As I begin this morning, I am asking you to dip into your historical awareness (realizing as I do that not everyone loves history) with this question.
(Slide 1) In your opinion, what has been the most important military battle in history?
No one mentioned (Slide 1a) The Battle of Salamis.
The Battle of Salamis, was fought in 480 BC between the Greeks and the Persians. It was a naval battle fought with around 1,000 ships.
The Greeks were victorious. And, according to a review posted at npr.com, historian Barry Strauss, in his book Salamis: The Battle that Saved Western Culture, asserts that the battle saved Western culture by keeping the aggressive Persians from defeating the Greeks and gaining a foothold in that part of the world. (Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3489001)
I will have more to say about this battle in a few moments.
Today is the final of a three part series on the Bible and I am picking up where I left off last week with Esther chapters 1 and 2. Last week, we divided into groups and studied one portion of chapter 1 using these questions:
(Slide 2) Observation: What does it say?
Interpretation: What does it mean?
Correlation: How does it fit with the Bible as a whole? Application: How do I use it in my life? (Source: David Durey, Steps Toward Spiritual Maturity, Foundation of Hope, Portland, Oregon © 1996)
(Slide 3) This morning we conclude with the consideration that the Bible is an ancient book with a timeless story.
(Slide 4) I ended last week by sharing what I called some concerns with Bible study. I am renaming them “areas of importance.” The first area of importance, I spoke of last week, was context. It is important to study the context of the verse or passage you are studying so that you correctly understand and interpret it.
This morning I address the second area of importance, one that I am more aware of in my sermon preparation as the years go by. (Slide 4a) The cultural and historical background.
Researching and understanding the cultural and historical background can help us understand certain sayings and customs as well as seeing how the Bible does fit into human historical events.
A return to Esther 1 and 2 illustrates how uncovering the cultural and historical background allows the Biblical text to be seen and heard in a clearer way.
(Slide 5) Here is Esther 1:9, “Queen Vashti gave a banquet for the women of the palace at the same time.”
Again, we are reminded this morning that this verse appears at the end of the first eight verses of Esther 1 that describes in detail a large and long-lasting banquet (actually two) that King Xerxes gives to his civilian and military leaders. But, Vashti and the women do their own thing during the second one. Why?
How often do we go to a wedding or Birthday party and the women go do their own party and the men theirs? Granted we tend to group off that way as conversations develop, but verse 9 implies that Vashti and the other women were together “at the same time” which could possibly mean (interpretation here) that they were together for the entire time, in another part of the palace, which from the wider text of chapter 1, was seven days.
Now, as we move further into chapter one we discover, in verse 10, that at the end of seven days, Xerxes told his advisors to have the queen come and pay the men a visit. It also notes that he was half-drunk.
She refused. Trouble ensued. The King was not bemused. Why?
Well, our first thought is, that she could have been thinking, “He’s half-drunk and probably several others are as well. I am not going to go over there.” Good for her!
But there is a good possibility that there was a cultural reason for her refusal as well.
I checked several sources about this verse and all of them indicated that Vashti was a woman of character and refused to make herself her an object of sexual desire by a room full of men. Yet, in one of them, the running commentary with the electronic version of my Bible, is a statement that in Persian culture a woman would not appear in a room full of men.
Let me give a personal example.
When Susan and I lived in Kalamazoo in the late 80’s and early 90’s, the apartment we lived in (and I worked at part-time) was about two miles from Western Michigan University. We had several Middle Eastern residents in the apartment complex.
One day, I took a service call from one of the Middle Eastern students, who, I believe, was Egyptian. As I went in to the apartment, his wife entered the bedroom and shut the door. I dealt with him.
Now if it had been a western couple, I probably would have talked to both the husband and the wife or even the wife.
Now, does Vashti’s actions make sense?
I do think that she was a person of integrity and refused to allow herself to be an object. But, I also think that she was following a very strong cultural custom.
Does the passage become a little clearer now? I think so.
This serves to illustrate the importance of understanding the cultural backdrop of this passage. It is vital in good Bible study to have an understanding of the cultural environment because it adds meaning and depth to the study, interpretation, and application of scripture.
The other background we need to get a handle on is the historical background. Without getting technical, the ‘historicalness’ of the Bible has been the subject of much debate over the centuries. Some have argued that some or many events in the Bible cannot be historically verified but others argue they can be historically verified. But, if God did not speak and act in human history, why are we here this morning?
I conferred with a couple of sources about the events of these first two chapters and as to history, it seems that a very probable backdrop to this long feast was the planning of a historic Persian naval battle with the Greeks that took place in 480 BC. The battle of Salamis.
The Persians were soundly defeated in that battle and at least one source, the late Henrietta Mears, suggested that the selection of the new queen took place, in part, to comfort the defeated and likely depressed and discouraged King Xerxes. So the time frame of the chapters one and two events are probably around 5 to 7 years in length.
Now, does Esther’s story begin to make some more sense?
Let me add it a few other things this morning so that you can place this book within the historical timeline of the Bible.
Esther and her cousin Mordecai, are part of the Jewish remnant, that had been exiled (or taken away) from ancient Israel at this point for around 100 years. So, when we are able to timeline Esther, we see that it takes place toward the end of the Old Testament period even though the book appears about one-third of the way through the Old Testament as we have it today.
But what is interesting is that the book of Esther appears just before two books that have historical overlap with Esther – the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
These two books tell the story of the return to Jerusalem by some of the Jews and the subsequent rebuilding of Jerusalem. In Nehemiah chapter 1 we read these words, “In late autumn of the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was at the fortress of Susa.” (NLT)
Depending on which scholar you choose to believe, around 20 years have passed since Esther became queen and Artaxerxes’ could have been her stepson. If so, she could have been in a vital position at a vital time to influence the decision to support Nehemiah’s trip to Jerusalem.
Now there is another interesting view about this book that many have commented on over the years. It is this, “God is never directly mentioned in Esther.” Yet, as many have believed, and I do as well, He was very much involved in Esther’s story.
This is where having an understanding of some of the cultural and historical background can enable us to see the bigger picture of history and God’s plans and purposes. God was moving and influencing people to make the right decisions. The redemption of humankind, God’s big plan, was at stake and God worked through a young and beautiful Jewish girl to keep that plan alive.
Would God have used someone else if Esther would have failed to respond to her cousin’s thought in Esther 4:14, “who can say but that you have been elevated to the palace for just such a time as this?” Undoubtedly so. Yet, she did respond, though violating court protocol and custom by going in unasked for to the King, could have cost her, her title as Queen. But she came to the defense of her people who were marked for genocide.
Now for a few moments I want us to walk over to the New Testament and Luke 8:22-25:
One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and started out. On the way across, Jesus lay down for a nap, and while he was sleeping the wind began to rise. A fierce storm developed that threatened to swamp them, and they were in real danger.
The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” So Jesus rebuked the wind and the raging waves. The storm stopped and all was calm!
Then he asked them, “Where is your faith?”
And they were filled with awe and amazement. They said to one another, “Who is this man, that even the winds and waves obey him?”
Another aspect of Bible study that is very important is geography. It is a part of this story.
(Slide 6) Here is the Sea of Galilee. It is located in the northeastern part of Israel along the borders of Syria and Jordan.
(Slide 7) Here is another map of the area as it appears today. The area to the immediate northeast is the Golan Heights. Notice that there is a great deal of dry and hilly land around the Sea of Galilee (now called Lake Tiberius.)
With the geography of that area, cold air comes down from the northeast and the mountainous regions and causes havoc with this body of water with significant storms that, as one source says, “even experienced fishermen would not venture too far from the shore unless the lake was in a very settled condition.” (Source: Israel: A Biblical Tour of the Holy Land, by Neil W. May.)
Yet this area, on both sides of the lake, was a prime ministry area for Jesus during His earthly ministry. Hence, the well-known passages of Jesus walking on the water as the disciples made their way across the lake to the other side.
Now when we think of a fishing boat we think of a boat that looks like this. (Slide 8) (I think I hear Tim ‘the Tool Man’ Taylor doing his famous grunt!)
Or, maybe like this? (Slide 9)
Perhaps, the fishing boat in Jesus day was like this… (Slide 10)
In 1986, when the Sea of Galilee was at a very low water level, two men discovered the outline of a boat in the mud. (Slide 11) It was brought carefully out of the mud and is believed to be from the time of Jesus. Estimates of the boat’s size are around 9 meters or 29.5 feet long, 2.3 meters or 7.5 feet wide, and 1.2 meters or around 4 feet deep. It could hold up to 15 people.
Our text from Luke tells us that Jesus lay down in the boat and went to sleep and when the storm came up, He was awakened by very frightened disciples. My sense is that they had to shake Him awake out of a deep sleep. How many of us have had that experience? Our kids, OUR PARENTS, our spouse, and/or our friends have shaken us awake. We are perhaps angry and disoriented at first as we come to consciousness as we are trying to make sense of what happened.
But, in an open boat, with no covering, how easy is it to fall asleep and stay asleep with lake water coming over and into the boat? The rocking motion can put one to sleep.
Mark’s account of this story locates Jesus in the back of the boat with His head on a cushion. One source suggests that the back of the fishing boat was covered to store and protect the fishnets used to fish. This boat perhaps had little or no netting and so one could get nice and comfortable and take a nap.
Understanding the geography of the Bible is important because when we understand the area around this body of water and just how quickly storms can come up we have a better understanding of this passage.
(Slide 12) So what does all of this mean for us this week as we deal with homework, a tough work project, or dealing with health issues?
Your story, my story, our story is in the Bible. We know what it is like to be in Esther’s shoes.
We have had moments when our faith and our commitment to God has been tested at work, in the classroom, at home, and in the neighborhood. We are faced with the question, “Am I going to make the right and God honoring decision here? Am I going to lie to make myself look good or not? Am I going to cheat on the test or take the consequences that come with not preparing for the test? Am I going to blame my neighbor for the high weeds in their yard when I know that they have no one to help them?”
The Bible is an ancient book with a timeless message. It was written in another time and culture (still in existence in some places) that challenges us in the post-modern world of 2009.
But, it has a timeless message because it deals with the human condition that has not changed over the centuries. It deals with our fears, our character, our values, our decisions, and our sinful and fallen nature.
Read it daily. Read it well. Read it prayerfully. Read it expectantly. It is God’s good news to us. Amen.
Source: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. ‘The Roman Boat from the Sea of Galilee.’
jesusboat.com website. ‘1st Century Galilee Boat.’
Triton boats website.
