Day 230: Past, Present, and Future

Welcome to Day 230 of the Bible 365 Podcast! I'm so excited you are joining me on this journey through the entire Bible this year. Reminder that each episode in 2026 will have a brand new devotional.

Today we'll be reading through Esther 1-3; I Corinthians 11:17-34; Psalm 35:17-28; and Proverbs 21:19-20. Invite a family member or friend to join you as we grow in our knowledge of God through His Word.

I'm so glad that you are here!

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Welcome to day 230 of the Bible 365 podcast. My name is Randy Gudo, and today we're going to be reading through Esther chapters 1 through 3, 1 Corinthians 11, verses 17 through 34, Psalm 35, verses 17 through 28, and Proverbs chapter 21, verses 19 and 20. The translation I'm using throughout this podcast is the Berean Standard Bible, also known as the BSB. Let's read. Esther chapter 1. This is what happened in the days of Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces from India to Cush. In those days, King Xerxes sat on his royal throne in the citadel of Susa. In the third year of his reign, Xerxes held a feast for all his officials and servants. The military leaders of Persia and Media were there, along with the nobles and princes of the provinces. And for a full 180 days he displayed the glorious riches of his kingdom and the magnificent splendor of his greatness. At the end of this time, in the garden court of the royal palace, the king held a seven-day feast for all the people in the citadel of Susa, from the least to the greatest. Hangings of white and blue linen were fastened with cords of fine white and purple material to silver rings on the marble pillars. Gold and silver couches were arranged on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother of pearl, and other costly stones. Beverages were served in an array of goblets of gold, each with a different design, and the royal wine flowed freely, according to the king's bounty. By order of the king, no limit was placed on the drinking, and every official of his household was to serve each man whatever he desired. Queen Vashtai also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes. On the seventh day, when the king's heart was merry with wine, he ordered the seven eunuchs who served him, Mahuman, Bistha, Harbona, Biktha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcass, to bring Queen Vashtai before him, wearing her royal crown, to display her beauty to the people and officials, for she was beautiful to behold. Queen Vashtai, however, refused to come at the king's command brought by his eunuchs, and the king became furious, and his anger burned within him. Then the king consulted the wise men who knew the times, for it was customary for him to confer with the experts in law and justice. His closest advisers were Karshina, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Miras, Marcina, and Mamukin, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who had personal access to the king and ranked highest in the kingdom. According to Law, he asked, what should be done with Queen Vashtai, since she refused to obey the command of King Xerxes delivered by the eunuchs. And in the presence of the king and his princes, Mamukin replied, Queen Vashtai has wronged not only the king, but all the princes and the peoples and all the provinces of King Xerxes. For the conduct of the queen will become known to all women, causing them to despise their husbands and say, King Xerxes ordered Queen Vashtai to be brought before him, but she did not come. This very day the noble women of Persia and Media, who have heard about the queen's conduct, will say the same thing to all the king's officials, resulting in much contempt and wrath. So if it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree, and let it be recorded in the laws of Persia and Media, so that it cannot be repealed, that Vashtai shall never again enter the presence of King Xerxes, and that her royal position shall be given to a woman better than she. The edict the king issues will be heard throughout his vast kingdom, and so all women, from the least to the greatest, will honor their husbands. The king and his princes were pleased with this counsel. So the king did as Mamukin advised. He sent letters to all the provinces of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, proclaiming that every man should be master of his own household. Esther chapter 2. Sometime later, when the anger of King Xerxes had subsided, he remembered Vashtai and what she had done, and what had been decreed against her. Then the king's attendants proposed, Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king, and let the king appoint commissioners in each province of his kingdom, to assemble all the beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Higai, the king's eunuch in charge of the women, and let them be given beauty treatments. Then let the young woman who pleases the king become queen in place of Ashtai. This suggestion pleased the king, and he acted accordingly. Now there was at the citadel of Susa a Jewish man from the tribe of Benjamin named Mordecai, son of Jer, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish. He had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jeconiah, king of Judah. And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, the daughter of his uncle, because she did not have a father or mother. The young woman was lovely in form and appearance, and when her father and mother had died, Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter. When the king's command and edict had been proclaimed, many young women gathered at the citadel of Susa under the care of Hegai. Esther was also taken to the palace and placed under the care of Hegai, the custodian of the women. And the young woman pleased him and obtained his favor, so he quickly provided her with beauty treatments and the special diet. He assigned to her seven select maidservants from the palace, and transferred her with them to the best place in the harem. Esther did not reveal her people or her lineage, because Mordecai had instructed her not to do so. And every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the court of the harem to learn about Esther's welfare and what was happening to her. In the twelve months before her turn to go to King Xerxes, the harem regulation required each young woman to receive beauty treatments with oil of myrrh for six months, and then with perfumes and cosmetics for another six months. When the young woman would go to the king, she was given whatever she requested to take with her from the harem to the king's palace. She would go there in the evening, and in the morning she would return to a second harem under the care of Shayashgaz, the king's eunuch in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he delighted in her and summoned her by name. Now Esther was the daughter of Abihel, the uncle from whom Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter, and when it was her turn to go to the king, she did not ask for anything except what Hegai, the king's trusted official in charge of the harem, had advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of everyone who saw her. She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal palace in the tenth month, the month of Tibeth, in the seventh year of his reign. And the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she found grace and favor in his sight more than all the other virgins. So he placed the royal crown upon her head and made her queen in place of Vashtai. Then the king held a great banquet, Esther's banquet, for all his officials and servants. He proclaimed a tax holiday in the provinces and gave gifts worthy of the king's bounty. When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate. Esther still had not revealed her lineage or her people, just as Mordecai had instructed. She obeyed Mordecai's command, as she had done under his care. In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, Bigthan and Tirash, two of the king's eunuchs who guarded the entrance, grew angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. When Mordecai learned of the plot, he reported it to Queen Esther, and she informed the king on Mordecai's behalf. After the report had been investigated and verified, both officials were hanged on the gallows. And all this was recorded in the book of the Chronicles in the presence of the king. Esther chapter 3. After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman, son of Hamadatha, the Agigite, elevating him to a position above all the princes who were with him. All the royal servants at the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, because the king had commanded that this be done for him, but Mordecai would not bow down or pay homage. Then the royal servants at the king's gate asked Mordecai, Why do you disobey the command of the king? Day after day they warned him, but he would not comply. So they reported it to Haman to see whether Mordecai's behavior would be tolerated, since he had told them he was a Jew. When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or pay him homage, he was filled with rage, and when he learned the identity of Mordecai's people, he scorned the notion of laying hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he sought to destroy all of Mordecai's people, the Jews, throughout the kingdom of Xerxes. In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the poor, that is, the lot, was cast before Haman to determine a day and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar. Then Haman informed King Xerxes. There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples of every province of your kingdom. Their laws are different from everyone else's, and they do not obey the king's laws. So it is not in the king's best interest to tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will deposit ten thousand talents of silver into the royal treasury to pay those who carry it out. So the king removed the signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman, son of Hamadatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. Keep your money, said the king to Haman. These people are given to you to do with them as you please. On the thirteenth day of the first month, the royal scribes were summoned, and the order was written exactly as Haman commanded the royal satraps, the governors of each province, and the officials of each people, and the script of each province and the language of every people. It was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the royal signet ring. And the letters were sent by couriers to each of the royal provinces with the order to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, women and children, and to plunder their possessions on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month. A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued in every province and published to all the people, so that they would be ready on that day. The couriers left, spurred on by the king's command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in confusion. 1 Corinthians 11, verses 17 through 34. In the following instructions I have no praise to offer, because your gatherings do more harm than good. First of all, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. And indeed, there must be differences among you to show which of you are approved. Now then, when you come together, it is not the Lord's supper you eat. For as you eat, each of you goes ahead without sharing his meal. While one remains hungry, another gets drunk. Don't you have your own homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What can I say to you, shall I praise you for this? No, I will not. For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you. The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Each one must examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. Now if we judged ourselves properly, we would not come under judgment. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. So my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you come together it will not result in judgment. And when I come, I will give instructions about the remaining matters. Psalm 35, verses 17 through 28. How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, my precious life from these lions. Then I will give you thanks in the great assembly, I will praise you among many people. Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause, nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice. For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful schemes against those who live quietly in the land. They gape at me and say, Aha, aha, our eyes have seen. O Lord, you have seen it, be not silent. O Lord, be not far from me. Awake and rise to my defense, to my calls, my God and my Lord. Vindicate me by your righteousness, O Lord my God, and do not let them gloat over me. Let them not say in their hearts, Aha, just what we wanted. Let them not say, We have swallowed him up. May those who gloat in my distress be ashamed and confounded. May those who exalt themselves over me be clothed in shame and reproach. May those who favor my vindication shout for joy and gladness. May they always say, Exalted be the Lord who delights in his servants' well being. Then my tongue will proclaim your righteousness and your praises all day long. Proverbs twenty one verses nineteen and twenty. Better to live in the desert than with a contentious and ill-tempered wife. Precious treasures and oil are in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man consumes them. Today's devotional is coming from first Corinthians eleven, verse twenty six. This is such a powerful verse right here. Paul had been reminding the church at Corinth of what the Lord shared with him, how on the night he was betrayed he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and said, This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And how in the same way, after supper, he took the cup, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. And now listen to verse 26. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. There is something powerful about a church and about a people who preach the cross and the resurrection. When Paul says this in verse 26, this is like past, present, and future. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. The Lord's death is what the church looks back to. I mean, our Savior was crucified. There is no Christianity had there not been a cross and had there not been obviously a resurrection. So we proclaim his death as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup. That's the present. So we have the past, the Lord's death, as often as we eat the bread and drink the cup, that is present, and look at this, until he comes. You know, for roughly 2,000 years, the church has been preaching the death and resurrection of Christ. It's all about our Savior, who was beaten, stripped, crucified, suspended in between two thieves who shed his blood, died on a cross, and three days later was raised up by the power of the Holy Spirit. And because of that, you can be set free from sin. Because of that, you can be changed. Because of that, you can be redeemed and made righteous. There is so much more than we could say, but I hope that this is enough to provoke you and to challenge you and to encourage you. Let's pray. Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus. And today, we just say thank you for what you have done for us through the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Because of that cross and because of the resurrection, we have been redeemed and we have been made righteous. Draw us close by the presence of your Holy Spirit and reveal your Son to us. We ask all these things in the precious name of Jesus. Amen. Well, I sure hope you enjoyed today's devotional. If you're getting something out of the Bible 365 podcast, consider sharing it with your family and with your friends. Please continue to pray for me. I am praying for you. Have a great day, and I'll see you tomorrow with day two thirty one.