Day 275: Esther becomes queen

Nehemiah 6:1-19 The Samaritans and other enemies of the Jews continued to agitate against Nehemiah and the building project, fearing the return of Judea as a regional power. Nehemiah persisted, and the workers completed the wall, acknowledging God’s assistance as the reason for their success. This continued enmity between Judah and Samaria would later be evident in the hostility these two groups had for one another in the time of Christ.


Ch 7:1-72 After establishing a plan for guarding the city and attending its entrance gates, Nehemiah examined the records of the 50,000 or so exiles (cf. Ezr 2:1-67). Nehemiah took a strict line on who might be considered members of the people of Israel, as he was very concerned about establishing and maintaining the purity of the Jewish race. It did not take much for the Jewish people to fall into pagan religious practices on account of intermarriage with foreigners.


Esther 1:1-22 Ahasuerus, a very autocratic ruler, governed an extensive, powerful, and wealthy empire. When his attractive wife, Vashti, refused his request to show off her beauty at his lavish banquet, he was enraged. His advisor suggested he essentially remove Vashti as queen and seek out another woman who was more worthy.


Ch 2:1-23 Esther was among the virgin women brought by Ahasuerus’s men to become part of the king’s harem. He became infatuated with her and decided to make her his queen. Esther kept her Jewish identity secret, as Mordecai had advised; meanwhile, he uncovered another plot on the king’s life.


Proverbs 21:1 God is All-powerful and Almighty; he can move the human heart to conversion and influence the course of events according to his will. Though God leaves each person completely free, he can affect a change of heart. In reference to the “king’s heart,” the Church teaches that all civil leaders receive their authority from God, but they exercise that authority legitimately only when they rule in harmony with moral law and act for the common good. (CCC 269, 1472, 1898-1904)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)


  • GOLLY!!

  • We are deep into the story of Esther

  • But first let’s look at Proverbs 21:2, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.”

  • GOSH!!

  • SO INCREDIBLE!!

  • This reminds us of The Book of Judges where it said, “Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” (Do you remember reading this? If not, go back and read Day 95: The Sin of Benjamin in The Bible in a Year Study Guide 😁)

  • There was no king so everyone did what was right in their own eyes

  • That sense of RELATIVISM

  • If it works, let’s try it and if it doesn’t work let’s just try again

  • AND YET…

  • The Lord weighs the heart

  • This gift of TRUTH

  • This gift of REAL GOODNESS

  • This gift of REAL JUSTICE

  • Is present to us in GOD’S WORD

  • We are so grateful that the Lord has given us his Word

  • So that we can know the next step

  • Speaking of next steps…

  • In The Book of Nehemiah we had a number of things happening

  • We almost got introduced to Ezra Opens the Book of the Law, which we will read tomorrow

  • BUT…

  • While we did have Ch 7 and the lists of returned exiles, which is a gift to have these names because we know this is a TRUE STORY

  • These people are REAL PEOPLE

  • They lived this REAL JOURNEY

  • Every one of those names and numbers associated with those names are an individual that is either living forever with God or living forever without God

  • Every person is a part of this story

  • Just like you and I are part of this story

  • In Nehemiah Ch 6 we have these PLOTS AGAINST NEHEMIAH

  • Remember Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab kept trying to get Nehemiah killed

  • Here is Nehemiah’s GREAT ANSWER...Nehemiah 6:2-3, “Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, ‘Come and let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono.’ But they intended to do me harm. And I sent messengers to them, saying, ‘I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.”

  • Those words are SO IMPORTANT FOR US

  • We can PRAY with those words

  • How many times do people try to get us to STOP DOING GOD’S WILL?

  • How many times do people try to get us to STOP DOING EXACTLY WHAT WE KNOW GOD WANTS US TO DO?

  • Regardless if that work is BUILDING A WALL

  • If that work is WORKING IN A GARDEN

  • If that work is TEACHING SOMEONE

  • If that work is BEING A SMALL COUNTRY PRIEST IN A SMALL COUNTRY PARISH

  • If that work is BEING A STAY AT HOME MOM OR DAD

  • Whatever that work is that you have been given, when it has been given to you BY GOD, and someone tries to DISTRACT you and TAKE YOU AWAY FROM THAT WORK

  • Then we can have the answer that Nehemiah had

  • “I AM DOING A GREAT WORK AND I CANNOT COME DOWN.”

  • “I’m raising a family right now, I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.”

  • “I’m teaching these kids, I’m doing a great work and I cannot come down.”

  • “The Lord has commissioned me to be a custodian and I keep these halls clean. I keep these bathrooms spotless. I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.”

  • Human work has SO MUCH DIGNITY

  • It has dignity because it is humans that do it

  • We humans are made in God’s image and likeness

  • Whenever we work, clean, create, or do ANYTHING, we bring something of the DIVINE to that work

  • Here is Nehemiah who knows he is doing his work because GOD HAS COMMISSIONED HIM

  • So he WON’T BE DISTRACTED

  • HE WON’T BE TAKEN AWAY FROM THE WORK

  • He says, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.”

  • Not only do they try to meet Nehemiah in one of the villages in the plain of Ono

  • They also tell him, “Listen, you have to go hide in the Temple.”

  • They knew that if he ran into the Temple out of fear for his life they would be able to say, “He sinned by going to a place that was prohibited.”

  • But Nehemiah doesn’t do that

  • Nehemiah 6:9, “For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, ‘Their hands will drop from the work and it will not be done.’ But now, O God, strengthen my hands.”

  • SO GOOD!!

  • How many times do people try to frighten you away from DOING WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO DO?

  • How many times do people try to frighten you away from DOING WHAT GOD HAS COMMISSIONED YOU TO DO?

  • They don’t have permission to do that

  • Why?

  • BECAUSE WE TURN TO THE LORD AND SAY, “NO, LORD GOD. GIVE US OUR STRENGTH. BE OUR STRENGTH.”

  • Speaking of strength…

  • We have the beginning of the story of Esther

  • We are setting the scene

  • King Ahasuerus is not a great guy and not someone to be emulated

  • His queen is Vashti

  • He flips out after having a party for 180 days

  • He then has a party for 7 days with the entire kingdom and wants Vashti to show up

  • She doesn’t and says, “No! The guy is drunk! He’s been partying for 187 days by now. I’m not just going to go into his presence and be on display for everyone to ogle at.”

  • She doesn’t come to the party

  • So what happens?

  • Ahasuerus’ council makes a decree, “Listen, if the other wives hear about Queen Vashti not doing what the king wanted her to do, they are going to start not doing what their husbands want them to do. And it’s going to be chaos all over the place.”

  • It’s one of those situations THAT IS NUTS

  • Ahasuerus is NOT A HERO

  • After 180 days partying with princes and governors, then 7 days with everybody else he is not making good decisions

  • No one here is making good decisions

  • But then Esther, a young Jewish woman, is brought in and becomes part of the king’s harem

  • The king wanted to replace Vashti as queen

  • There is 12 months worth of Esther getting ready to meet the king

  • Gentlemen, and you thought YOUR wives took a long time to get ready, am I right? 😉

  • There is this sense of INJUSTICE happening here

  • Especially from a 21st century perspective

  • It is so clear in our Judeo-Christian heritage that men and women are created EQUAL IN DIGNITY

  • Many women, Esther and Vashti included, are mere property

  • The powerful man gets to do whatever he wants

  • And what’s going to happen is Esther will be brought into this BROKEN SYSTEM and this BROKEN WORLD so God can do something GREAT EVEN IN THE MIDST OF BROKENNESS

  • So as we read these stories, it is really helpful for us to recognize the reason why we can read this and say, “Man, that is WRONG!” is BECAUSE of our Jewish-Christian heritage

  • It is because of the fact that we believe

  • It is NOT what Nebuchadnezzar believed

  • It is NOT what Ahasuerus believed

  • It is NOT what the Persians, Medes, or Babylonians believed

  • WE believe that men and women are created in EQUAL DIGNITY

  • Women are NOT meant to be objects for men

  • That is one of the reasons why we can see the EVIL of this moment

  • BUT…

  • We are also going to be able to see how God can bring up this young woman Esther in a BROKEN SYSTEM in order to do SOMETHING INCREDIBLE

  • THAT IS WHAT GOD WANTS TO DO WITH US TOO!!

  • We are all living in broken systems

  • We are all living in a broken world

  • BUT…

  • God can do something with us in this BROKEN WORLD

  • God can do something with us in this BROKEN SYSTEM

  • To have his Will accomplished

  • To have people be saved

  • To have people be lifted up out of this oppression and out of this injustice

  • We will see that in the days to come

  • WE ARE SO GRATEFUL TO WALK WITH ESTHER!!

  • We have been walking with each other for 275 Days for crying out loud!!

  • IT IS AMAZING!!

  • FR. MIKE IS PRAYING FOR YOU

  • PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

  • PRAY FOR EACH OTHER


Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise and glory. Oh thank you so much, Lord. Thank you for your Word. Thank you for this opportunity. Thank you for this community of people, God, who are journeying on this Bible in a Year. Thank you for their faithfulness. Thank you for, not perfection, but thank you for perseverance, perseverance so much more than perfection, faithfulness so much more than anything else we need. Oh God, thank you. Please receive our thanks in Jesus’ name. Amen.”