Oct 8, 2010 Esther 1

Today begins a new bible study in the book of Esther!  This is an exciting true story of Esther, a beautiful young Jewish orphan who becomes Queen to King Xerxes.  There is a movie about Esther and I have linked it. Movie is called One Night with the King.

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/one-night-with-the-king-one-night-with-the-king/c8c1001a620e5cf18372c8c1001a620e5cf18372-235684758839?q=one%20night%20with%20the%20king&FORM=VIRE1

This is a current day map of Persia.
http://maps.google.com/?q=34.798311,48.514966+(Persia)&ie=UTF8&ll=34.777716,48.515625&spn=20.190082,39.506836&z=5

Map is copied from Tyndale Handbook of Bible Charts and Maps

Some background and facts about Esther. Esther and Ruth are the only two books in the bible named for women. The name of God is never used in this book. But God's presence is in this book.

Key people in this book - Esther, Mordecai, King Xerxes I, and Haman.

Location: Persia - primarily the Kings Palace - in the city of Susa.

Date written: Approx 470 BC

Author: unknown - could have been written by Mordicai, or Ezra or Nehemiah.

Lets begin and open our bibles to Chapter 1

Verse 1 This gives the background concerning King Xerxes and his kingdom. He reigned in 127 Providences from India to Ethiopia.  "At this time, the Persian Empire was the largest the world had ever seen. It covered what we call today Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Jordan, Lebanon, and Israel; and also parts of modern day Egypt, Sudan, Libya, and Arabia." This was copied from: http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/1701.htm
I wanted to share how large King Xerxes empire was.

Verses 2-9  3 feasts occur in these verses. The first festival begins 3 years after Xerxes takes the throne. He throws a party for180 days! That's a half a year! The people invited are nobles and princes from his land. This party shows how much wealth Xerxes had. When the 180 day festivities was over, he throws another party for all the people who lived in Susa,  from the poorest to the wealthiest,  for 7 days. The party is held at the palace garden and is beautifully decorated. The garden had couches made of gold and silver. Drinks were served in golden goblets, and people could drink as much as they wanted - the wine flowed freely. And the last party was a banquet that Queen Vashti held for the royal women in the palace.

Verses 10-11 On the 7th day of the feast, when King Xerxes was "high on spirits" he asks for his beautiful wife, Queen Vashti to come to the feast so that all the other men could gaze at her beauty. So, he sends 7 eunichs to go get her. The bible isn't specific but it is assumed that she is requested to come to the feast immodestly dressed.  When people have had too much to drink they make foolish decisions. Can you hear all these drunken men bragging they have the most beautiful wife and King Xerxes says my Queen is the most beautiful of all - so he sends for her to come so all may "look" at her. Doesn't sound like a good situation does it? The king sends 7 euniches to get the queen - a eunuch is a man who has been castrated.  This a common practice done - so the officials couldn't have children and then want to overthrow the King.

Verse 12 Queen Vashti refuses to go parade in front of all the men. The bible says women are to submit themselves to God. However, if the husband's request would cause you to sin, you should respectfully refuse his request. And of course a godly husband wouldn't even ask his wife to do something as sinful as strutting in front of all his drunken peers so they can all lustfully look at her. Some speculate she was pregnant and didn't want to parade in front of the men in her condition. And of course King Xerxes is furious with the queen for disobeying him.

Verses 13-22 King Xerxes seeks the counsel of his staff for advisement regarding his wife the queen disobeying him.  They decide that Queen Vashti be banished from the palace and be replace with another Queen.  Then the king issues a decree stating that husbands should be the ruler in their own household. He feared that wives would see what the queen had done, and they too would not honor their husband's wishes.While in theory this sounds like a good decree, the intent was foolish. He asked her to do something immoral and she refused.  Even a fool could see through this.

Father God, today we read about a King who throws a temper tantrum because his wife, for whatever reason, refuses to honor his request. We know that you orchestrated this event, and made it clear that his request was foolish. We ask this day that when someone wants us to sin, whether it be a family member or someone in the workplace, that you give us the courage to say no. We ask that you give us the words to say no, and be brave enough to stand up for our convictions. And we ask for mercy from punishment that may be given from them.  In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Oct 4, 2010 2 Chronicles 31:2-32:33

I am still behind on my blog. Its really Oct 6.  This is kind of like live television.Uncut and unedited.  Baring of my soul trying to read the bible daily. I am sharing this because I hope that what I write will encourage others to just keep trying!  I was unemployed for almost 2 years. When I started this blog in August it was easy to spend a good hour a day writing. I had no place to go most days so it was easy to work God into my schedule. I started a job a few weeks ago and I am still struggling with the timing of writing this blog. I have concluded I am at my best in the early morning, not so good when I get home in the afternoon, and horrible at concentrating in the evening. NOW I am beginning to understand the kings in 2 Chronicles. They depend on God when they first become king - if they even do that - but they fall into a routine of fame and fortune and leave God behind in the dust. I do NOT want do that. I need to put God first in my life whether or not I have a busy schedule. I am contemplating get up an hour earlier than I normally do to fit God into my current life.

And now for the REALLY exciting news ..... the twins will be coming home soon! Hailey could come home Saturday, Brooklynn may come home Saturday or a couple days after that.  The doctor said they would be in NICU for 4 weeks and they are coming home in 3 weeks. Praise God!  The bad news is - they have to be very careful with germs - so grandparents won't get to spend cuddle time with them for a while.  I am disappointed but having healthy babies is most important. They will be ok getting all their TLC from Mom and Dad.

Chapter 31

Verse 1 After the Passover had ended, the Israelites destroyed the idols in the land. Then the Israelites returned home. I wonder if our idols today would be so easy to tear down. We have cell phones, ipods, cable tv with hundreds of channels, money, power, lovers, the list goes on and on. I think in today's society it just quitely permiates our lives kind of like putting a frog in a pot and gradually turning up the heat until it boils to death. I love my pc and I'm afraid to get a newer cell phone that I can text, surf the net and take pictures with. I would be glued to it 24/7! So yes - we need to tear down all barriers that will take away our focus from God.

Verses 2-3 Hezekiah assigns the priests to return to the duties they should be doing according to the law.

Verses 4-5 Hezekiah orders the people to tithe and bring their portion to the priests. Today we give freely to God, some are blessed and can give much more than 10 percent. The purpose is to give with the right attitude, a cheerful heart. And if married - whatever is mutually agreeable.

Verses 6-10 The people brought in so much from all their tithes, that there was a great abundance left over. Part of the tithes were to pay for the priests and they had been neglected for many years, now they received much more than they could ever use. This shows the power of God when he blesses he gives in abundance.

Verses 11-19 Hezekiah wisely assigns priests to account for all the tithes that are received. He does not want anything given to God to go waste or not used for its intended purpose.

Verses 20-21 Hezekiah was a godly man. He did everything he should do - the temple was functioning as it should, he walked with the Lord and God blesses him prosperity.

Chapter 32

Verse 1 Sennacherib, King of Assyria, prepares to attack Judah.  This is a reminder that even though we are faithful to God, bad things will happen to us. Our reaction to bad things is observed from others. My daughter for example had drifted from God. She still believed but wasn't really walking with him. A co-worker got cancer and he is a Christian. She watched how he handled this disease and she returned to the church. Her co-worker is fine now. Now we hate to see another person suffer, but sometimes it is used as a witness to others.

Verses 2-8 Hezekiah sees that the Assyrian army is camping around his country, so he begins preparation for war. Notice he stops water flowing to the camps and he fortifies his cities. Then Hezekiah tells his army to be strong and courageous. One of my favorite verses in the bible comes from Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." This is pretty much what Hezekiah tells his troups.


Verses 9-19 Sennecherib sends servants to Hezekiah asking him if he really wants to fight this powerful army. He cites what has happened to other nations. And they go further saying the other nations gods could not protect them from their army. They continue to say that Hezekiah has taken away high places to worship and only worship in one location. They are trying to build an argument that maybe Hezekiah isn't quite following God in worship and strength. The devil is cunning, and can build a good argument against God. This is what is happening here.


Verses 20-23 Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah pray to God, and God destroys the Assyran army and they return home in shame. Hezekiah is known through out the land for being powerful.


Vereses 24-26 Later on, Hezekiah becomes sick. He prays to God, God gives him a sign but he ignores the sign. The sign is the retreating sun dial found in 2 Kings 20:8-11. Hezekiah apologizes and God forgives him.



Verses 27-33 The end of Hezekiah's life. God blessed him with much. Hezekiah was faithful to God, he may have erred a few times as we all do. He dies and his son  Manesseh becomes king.


Father God, thank you for showing us how godly leadership works through Hezekiah. He restores the Passover, rebuilds the temple, instructs his people to give to you, and he makes sure that tithes are properly administered. Not only do we worship but we need to do the administrative part of the church behind the scenes. This is all a part of serving you  God. We thank you today for our talents, some of us are gifted with administration, some with worship, some with teaching, and others. We ask that we use our talents wisely.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Oct 3, 2010 2 Chronicles 29:1-31:1

Today is my youngest grandson's 2nd birthday. He is big brother to the new twin girls. His life will drastically change when they come home from the hospital. I pray that he will continue to be this sweet pleasant little guy in the coming days :-).

We continue with 2 Chronicles. We are almost done with this book. On the 8th we will begin reading the book of Esther.  Lets read together Chapters 29 and 30.

Chapter 29  Verses 1-2 Hezekiah - a good king! And his teaching probably came from his mother, who was a godly woman.  Moms - we are so important in teaching our children about God.  My study bible lists revivals in the bible, and King Hezekiah leads a revival during his reign.

Verses 3-11 King Hezekiah in the first month of his first year of reign - he opens the door to the temple, has it restored, and brings in the Levites priests to sanctify themselves and sanctify the temple. He proceeds to tell them what God has done, and how the people have been punished for turning their backs from God.

Verses 12-19 The priests begin cleaning out the temple. It took 16 days just to clean out all the trash in the temple. Then they put back everything King Ahaz had taken out of the temple.

Verses 20-27 Worship is begun. Sacrifices are made, music is sung.  King Hezekiah has made worship a priority.

Verses 28-30 The people of Judah also join in with worship, and sing praises to God.

Verses 31-36 The people brought their sacrifices and there were so many that they had to help the priests for there were not enough priests to do the job. Hezekiah and the people rejoiced for the ceremony being set up so quickly, they rejoiced because God had allowed this to happen so fast.

Chapter30 The story gets even better!

Verses 1-5 Hezekiah wants to celebrate Passover - so he invites the northern Kingdom to come to the Passover. Now normally the Passover was celebrated in the first month, but due to the fact that many priests were not presentable to God they held the Passover in the second month - which according to God's law it was ok.

Verses 6-9 Runners were sent out to all the tribes asking the Israelites to return to God and participate in the Passover. He asks the remnant of Israel not to be stiff necked like their fathers but remember Abraham and come back. If they come back God will bless them in 2 ways; those in Assyria their captors will show mercy to them, and secondly you will come back to your land.

Verses 10-12 The response to this invitation, many mocked and laughed at them but some did decide to attend the Passover.

Verses 13-17 The Passover is celebrated. Large crowds came to celebrate. The temple had to be cleared of idol worship. The assembly was so excited about the Passover they put the priests to shame. They consecrated themselves before performing their duties. We should do this too - confess our sins to God when we come him. Make ourselves right in order to worship him.  And the Passover took place.

Verses 18-20 Some of the people had not purified themselves, those that came from a distance, and they participated anyway. Hezekiah prayed for God's mercy on their behalf. The Lord listened and granted his request. Its good to know that God will take us right where we are right now. We will learn God's ways later on.

Verses 21-22 For 7 days they celebrated and the Levites taught the people the proper way to worship God. Hezekiah encouraged the priests and they performed their tasks well.

Verses 23-27 The assembly agreed to continue the festival for 7 more days! King Hezekiah provided1000 bulls, and 7000 sheep and goats. And the officials provided 1000 bulls and 10,000 sheep and goats. There hadn't been a celebration like this since David and Solomon. The Levites blessed the people, and their God heard their prayers. Their prayers reached heaven - his holy dwelling place.

Father God, how exciting it was to read about the Revival of Judah and a little bit of Israel. There will always be a remnant of believers to carry on the faith, and through many prayers, this one little spark will spread through out the land. It is good to read about your nation returning to you Lord. I pray today that we never leave the faith, and when those who have strayed return to the fold, we greet them whole heartedly with open arms, and gentle teach them about you. And we celebrate with those who are new and mature alike. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Oct 2, 2010 2 Chronicles 26-28

Well I am a day behind. I am so sorry for those of you who follow along.  It began as a quiet weekend on Saturday ......
First I worked with a friend in need of some help with her business, then I was able to go see my twin granddaughters who were born 2 weeks ago. They are still in NICU but doing great. Then I brought home their big brother and sister for the evening and we came home to a primitive home - NO ELECTRICITY!  We had cheese sandwiches and strawberries for supper. Power came back on about 8:15. Today is Sunday and I'm wondering what happened  to my day! I went to church, then when I got home I edited pictures I have taken of the twins so I could send them to Walgreens to have them printed in an hour. I don't edit photos very often so it took me a long time to figure out the software to do what I want to do.  Please pray for my daughter in law's grandmother who is in very poor health. She may not live to see the babies.  One reason I wanted to get prints made. OK hope this wasn't too much "tmi" but this is where I am at.
Last but not least  I am struggling with 2 Chronicles. This book of the bible is mostly history and I am not a lover of history. And it is painful because I am seeing king after king fail in their relationship walking with God. When God blesses he blesses greatly and it hurts me to see the nation of Israel walk away from their blessing. Fast forward to little old me. God has blessed me with much - am I throwing away my blessing or am I walking a walk that would be pleasing to God? Tough stuff! So this is my confession - I don't like plodding through history so I have put it on the back burner. BUT I need to carry on, follow through. So here we go! Pray for God's wisdom as I finish reading through 2 Chronicles.

Chapter 26 Verse 1-5 After Amaziah dies, his son Uzziah becomes the next king. Uzziah becomes king at the age of 16 and reigns for 52 years. Now usually it means when a King reigns a long time, God has blessed him with a long reign. Maybe we can see some good with this king. As when Amaziah did as a young king, Uzziah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.

Verses 6-15 This section details all that Uzziah accomplished. He won many battles and became well known for his strength all the way to Egypt. He built towers and fortified cities. He built wells in dessert areas. He also had a lot of livestock and he loved the soil so had much farmland.

Verse 16 Having all this success made Uzziah prideful. And this led to his downfall. He dishonors God by burning incense in the temple. God's law states that no king should be a priest. So he broke God's law by lighting incense in the temple - that is a job of the priest.

Verses 17-21 Azariah the priest, along with 80 other priests bravely go into the temple to tell King Uzziah that he cannot burn incense because that is breaking God's law. Only the descendants of Aaron the priest could be in this part of the temple. He has been unfaithful so he needs to leave. Uzziah becomes angry with the priests and God strikes him with leprosy. The chief priests sees this and quickly gets Uzziah out of the temple. Uzziah has leprosy until the day he dies. He lives in a seperate house and cannot go into the temple anymore. His son Jotham rules in his place.

Verses 22-23 Uzziah dies and is known for his leprosy. He may have done a lot of good while he was alive, but he is known for his leprosy. Lesson learned here- we need to consistantly obey and serve the Lord. We cannot just do as we please. How sad that this king is known for one foolish mistake and not for all the good he did. Sin just does not pay.

Chapter 27 is a short chapter. Just 7 verses long. Jotham became king at the age of 25 and reigned for 16 years.  Jotham did what was right in the eyes of the Lord like his father, but did not enter into the temple, to avoid what happened to his father. Verse 3 the people continued their corrupt ways - so they may have acted this way while Uzziah was king.  Jotham continues to restore buildings, wins battles and grows powerful as he walks with God. And he dies.  Ahaz his son becomes king.

Chapter 28  Verses 1-4 Ahaz is 20 years old when he becomes king, and reigns for 16 years. Now Ahaz was a bad king, and he did not walk with the Lord as King David did. He worshiped idols and sacrificed his sons in fires. God finds these to be detestable. I cannot imagine why anyone would dream up killing their children as a sacrifice. How awful!

Verses 5-8 Because of Ahaz sinful behavior, God allowed the king of Aram defeat Judah, taking many of the people as prisoners. Israel also battled against Judah and inflicted many casualties. All that hard work of his father and grandfather gone because of his sinful nature. And the people were sinful too.

Verses 9-15 A prophet name Obed goes to the Israel leaders and says they have already offended God in the past, and now they bring in prisoners from Judah. The captives have already offended God so this is like adding insult to insult.  So they clothed the prisoners and send them to the city of Jericho.



Verses 16-21 Meanwhile King Ahaz - his kingdom continues to decline because of his sinful nature.

Verses 22-27 King Ahaz continues to do evil, moving away from God until the end of his life. He worshiped other idols. He burned incense to other gods which angered God. He died a natural death but was not buried with the tomb with the other kings.

Father God, we see the legacy of three kings today.  We see God blesses kings and their nations when they walk with God and we see your wrath when people choose not to follow you. I pray that we seek you and continue to walk in your ways. It is important to read about our heritage let us learn and grow from this. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Oct 1, 2010 2 Chronicles 25

Today begins a new month, the days are growing shorter and its much cooler out. When I woke up this morning and peeked out my bedroom window it was still very dark and I could see the stars in the sky. I could even pick out a few constellations! The dark sky was so clear, it must be chilly out this morning.

Today we are in Chapter 25 of 2 Chronicles. Lets begin and see what God has for us to read and learn today.

Verses 1-2 I am reading from the NLT today.  I love the way it reads. Verse 2 - The new King - Amaziah - he did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight but not wholeheartedly. Now that verse grabbed my attention! I am guilty of that - I mostly Love the Lord but I have a few hot button situations and I am really struggling with WWJD.  OK back to verse 1, Amaziah was 25 when he became king and he reigned for 29 years.

Verses 3-4 When Amaziah became established as king, he had the officials put to death who killed his father. I found verse 4 interesting - he did not kill the children of the officials because of the law of Moses says not to kill child for what is parent did, nor kill a parent for what his child did. Only the person who committed the sin should be punished. This was a common practice in that period of time, to kill the parent or child for the sins of their parent or child. Amaziah followed the law and not the culture or common practice at that time. This is good!

Verses 5-8 Amaziah prepares to go into battle against the Edomites. He assembles able young men 20 and older from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. He also hires troops from Israel. A man of God goes to Amaziah and tells him not to use the troops from Isreal for they are not men of God. God will help him win the war without them.

Verse 9 Amaziah asks the man of God what he should do, and he responds God will bless him with much more than the money he has given the troops.

Verses 10-13  The troops Amaziah sends home are angry because the anticipated getting lots of money from the plunder of the army they defeated so they are not happy they aren't going to battle. So they retaliated and raided cities in Judah while Amaziah was at war, his army killed10,000 men in Seir.

Verses 14-16 Here we go again. Amaziah brings home plunder from the battle at Seir and he brings with him the gods from the people of Seir and worships them. This angers God, and he sends a prophet to Amaziah asking why would Amaziah worship a god when he has GOD?  Their gods lost so their god can't possibly be as great as GOD.  And while the prophet is speaking to Amaziah he interupts him by asking the prophet if he has been appointed as an advisor to the king?  So the prophet stops what he is saying and says that God will destroy Judah because he has not listened to God.

Verses 17-20 Amaziah consults his elders, and sends a challenge to the King of Israel, King Jehoash. Amaziah is feeling lucky after winning his latest battle, and he wants to meet King Jehoash face to face in battle. King Jehoash responds with a parable about a thistle and the cedar tree. Judah is the thistle, and Israel is the Cedar.  The wild beast will trample the thistle but can't harm the cedar tree, so King Jehoash was telling Amaziah that he shouldn't go into battle with Israel for Judah will be trampled on. Don't be arrogant and assume you can win Israel.

Verses 21-24 So what happens? Israel soundly wins the battle with Judah. Every warrier for Judah flees to his own home. Jehoash captures Amaziah, and enters into the temple and takes plunder - he takes all the gold and silver, and palace treasures. Then they return home to Samaria.

Verses 25-28 Amaziah lives for 15 years after Jehoash's death. He is hated by his subjects, so he flees from Jerusalem to Lachish, but he is killed there. He is buried with his fathers.

Father God we learn again that a king that follows God's law but not whole heartedly. I pray today that we are not lukewarm in our faith with you Lord. I pray that when you speak to us, we listen to your words. My fear Lord in reading about all these kings who have relationships with you but most of them walk away. I don't want to be like them Lord. I ask that you strengthen my faith no matter what happens in my life. In Jesus name I pray.