OK, so we have started a new series at Rock that I am really excited about:
On our first night we talked about Esther. This is a great place to start when you are looking at Heroes of the Bible because, in my opinion, there are not that many really awesome female superheroes. I know, there are some out there, but I just do not feel like they are that cool. Sorry ladies. But that is why I think Esther is such a cool place to start - because when it comes to heroes of the Bible, Esther is a major one. In one brave, selfless act she saved the entire Jewish race which Haman was trying to destroy. If Haman had succeeded in destroying the Jews than the promised Messiah would have had to come from another blood-line and not from the promised blood-line of Abraham.
So, let me give you a few snapshots of what we talked about at Rock:
~ Well, before we even dove into the story of Esther we played a game from Who's Line is it Anyway? called "Unlikely Superheroes" Matt, Skelly, Zach, and Brian, all did a pretty good job of making us laugh. Now whether or not we were laughing at them because they were actually funny or because what was happening was just ridiculous - I cannot say!
~ First of all, God is never mentioned in the book of Esther, interesting fact. A controversial fact.
~ Next we see a king who thinks so highly of himself that he throws a feast for 180 days to celebrate his awesomeness. Wow, what a humble guy.
~ Following the 180 day feast is a 7 day feast to honor everyone else. That was very gracious of him.
~ He puts a decree into motion that everyone is to drink wine to their hearts content. Hmmm sounds like a great idea there Mr. King. If you were at Rock you'll remember us talking about a couple different kinds of drunk people (the "sophisticated" drunk, the "everyting is hilarious" drunk, the "someone keeps moving the room" drunk, and the"I love you so much my life would be meaningless without you" drunk), and although we would all would probably laugh at them, it still does not seem like something we would have liked to be around.
~ Then the humble king wants to show everyone how hot his wife, the queen, is so he sends for her to come in front of everyone with her crown on. She doesn't show - he gets made - she is no longer queen.
~ So they gather up virgins from all over to see who will win the king's favor, and Esther takes the cake. But no one knows that she is Jewish ("Funny, she doesn't look druish" Space Balls [1987]) except for her uncle Mordecai who raised her.
~ Haman gets the king to seal a decree that all Jews would be killed on a certain day. What a jerk.
~ Mordecai finds out about this and tells Esther to do something. She is afraid because if she goes before the king without being summoned she could die. Mordecai gets a little frustrated with her and says one of the best lines in the Bible that is not spoken by Jesus or God Himself. "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 royal position for such a time as this?" Wow
~ She goes before the king, the king listens.
~ Haman is killed on the very gallows he had built for Mordecai, which were 75 feet tall. (I once heard that a gallows' height reflected how horrible the man's crime was, interesting that he hated Mordecai so much to build gallows 75 feet high and than ends up being hung there himself).
~ But the story is not over. You see the knig already put his seal on the decree to kill the Jews, so they cannot remove that decree, so what they do end up doing is a great strategy. First of all the leader of this, Haman, is already dead, so any followers may be weary to carry out the orders anyway. But then they put another decree in effect that says the Jews can defend themselves on that day. And if a Jew kills a person who tried to kill him, the Jew inherits everything that person owns! What a plan!
Well, that is our first Hero of the Bible. I hope that you will seriously think about coming to Rock during this series - it should prove to be a lot of fun.
This coming Sunday we will be talking about Moses.
(FYI Rock is Sunday night at 7:00 PM at Boulevard Christian Church and ends at 8:300 pm)
~ Well you read it, you cannot unread it.
Charles R.
So, let me give you a few snapshots of what we talked about at Rock:
~ Well, before we even dove into the story of Esther we played a game from Who's Line is it Anyway? called "Unlikely Superheroes" Matt, Skelly, Zach, and Brian, all did a pretty good job of making us laugh. Now whether or not we were laughing at them because they were actually funny or because what was happening was just ridiculous - I cannot say!
~ First of all, God is never mentioned in the book of Esther, interesting fact. A controversial fact.
~ Next we see a king who thinks so highly of himself that he throws a feast for 180 days to celebrate his awesomeness. Wow, what a humble guy.
~ Following the 180 day feast is a 7 day feast to honor everyone else. That was very gracious of him.
~ He puts a decree into motion that everyone is to drink wine to their hearts content. Hmmm sounds like a great idea there Mr. King. If you were at Rock you'll remember us talking about a couple different kinds of drunk people (the "sophisticated" drunk, the "everyting is hilarious" drunk, the "someone keeps moving the room" drunk, and the"I love you so much my life would be meaningless without you" drunk), and although we would all would probably laugh at them, it still does not seem like something we would have liked to be around.
~ Then the humble king wants to show everyone how hot his wife, the queen, is so he sends for her to come in front of everyone with her crown on. She doesn't show - he gets made - she is no longer queen.
~ So they gather up virgins from all over to see who will win the king's favor, and Esther takes the cake. But no one knows that she is Jewish ("Funny, she doesn't look druish" Space Balls [1987]) except for her uncle Mordecai who raised her.
~ Haman gets the king to seal a decree that all Jews would be killed on a certain day. What a jerk.
~ Mordecai finds out about this and tells Esther to do something. She is afraid because if she goes before the king without being summoned she could die. Mordecai gets a little frustrated with her and says one of the best lines in the Bible that is not spoken by Jesus or God Himself. "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 royal position for such a time as this?" Wow
~ She goes before the king, the king listens.
~ Haman is killed on the very gallows he had built for Mordecai, which were 75 feet tall. (I once heard that a gallows' height reflected how horrible the man's crime was, interesting that he hated Mordecai so much to build gallows 75 feet high and than ends up being hung there himself).
~ But the story is not over. You see the knig already put his seal on the decree to kill the Jews, so they cannot remove that decree, so what they do end up doing is a great strategy. First of all the leader of this, Haman, is already dead, so any followers may be weary to carry out the orders anyway. But then they put another decree in effect that says the Jews can defend themselves on that day. And if a Jew kills a person who tried to kill him, the Jew inherits everything that person owns! What a plan!
Well, that is our first Hero of the Bible. I hope that you will seriously think about coming to Rock during this series - it should prove to be a lot of fun.
This coming Sunday we will be talking about Moses.
(FYI Rock is Sunday night at 7:00 PM at Boulevard Christian Church and ends at 8:300 pm)
~ Well you read it, you cannot unread it.
Charles R.
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