SOAPing Esther– King Xerxes was not a nice man

I’m reading and SOAPing my way through Esther. Today I am sharing my SOAP response to chapter three and if you’re looking for a devotional guide or Bible reading plan, I’d love for you to join me. Here’s what stood out to me today:

Scripture: Esther 3:11

“Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”

Observation:

Yikes. King Xerxes agreed to have all the Jews destroyed, telling Haman to have done to them whatever he liked. Ouch. That is so unfathomable to me.

Basically he said, “Yes, they are weird. They don’t worship as we do, so they don’t think like we do, and at least one won’t bow down to you, so obviously all those people are worthless. Destroy them.”

This is the same man who ordered his wife to appear and when she refused him (for reasons we do not know for sure) he had her removed from his life and her position as Queen.

Xerxes does NOT come across to me as a nice guy, at all. That makes me wonder what his whole life was like.

Which (spoiler alert if you don’t know Esther ‘s story yet) says so much about Esther’s bravery and faith later in the book.

Wow.

Application:

I am so so so thankful to live in a post-Jesus time and that I  know Him. Jesus is all about love and kindness and more love.

I am glad that I cannot fathom wiping out a whole lot of people just because they are different, although it still happens today in many parts of the world.

I just pray that more come to know our loving Father and that more people experience love, true love, in their homes and in their lives, so they, too, can love.

I cannot fathom such hate and disregard for human life. But that is because I have been surrounded by love my whole life. So many aren’t.

Prayer:

Lord, please, please, please reach in and touch the hearts of those who do not know you, and those who are suffering and hurting and don’t have a clue what love is. Please let them see it, feel it and push evil out of their hearts with it.

There is so much hatred out there. And when children grow up surrounded by evil, how can we expect them to act in love? I want more people in all parts of the world to know love, to experience love and to act in love, rather than hate.

What can each of us who do know love do to share that love with those who don’t? Please set off a spark in each of our hearts and show us the way to be better sharers of love.

Thank you so much, Lord, for the gift of love I have been given by so many around me and, ultimately, by you. That is such a huge, huge gift.

Are you reading alongside me? If so, what grabbed you in today’s passage? How can you share love with those who don’t know what it really is? Please tell me in the comments… And the GO FOR IT!

If you’d like to join me, tomorrow I will be sharing my SOAP response to chapter four of Esther.

If you disagree with something I’ve shared or another commenter shares, please remember to be respectful in your response back. You might even want to remember the old adage that you ‘catch more flies with honey than vinegar.’ Please use kind, respectful words or your comment may not remain.

Wondering what SOAP is? Click over to read What is SOAP?