Journal Through the Bible: Week 100 Friday

Myers, Richard.
 Images from The Temple Dictionary of the Bible.
Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2012. Print.
Public Domain

Esther chapter 1

Since God does not speak - nor is He mentioned - anywhere in this book, any commands or promises mentioned will be indirect in nature.

It is thought by some scholars that this Ahasuerus was Darius I Hypstasis. See my timeline article about that subject (here) and my introduction to the book of Esther (here) for more thorough information concerning his identity.

In this chapter we read of the king's drunken celebration that brought about the deposing of Queen Vashti. Reading of the palace's opulence, and this was but one palace in that kingdom, one gets the impression that this banquet was meant to be a show of strength, a boast of sorts. If the king was showing off the beauty and richness of his kingdom is it any wonder that he took his boast a step further and desired to show off the beauty of his wife? The implication is that he was in a "show the guests everything" frame of mind. (Shame on him!)

Does God issue any commands?

• God does not speak.

Does God make any promises?

• God does not speak.

Does this chapter teach anything about Jesus?

• No one in this chapter can be assumed as a type of Christ. Even the views of marriage given in this chapter are a bad perversion of Christian marriage as described in Ephesians chapter 5 where a woman submits to her husband and a husband sacrifices for his wife. There wasn't much sacrifice being done by Ahasuerus in this chapter!

Does this chapter teach anything about yet-future events?

• Even the description of the lovely palace at Shushan (also known as Susa) cannot compare to the glorious palace of our God that is described in the book of Revelation.