DAY THREE: A Plan Petitioned
Please carefully read Esther 8:7—10 and answer the following questions.
1. In response to this, Ahasuerus recounted what had been done, no doubt for his chroniclers to record (probably for some other sleepless night’s reading!). How did he begin to officially recount these actions (v. 7)?
2. What did he suggest Esther and Mordecai do in view of the situation, and why (v. 8)?
3. How did they go about this right away to make sure the word got out quickly about this (vv. 9, 10)?
NOTES: According to the nlt, the date of this edict (v. 9) would have been June 25, 474 B.C. Also, you may remember from our introduction that Esther 8:9 is the longest verse of the Old Testament in Hebrew, with 43 words and 192 letters,[iv] and the longest in the entire Bible in English, being translated out to 80 to 90 words long.[v] It is all the more interesting to think that the longest verse in our Bible is about actions to bring deliverance for the Jewish people.
4. Daniel 6 confirms for us the irrevocability of Persian laws once established. Similarly, God’s law has never changed. Its death grip on mankind still exists and sounds forth, as in the words of Ezekiel 18:20, “The soul who sins shall die” (nkjv). There was no way to blot out this eternal consequence of sin, so there had to be devised another “law” that would supersede the law of sin and death.[vi]
What is the sinner’s plight (Romans 3:23, 5:12), and how did God work to set forth a new way to be set free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2-4)?
Scripture Memory: Try to fill in the missing words in the blanks below, by memory if at all possible, and then review the passage several times today.
Light is ___________________ for the _______________________, and _______________________ for the upright in heart. _______________________ in the LORD, you righteous, and _______________ thanks at the ________________________________ of His holy name. (Psalm 97:11, 12, nkjv)
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© 2005 by Harvest Christian Fellowship. All rights reserved. Written by Thomas Klock for Men’s Bible Fellowship, 2004-2005.
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