Women of the Bible: Esther

Esther is one of two women who have Bible books named after them. I won't post any scripture about Esther, since, to do so, would require posting almost the entire book. Esther is mentioned at least once in all nine chapters. As many people have pointed out, God is not mentioned even once. However, God's providence is graphically and dramatically illustrated throughout the book.

As part of the story, Esther was made queen. Although the king apparently had concubines (other, subordinate, women -- perhaps a sort of sex slave), and doesn't seem to have consulted with women about important matters very much, Esther must have been important, at least more so than most or all other women of the kingdom.

Perhaps the most quoted part of the book of Esther is this:

¹⁰ Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a message to Mordecai: ¹¹ “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that whoever, whether man or woman, comes to the king into the inner court without being called, there is one law for him, that he be put to death, except those to whom the king might hold out the golden scepter, that he may live. I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”

¹² They told Esther’s words to Mordecai. ¹³ Then Mordecai asked them to return this answer to Esther: “Don’t think to yourself that you will escape in the king’s house any more than all the Jews. ¹⁴ For if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Who knows if you haven’t come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Note that this exchange between Esther and Mordecai, who had been her guardian, was not direct. A eunuch, Hathach, passed the messages between them. (Mordecai and other men were not allowed in the women's quarters.)

Esther ascended to the throne because of a beauty/personality contest. Abishag also won such a contest. (see here.)

I have known women named Esther.

Thanks for reading!

Guidance through visions, and other means: Some examples from the Bible

A number of Bible characters had a vision, or similar miraculous communication, from God. Sometimes, it was for the purpose of guidance. Sometimes, it was to receive a message from God for someone else. David was called to repent, in one case. In another case, David was told that God didn't want him to do something that he thought God would have wanted.

Some of the instances of special guidance are these:
Abraham: Genesis 15:1 After these things Yahweh’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
18 In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates: 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.” (Abraham had previously been told to go to what became the land of Israel to live, leaving his ancestral home.)

Jacob: Genesis 28:10 Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. 11 He came to a certain place, and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 He dreamed. Behold, a stairway set upon the earth, and its top reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it. 13 Behold, Yahweh stood above it, and said, “I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. I will give the land whereon you lie to you and to your offspring.

In Genesis 40, Joseph apparently interpreted the dreams of the cupbearer and the baker on the spot. In Genesis 41, Pharaoh, ruler of Egypt, had dreams that he could not interpret. God showed Joseph their meaning. Apparently God gave Joseph wisdom to understand these dreams on the spot, too, while he was talking with Pharaoh.

In Exodus 3, Moses saw a burning bush, which didn't burn up, and talked with God. His visitation was such that he not only heard from God, but he even questioned God's judgment.

There were various manifestations of God, to Moses, and to the entire congregation, during the Exodus from Egypt.

In Joshua 2, Rahab didn't have a special vision, but she was guided by knowledge of recent events:  8 Before they had lain down, she came up to them on the roof. 9 She said to the men, “I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10 For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11 As soon as we had heard it, our hearts melted, and there wasn’t any more spirit in any man, because of you: for Yahweh your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath. 12 Now therefore, please swear to me by Yahweh, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a true sign; 13 and that you will save alive my father, my mother, my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and will deliver our lives from death.” It is interesting that almost no one else took the same sort of action, even though what God had done for the Israelites was common knowledge. (The Gibeonites did act wisely, and deceived the Israelites, and Joshua, their leader, into making a peace treaty with them, in Joshua 9.)

In Judges 7, a Midianite man, in an army which was gathered for the purpose of attacking Israel, had a dream, which, he said, meant that the Midianites would be defeated by Gideon. Gideon, who was listening outside the man's tent, was encouraged by the dream.  

Samson's mother was visited by an angel, who instructed them to raise Samson as a Nazirite. (The angel spoke to Samson's father, too.)

God apparently spoke to Ruth through Naomi, the mother of her dead husband, and she became a follower of God.

Samuel 1 Samuel 3:10 Yahweh came, and stood, and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel said, “Speak; for your servant hears.” There is no indication that Samuel's call to be a spokesman for God was fully revealed to him at that time -- he was a boy then -- but perhaps it was, and, for sure, God revealed Himself, and what was going to happen to Eli's family, to Samuel at that time.

David, being rebuked: 2 Samuel 12:7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man. This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that would have been too little, I would have added to you many more such things. 9 Why have you despised Yahweh’s word, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 10 Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken Uriah the Hittite’s wife to be your wife.’

11 “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did this secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’ ”

13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Yahweh.” The Bible doesn't indicate how Nathan knew about these matters, but God must have told him, in some way.

In 1 Kings 3, God appeared to Solomon in a dream, and, in the dream, Solomon asked for wisdom, above all. God granted his wish.

David, being told that he was not to build the temple: 1 Chronicles 17:3 That same night, the word of God came to Nathan, saying, 4 “Go and tell David my servant, ‘Yahweh says, “You shall not build me a house to dwell in; 5 for I have not lived in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tent to another. 6 In all places in which I have walked with all Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’ ” ’ 

Esther, who had become the queen of her country in exile, was given a task because of her position. The very existence of the Jews was threatened. Her relative, Mordecai, sent her this message: Esther 4:11b “Don’t think to yourself that you will escape in the king’s house any more than all the Jews. 14 For if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Who knows if you haven’t come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Even though the assignment came through a relative (God is not mentioned in the book of Esther) it was what God wanted her to do.
 
Prophets sometimes had dreams, or visions. In Isaiah 6, Isaiah had a vision of the glory of God. In Jeremiah 24, Jeremiah had a vision of two baskets of figs. Ezekiel had some remarkable visions.

Like Joseph, Daniel interpreted the dream of a powerful ruler, but, unlike Joseph, he did so after time for reflection and prayer, apparently joined by his three friends: Daniel 2:17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: 18 that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his companions would not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

Daniel interpreted other dreams. He also had visions, perhaps about end times, or the future of Israel. In Daniel 10, Daniel had a vision, or dream, that he couldn't interpret. A man, apparently an angel, told him the meaning.

In Luke 1, the angel, Gabriel, appeared to Zechariah, a priest, in the Temple. Zechariah was told that he and his wife, who had supposed that they would die childless, would have a son, John -- they were called to be his parents. Zechariah doubted the angel, and was punished by being unable to speak until the boy was born.

And Gabriel had another message, in the same chapter: 26 Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!”
29 But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of salutation this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and give birth to a son, and will call his name ‘Jesus.’ 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.”
34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God. 36 Behold, Elizabeth, your relative, also has conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing spoken by God is impossible.”
38 Mary said, “Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” Although Mary had a logical question, she accepted the answer, and the task, that of being mother to the Son of God.

Joseph, who was to be Mary's husband, received guidance in a dream: Matthew 1:20 But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take to yourself Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 She shall give birth to a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.” 

The wise men were given guidance in a dream: Matthew 2:12 Being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country another way.

Joseph, also in Matthew 2, was told, in a dream, to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt. He was also told to come back to Israel, after a stay in Egypt.

In Matthew 4, Jesus personally called some of his first followers.

In Matthew 9:9, Jesus called Matthew from his tax collection business.

In Acts 9, Christ, himself, visited Paul while he was on his way to Damascus to persecute the church. Soon after, Ananias had a vision, directing him to go to Paul and heal him of the blindness that had stricken him when Christ appeared to him. Both Paul and Ananias talked back, with Ananias, like Moses, suggesting that God was giving him poor guidance. (He wasn't, of course!)

In Acts 9, Dorcas/Tabitha did good works, providing for the needy. We don't know how she was called, but perhaps, just seeing the need, and that she could fill it, was her call.

In Acts 10, Peter had a vision, which directed him to go to speak to Cornelius, a Gentile, and those who were gathered there to hear what Peter had to say.

Paul had a significant vision, in Acts 16, directing his missionary party to go to Macedonia.

The entire book of Revelation seems to be a recounting of a visionary experience of John.

Thanks for reading. God is able to guide us, and He suits that guidance (including reproof) in ways appropriate to our background and personality.

Prayers in the Bible: group fast for Esther

Esther 4:15 Then Esther asked them to answer Mordecai, 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I and my maidens will also fast the same way. Then I will go in to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.” 17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him. (World English Bible, public domain.)

Actually, the Bible doesn't say "prayer" in this case, but I believe that it is implied. Note that Esther also fasted. It's interesting that her maidens did, too, as they probably weren't Jewish.

Thanks for reading. This is one of a series on prayers in the Bible. The previous post is here.

"One Night With the King" -- yes, there is a Hathach

In a previous post, I questioned any telling of the story of Esther without mentioning the role of Hathach, who speaks what many people think of as the most important lines in the Book of Esther. At the time, I was relying on the IMDB listing of the cast (See previous post for link) and Hathach was not listed as one of the characters. I was disappointed.

Well, now I have seen the movie. I hope it isn't giving away too much of the plot to any of the infinitesimally small fraction of the inhabitants of this planet who use the Internet, read this blog, and will have a chance to see "One Night With the King." and plan to see it, to say that there is a Hathach in the movie, after all, and that he does speak those lines to Esther. Like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and Esther herself, Hathach is presented as having both a Jewish and an Mesopotamian name. Perhaps the original Hathach was Jewish by birth. Perhaps not.

I thank Claw of the Conciliator (See Some of the feeds I subscribe to, on the right, for a link) for pointing me to a review of the movie by Ben Witherington. Having seen the movie, I mostly agree with him. I thought that Tiffany Dupont had tremendous appeal as Esther.

* * * * *

Addendum, November 8th: When I originally posted this, I hadn't included a link to the movie's web site. (Duh . . .) I have now done so. On visiting the site, I was surprised to see that the only actors mentioned on its front page are Dupont, Omar Sharif, and Peter O'Toole. Dupont had the main role. O'Toole had a very brief part, what I think is called a cameo appearance. Sharif did well in a supporting role. John Rhys-Davies, as Mordecai (aka Gimli in the Tolkien movies), had almost as much screen time as Dupont, and did his job well. I'm surprised that he wasn't mentioned on the front page.

I should have also said that the film was free of objectionable language and gratuitous (or any other kind of) sex and of gratuitous violence. There was a little violence, but it wasn't lovingly caressed (or hugged and fondled) as it sometimes is in the movies.

I should have also said "Thanks for reading!"

Movie about Esther -- no Hathach?

I haven't seen "One Night With the King," which is currently showing in some theaters, and is about the story of Esther. We may see it. The Christianity Today review indicates that the movie probably puts too much peripheral material into the story, rather than concentrating on what actually happened. (The reviewer does recognize that lots of interesting things that really must have happened aren't in the Bible.) The review indicates that the production company is Christian, and gives them good marks for production values/artistic merit.

One thing I was interested in is whether Hathach, the eunuch, is part of the movie's story. Apparently, based on the IMDB cast list, he isn't. That's interesting, because, although most Christians (and probably Jews) don't seem to realize it, he played a critical part in the story, according to the Bible.

Thanks for reading.

Hathach: Lessons from a Eunuch

"for such a time as this" was not spoken by Mordecai to Esther. Not really.

Here's the entire verse:
For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, [then] shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for [such] a time as this? Esther 4:14, KJV

Most people familiar with the Bible would know that the "thou" in this verse is Esther. I doubt seriously that many would answer correctly if asked "who said it to her?" They would probably answer "Mordecai." Mordecai was her guardian. Mordecai sent this message, but it was actually delivered by Hathach, a eunuch in Esther's service. Esther was in the harem in the palace, and Mordecai wouldn't have been allowed there. Esther, even though queen, was probably confined to the palace most of the time.

Communication
Hathach communicated someone else’s message, and he did it effectively. He didn't:
listen to something, or someone, else
put off telling her
leave out anything important
add to the message: make it his message, not Mordecai’s
say, “this is over and above my job”
think, “I have something more important to do”

He must have previously showed Esther that he was trustworthy.

Mordecai had a message, but he had to rely on someone else to deliver it. So does God. I need to be sure that I am an effective communicator, because God's message is important. Lives depend on it.

Commitment
Easton's Bible Dictionary, available through the Blueletter Bible, says that eunuch meant ". . . literally bed-keeper or chamberlain, and not necessarily in all cases one who was mutilated, although the practice of employing such mutilated persons in Oriental courts was common. Moses excluded them from the congregation (Deu 23:1)."

A eunuch was someone who had given up sex, or, rather, been deprived of his sexual powers.

Jesus pointed out that there were different categories of eunuchs:
For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from [their] mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive [it], let him receive [it]. (Matthew 19:12)

Giving up sex is a serious matter. Our society isn't in tune with that idea. The U. S. is now subsidizing drugs to cure erectile dysfunction through Medicare. (There are, of course, other things that we should give up, at times, not just sex. But I could hardly leave that idea out when writing about a eunuch!)

Jesus never asks us to give up something that is, really, good for us. Giving up something for Christ does not go unrewarded.

Isaiah had this to say:
For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose [the things] that please me, and take hold of my covenant; Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. (Isaiah 56:4-5)

Mark wrote:
And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30)

We may have to make serious commitments, in order to communicate the message effectively. If so, we will be rewarded.

There is a message that needs to be communicated effectively, passionately. It needs trusted, committed, messengers. I hope that I am one.

* * * *

The above was posted at 4:27 AM, EDT, Feb 11, more or less. My eldest daughter pointed out that I had not spelled Hathach's name consistently, so I am changing the title to correct this. Thanks to her. Thanks for reading.