Job 19 & 20 Round 5

Job 19

Job, showing a remarkable lack of mathematical accuracy accuses his friends of reproaching him 10 times and shamelessly attacking him - so far we are on round 5 - so this is more than a 100% exaggeration.

If Job has gone astray then his error is actually not any of their concern and if his friends think that they can exalt their position over him they should know that God has wronged Job and drawn his net around him.

Like many unfortunate people Job cries out violence but gets no response, cries out for help but finds no justice.

God is oppressing Job, blocking his way, shrouding his path in darkness, destroying his house and alienating him from his family, stripped him of his honour

Even his friends despise him and little boys mock him in the street.
Even his wife now finds his breath offensive.

Have you ever heard the expression "by the skin of my teeth?" - this chapter of Job is where that expression comes from - you learn something new every day.

In the middle of all his troubles Job in this chapter also spoke the words that inspired one of the most memorable parts of Handel's great work, the Messiah - "I know that my redeemer liveth" 

Job 20 

Zophar replies to this speech - he has been rebuked and he is troubledand from his understanding he has to reply.

Surely you know how it has been since ancient times, the mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless momentary and though the pride of the godless person reaches to the heavens he will perish just like his dung.

People search for him but he cannot be found

His food will become sour in his stomach - God will vent his anger on him and though he flees from iron weapons, he will be shot with bronze arrows.

the inference is that if the fate of the wicked so closely matches what Job has suffered than it must surely be because Job is wicked - QED

Job 16 - 18 Round 4

Job 16

Job is starting to lose patience with the comfort and compassion his friends are showing.- given that so far Job has spoken for 7 chapters and his friends have so far had 5 chapters between them I think Job's accusations that his friends speeches are interminable and very long is a tad unfair!

However Job is the one who has lost everything, so perhaps we can excuse him!

Job says he could give speeches like his friends if the roles were reversed, though his words would probably have been of comfort.

God has robbed Job of everything, wealth, health, and the respect of other people.
Job's friendly witness is in heaven and his intercessor is his friend.

Job 17

Though from Job's perspective the good and the wicked wind up the same, still the path of goodness is better,

Job challenges his friends to have another go at arguments, he will not find a wise man here.

Job 18

Bildad (the shortest guy in the Bible - Bildad the Shuhite (Shoe height) - get it? Ok forget it!)
If that one made you groan the next one will make your day - the second shortest is Nehemiah (knee-high Miah)

Sorry - There was no way on earth I was going through the book of Job without telling that rather old, and not very funny joke. And besides all this talk is getting heavy...

Bildad urges Job to end his speeches and grow up and be sensible so they can have a conversation.

Job is tearing himself apart in his anger- and if he had the strength surely Job would destroy the earth, move the rocks and empty the land.

The lamp of the wicked goes out - his step is weakened, his schemes throw him down and his feet walk into a trap.

The inference of this speech is that Job is among the wicked otherwise these things would not have happened to him.

Job 9-11 Round 3

Job 9

Job admits that Bildud has a point, but how can a mere mortal prove his innocence to God.
Even if one wanted to argue your case before God the chances of you being able to put together a coherent argument the chances of being able to answer Gods questions are about 1 in 1000.

God's wisdom and power are limitless and nothing can resist God and come out unscathed? God can move mountains without their knowing it

When God passes by most of the time we cannot discern his passing, we cannot demand of God "What are you doing?"

If Job could plead his case before God even if he were innocent he would be convicted by some twist.

Job has got beyond wishing he had never been born, he hates his own life .

If Job were cleaner than clean, God would throw him into a pit.
Job wishes that there was some intermediary who could argue his case before God then Job would be able to stop worrying about the terrors, but right now Job does not stand a chance.

I know that this is an old testament story and that reading things into the text can sometimes be dishonest to the understanding of the text but I am going to say that as a Christian I believe and the church teaches that there is an intermediary between man and God - the person who we believe is God himself.

This same Jesus suffered all that Job suffered, and more, he was actually killed.
I know there are many more glimpses of Jesus and his work before we get to the gospels if you want to read them that way, eventually this blog will reach the Gospel accounts of the Jesus, if you want to meet him now please find a bible (there is a free version online at http://ebible.org/web/) and read about Jesus from people who actually knew him in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John - failing that ask one of his followers.

Job 10 

Job is so fed up with life that he no longer cares - speaking out of the bitterness of his heart he is not holding nothing back.

He issued a challenge to God to lay charges before Job - at least then he will know what he has done wrong.

The God who made Job has torn him to pieces, apparently without cause or reason.

Job 11

Zophar replied to this speech.

Neither of his companions have managed to give Job a satisfactory answer - Zophar asks Job if he can fathom the mysteries of God

Wisdom has two sides, Job cannot understand the acts of God , but surely if Job puts aside his sin and wrong acts then he will surely prosper again.

Job 6-8 Round 2

Job 6+7

Job takes the next 2 chapters with his lament - Somehow I cannot blame him for a touch of melodrama given all he has been through.

I'm going to take a slight detour here and say that while science is very important and can help us to understand the workings of the planet, solar system, galaxy, universe etc, there are some areas that science simply has no answer for - How much does misery and anguish weigh? 

Job said that if they could be measured his anguish and misery would outweigh the sand of the seas.
Job feels the arrows of God releasing poison into him and this is why his words are impetuous, 
Do wild (or domestic) animals make a lot of noise when they have food to eat and drink?
Do you enjoy salt with tasteless food - for Job food has become tasteless and abhorrent.

Job asked if God would not finish him off  -at least then he would have the consolation that he had not denied the words of the Holy one.

Job's strength, hope and patience is worn out, he cannot help himself since success has been driven far away 

Those who withhold kindness from a friend has forsaken the fear of God, but Job's friends and brothers are like unreliable streams that flow full of melting snow in the spring, but by autumn have dried up and cause danger to anybody relying on their water .

Job has not asked for help from his friends, and challenges his friends to explain where he went wrong and that he is being honest in his complaints.
"reconsider, for my integrity is at stake, is there any wickedness on my lips?"

Job continues that mankind has a hard life of labour, are our days of work like waiting for pay day?

Job reveals that when he goes to sleep all he can think of is the morning and the nightmares he may have in the night.
Though the nights are interminable, the days fly by and in a short while they would have gone past like a breath of wind.
Job fears that his eyes will see only misery until he dies and is no more

Job ends the chapter with a challenge to God - If I have sinned, what have I done to you? You who see everything we do, why have you made me your target? 
Have I become a burden to you? Why do you not pardon my offences and forgive my sins?
Soon, I will lay down in the dust, you may search but you will not find me.

Job 8 

Bildad speaks up now - Does God pervert justice? and pervert what is right?
Your children paid the penalty for their sin, but if you are pure and upright and seek God earnestly - even now god will work on your behalf, restoring your prosperous state.

Ask the ancient ones, and former generations - no plant can thrive where the conditions are not right., 
Good soil produces good plants and God will surely not reject one who is blameless or give strength to evildoers.
God will one day fill Job with happiness and he will shout for joy  

Is Bildad saying basically "buck up old chap, things will turn out right in the end" because with my limited experience of loss this approach does not really help - nor does the line "Do you think God may be trying to tell you something?"

Job 3 - 5 Round 1

Job 3

The next 30 odd chapters of this book consists of the conversation between Job and his friends,
It seems that Job speaks for 1 chapter and then his friends take 2 chapters to respond to him, so I'll do each complaint and each response in one post and try and speed things up a bit!

Job starts the conversation by wishing that he had never been born, and that he would be better off dead without any of his current troubles.
In death the king and the poor beggar are very much alike and only living people have to face trouble and strife
Job finishes questioning why God gives life to men, since he hides future from his creation and has hedged Job in.

Job has realised that his very worst nightmare has come shockingly and suddenly very real indeed leaving Job with no rest, only turmoil.

Job 4

Eliphaz is the first of Job's friends who try and speak, but his attempt does not really meet with total success.

He starts off berating Job for giving advice and help to others in the past, yet Job is now discouraged and feeling sorry for himself?

Job should be confident in his piety as after all good people don't suffer - innocent people don't suffer misfortune

In Eliphaz experience "evil come to he who evil does"

His advice finishes with the thought "Can a man be more righteous that God? Can even a strong man be more pure that his maker?"

If God challenges even his angels a mere man who cannot match God for purity and being right.

It would appear that Job's sufferings are the result of some kind of wrongdoing that Job has committed.

Job 5

"Call if you will but which of the holy ones will you turn?"
This chapter has the great verse "Man was born to trouble as sure as sparks fly upwards"

Eliphaz recommends that Job lay his complaint before God, after all God works miracles all the time, like sending rain on the earth.

If Job is really right with God then surely God will rescue him and his fortune will be rebuilt and his descendants will prosper.

Job 2 Going from bad to worse

Job 2 

Once again the Angels are having a meeting with God (ok the Bible says presented themselves before God) and once again the accuser, Satan, appears before God who asked "what are you doing here?"
"From roaming to an fro on the earth."

God asked if Satan had noticed that Job had not cursed God despite what Satan had caused Job to suffer.

Satan answered that any person could lose everything but still be philosophical if they still have their health. 
God allowed Satan a free hand to afflict poor Job with illness and sickness, but he was prevented from allowing anything to end Job's life.

Satan inflicted Job with painful sores all over his body.
Job, sitting in the ashes of a fire found a scrap of broken pot and used it to scrape away the worst of his diseased skin.
Mrs Job at this point loses patience and urged Job to "curse God and die" 
In the 1980's there was a comedy show in the UK called "Allo, Allo" where the main character's catch phrase when challenged by his wife was "You stupid woman!" Job's response to his wife strikes me as though Allo allo nicked the catch phrase from here - the version of the Bible I am reading translates it as "You are talking like a foolish woman, shall we only accept good from God and not trouble", but I imagine a fake French accent going "You stupid woman......."

In all this Job kept his integrity and refused to curse God.

Job's friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildud the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard all of his misfortunes they went to visit with Job and agreed to meet together to offer sympathy and condolance to Job offering comfort.
On first meeting with Job they barely recognised their friend.
All his friends could do is sit down with Job and just be there for him, feeling powerless, but keeping him company. they did this for 7 days and 7 nights because they saw how badly Job had been suffering.

Job 1 A bad news day

Job 1

The Bible mentions that Job is not your ordinary ok kind of guy, Job feared God (I prefer to say respected and lived his life to please God) and shunned all evil. Job was one of the richest and most influential men in the East where he lived in the land of Uz. (Not to be confused with Oz!)

Job had 7 sons and 3 daughters, owned 7000 sheep, 3000 camels,  500 yoke of oxen and 500 donkeys, and a lot of servants to look after his affairs, Quite what he did with all these is not explored in the Bible text.

His sons were in the habbit of having birthday parties at their respective houses and Job would off a sacrifice to God when they did this just in case somebody did something wrong and they cursed God.

The story now takes a slightly different turn - Angels are presenting themselves before God when Satan turned up in the presence of God.
"Where have you come from?" Demanded God 
"From roaming through the earth, going to and fro" replied Satan

God then said "have you considered my servant Job? he is a good man who respects me and shuns evil"
Reading between the lines, Job is a good chap and you will not corrupt him.
Satan explained that God has been protecting Job and his possessions, and that if Job loses all his riches and possessions then he will surely curse God
"Ok says God, you may take all he has but you cannot touch Job himself"
So Satan left the presence of God and set out to ruin Job's life.

First a message comes "your oxen were at work ploughing and the donkeys grazing near by when Sabean raiders came along and stole 500 yoke of oxen, 500 donkeys and killed all the servants that were working with them, only 1 servant escaped and told Job
Hot on his heels another message came "Fire from the sky has killed all your sheep and servants, only I made it away to tell you
While he was finishing a third messanger ran up "Chaldean raiders have attacked and stolen your camels, killing all the others, I'm the only one that got away.
Then comes the final messenger, your children were at your eldest sons house and a sudden wind came off the desert and the house has collapsed killing everybody in it, only I escaped the carnage.

On hearing this Job tore his robes and cut off his hair and said "naked I came into this world, naked I will depart, the LORD gives and the LORD takes away, may the name of the LORD be praised"

Job did not sin be charging God with doing anything wrong.

One of the series of books I rather enjoyed growing up was the Dr Syn books by Russell Thondike. 
In the books Dr Syn is an English clergyman in the late 18th century and he married a beautiful Spanish woman. His wife could not settle for life in the mist and fogs of England and ran away with Dr Syn's best friend. when Christopher Syn read his wife's note he misquoted Job - the lord giveth and the lord taketh away, cursed be the name of the lord.
Dr Chrisopher Syn I believe lost his faith at that moment and he became an extremely bloodthirsty pirate, then a smuggler on his return to England, eventually coming to a sticky end when the truth came out.

Part of the reason for me thinking of this book is that I am visiting the town where I went to school, Rye in East Sussex, and Dr Syn was vicar of Dymchurch just along the coast, and in several books visited Rye, staying at the Mermaid and preaching at the church and visiting his enemies (In fact his former best friend) in the prison to persuade him to claim Dr Syn's old pirate identity since his enemy was due for execution he saw the opportunity to protect his own past.

I hope that nothing happens to me to put me to that kind of test, but if it did I hope I would be more like Job than Dr Syn.

I'm not sure if there are morals to this chapter? Perhaps there are - God does not do anything to hurt Job, Satan asked for permission to do this, and God set a limit on the hurt Satan could inflict.
One thing is certain, Job has literally lost everything in the space of a day and he is not very happy about it.

Job - Bad things happen

For those who have been following my journey through the Bible and who already know this remarkable book will be aware that we have reached the book of Job.

I'm not totally sure how to blog this book as vast chapters are taken up with a 4 way conversation.

If I may - I'm going to do an outline of the book today to try and see the big picture before going into the book and examine the arguments, because I think that there is a help to be found in the big picture.

Job is a good man, quite wealthy with a large family and a lot of livestock and he has a large household of servants.
As the result of a bet between Satan (in Hebrew the name means accuser) and God, in one day Job is attacked by men and natural disasters and loses all his camels, cattle, donkeys, sheep, servants and his children are in a house when it collapses and kills all his children.

Job, in great shock and mourning declared that "The LORD gives, and the LORD takes away, blessed be the name of the LORD" - God won his bet.

Next Satan and God have another bet Job has not been hurt himself and he still has his health - take that away and Job with curse God.
Satan is allowed to make Job very ill, his body covered with sores but Satan is not allowed to kill Job. 

Job, to the disgust of even his wife does not curse God, "Will I accept only good from God?".

Three of Jobs friends turn up, and the most of the rest of the book is Job's complaints and his friends attempts to make sense of what has happened to Job.
In the end another voice speaks up - a young man who comes close to the truth.

Finally God appears to Job and his friends - God does not answer Job directly but challenges with the big picture at which Job lays his complaint down, realising that he does not see or understand the whole picture.

At the end of the story, Job has recovered his health, rebuilt his fortunes and raised a new family.

From the big picture view of this book I notice a few things - bad things can, and do, happen to good people. 
Secondly when bad things happen it is often very hard, Faith can very easily be a club used to beat down a person of faith - some people are bound to say "Where is your god in this situation?" 
Some people who attack faith use this club rather a lot when there is a natural disaster for instance 
Third sometimes there really is no explanation - for life to thrive on this planet certain things that cause natural disasters are actually essential - the earthquakes, hurricanes, tropical storms and volcanoes are vital in keeping this planet hospitable. It is only in the last century or so that our understanding of the planet we live on reached this point. 

Esther 8 - 10 Reprieve

Esther 8 

Following the, probably timely, execution of the enemy Haman king Xerxes gave all the estates of Haman to Queen Esther.

Esther told the king everything about her people including that Mordecai was her uncle , so Mordecai was bought into the presence of the king who gave Mordecai his signet ring (having first retrieved it from Haman) and the queen asked Mordecai to take charge of Haman and his affairs.

No record is given of what happened to Haman's wife, I suspect she ended up living with friends with nothing to her name since the disgrace and execution of her husband.

Esther pleaded with the king to overturn the edict that Haman had issued in the kings name to kill all the Jews in the 12 month of the year.
The king said that no law written in his name and sealed with his seal could be annulled. But Mordecai was given instruction to write another edict in favour of the Jews to be written in the kings name and sealed with his seal - which meant that this law could also not be changed.

Mordecai wrote that on the appointed day in December the Jews were allowed to group together in towns and to defend themselves with force and plunder the properties of anybody who attacked them.

When the appointed day came the Jews formed large crowds in their towns and they were allowed to be armed. Other nations in fear aided the Jews in their defence and the regional and provincial governors were also in fear of Mordecai who was more powerful than even Haman had been.

Esther 9

On the day the Jews killed 500 men in Susa who tried to attack and kill them along with the 10 sons of Hama.
In the rest of the empire they killed 75,000 men who attacked them, but no plunder was taken that day

Esther went to the king again and got permission for the Jews to gather a second time and if anybody wanted to attack them, well they were fair game - and another 300 men tried to attack the Jews.

The Jewish festival of Purim was established at this time and a letter from Mordecai to all Jews gave instruction to make Purim a day of celebration and gifts which the Jews have continued to this day - Purim next year is in March

Esther 10 

Mordecai, who was dressing in sackcloth when Haman had his law passed, left the kings presence wearing the finest royal clothes, in blue and white (both expensive colours) and with a purple robe (again very expensive colour) and a large gold crown on his head and wearing the kings ring.
As time went on Mordecai became the kings chief of staff and advisor. he was second in command only to the king and was very highly regarded among the Jews as he was always working for their benefit.

Thus ends the story of Esther - notice that God has not been mentioned in this book.

For me the story shows that God can and does work through human arranged circumstances to achieve his ends

Was God behind Queen Vashti and her refusal to go to the kings drunken party? 
Was God behind the beauty contenst that gave the king sexual access to several hundred young women?
Was God behind Haman's genocidal plan?
I do not think so - these things were dreamt up by people
Was God behind Esther becoming queen? 
Possibly
Did god save his people through Mordecai and Esther's actions?
I think so, yes.

Esther 7 Poor Haman......

Esther 7 

At the end of the last post, Haman, thoroughly humiliated is just about to be taken to a private banquet hosted by the niece of his worst enemy, though he does not yet know this.

This is the second banquet - I suspect that Esther wanted to spend some time with Haman and figure out for herself what kind of man he was.

Again the king asked his queen what she wanted and she spoke up for a people that had been sold for slaughter that included herself. If they had simply been sold into slavery, Esther maintained that she would not have troubled the king about it, but they have been sold down the river to be killed without the chance to defend themselves.

The king is absolutely furious that his wife's people had been targeted for genocide and demanded who had done this.

You can imagine the shade of grey that poor old Haman has assumed at this point as Esther the beautiful wife of the king pointed and said "this vile creature, Haman ordered it.

In a rage the king left and went to the palace gardens and Haman decided to plead with Esther for his life. The king came back and found Haman falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.

King Xerxes totally looses it "Will this man molest my wife in my house?" - at which his servants bound, gagged and blindfolded Haman.
One of the chief eunuchs pointed out that Haman had a pole that was over 20 metres high set up outside his house that he was going to ask the king to impale Mordecai the Jew on.

"Impale him on it" was the response from the king.

I'm still quite puzzled how one impales somebody (who probably does not want to be impaled) on a spike that is the height of 7 or 8 floors above the ground.
I'm sure that searching Google for "How do I impale a body on a pole that is 20 metres high?" will either gain interest from any government bodies snooping on what people are searching for, or lead back to this blog as it matches the text!

If you have any ideas on how to impale a body on a 20 metre pole PLEASE DO NOT POST IN THE COMMENTS, I'd rather not think about it!

Esther 6 Hoist with his own Petard

Esther 6

There are so many expressions that sum up this chapter - the one used in the title is from Shakespeare (and I bet you thought I would not know that - thanks Wikipedia!) 
Another one could be Schadenfreude, because what happens to our villain here is 100% pure poetic justice.

At the end of the last chapter Haman the villain of the piece has set up a pole 20 metres high and is going to ask the king Xerxes to impale Mordecai the Jew on it as Mordecai won't show him fear. (the fact that he persuaded the king to sign an edict exterminating the Jews because Mordecai's refused to bow or kneel to him upset his sensibilities)  

However during the night the king is unable to sleep and in the sentiments of Oscar Wilde's heroine Gwendoline in the importance of being earnest - "I always travel with my diary, it is so good to have something sensational to read on the train" the king ordered the annals of his rule to be read to him and they read the account of Mordecai uncovering an attempt on the kings life.

The king asked them how he showed his gratitude and what had been done for Mordecai.
"Nothing has been done for him" came the reply.

At that moment Haman came into the palace to ask for Mordecai to be impaled on his freshly prepared spike and the king caught him unprepared with the question "What should be done for the man the king chooses to honour" 

Thinking quickly Haman thought who could the king honour apart from me? So he said, well let a top noble or prince take a robe of the kings, one that he himself has worn, and a horse that the king has ridden himself with a royal crest. Dress the man in the robe and put him on the horse and then lead him through the city with a town crier announcing this is what is done for the man the king delights to honour"

Good idea said the king - now go and do all that for Mordecai the Jew, don't neglect any part of your excellent suggestion.

Poor Haman is forced to trudge the city leading Mordecai on the kings horse and wearing the kings robe honouring the man who showed no honour or fear of him.
After this Mordecai returned to the kings gate (the bible does not say quite how much fun he had that day!) but Haman rushed home totally humiliated and told his wife and friends.

They told him "You're doomed" (You have to say that with a Scottish accent (like Frazer from Dad's army) Since Mordecai the Jew has started your downfall and you cannot stand up to him, you will come to ruin.

Things then go from bad to worse for Haman, the attendants arrive at this moment to take Haman for dinner with Esther and the king. 

Esther 4 &5 Help!

Esther 4

When Mordecai heard the decree of Haman issued in the kings name that all the jews were to be attacked and murdered on the 13 day of the 12 month (which just happened to be the kings birthday)  he was shocked and in grief he went about dressed in sackcloth and ashes.
He was not allowed in the palace dressed like that, but he waited in the public square near the gates.
When his niece, Queen Esther heard about this she sent him out new clothes suitable to be worn inside the palace.
Mordecai refused to change into the new clothes and eventually Esther sent one of her servants to find out what the trouble was.

Mordecai's message was simple - Haman wishes to destroy us and has offered 10,000 talents of silver (This is about 340 tonnes which is not far off the maximum weight of an Airbus A380 (fully loaded but without fuel)) for the king to sign the edict.and even gave her a copy of the edict.
Mordecai instructed Esther that she should lay the case before the king and plead for the lives of her people.

Esther replied that it was forbidden to just pop in on the king unannounced and if he does not recognise and welcome Esther by extending the sceptre to her the punishment is death. Besides the king has not sent for Esther in a month.

Mordecai's response is effectively get a backbone girl, if you don't help us you will not be safe just because you live in the palace. And besides if help comes from another source it would not help Esther or her family.

Esther asked for the Jews in Susa (the capital city) to fast and pray for 3 days and she would do the same.
Then she would go and see the king and if she dies, well she dies.

Esther 5

On the third day Esther went to see the king who was sitting on his throne. 
The king is very glad to see her and invites her in, extending the golden sceptre.

Xerxes asked what Esther wanted - even up to half the kingdom. 
Esther at this point does something that I would not have expected - she invites the king and Haman to a private banquet today that she has prepared.
"Bring Haman at once" is the response of the king who obviously has a bit of an appetite.
During the meal the king asked again what Esther wanted, and she said please come to dinner with me again tomorrow with Haman and I will tell you.

Haman, at this point was very happy and in high spirits, but when he came to the palace gate, there was Mordecai who refused to show fear or bow in his august presence, at which is bonhomie left him and in a sulk we went home. That evening he boasted about how rich and powerful he had become and how the king and queen ask him to dine with them. He then complained about Mordecai, that the life of this one Jew turned all his greatness into dust and ashes and how unfair it all was.

Haman's wife, a charmer by the name of Zeresh, suggested that Haman should set up a spile 20 metres high (that is about 8 floors of a building) and go and ask the king in the morning if he would impale Mordecai on it, just to cheer him up.

I wonder about the logistics of impaling somebody on a pole that is 20 odd metres above the ground - but that is just morbid curiosity - I dare say they had their methods.

Esther 3 Introducing the first anti semite

Esther 3

Following the events of Mordecai being a material assistance in thwarting an assassination of King Xerxes, the king decided to make a nasty piece of work, Haman one of his favourites and grant him great honour and power in the realm.

The King commanded all the officials at the palace gates to kneel and show respect for Haman, only Mordecai refused to kneel to Haman.
Every day Mordecai refused to kneel before Haman and eventually Haman took a real dislike to Mordecai, and because he had been told that Modecai was a Jew, the Jews as a whole people.

Having spent some time fuming Haman cast the lot (or Pur) on his plan and he went to the king saying there is  a people scattered through the land, who keep themselves separate from all others and offered to pay 10,000 talents of silver into the treasury if the king will sign a decree into law to wipe out the Jews wherever they could be found.

The lot was cast in the first month, and the lot fell to the 12 month of the year, so almost a year later the Jews were to be wiped out

The king honoured Haman enough that he signed the decree and told Haman to keep his money without realising that Esther the new queen was Jewish.
Haman had the edict written out in the different dialects of the realm.
When it was published the people were very confused about this homicide order against a group of people who had done no harm and posed no threat.

Meanwhile Haman and the king went a binge, what a nice guy....

Esther 2 concequences

Esther 2

A few days later old Xerxes, who if you recall banished his wife after she refused to be summoned to visit his drunken party while "in high spirits from wine" 
He has now had a chance to get over his hangover and his temper has subsided and he decided that he had perhaps acted rashly in refusing to ever see Vashti again.

His personal advisors suggest that the king appoint "beauty assessors" in the provinces to search out beautiful virgins throughout the realm and then bring them to the harem in Susa where they would be trained by the kings eunuch before being presented to the king after 12 months of beauty treatments.

I'm afraid to say that the king thought that this was a rather superb idea, so the first beauty contest started. The prize was replacing Vashti as the queen of the realm with a runner up prize that they have to stay the rest of their lives in the concubine harem as they have slept with the king - though they would never see the king again, unless he asked for her by name.

In the capital city of Susa there was living a Jewish exile called Mordecai, a descendant of the tribe of Benjamin and related to the Israelite king Saul. and was one of the captives taken by Nebuchadnezzer. Mordecai had adopted his cousin Hadassah who most people called by the name of Esther, after her parents had died in exile.
Esther was known to be very pretty and had a stunning figure, and so she was caught up in the beauty competition run on behalf of the king. whether Mordecai or she approved of this is not recorded.

Esther wound up in the harem but did not reveal her family relations or her nationality as she had been warned by Mordecai that this was not wise. 
There is a TV show on called "Who do you think you are?" where famous celebrities trace back their family tree and tell the story of their interesting ancestors. Stephen Fry did probably the most moving episode, Stephen's family arrived from Poland in the 1920's but one thing his mother said when they were children, they were advised to say nothing about being Jewish. To me this should be unnecessary.

Esther managed to speak to Mordecai every day, he would walk in the courtyard of the palace close to the harem.

Esther went into the king on the 7th year of his reign - given that Vashti had been banished in the third year this contest had gone on for a long time.

Anyway Esther pleased and impressed the king far more than the other girls so he made Esther the queen with a royal crown and robes. The king then had a banquet in Esther's honour 

Meanwhile Mordecai in his time in the palace had overheard a conspiracy to assassinate the king.
Mordecai told Esther who in turn told the king.
Investigations found that there was truth in the report and the protagonists, Bigthana and Teresh were impaled on poles. 
A record of this was kept in the records of the king.

Esther 1 How to win friends and influence your wife (or not!)

Esther 1
For those who think the Bible is always banging on about God - you may be surprised that this book of the Bible does not even mention God by name. 

This occurred during the time of Xerxes - who ruled the Medo-Persian empire between Cyrus and Darius -in Israel the Temple was being rebuilt.

The king decided to show off he arranged for a banquet for all the nobles and officials, military leaders, princes and provincial nobles.
Xerxes spent about 6 months displaying his wealth and basically showing off.
After this he gave a 7 day banquet/party/drunken orgy (delete according to your sensivities) for all the men of the capital city.
In the palace garden, he had decked out with mosaic, gold couches and blue and white linnens.
All the guests drank all kinds of wine from all kinds of gold goblets with the wine waiters given instructions that there were no limits on the types or volume of alcohol they were to serve.

Meanwhile the queen was giving a similar, though probably less rowdy, party for the women of the city. 

On the 7th day Xerxes (whose condition is described in the bible as "in high spirits from wine", and by me as "drunk as a skunk") decided that his wife was so pretty he wanted to show her off to his drinking buddies wearing her royal crown as she was very attractive to look at.

Queen Vashti refused point blank to go and be ogled by a bunch of extremely drunk blokes.
Xerxes was absolutely furious, but decided not to act immediately, so he sought advice from experts in the laws of persia and with men who understood the times .
They decided that the queen had done wrong by not obeying her king's and husbands instructions.
The advisers (all men I suspect) think that the queen's refusal would be contagious and wives all over the land would stop obeying their husbands every whim
I can just imagine a scene from the old BBC sitcom "Yes Prime Minister" where the heads of the civil service in the UK would have an extremely similar discussion!

They advised the king to issue a decree, written into law that could not be repealed that Queen Vashti was to be deposed as queen and never see the king again.

These days this kind of behaviour should be unthinkable, unfortunately they probably are not.

Nehemiah 10-13 Lots of names and the end of the book!

Nehemiah 10

The chapter starts off with a list of the people who signed the solemn agreement - 
They agreed to separate themselves from relations with neighbouring people, not to give their daughters in marriage to them or accept their daughters to marry Jewish sons, they promise to not buy grain on the sabbath or holy days.
They also promise to obey the law and cancel all debts after 7 years. They promise to support the temple and the levites by giving 10% of their crops .
The priests promise to do their duty and bring gifts of the people to the temple.

Nehemiah 11
Is a census of the inhabitants of Jerusalem - lots of names here that really don't interest me at all!

Nehemiah 12
Is a list of the priests and levites 

The dedication of the walls - Nehemiah got all the Levites and musicians out, got the leaders of the community on top of the wall and like Humpty dumpty.....Sorry I digress an image formed before I could stop myself!

Nehemiah got 2 groups of people, leaders, choirs and musicians to walk in opposite directions giving thanks and praise to God - apparently the noise travelled.

Nehemiah 13

Part of Nehemiah's reforms was to find those of Ammonite or Moabite descent and exclude them from the assembly (I pointed out before that David and Solomon would not have been allowed in on this basis due to David's Great, great grandmother, Ruth who was from Moab), but the priest had given a room in the temple to Tobiah (one of the enemies of Nehemiah) and given him gifts dedicated to the priests.

Nehemiah was not in Jerusalem at this time as he had gone back to the king and asked leave to return and visit.

Nehemiah returned to find all was not at all well, he threw Tobiah's stuff out of the temple and re-established order in the temple among the priests and levites.
Around and about he saw Jews treading wine on the sabbath, and bringing in grain, selling and buying good with people from Tyre .
Nehemiah ordered the gates of the city closed on the Sabbath having rebuked the leaders for letting things go and so quickly ignoring the law of God - even then.

Nehemiah also found people intermarrying with Ashdod, Ammonand and Moab, their children did not even speak Hebrew.
Nehemiah went ape - he beat some of these people, pulling out their hair and made them take an oath not to allow intermarriage - Even Solomon the wise king of the golden age of Israel was led astray by his foreign wives

Nehemiah asked God not to ignore their sins, but remember his faithfulness 

"Remember me with favour,  my God"

Join me in the next post where we start a truly remarkable book - Esther

Nehemiah 8 & 9 Observing and hearing.

Nehemiah 8

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah seem to be closely tied to each other, Ezra being the rebuilding of the temple and re-birth of the Jewish faith and Nehemiah being the rebuilding of Jerusalem as a city and the re-birth of the Jewish nation. 
Now the 2 characters come together.

On the 7th month the whole Jewish nation assembled in Jerusalem to hear Ezra reading the law of God.
As far as I can tell the 7th month in the Jewish Calender is September according to our Gregorian calender.
Ezra stood on a platform with Nehemiah and a bunch of other people (all names which mean nothing much to me!) and read the law from Dawn until Noon - at this time of year about 6 hours straight!

There were also some levites who assisted by explaining what the law meant.

Nehemiah instructed that the people should not mourn and be sad, but rather they should rejoice that they had heard the law and understood its meanings.
The day turned into a day of celebration, taking strength from the joy of God.
Next day the leaders met again and went in detail through the law and discovered that there was a festival of shelters due in the coming days.

The people went out and gathered branches and made temporary shelters for the week of the festival of shelters which had not been celebrated for a long time

Nehemiah 9

Later in the month, the Israelites came together again and prayed to God. 
Those of Jewish descent had separated them from non Jewish wives and husbands.
They listened to the law of God for about 3 hours and prayed for 3 hours.
They reminded themselves of the love and care God had shown his people from the time of Abraham, the rescue from slavery in Egypt and their constant disobedience to the law of God ever since it was given.
While they had a kingdom, secure in the land flowing with milk and honey, they ignored God and provoked his anger.

The promises that God had made had come to pass, Israel was uprooted from the land, the remnant in Judah is a tiny fraction of the Israelites and their fertile land now nourishes the kings that God has placed in charge of the land, they ask God not to underestimate their suffering, but they promised to obey the law from now on.

Nehemiah 7 Letting go and moving on

Nehemiah 7

Once the walls of the city of Jerusalem have been rebuilt, the gates are fixed and even open and close without sticking .
Nehemiah appointed the officials to look after the walls, and the temple of God, he then appointed his brother Hanani and commander of the city Hananiah because they were both honest, trustworthy and feared God more than most people do. 

I don't mean they were AFRAID of God, perhaps a better word would be respected and honoured God, or even Loved God more than most. For example I fear traffic on the road and I pay attention to the rules of the road and try not to step out in front of a fast moving heavy vehicle - it does not mean I am afraid to cross the road, I just treat it with enough respect that I'm probably going to make it to the other side - do you see what I mean?
Or anther example - electricity. I treat electricity with respect and don't go sticking knives or other objects that are not approved design plugs into the wall outlet. I also don't overload the circuit with too many things. traffic and electricity can really hurt if you do not respect them, if the Bible has said anything up till now it is that God can get angry and deliberately going against him is not always good for the health!

Anyway Nehemiah has achieved what he set out to do, the walls are repaired and the Jewish people have somebody looking after their interests. He now steps down from power willingly.

The rest of the chapter is the list of exiles who returned with Nehemiah and the gifts they bought with them and gave.

There were some priests who could not prove their credentials and they were not allowed to conduct priestly duties or eat from the priests share of the sacrifices until there was a priest with the Urim and Thummim ministering in Jerusalem.

There has been a lot of speculation about the Urim and Thummin - they were used to discern the will of God in the Old testament before the exile, but nobody knows for sure what they were or how they were used.

According to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (also known as the Mormons or LDS within their circles) The Urim and Thummim were taken to the USA by descendants of Joseph and hidden in a field in New York State.
Centuries later they were found by Joseph Smith who used these "magic glasses" to translate the golden plates that form the book of Mormon before they were taken by the Angel Moroni back to heaven.
(If you are a member please forgive any inaccuracies here. This is my recollection of what I was told by missionaries several years ago and any inaccuracy is mine not theirs - I'd hate for them to get into trouble just because this does not ring true to me for a number of reasons that would make this post even longer and more boring than it is! If you feel really strongly the need to correct please feel free to contact me -but be prepared for the full story why I don't believe in the LDS church.)