As we began the book of
Esther, we noted that although God's name is not mentioned, His
mighty hand will be seen throughout the words. Even the preparation
of the rulers and their environment is being conducted by our
orchestrating God. In verse one we met Ahasuerus, or most likely
Xerses I or as some called him Artaxerxes of Persia. The time in
history is somewhere between the release of Israel from Babylonian
captivity when Ezra was commissioned by Cyrus to rebuild the temple
and the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem by Artaxerxes to
Nehemiah. In chapter one and verse two we learn more about where God
was setting the scene for the events in this book to take place. It
reads:
[That] in those days,
when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which [was]
in Shushan the palace,
The
reference “That in those days,...” makes us know we are being
told a story from the past. Some of the greatest story tellers are
those who can draw us into their words and make us picture the events
in our minds. As we consider this story and God's lessons within it,
we will be best suited to learn if we use our imaginations to put
ourselves in the scene. So let us go back to a time when people lived
differently than we do now, and let us be careful to watch for the
mighty hand of God working as we do.
The
verse continues, “when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of
his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,...” As a ruler we
might expect that Ahasuerus was sitting upon his throne because this
is one of the things kings do. At first glance this may not seem
significant, but once again remember that the scene is begin set, and
it is important to note this man's power. The interesting part of
this verse is where the throne is located. It is in “Shushan”
which means “lily” as in “lily white” and often described the
shape of special trumpets that were played as instruments. Shushan
was located on the river Ulai or Choaspes and was a winter residence
for the Persian kings. It was one of several capitals of Persia, and
of course when it gets colder outdoors, those who have the means will
travel south for the winter. Today we might label them “snowbirds”
noting that they “fly south for the winter.”
As our
story continues this will be an important setting to keep in mind.
The Jewish holiday “Purim” is set in the Hebrew winter month
“Adar” which corresponds to February-March. This holiday will be
formed during the book of Esther, so as a preview, remember it. There
is much more of this story to come, but suffice it for now to imagine
Ahasuerus sitting upon his throne in his winter palace in Shushan
getting ready for the events about to occur.
Next
time we will see Ahasuerus hold a great feast, so read ahead, and let
us join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look for
the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation
to Generation” in all major
bookstore
sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to
e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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