Women of the Bible Part 17

Later, writers wrote on scrolls. The paper for the scrolls was made from processed papyrus reeds, which grew along the Nile River. The separate pieces were glued together into one long sheet and then rolled onto wooden dowels, with the beginning of the scroll on the right and the end on the left. Readers of Hebrew, usually men and sometimes boys-girls were seldom taught to read-read the columns of letters from top to bottom, right to left. The reader would roll up the read portion of the scroll while unrolling the unread portion.

After some time the Israelites began to form another sort of paper, called parchment, from the skins of animals. They were careful to use only skins from clean animals for the paper to be used to record the Scriptures. The animal skins were treated until they were supple and very light in color, and then several of these prepared skins would be sewn together to form one scroll. For instance, an old copy of the book of Isaiah found as part of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 is a scroll made of seventeen pieces of skin of varying sizes sewn together. The scroll is about ten inches in height and an amazing twenty-four feet long when unrolled.

Books as we know them today, with page after page bound together between two covers, did not develop until the second century AD The fact that the writing still had to be done by one person, laboriously by hand, limited the number of these books until the 1400s, when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press. His first book? The Bible, now known as the famous Gutenberg Bible. As few as ten full copies of this first printing are still in existence today.

Original doc.u.ments of the Old and New Testaments, called autographs, no longer exist. Parchment and papyrus both decay over time and when exposed to dampness. Also, New Testament books and letters may literally have been read to pieces or may have been destroyed during times of persecution.

The Book of the Law discovered in the temple during Josiah's day was probably made from papyrus. Historians are uncertain exactly how much of the law was contained in this scroll. Some think it contained the entire Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy), while others believe it only contained the book of Deuteronomy. Josiah's reaction, however, would cause one to believe that at least the curses of Leviticus 26 or Deuteronomy 28 were included. Hul-dah, the faithful prophetess during a time of national unfaithfulness, bravely spoke G.o.d's judgment. She emphasized the words of judgment Josiah had already read in the Book of the Law, and then went on to p.r.o.nounce a reprieve for Josiah because of his sorrow over the sins of his people. Once again, G.o.d had faithfully and wonderfully demonstrated his divine judgment as well as his divine willingness to forgive.

Wednesday HER LEGACY IN SCRIPTURE.

Read 2 Kings 22:8 - 20.

1. The nation had been following false G.o.ds for so long that the Book of the Law (probably part of Deuteronomy) had been laid aside and forgotten. How would you describe the king's emotional reaction when he heard G.o.d's law? Why do you think he responded as he did?

2. Describe what you think Huldah might have been like: her person, her character, her relationship with G.o.d.

3. What does G.o.d's message to the nation and to the king say about him: his character and the way he deals with people?

4. What would it be like for you to have to deliver to your people the message that Huldah delivered to hers?

5. When G.o.d lets you know you've done wrong, how do you typically respond?

Thursday HER PROMISE.

The story of Huldah and her words to the king ill.u.s.trate the contrast between G.o.d's judgment and his mercy. He judges those who deserve his punishment, but he quickly forgives those who repent. In fact, he is eager to forgive, waiting only for us to come to him in repentance.

Promises in Scripture For the sake of your name, O Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

-Psalm 25:11 Who is a G.o.d like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?

You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.

You will again have compa.s.sion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

-Micah 7:18 - 19 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

- i John 1:9 Friday HER LEGACY OF PRAYER.

When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes.... "Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the remnant in Israel and Judah about what is written in this book that has been found."

-2 Chronicles 34:19, 21 Reflect On: 2 Chronicles 34:14 - 33.

Praise G.o.d: For speaking clearly about what he expects from us. Offer Thanks: That he gave us his Word in the Bible.

Confess: Any complacency in the face of G.o.d's commandments. Ask G.o.d: For the grace to take his Word seriously so that you understand the connection between love and obedience.

Lift Your Heart Every woman knows the pleasure of a clean house, where floors are thoroughly scrubbed and waxed, windows shined, and cobwebs routed from every nook and cranny. Our hearts can become sullied by daily wear and tear, by disobedience and disregard for doing things G.o.d's way. Set aside a day to conduct a little spring cleaning of your soul. How well have you been doing on the basics - the Ten Commandments?

Check Deuteronomy 5:6-21 for a review in case you've forgotten the commandments or are unfamiliar with them. Don't be so literal in your reading of them that you forget that idolatry can take the form of cherishing money, power, or even a person whom you love more than G.o.d. Have you ever murdered someone with hateful words? Have you ever stolen someone's reputation because of envy? As you become conscious of your failings, don't wallow in them. Simply admit your sin, asking G.o.d's forgiveness and the grace to change. Ask him to make your heart an attractive place for his indwelling presence. Then enjoy his forgiveness and take hold of his grace.

Father, may I have ears to hear your Word and a heart to obey it. Cleanse me from my sin and wash me until I am whiter than snow. Make my soul clean and pure, a broad and s.p.a.cious place for your indwelling Spirit.

Esther.

HER NAME MAY DERIVE FROM.

"Ishtar," the Babylonian G.o.ddess of Love, or from the Persian Word for "Star"

Her Hebrew Name, "Hada.s.sah," Means "Myrtle"

Her Character: An orphan in a foreign land, she was willing to conceal her Jewish ident.i.ty in a bid for a pagan king's affection. Esther seemed willing to made moral compromises by sleeping with the king and then taking part in a wedding that would necessarily have required her to pay homage to foreign G.o.ds. Even so, she displayed great courage in the midst of a crisis. Prior to risking her life for her people, she humbled herself by fasting and then put her considerable beauty, social grace, and wisdom in the service of G.o.d's plan.

Her Sorrow: To learn that her husband, the king, had unwittingly placed her life and the life of her people in jeopardy.

Her Joy: To watch mourning turn to celebration once the Jews enjoyed relief from their enemies.

Key Scripture: Esther 1 - 10 Monday HER STORY.

Vashti, queen of Persia, was the most powerful woman in the Middle East, yet her power was as fragile as a candle in a storm. Her husband, Xerxes, had just summoned her to appear before a festive gathering of his n.o.bles. Vashti, however, having no intention of parading herself like a prized cow in front of a herd of drunken men, refused.

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What should be done to punish her insolence? One of the king's counselors spoke for all: "Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the n.o.bles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes. For the queen's conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, 'King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.' There will be no end of disrespect and discord."

So poor Vashti bore the brunt of every man's fears. She who had refused the royal summons was forever banished from the royal presence, and a great domestic uprising was squelched before it even began.

After a while, a search was conducted for a new queen to replace Vashti. It so happened that many Jews were living in Persia at the time. Exiled from Judah a hundred years earlier (after Jerusalem's fall in 587 BC), they had been deported to Babylon, which in turn was conquered by Persia. Mordecai and his orphaned cousin Esther were among those living in exile, 650 miles northeast of Jerusalem.

Like many other young virgins, the beautiful Esther was gathered into the king's harem. To refuse the privilege may well have meant her death. Counseled by Mordecai to keep her Jewish origins a secret, because being a Jew would probably have disqualified her from becoming queen, she spent the next twelve months awaiting her tryst with the king. When the moment came, Esther so pleased Xerxes that she became queen in Vashti's place.

Some time later, an Amalekite named Haman rose to power in Persia. Haman was so highly placed that other officials knelt before him as a sign of respect. One man, however, the Jew Mordecai, refused to kneel. Haman became so angry that he decided to eliminate every Jew in the kingdom.

To ascertain the most favorable moment for destroying them, Haman piously consulted his G.o.ds by casting lots (or pur). A date eleven months into the future was revealed-March 7 by our reckoning. Haman immediately persuaded Xerxes to issue a decree that all the Jews in his realm were to be slaughtered on that day. By way of incentive, the decree proclaimed that anyone who killed a Jew could plunder his possessions.

Mordecai reacted immediately by contacting his cousin Esther and asking her to beg Xerxes for mercy. But Esther was afraid and replied, "For any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spare their lives. But thirty days have pa.s.sed since I was called to go to the king."

Mordecai replied, "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?"

So Esther instructed Mordecai, "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."

On the third day, Esther approached the king. As soon as Xerxes saw her, he held out the golden scepter. "What is it, Queen Esther?" he asked. "What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given to you."

But Esther merely invited the king and Haman to join her that evening for a banquet she had prepared especially for them. That evening the king again pressed her to ask for whatever she desired, but Esther simply invited the king and Haman to another banquet, to be held the following night.

That evening, on his way home, Haman caught sight of Mordecai, sitting smugly rather than kneeling as he pa.s.sed by. Haman was outraged, but his wife consoled him by proposing an evil scheme - he need merely build a gallows and then ask the king to hang Mordecai on it the next morning.

While Haman was happily constructing a gallows for his enemy, the king was pacing the royal bedroom. Unable to sleep, he ordered one of his servants to read from the annals of the kingdom. That evening's reading just happened to be about how Mordecai had once saved the king's life by warning of a plot against him. It struck the king that Mordecai had never been properly rewarded for his loyalty.

So the next morning the king asked Haman: "What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?"

a.s.suming the king intended to reward him in some new and marvelous way, the foolish Haman replied with a grandiose suggestion: "For the man the king delights to honor, have them bring a royal robe the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden. Then let one of the king's most n.o.ble princes robe the man and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, 'This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!' "

"Go at once," the king commanded him. "Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew." Haman was dumbstruck. The man who had planned to bury his enemy was suddenly forced to exalt him that very day!

That night, as the king and Haman were once again drinking wine at the queen's banquet, the king implored Esther to ask for whatever her heart desired. This time she spoke her mind: "If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, grant me my life - this is my pet.i.tion. And spare my people - this is my request. For I and my people have been sold for destruction and slaughter and annihilation."

"Where is the man who has dared to do such a thing?" the king demanded.

"The adversary and enemy is this vile Haman."

And so Haman's star, which had risen to so great a height, fell suddenly, like a bolt of lightning crashing from the sky. He was hanged on the very same gallows he had built for the Jew Mordecai, and all his property was given to Esther. Furthermore, the king, because he could not revoke one of his own edicts, issued another to counteract the first one. It gave Jews throughout the empire the right to protect themselves, to destroy and plunder every enemy who might raise a hand against them on the seventh of March.

As news of the king's edict spread, many people from various nationalities became so terrified that they claimed to be Jews themselves. The very day Haman's G.o.ds had revealed as a day of reckoning for the Jews became a day of reckoning for their enemies. Ever after, the Jews commemorated these events with the Feast of Purim. As the book of Esther says, these days were celebrated "as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration."

Subject to foreign powers after the exile, G.o.d's people must have felt among the weakest elements of society. But weaker even than a Jewish man exiled to a foreign land was a Jewish woman. And weakest of all would have been a young orphan of Jewish descent. G.o.d had once again employed one of his favorite methods for accomplishing his purposes: He had raised an imperfect woman, the weakest of the weak, placing her in a position of immense strategic importance.

But it had been up to Esther to decide whether she would play the part G.o.d offered. Like Moses, she chose to identify with G.o.d's people even if it meant risking her life to do so. And even though exile was a punishment for Israel's long unfaithfulness, G.o.d showed that he was still with his people, delivering and protecting them in surprising ways, turning the table on their enemies through a series of stunning reversals. Earthly powers were at work to kill and destroy, but a heavenly power, far greater in scope, was at work to save and preserve.

Tuesday HER LIFE AND TIMES.

THE FESTIVAL OF PURIM.

When Haman threw the lot or the pur to discover what day would be the best day to annihilate the Jews in Xerxes' kingdom, he unwittingly established a festival called Purim, when, instead of annihilation, the Jews celebrated their deliverance. Esther and her cousin Mordecai jointly worked to overturn Haman's plot, and when they were successful, they sent out a proclamation to all the Jews living in Xerxes' kingdom to "celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration" (Esther 9:21 - 22).

Adar 14 and 15. Adar was the last month in the Jewish calendar - our February/March. Josephus, the first-century Jewish general and historian, claimed that Jews all over the world celebrated the festival of Purim in his day, and it continues to be a popular festival for Jews today.

Worship and fasting typically make up the first day of the festival. The entire book of Esther is read aloud, and the congregation responds with "Let his name be blotted out" each time Haman's name is read. The children in the group respond to Haman's name with noisemakers and rattles. On the second day of the feast, rejoicing and celebration break out. Food, music, dramas and plays, special songs, and recitals all add to the festive mood. People give gifts to each other and also make sure they don't forget to give gifts and food to the poor, as that was a special wish of Mordecai (Esther 9:22).

Like the Pa.s.sover, the Feast of Purim celebrates divine deliverance. Saved from Pharaoh's rule and slavery in Egypt and delivered from the destruction planned by Haman, the Jews celebrated a deliverance that only G.o.d could have orchestrated. Previously doomed, they were now delivered. As believers, we too have something to celebrate. Instead of a Moses or an Esther, G.o.d sent his own Son to deliver us, saving us from the terrible destruction of sin and death. Surely, that's reason enough to celebrate!

Wednesday HER LEGACY IN SCRIPTURE.

Read Esther 3:12-4:17.

1. By concealing her Jewishness and being willing to become a member of King Xerxes' harem, Esther seemed to be caving in to the pagan culture in which she lived. What do you think of her actions in this regard?

2. From other ancient sources we know that Esther's husband, the king, was legendary for his irrational temper and fits of cruelty. Describe Esther's dilemma. What will happen if she does nothing? What might happen if she does what Mordecai asks?

3. Look at 4:12 - 14. What do you see in Mordecai's words that might have motivated Esther to take the risk?

4. Why does Esther ask all the city's Jews to fast (4:15 - 16)?

5. G.o.d is never named in the original Hebrew version of this story, nor does the writer mention prayer. Where, if anywhere, do you see G.o.d in this story?

6. Esther's position was no accident, and neither is yours. Think about the time and people among whom G.o.d has placed you. What might G.o.d have for you to do right where you are now?

Thursday HER PROMISE.

G.o.d often uses the most unlikely characters to fulfill his purposes. He elevates a Jewish orphan to become queen of a great empire. Esther begins as a n.o.body and becomes a somebody, a woman who somewhat reluctantly risks her life to make a stand.

Again, G.o.d reveals his penchant for using the most unlikely, ordinary people to accomplish his divine purposes. But, you may wonder, could G.o.d ever use you to accomplish his purposes, with all your foibles and imperfections, your lack of talent or influence? Yes, he can! He isn't looking for people who are perfect or talented or influential. He is only looking for people who are willing.

Promises in Scripture Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?

-Esther 4:14 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.

-2 Corinthians 8:12 Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus.

- Hebrews 12:1 - 2 Friday HER LEGACY OF PRAYER.

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?

-Esther 4:14 Reflect On: Esther 5-8.

Praise G.o.d: That he turns the wisdom and the power of the world on its head, often using the most surprising tactics to accomplish his plan.

Offer Thanks: That G.o.d has an important purpose for your life. Confess: Any tendency to view your life in isolation from G.o.d's people, to shrink back from some step of faith G.o.d may be calling you to take.

Ask G.o.d: For the grace to act courageously and wisely.

Lift Your Heart Many Jewish girls celebrate the Feast of Purim by dressing up as Queen Esther. One way we can emulate her today is by fasting. Before Esther took action, she employed a time-honored spiritual discipline to expose her need before G.o.d. Fasting was a visible sign of her dependency and weakness, an eloquent form of begging G.o.d's help. This week, do a little eloquent begging yourself by choosing a day to fast from breakfast and lunch-dinner, too, if you're brave! Drink only water or fruit juice. Perhaps you have a particular need or problem you would like to surrender to G.o.d. Tell G.o.d that you need him more than you need food. Don't try to manipulate him by your self-sacrifice, but simply allow your weakness to emerge in his presence.

Lord, I need you so much more than food or water. Without your presence, your protection, your wisdom, your gift of faith, I would be lost. I'm hungry for you alone. Hear my prayer and give me everything I need to do your will. Use me in the church and in the world around me to accomplish your purposes.

The Woman of Proverbs 31.

Her Character: She represents the fulfillment of a life lived in wisdom.

Her Joy: To be praised by her husband and children as a woman who surpa.s.ses all others.

Key Scripture: Proverbs 31:10 - 31 Monday HER STORY.

Proverbs brims with less-than-glowing descriptions of women. There are wayward wives, prost.i.tutes, women with smoother-than-oil lips, strange women, loud women, defiant women, wives who are like a continual drip on a rainy day or decay in their husbands' bones, women whose feet never stay home, brazen-faced women, and even a woman so repulsive she is likened to a gold ring in a pig's snout!