“If you keep quiet at a time like this…” (4:14)

538 BC – Edict of Cyrus to return 520 BC – Haggai and Zechariah

Zerubbabel and Joshua

516 BC – Dedication of the sanctuary 486-465 BC – King Xerxes I; Esther 458 BC – Ezra arrives in Jerusalem 445 BC – Nehemiah

…..Malachi

Haman: Prime minister of the Persian empire

“Haman was furious when he realized that Mordecai was not going to kneel and bow to him…” (Esther 3:5)

“So Haman told the king, ‘There is a certain race of people scattered all over your empire and found in every province. They observe customs that are not like those of any other people. Moreover, they do not obey the laws of the empire, so it is not in your best interests to tolerate them. If it please Your Majesty, issue a decree that they are to be put to death. If you do, I guarantee that I will be able to put 375 tons of silver into the royal treasury for the administration of the empire.’” (Esther 3:8-9)

“When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes in anguish. Then he dressed in sackcloth, covered his head with ashes, and walked through the city, wailing loudly and bitterly, until he came to the entrance of the palace. He did not go in because no one wearing sackcloth was allowed inside. Throughout all the provinces, wherever the king's proclamation was made known, there was loud mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, wailed, and most of them put on sackcloth and lay in ashes.” (Esther 4:1-3)

“When Esther's servant women and eunuchs told her what Mordecai was doing, she was deeply disturbed. She sent Mordecai some clothes to put on instead of the sackcloth, but he would not accept them. Then she called Hathach, one of the palace eunuchs appointed as her servant by the king, and told him to go to Mordecai and find out what was happening and why. Hathach went to Mordecai in the city square at the entrance of the palace. Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him and just how much money Haman had promised to put into the royal treasury if all the Jews were killed.” (Esther 4:4-7)

“He gave Hathach a copy of the proclamation that had been issued in Susa, ordering the destruction of the Jews. Mordecai asked him to take it to Esther, explain the situation to her, and have her go and plead with the king and beg him to have mercy on her people. Hathach did this, and Esther gave him this message to take back to Mordecai: ‘If anyone, man or woman, goes to the inner courtyard and sees the king without being summoned, that person must die. That is the law; everyone, from the king's advisers to the people in the provinces, knows that. There is only one way to get around this law: if the king holds out his gold scepter to someone, then that person's life is spared. But it has been a month since the king sent for me.’” (Esther 4:8-11)

“So Hathach gave Esther's message to Mordecai. Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: ‘Don't think for a moment that because you're in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?’” (Esther 4:12-14)

“Esther sent Mordecai this reply: "Go and get all the Jews in Susa together; hold a fast and pray for me. Don't eat or drink anything for three days and nights. My servant women and I will be doing the same. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. If I must die for doing it, I will die.’ Mordecai then left and did everything that Esther had told him to do.” (Esther 4:15-17)

“If it please Your Majesty to grant my humble request, my wish is that I may live and that my people may live. My people and I have been sold for slaughter. If it were nothing more serious than being sold into slavery, I would have kept quiet and not bothered you about it; but we are about to be destroyed---exterminated!’ Then King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, ‘Who dares to do such a thing? Where is this man?’ Esther answered, ‘Our enemy, our persecutor, is this evil man Haman!’” (Esther 7:3-6)

• Agapē • Eros

– Affection of a sexual nature, “being in love”• Storge (stor-yee)

– Affection through familiarity• Phileo

– an affectionate, sentimental, passionate love - “brotherly love”

– based largely on the emotions and feelings – since it is based on the feelings it is subject to

change as the feelings change

Love in its highest and truest form – the love of which there is no greater

This is a love based in the mind – has more to do with how we treat others than on feelings› “It adds principle to feeling in such a way that

principle controls the feelings. It brings into play the higher powers of the mind and intelligence.”

Selfless love that sacrifices for others› “There is no greater love (agape) than to lay down

one's life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13 NLT)› “If I must die for doing it, I will die.” (Esther 4:16)

“For God loved (agape) the world so much that he gave…” (John 3:16)

“Love is not self-seeking” (1 Corinthians 13:5)

“…it is a love which keeps loving when its object is unresponsive, unkind, unlovable, or completely unworthy... it gives one hundred percent and expects nothing in return!“ Richard L. Strauss

“After they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ he answered, ‘you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Take care of my lambs.’ A second time Jesus said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ he answered, ‘you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Take care of my sheep.’ A third time Jesus said, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter became sad because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and so he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Take care of my sheep.’” (John 21:15-17 GNB)

“I am telling you the truth: when you were young, you used to get ready and go anywhere you wanted to; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you up and take you where you don't want to go.” (John 21:18)

When a weaker is being abused “Ascribing worth to another at cost to

yourself”- Greg Boyd Tank Man

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJBnHMpHGRY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq8zFLIftGk&feature=related

“The basis for the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount is not what works but rather the way God is. Cheek-turning is not advocated as what works (it usually does not), but advocated because this is the way God is - God is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish.” Stanley Hauerwas

“If the God whom we serve is able to save us from the blazing furnace and from your power, then he will. But even if he doesn't, Your Majesty may be sure that we will not worship your god, and we will not bow down to the gold statue that you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18)

“This vision of ultimate good being determined by faithfulness and not results is the point where we modern men get off.”

- J.H. Yoder

“Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts…” - CS Lewis

“The LORD said to his people, ‘I scattered you in all directions. But now, you exiles, escape from Babylonia and return to Jerusalem. Anyone who strikes you strikes what is most precious to me.’” (Zechariah 2:6-8)

“Simon, Simon! Listen! Satan has received permission to test all of you, to separate the good from the bad, as a farmer separates the wheat from the chaff. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you turn back to me, you must strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31, 32)