Esther part nine

We are at the end of chapter three. The edict to destroy the Jews on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, of the twelfth year if Xerxes reign, has been sent out. "The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered."

When Mordecai found out about the edict, he went into mourning. He tore his clothes, wore sackcloth and ashes, and wailed loudly. Jews throughout the empire did the same thing, including fasting. What was this supposed to accomplish? 1 Kings 21:27-28, shows us an example of king Ahab doing this to show humility before god, so that god will change his mind about destroying him. In Genesis 37:34, Jacob mourns his son while in sackcloth. My commentary suggests the  author of Esther may have been familiar with Joel 2:12-17, Which suggests that mourning behavior can cause god to relent from sending calamity. There are also many instances of fasting, often as a sign if repentence.

While Mordecai was thus attired, he was not allowed to enter through the king's gate. Esther heard about Mordecai through her maids and eunuchs. She sent him some other clothes, but he would not wear them. Esther sent one of her eunuchs out to find out what the problem was. Mordecai told the eunuch the whole story and gave him a copy of the edict. The eunuch went back to Esther and reported what Mordecai had told him, along with a request for Esther to go into the king's presence and plead for the lives of her people.

Esther sent the eunuch back to Mordecai with a message. Everyone knew that to go into the presence of the king without being summoned was a risky enterprise. They could be put to death, unless the king extended his gold scepter. Plus, Esther had not been called to go to the king for a month. Mordecai sent a message back to Esther.   "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to this royal position for such a time as this?" This is the main theme of the whole story.

God is not mentioned at all, but Mordecai expects salvation for at least some of the Jews, if not for him and Esther. From whence cometh this salvation? Is hope in this salvation justified? Even today, after over 2,5000 years, there is a firm belief that there will always be a remnant of the Jewish god's chosen people on earth. Many Christians consider themselves part of that category.

Note: My bible commentary says that the other "place" where salvation arrives from may be a play on words, one of the names of god being "the place."

Next, Esther sends her message back to Mordecai. She wants him to gather up all the Jews in Susa and have them conduct a fast on her behalf, for three days and three nights. (Hmmm. That's a familiar time span.) Esther and her maids will also fast. After that she will go take her chances with the king. "Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther's instructions."

Notice the contrast between the fasting and acts of humility and service of Esther and Mordecai and the extravagance and feasting of the royal household.

2 Peter, introduction

Hello, time to move on to the 2nd bible book attributed to Peter. Let's see what Wikipedia has to say about it here. There appears to be very little doubt that this letter is a fake, written between 100-150 CE, by an unknown author who was familiar with Paul's epistles and the so called book of Jude. In fact, it seems to rely heavily in the content of Jude, which we have studied before. This should be interesting.

The letter begins with the author introducing himself as Simon Peter, not just Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. It is addressed to a nonspecific group of believers.

The author opens by saying that Jesus's divine power has given them everything they need for life and godliness through their knowledge of him. (Then why do they need this letter from Peter?) Through Jesus's divine power, he gave them "great and precious promises" (what were they?)so that they could participate in the divine nature (what is that?) and "escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires." So, does this boil down to " Jesus has the power to take away your evil desires?"

In spite of Jesus's awesome power in their lives, the readers must still make an effort to have faith, goodness, self control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. (What does the divine power do?) If the readers have these qualities in increasing measure, it will keep them from being ineffective and unproductive in their knowledge of christ. (Again, then what does the divine power actually do that a person can't do for himself?) if anyone does not have the aforementioned qualities, the author says they are nearsighted, blind, and have forgotten they were cleansed from their sins. I guess he's implying that they owe Jesus their good behavior and good attitudes in repayment for the invisible nullification of their sins.

So, a claim is made that Jesus did something for them that they can not see, and gave something to them that they may never experience. Now it's up to them to be sure they act like they deserve it. And if they do, they will "receive a rich welcome into the eternal (invisible) kingdom of Jesus Christ." After they are dead.

Till next time.

1 Peter introduction.

I think we will tackle 1st and 2nd Peter next. It should be interesting. Lets read what Wikipedia has to say about 1 Peter here.

Notice that there is a lot of controversy surrounding the authorship of this letter. The most pertinent objection to Peter having written it is that it is just too well written to be composed by a first century fisherman. Let's see if we can uncover any other objections.

The book starts off with the author introducing himself as the apostle Peter, presumably the same Peter we read about in other New Testament books.  It is written "to god's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia." These areas were all provinces in Asia Minor/Anatolia, in or around modern Turkey. The letter addresses those "who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of god the father, through the sanctifying work of the spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood." There is a lot of theology in that greeting. Notice the mention of the trinity and the role of each part. Notice Jesus's blood is sprinkled, like Moses did with the blood of the covenant, as we discussed in our Hebrews study. Of course it's figurative sprinkling of figurative blood, because Jesus's actual blood was never sprinkled on any actual person or thing. Who are god's elect going to be in this letter, exiled Jews, gentiles, or both? They are obviously believers in Jesus, but we also already have some reference to Jewish symbolism.

The letter continues on praising god for giving them "new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade-- kept in heaven" for them. All supernatural, invisible stuff that they have to wait till they are dead to see. Maybe.  The readers' faith is supposed to create a shield of god's power for them , "until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." This means it hasn't been revealed to them yet. Guess what, two thousand years later, still no reveal.

Peter informs the readers that they rejoice in this coming salvation, even though they've bee through some rough times for a little while: "grief and all kinds of trials." No specifics though. The trials have a purpose, to refine their faith, the same way fire refines gold, even though faith is worth a lot more than gold. This is called an analogy:  Trials are to faith as fire is to gold. Trials supposedly prove whether or not faith is genuine. They are a test of a true christian. When they haven't  seen Jesus, yet they still love him and believe in him, they are "filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy" because they are receiving the salvation of their souls.

This is delusional and sick, in my opinion, if anyone actually feels joy from having grief or trials. Seriously, the joy stuff is pure propaganda. In my experience very few Christians experience joy when going through tough times. They are human beings after all. Most people do whatever it takes to get by, avoiding hardships and pain whenever possible, or using coping mechanisms when they can't. The author's manufactured joy isn't even pleasant. Who wants it?

Till next time.