Esther 1:1-3:15, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, Psalms 35:17-28, Proverbs 21:19-20
Today is the 18th day of August welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is joy and an honor to be here with you today around the Global Campfire taking the next step forward on our journey through the Bible this year. And yesterday we concluded the book of Nehemiah, which now brings us one of the great stories of the Bible, kind of an oasis. We’ve been through a lot in our lives like in this year presently is in the last months, but we’ve been through a lot in the Bible too. We’ve experienced just a lot of things including the complete disintegration of ancient Israel and the carrying away of these people into exile.
Introduction to the Book of Esther:
And, so, now we reach this story. It’s another story from exile for. In fact, this story couldn’t have happened had they not been, had the children of Israel not been in exile. But this is a story where the Jewish people, there was a plot to completely annihilate them. And it’s odd because this story is ancient, thousands of years old and yet there have been these kinds of plots throughout history, including the story of World War II and the extermination of the Jews. So, it's…it’s on that kind of level that this plot is hatched in this book that we’re gonna read. And, so, that gives us a little kind of a backdrop at least to understand and this book is called Esther. And it’s not a long book we’ll…we’ll read through this entire book in three days but it’s full of drama. And it’s the story of a Hebrew girl and her name is Hadassah and she’s orphaned while she’s in exile in Persia, which is where…where we…where we’ve been in the book of Nehemiah. We’ve been in Jerusalem, but Nehemiah was coming from Persia, from Persian king Artaxerxes. And, so, Hadassah was orphaned, and her cousin Mordecai takes her and embraces her like…like his daughter and they’re from the tribe of Benjamin. And exiled Hebrews often would localize their name or take on a localized name. And, so, Hadassah was given the name Esther and that translates to star or…or morning star in the Hebrew tradition. And as we’ll find out from this book, she is gorgeous, like stunningly beautiful and has a quiet character. And, so, when King Ahasuerus who is thought to be Xerxes wanted to find a replacement queen from the queen that he had banished whose name is Vashti. And we’ll get to that story. He ends up…he ended up choosing Esther, but she kept the fact that she was a Jew secret. And that proved providential because there’s another person in Haman and this is the person who wants to annihilate, literally destroy the Jewish people. He was a descendent of King Agag Amalek and the Hebrews and the Amalekites, they were hostile to one another all the way back to….well…all the way back to Jacob and Esau and the prophet Samuel had executed king Agag, if you’ll remember, right, after King Saul defeated the Amalekites in battle. So, there is hatred here and it shows up in Haman’s life and in his plot. And it becomes kind of “against all odds”, that kind of a story, kind of an “against all odds” sort of situation. And Esther, the book of Esther, is the basis for the festival of Purim for the Hebrew people, which is still observed and celebrated until this…this very day. So, the story itself, like if we just absorb the story itself, it’s a beautiful encouraging story. But as we begin to look at some of the details of the story and apply them to our own lives we begin to see that there is stuff for our lives there, that everyone has an important role to play, that nobody knows that they’re not here for such time as this. And such a time as this may be like saving an entire nation, but it also might be like saving your marriage or having the right thing to say at the right time. And, so, let's…let’s dive in. We’re reading from the expanded Bible this week. Esther chapters 1, 2 and 3 today.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for bringing us into new territory today as we come into the book of Esther. And as we just kind of begin to get the backdrop of the story, we certainly invite You to lead and guide our thoughts and hearts as we contemplate what we’ve read. And as this story unfolds may we once again see what we have seen so many times in the Scriptures, against all odds when it seems like all is lost You rescue. And, so, we trust in You, we put our faith in You, and we love You and we worship You and we pray these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Announcements:
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And that’s it for today, I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
My beloved DAB family I just want you, each and every one of you to know that I am praying for you and as you call in and you request prayer I’m always listening and praying for your needs. May the Lord bless you richly. I would like to answer Jesse from Washington state. He called in and asked for prayer for his employee, Yami, who witnessed a stabbing and he’s asking for divine protection for his family as well as the victim’s family. And Jesse I just want you to know that I am praying for you my brother and I am praying for your request. And I pray Psalm 91 and that’s the Psalm of divine protection upon this family I’m praying. And, so, God bless you my brother and keep calling…calling in. This is Angel from California.
Good morning everybody it’s Barb calling from Alberta Canada. I am just calling in again to ask for prayer for my kids but for all kids, I guess. My kids aren’t kids, they’re…they have kids of their own already of course but, you know, I just really see this struggle within them, this pulling away and I know that it’s an attack from the devil but they are being pulled away by questions and wrong thoughts I guess or…or wrong ideas and just so many things come against them, you know. And I feel like that I could have laid a better foundation when they were growing up and I am just so sorry about that, that I didn’t. And I often pray God just please don’t make them pay for my mistakes. But I also know that God is faithful and that He hears our prayers and I just feel like if I have this family praying for them too that there’s nothing that can come up against that. So, I really appreciate any help that you guys can give me on this.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family I’m about a five-year listener first-time caller and I’m calling to ask for your prayer for my sister Joanne who is suffering from a severe liver problem. She has not turned the corner toward recovery yet and she’s suffering greatly. And in addition, her husband also is currently being diagnosed with a potentially life-threatening problem. She has three grandsons, one of which can manage to keep his life going. The other two would…would need help. But anyways, I live 600 miles away so I’m here visiting to see everything that’s going on and…and try to help as much as I can. It’s a dire situation and I know that prayer works. So, I’m asking you to pray for Joanne and Bob and her sons and for God’s will to be done because He’s a good God and He’s a loving God and He will make all things new. I appreciate this community and it’s been really lifesaving for me and I ask and thank you all and I did want to mention I know there’s lots of healthcare…I’m a healthcare provider myself and I know there’s lots of them working hard for COVID patients, but there’s lots of other patients out there that need prayer. And, so, thank you all so much and God bless you.
Hi DAB family this is Truly Thankful Taylor from the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex. Val from Vegas today is August 15th so you may be calling in to give us an update. I just wanted to tell you that I am thinking about you my sister and praying for you and just be…stay strong and know that God is with you and that you’ve just been on my heart. And also Running Desperately to Jesus, I heard your call in again and I am praying for you. You have constantly been on my heart. I’m praying for your relationship with your grandson and everything going on but especially when you’re reaching out about your fleshly desires and your sinful desires to want to give into temptation. So, I want to pray for you now. I also want to encourage you to pour into God’s word, read it, let it wash over you. Even more, listen to our podcast here at the DAB over and over if you have to. Put worship music on and just soak in God’s presence. And then also James chapter 4, just really read on that and especially just submit yourself then to God, resist the devil he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you. Let me pray for you sister. Dear heavenly Father God we just come to You now. God, I pray for my sister Running Desperately to Jesus. I pray over her life Lord Jesus. I pray right now God that You would give her strength, give her endurance Lord to resist the enemy, that in Jesus name he has no authority, that her fleshly desires Lord would put to rest, that she would only long for You, that You would be desperate for You, needing You at every place and completely submerging herself in her relationship with You Lord Jesus. Put Your angels around her to protect her and keep her safe, keep her away from those thoughts, away from those desires and give her strength. We love You Jesus we thank You. We pray all this in Your name. Amen.
Hi, my name is Sonny I just wanted to call in to ask for prayer. My wife and I are missionaries in Italy and we’re currently in furlough. And during our furlough, my wife, we found out that she had cancer Hodgkin’s lymphoma, so we are dealing with that now. We’re currently staying in Florida right now. The…yeah…if you guys could just pray for us that we would continue to have wisdom on how to move forward, but also just deity in our marriage, that Satan and all demonic principalities would be kept at bay from our marriage, and…yeah…just for healing, that my wife Amanda would be healed. So, thank you. Thank you for this community. I listen to you guys…well…Brian I listen to you every day and it’s…it’s very encouraging. I thank God for your guys ministry and this community. Love you guys. Bye.
Hi, DABbers what’s going on? It’s Val in Vegas. I just wanted to say I love you guys. Keep rolling. Please don’t give up. Keep pushing forward. God’s got this.
I want to thank you father for all that you’ve done
the gift of your word your spirit your son
for still waters green pastures and restoring my soul
and for giving me this opportunity to gracefully grow old
and even though giants still inhabit the land
you’ve made room for me __ and allowed me to stand
and even though I’m completely surrounded by terror
I’m also at peace in spite of all error
you’ve stretched out my tent cords and smoothed out the riffs
enlarged my territory and showered me with gifts
I want to thank you father for all that you do
and for giving me this opportunity to live life anew
I’d like to give a shout out to Michelle Cole from Los Angeles, know that you are thought of often and prayed for daily. And also wanna you know that I recently read the article that was done on you in the New York Times about the wonderful work you do on the blackish show. I pray that this year will be the year where you will receive final receive the worldwide…worldwide recognition that you deserve for the many fine shows that you costume work on especially blackish. And once again Brian and the Hardin family thank you for this wonderful podcast for God’s Holy Spirit to flow. Keep it flowin’ y’all. All right bye-bye.