{"id":213,"date":"2023-07-15T21:57:51","date_gmt":"2023-07-15T21:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=213"},"modified":"2023-07-15T21:58:32","modified_gmt":"2023-07-15T21:58:32","slug":"esther-3-the-plot-thickens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=213","title":{"rendered":"Esther 3: The Plot Thickens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><strong>The Plot Against The King<\/strong>\nEsther 2:31-23\nOne day as Mordecai was on duty at the king\u2019s gate, two of the king\u2019s eunuchs, Bigthana and Teresh\u2014who were guards at the door of the king\u2019s private quarters\u2014became angry at King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him. But Mordecai heard about the plot and gave the information to Queen Esther. She then told the king about it and gave Mordecai credit for the report. When an investigation was made and Mordecai\u2019s story was found to be true, the two men were impaled on a sharpened pole. This was all recorded in The Book of the History of King Xerxes\u2019 Reign.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Foreshadowing!<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What details from this account stand out to you? Why?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><strong>The Provocation of Haman<\/strong>\nEsther 3:1-7\nSome time later King Xerxes promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite over all the other nobles, making him the most powerful official in the empire. All the king\u2019s officials would bow down before Haman to show him respect whenever he passed by, for so the king had commanded. But Mordecai refused to bow down or show him respect.\n\nThen the palace officials at the king\u2019s gate asked Mordecai, \u201cWhy are you disobeying the king\u2019s command?\u201d They spoke to him day after day, but still he refused to comply with the order. So they spoke to Haman about this to see if he would tolerate Mordecai\u2019s conduct, since Mordecai had told them he was a Jew.\n\nWhen Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or show him respect, he was filled with rage. He had learned of Mordecai\u2019s nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes.\n\nSo in the month of April, during the twelfth year of King Xerxes\u2019 reign, lots were cast in Haman\u2019s presence (the lots were called purim) to determine the best day and month to take action. And the day selected was March 7, nearly a year later.\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What details do you see in this passage about the character of Haman?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What warnings do we see here on the character of public officials?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Was Mordecai&#8217;s response wise or foolish? Why?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What do you think of Haman&#8217;s response to the slight?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><strong>The Plot Against The Jews<\/strong>\nEsther 3:8-15\nThen Haman approached King Xerxes and said, \u201cThere is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king\u2019s interest to let them live. If it please the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 10,000 large sacks of silver to the government administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury.\u201d\n\nThe king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his signet ring from his finger and giving it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. The king said, \u201cThe money and the people are both yours to do with as you see fit.\u201d\n\nSo on April 17 the king\u2019s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Haman dictated. It was sent to the king\u2019s highest officers, the governors of the respective provinces, and the nobles of each province in their own scripts and languages. The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king\u2019s signet ring. Dispatches were sent by swift messengers into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order that all Jews\u2014young and old, including women and children\u2014must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. This was scheduled to happen on March 7 of the next year. The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them.\n\nA copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all peoples, so that they would be ready to do their duty on the appointed day. At the king\u2019s command, the decree went out by swift messengers, and it was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa fell into confusion.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What stands out to you regarding Haman&#8217;s proposal to King Xerxes?  What about Xerxes&#8217; response?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What were the specifics of the order that was drafted by Haman? Does it appear that Xerxes was &#8220;on board&#8221; with the decree?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Plot Against The King Esther 2:31-23 One day as Mordecai was on duty at the king\u2019s gate, two of the king\u2019s eunuchs, Bigthana and Teresh\u2014who were guards at the door of the king\u2019s private quarters\u2014became angry at King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him. But Mordecai heard about the plot and gave the information&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-esther-for-such-a-time-as-this"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Esther 3: The Plot Thickens - Thursday Bible Study<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=213\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Esther 3: The Plot Thickens - Thursday Bible Study\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Plot Against The King Esther 2:31-23 One day as Mordecai was on duty at the king\u2019s gate, two of the king\u2019s eunuchs, Bigthana and Teresh\u2014who were guards at the door of the king\u2019s private quarters\u2014became angry at King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him. But Mordecai heard about the plot and gave the information...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=213\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Thursday Bible Study\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-15T21:57:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-15T21:58:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=213\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=213\",\"name\":\"Esther 3: The Plot Thickens - Thursday Bible Study\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-15T21:57:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-15T21:58:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/#\/schema\/person\/632d0608b485a0a0cf3e41acd291286d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=213#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=213\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=213#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Esther 3: The Plot Thickens\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/\",\"name\":\"Thursday Bible Study\",\"description\":\"A weekly Bible study in the workplace\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/#\/schema\/person\/632d0608b485a0a0cf3e41acd291286d\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d83b85c3a7b5e9b4b5c6030773be944adf553eb4435f1ca23e648a603abaea1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d83b85c3a7b5e9b4b5c6030773be944adf553eb4435f1ca23e648a603abaea1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Esther 3: The Plot Thickens - Thursday Bible Study","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=213","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Esther 3: The Plot Thickens - Thursday Bible Study","og_description":"The Plot Against The King Esther 2:31-23 One day as Mordecai was on duty at the king\u2019s gate, two of the king\u2019s eunuchs, Bigthana and Teresh\u2014who were guards at the door of the king\u2019s private quarters\u2014became angry at King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him. But Mordecai heard about the plot and gave the information...","og_url":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=213","og_site_name":"Thursday Bible Study","article_published_time":"2023-07-15T21:57:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-07-15T21:58:32+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=213","url":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=213","name":"Esther 3: The Plot Thickens - Thursday Bible Study","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-07-15T21:57:51+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-15T21:58:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/#\/schema\/person\/632d0608b485a0a0cf3e41acd291286d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=213#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=213"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=213#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Esther 3: The Plot Thickens"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/#website","url":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/","name":"Thursday Bible Study","description":"A weekly Bible study in the workplace","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/#\/schema\/person\/632d0608b485a0a0cf3e41acd291286d","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d83b85c3a7b5e9b4b5c6030773be944adf553eb4435f1ca23e648a603abaea1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d83b85c3a7b5e9b4b5c6030773be944adf553eb4435f1ca23e648a603abaea1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy"],"url":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=213"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":214,"href":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213\/revisions\/214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}