![]() ![]() We know whom he invited – his advisers and the people in charge of those 127 provinces. Now, we’re not told why he’s throwing this party. And how long does it go on? 180 days! This is half a year. He’s actually in his early 30s when he throws this lavish party. The story in the book of Esther occurs between Ezra 6 and Ezra 7 – after the Temple was constructed but before Ezra himself came to Jerusalem and stopped the mixed marriages. Since we just finished studying Ezra and Nehemiah, I’ll mention this. And so the 3rd year of his reign would have been 483 BC. This king Ahasuerus in the 3rd year of his reign has a huge feast. Well, if this doesn’t impress you, consider this next batch of proofs that this kingdom of Persia was opulent. But you can’t boo or hiss or rattle noise-makers yet because Haman hasn’t entered the story. The mention of all these things is supposed to impress us. And the text says this land was divided up into 127 provinces. Today there are something like 20 individual countries occupying that land. Needless to say, this is a vast amount of land. And from this one city, this man named Ahasuerus reigned from as far east as India and modern-day Pakistan and as far west as ancient Ethiopia – Kush – the land just south of Egypt at that time. ![]() This city today is known as Shush and it’s in Iran – on the western border between Iran and Iraq. And more specifically we’re in one of their several capitals which was named Shushan. ![]() Esther 1 Commentary (1-4)ġ:1 ¶ Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:) 2 That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace, 3 In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him: 4 When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days. And ultimately we’ll see that God Providentially Places His People. All this and more await us in this introduction to the book. We’ll see a humble lowly Jew being promoted to a position of some authority. We’ll see a king whom I can only describe as “superlative” – everything he does is exaggerated and extreme. We’ll see the fall of one queen and the rise of another. And what do we see in this introduction? We’ll see the opulence and luxury of the ancient Persian empire along with its hidden weaknesses. These first 2 chapters serve as an introduction for the whole book. Esther 1 Sermon: We’ll be studying the first 2 chapters of the book of Esther today. ![]()
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