rule

And this we must keep in mind.

 

Eventually, however, most did return

And the city of Jerusalem was reestablished,

The rituals and ceremonies were done again

Just like the devout Jews would wish.

 

The dry bones had come to life again

Just like the prophet Ezekiel saw,

That these events were this prophetic fulfilment

Is the conclusion I now draw.

 

There are still a lot of questions

To which I do not have the answers

But the idea this will occur at some future time,

Now, that’s a different matter.

 

Stewart Russell © August 31, 2021

 

More than A Collection of Books 3

In Ezra is the account of King Cyrus’ decree

To build a house for God at Jerusalem

Fulfilling the utterance of Jeremiah’s prophecy

Of the return of the exiles from Babylon.

Nehemiah highlights the rebuilding of the wall

And the registration of Jerusalem’s population,

The religion of Jerusalem is revitalized

As it undergoes a complete reformation.

Esther highlights an historic segment of the Jews

Found no where else in all of Scripture,

Her coming to the kingdom for God’s unique purpose

Improves the Jews’ lot and radically changes the picture.

Job presents a tutorial in patient endurance

As he contends with his friends about his affliction,

Ignorant of God’s permission for Satan to test him

The experience gave him a Divine education.

The Psalms are often called the Psalms of David

But only seventy-three are considered Davidic,

The book may be divided into classifications

Which include History, Prophecy and the Messianic.

Proverbs differentiates between wisdom and folly,

It distinguishes the fool from the wise,

Its wise sayings came from God through Solomon

And such wise counsel we should never despise.

Ecclesiastes highlights the many vanities of life

And supplies instruction for living under the sun,

The foolish have their way and so too the wise

But the wise will be the victor when life’s day is done.

The Song of Solomon is the most exquisite song

And its refrain resounds with the theme of love,

It is said to represent Christ’s love for his church

Though preceding the time of his coming from above.

Stewart Russell © March 2017

The Bible in Poetry: The Prophets

Extracted from the Bible In Poetry

From Genesis to Revelation

 
Then there were the prophets meant to lead the kings,

Each, the mouthpiece of God to guide in spiritual things;

Often the mighty king would ignore the word they brought,

The consequences were severe the people were distraught.

Samuel was not only a judge but a prophet and a priest,

He was not afraid of kings for God’s word never ceased;

As a priest he was revered, he sought no man’s favour,

It was of God he prophesied, for God he also laboured.

Once after a victorious battle he had to chastise Saul,

For being so disobedient that Samuel was appalled;

God’s instructions were clear which Saul had failed to keep,

Causing Samuel to ask, “What means the bleating sheep?”

Then there was Elijah, a prophet strong and bold,

He was a great reformer known to the men of old;

Elisha, as Elijah disappeared his falling mantle caught,

A double portion of the Spirit’s gift was Elisha’s lot.

Isaiah saw the Lord, “High and lifted up,” said he,

A miraculous encounter that certainly set him free;

He wrote of the Messiah to come at opportune time,

To save both Jew and Gentile from their sinful slime.

Then prophet after prophet had followed on behind,

Jeremiah and Ezekiel, two more that come to mind;

Micaiah is not to be left out or Hosea and Joel,

Amos, Obadiah and Jonah, of them the Holy Bible tell.

Jeremiah the weeping prophet destruction prophesied,

Over the city Jerusalem whose people had God denied,

He served among a people that had become so vile,

That God unleashed His judgment on them for a while.

Ezekiel saw a vision of a valley of bones that were dry,

“O ye dry bones hear God’s word,” to them he prophesied;

“Thus saith the Lord our God, O breathe upon these slain”

And then those dry bones stood and began to live again.

The list is not yet ended, check and you will see,

Nahum, Micah, Habakkuk, another case of three;

There were major prophets; some were minor too,

They all relied on God to prophesy what was true.

Zephaniah then Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi,

These are all the prophets, on God’s word we can rely;

They all were chosen of God to bring His good counsel,

But many refusing to listen preferred instead to rebel.

  

Do you remember Daniel, prepared as the lions’ meal?

God shut up the lions’ mouths on him he placed His seal;

Then there was that time only he understood the dream,

Of the kingdoms’ rise and fall upon the battle scene.

Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego also took a stand,

Like Daniel in a foreign land heeding God’s command;

They would not bend and they did not burn,

A fourth man was in the fire, all would later learn.

Jeremiah had prophesied Israel’s coming captivity,

Carried away to Babylon they suffered great indignity;

But a Persian King named Cyrus heard from Nehemiah,

And allowed the Jews to return to the land of Judah.

The law was read again, the walls had been rebuilt,

With a purpose so to work; the people would not quit;

The temple was repaired; they had answered the call,

Ezra read the law while Nehemiah supervised the wall.

During the reign of Ahasuerus, Esther was the Queen,

Wicked Haman devised a plan to cause an ugly scene;

Mordecai would be hanged and many Jews destroyed,

But Esther had a counter plan to foil his wicked ploy.

Scripture recalls her words, she said, “If I perish, I perish,”

She went into the king praying he would honour her wish;

The king in granting her favour acceded to her demand,

“Hang Haman on his gallows,” that was the King’s command.


Stewart Russell © 2013