Godly Woman 101: Days 8 - 10

Continuing my reading on godly women. These are my "accountability notes". I'm in Esther. This is chapters 4 -6.

Esther 4
Lots of fasting going on! LOL Nice comparison to all the feasting the king and those close to him are doing.

This chapter explains Mordecai's reaction to the king's edict to destroy all the Jews, how Esther finds out about it (via Mordecai as opposed to the king himself), and Esther's plan.

Mordecai instructs Esther to go to the king but to go unrequested means she'll be put to death unless immediately pardoned by the king. They begin a fast and, at the end of it, she'll go to the king even if it means her death.

Again, she is obedient. And, she is faithful in that she prays and fasts prior to acting out Mordecai's plan.

Esther 5
Esther is seen waiting to speak with the king and he asks her in. When he asks what she wants, she delays and asks him and Haman to come eat a banquet she prepared. My notes say one could only speculate as to why she does this. She makes the king ask three times what she wants...Hmmmm, what godly woman attribute is displayed her? Waiting on God's timing?

This chapter also contains another example of Haman's behaviour. He passes Mordecai at the Kings' Gate and when Mordecai doesn't rise up as he passed, Haman is enraged. Then, Haman's wife and family tell him to build gallows and request Mordecai be hung in the morning.

Esther 6
This chapter is the literary center of the book. And, my notes point out that just when things don't seem to be able to get worse, several seemingly trivial things coincide to bring God's providence to pass...the king can't sleep, he asks to read the chronicles of history, he reads of Mordecai's uncovering of an assassination plot, wants to reward him, Haman just happens to be making a ton of noise building the gallows, so the king asks him to go honor Mordecai in the way Haman thought the king should honor him instead! Mordecai goes home in grief, is telling his family all that had transpired, and the king's men come to get him to take him to Esther's second banquet.