Esther 1-10
This chick was a WOG!! One thing I wonder is when it says that all these virgins were preparing themselves for the king, were they all sleeping with him? That would make me wonder if she was really doing what God wanted. But maybe she said no, or maybe it's ok because she did Marry him. What do you think? I also didn't really understand why Mordecai didn't bow before Hamaan. It wasn't like he would have been calling Hamaan a God. I think it was simply a sign of respect and honor, but maybe Mordecai didn't respect Hamaan....I don't know.
I do know that She is ballin when she walks right past the guards and into the court without the king calling her in. That was bold! Then again it was bold to point at Hamaan and say that he was plotting against them when this was the Kings homeboy! This was like his best friend, and if anyone had more loyalty to the king it was him. So she is a courageous woman in my book. A woman whose Courage saves a nation!
I feel kinda bad that I'm the only one leaving comments here. I'll stop if you want. :) But...I was in a Bible study last year with Brandy Kirstein and we studied the book of Esther, and learned a lot. From that, I think we learned that yep, they pretty much all had to sleep with the king (Esther 2:14). Really, it was a terrible arrangement, in my opinion. First, these girls were rounded up against their will and taken to the palace. Then they had to spend their every waking moment preparing for the king. Afterward, they couldn't just go home--they had to live in the harem the rest of their lives...even though the king didn't want to marry them. I wonder if this plan dramatically affected the population growth? Or if the girls AFTER Esther got to go home? Anyway, so yeah, some commentators feel that Esther actually compromised her beliefs in that way, and since no one knew she was a Jew, she may have had to eat pork and stuff too, and maybe the Sabbath? Some commentators seemed to say that it was sort of her way of waking up to her beliefs and making things right when she fasted for three days and went to see the king. But at the end of the day, she was rock solid. My favorite line ever: "If I perish, I perish." That's as hardcore as you get.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you're insights Andrea, and I'm glad you have studied this one out, because those are some of the same concerns I was having as I was writing this. I would be bummed if you stopped posting too, but I won't get to post again until monday night, so two then....
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