{"id":232,"date":"2023-09-08T00:20:45","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T00:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=232"},"modified":"2023-09-08T00:20:46","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T00:20:46","slug":"victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=232","title":{"rendered":"Victory!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><strong>The Jewish Victory<\/strong>\nEsther 9:1-19\nSo on March 7 the two decrees of the king were put into effect. On that day, the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but quite the opposite happened. It was the Jews who overpowered their enemies. The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the king\u2019s provinces to attack anyone who tried to harm them. But no one could make a stand against them, for everyone was afraid of them. And all the nobles of the provinces, the highest officers, the governors, and the royal officials helped the Jews for fear of Mordecai. For Mordecai had been promoted in the king\u2019s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces as he became more and more powerful.\n\nSo the Jews went ahead on the appointed day and struck down their enemies with the sword. They killed and annihilated their enemies and did as they pleased with those who hated them. In the fortress of Susa itself, the Jews killed 500 men. They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha\u2014 the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not take any plunder.\n\nThat very day, when the king was informed of the number of people killed in the fortress of Susa, he called for Queen Esther. He said, \u201cThe Jews have killed 500 men in the fortress of Susa alone, as well as Haman\u2019s ten sons. If they have done that here, what has happened in the rest of the provinces? But now, what more do you want? It will be granted to you; tell me and I will do it.\u201d\n\nEsther responded, \u201cIf it please the king, give the Jews in Susa permission to do again tomorrow as they have done today, and let the bodies of Haman\u2019s ten sons be impaled on a pole.\u201d\nSo the king agreed, and the decree was announced in Susa. And they impaled the bodies of Haman\u2019s ten sons. Then the Jews at Susa gathered together on March 8 and killed 300 more men, and again they took no plunder.\n\nMeanwhile, the other Jews throughout the king\u2019s provinces had gathered together to defend their lives. They gained relief from all their enemies, killing 75,000 of those who hated them. But they did not take any plunder. This was done throughout the provinces on March 7, and on March 8 they rested, celebrating their victory with a day of feasting and gladness. (The Jews at Susa killed their enemies on March 7 and again on March 8, then rested on March 9, making that their day of feasting and gladness.) So to this day, rural Jews living in remote villages celebrate an annual festival and holiday on the appointed day in late winter, when they rejoice and send gifts of food to each other.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What happened on the appointed date?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What did you find noteworthy about the actions of the Jews?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What do you infer from the fate of Haman&#8217;s sons?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><strong>The Celebration of Purim<\/strong>\nEsther 9:20-32\nMordecai recorded these events and sent letters to the Jews near and far, throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes, calling on them to celebrate an annual festival on these two days. He told them to celebrate these days with feasting and gladness and by giving gifts of food to each other and presents to the poor. This would commemorate a time when the Jews gained relief from their enemies, when their sorrow was turned into gladness and their mourning into joy.\n\nSo the Jews accepted Mordecai\u2019s proposal and adopted this annual custom. Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews, had plotted to crush and destroy them on the date determined by casting lots (the lots were called purim). But when Esther came before the king, he issued a decree causing Haman\u2019s evil plot to backfire, and Haman and his sons were impaled on a sharpened pole. That is why this celebration is called Purim, because it is the ancient word for casting lots.\n\nSo because of Mordecai\u2019s letter and because of what they had experienced, the Jews throughout the realm agreed to inaugurate this tradition and to pass it on to their descendants and to all who became Jews. They declared they would never fail to celebrate these two prescribed days at the appointed time each year. These days would be remembered and kept from generation to generation and celebrated by every family throughout the provinces and cities of the empire. This Festival of Purim would never cease to be celebrated among the Jews, nor would the memory of what happened ever die out among their descendants.\n\nThen Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote another letter putting the queen\u2019s full authority behind Mordecai\u2019s letter to establish the Festival of Purim. Letters wishing peace and security were sent to the Jews throughout the 127 provinces of the empire of Xerxes. These letters established the Festival of Purim\u2014an annual celebration of these days at the appointed time, decreed by both Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther. (The people decided to observe this festival, just as they had decided for themselves and their descendants to establish the times of fasting and mourning.) So the command of Esther confirmed the practices of Purim, and it was all written down in the records.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How was the observation of the festival of Purim established? What did the celebration consist of?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><strong>Epilogue<\/strong>\nEsther 10:1-3\nKing Xerxes imposed a tribute throughout his empire, even to the distant coastlands. His great achievements and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Media and Persia. Mordecai the Jew became the prime minister, with authority next to that of King Xerxes himself. He was very great among the Jews, who held him in high esteem, because he continued to work for the good of his people and to speak up for the welfare of all their descendants.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What do you find interesting about this last short chapter?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What about the study of the book of Esther has encouraged you or challenged you?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Jewish Victory Esther 9:1-19 So on March 7 the two decrees of the king were put into effect. On that day, the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but quite the opposite happened. It was the Jews who overpowered their enemies. The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the king\u2019s&#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-232","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>Victory! - 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=232\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Victory! - Thursday Bible Study\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Jewish Victory Esther 9:1-19 So on March 7 the two decrees of the king were put into effect. 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