Covenant Renewal and Esther’s Bold Faith - The Bible in a Year Podcast

What this episode is about

This content explores the themes of covenant renewal in Nehemiah and highlights Esther's bold faith during pivotal moments in the biblical narrative. It focuses on the significance of reaffirming commitments to God as depicted in Nehemiah and the courageous actions of Esther, illustrating how these stories contribute to the overarching message of salvation history.

Key takeaways

• Covenants aren't just ancient history; they bind communities just as much today—binding hearts, not just hearts on paper.
• Esther redefined bravery, transforming royal fear into a moment of divine intervention—proof that vulnerability can be powerful.
• Nehemiah's grassroots efforts underscore how commitment to community can rebuild societal norms—brick by brick, deed by deed.
• While tithing feels old-fashioned, it's a timeless reminder: invest in your community or risk neglecting your roots.
• Esther's royal entrance showcases courage in the face of authority—sometimes, the softest voice can alter the loudest rooms.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Hamon (Guest) · 1 min speaking
• Father Mike Schmidz (Host) · 18 min speaking
• Queen Esther (Guest) · 1 min speaking
• King Ahasuerus (Guest) · 1 min speaking
• Zaresh (Guest) · 1 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Nehemiah, Esther, Ascension, Proverbs
2. 5:00 – 10:00: Esther
3. 10:00 – 15:00: Esther, Nehemiah, Proverbs
4. 15:00 – 20:00: Esther, Nehemiah
5. 20:00 – 21:01: Esther

Notable quotes from "Covenant Renewal and Esther’s Bold Faith - The Bible in a Year Podcast"

• Podcast where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible…

  about Ascension · at 0:06

• The book of Nehemiah, the conclusion of chapter 9:38, the signing of the covenant. Because of all this, we make a firm covenant and write on it, and our princes, our Levites…

  about Nehemiah · at 1:00

• The queen faltered and turned pale and faint and collapsed upon the head of the maid who went before her. Then God changed the spirit of the king to gentleness. And in alarm he…

  about Esther · at 6:10

• And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written how Mordei had told about Big Than and…

  about King Ahasuerus · at 8:58

• He who closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself cry out and not be heard. A gift in secret averts anger and a bribe in the bosom strong wrath. When justice is done, it is a joy to the.

  about Proverbs · at 13:04

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• King Ahasuerus — Person · Biblical character (king) discussed in readings · 2 mentions
  The Persian king whose decisions drive the plot: he receives Esther, orders Mordecai honored, and condemns Haman after Esther reveals the threat to her people.

Books & papers

• Nehemiah — Book · Referenced work · 5 mentions · first at 0:26
  Part of the daily reading in the Bible in a Year podcast, focusing on the renewal of the covenant by the people of Israel.
• Esther — Book · Referenced work · 16 mentions · first at 0:29
  Part of the daily reading in the Bible in a Year podcast, highlighting Esther's courage and faith in approaching the king.
• Proverbs — Book · Referenced work · 3 mentions · first at 0:29
  Part of the daily reading in the Bible in a Year podcast, offering wisdom and moral teachings.

Sponsors

• Ascension — Company · Sponsor · 2 mentions · first at 0:10
  The company sponsoring the Bible in a Year podcast, providing the Great Adventure Bible used in the readings.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:04 Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmidz and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story. Today, it is day 278. We are only four short days from the end of the return heading into the Makabian revolt. But today on day 278, we have Nehemiah 10, Esther 15 and 6 and 7, Proverbs 21 13-16. As always, the Bible translation I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version. I'm using this Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com/bible in a year. You can also receive daily updates by subscribing. That would be

0:48 great. It's day 278. We are reading Nehemiah 10, Esther 15 and chapter 6 and chapter 7 as well as Proverbs 21 13-6. The book of Nehemiah, the conclusion of chapter 9:38, the signing of the covenant. Because of all this, we make a firm covenant and write on it, and our princes, our Levites, and our priests set their seal to it. Chapter 10. Those who set their seal are Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hakaliah, Zedekiah, Sarah, Azeriah, Jeremiah Pashure Amariah Mekisa Hatush Shebaniah Maluk Harim Miraath Obadiah Daniel Guinathan Baruk Mashulam Abijah Mijin Maiah Bilgi, Shemiah. These are the priests.

1:42 and the Levites. Jesua the son of Aaniah. Binui of the sons of Henad, Cadmiel and their brethren, Shbaniah, Hodiah Kalita Playa Hanan Micah Rahob Hashabaya Zakur Sherabaya Shabbaniah, Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. The chiefs of the people. Peros, Bahath, Moab Ilam Zatu Bani Booni Asgad Babai Adonijah Bigvi Adin Atar Hezekiah Azour Hodiah Hashim Bazai Harif Anathoth Nebi Magpash Mashulam Azir Mashabel Zadok Jadua Palataya Hanan Anaya Hosa Hananiah Hashub Halohesh Pilha Shobc Rahim Hashabna Maayiah Aaya Hanan Anan Maluk Harim Bana.

2:45 Summary of the covenant. The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding. join with their brethren, their nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God's law which was given by Moses, the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord and his ordinances and his statutes. We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. And if the peoples of the land bring in wares or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy it from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. and we will forgo the crops of the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.

3:36 We also lay upon ourselves the obligation to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekele for the service of the house of our God. For the showbread, the continual serial offering, the continual burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel and for all the work of the house of our God. We have likewise cast lots, the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our father's houses, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law. We obligate ourselves to bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all fruit of every tree year by year to the house of the Lord. also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the

4:26 firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as it is written in the law, and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks, and to bring the first of our course meal and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God, and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground. For it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our rural towns. and the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites, when the Levites receive the tithes. And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers, to the storehouse. For the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the gatekeepers, and the singers. We will not neglect the house of our God.

5:21 The book of Esther, chapter 15. Esther's invitation to the king and Hmon. On the third day, when she ended her prayer, she took off the garments in which she had worshiped and clothed herself in splendid attire. Then, majestically adorned, after invoking the aid of the allseeing God and Savior, she took her two maids with her, leaning daintily on one, while the other followed, carrying her train. She was radiant with perfect beauty, and she looked happy as if beloved, but her heart was frozen with fear. When she had gone through all the doors, she stood before the king. He was seated on his royal throne, clothed in the full array of his majesty, all covered with gold and precious stones, and he was most terrifying.

6:05 Lifting his face flushed with splendor, he looked at her in fierce anger. And the queen faltered and turned pale and faint and collapsed upon the head of the maid who went before her. Then God changed the spirit of the king to gentleness. And in alarm he sprang from his throne and took her in his arms until she came to herself. And he comforted her with soothing words and said to her, "What is it, Esther? I am your brother. Take courage. You shall not die, for our law applies only to the people. Come near. Then he raised the golden scepter and touched it to her neck. And he embraced her and said, "Speak to me." And she said to him, "I saw you, my lord, like an angel of God, and my heart was shaken with fear at your glory, for you are wonderful, my lord, and your countenance is full of grace." But as she was speaking, she fell fainting. And the king was agitated, and all his servants sought to

6:59 comfort her. And the king said to her, "What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you even to the half of my kingdom." And Esther said, "If it pleased the king, let the king and Hmon come this day to a dinner that I have prepared for the king." Then said the king, "Bring Hmon quickly that we may do as Esther desires." So the king and Hmon came to the dinner that Esther had prepared. And as they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, "What is your petition? It shall be granted you, and what is your request?

7:30 even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled. But Esther said, "My petition and my request is, if I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleased the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Hmon come tomorrow to the dinner which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said." Hmon plans to have Mordei hanged. And Hmon went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Hmon saw Mordei in the king<unk>s gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordei.

8:03 Nevertheless, Hmon restrained himself and went home. And he sent and fetched his friends and his wife Zaresh. And Hmon recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and the servants of the king. And Hmon added, "Even Queen Esther, let no one come with the king to the banquet she prepared, but myself, and tomorrow also, I am invited by her together with the king. Yet all this does me no good, so long as I see Mordei, the Jew, sitting at the king<unk>s gate." Then his wife Zaresh, and all his friends said to him, "Let a gallow 50 cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordeai hanged upon it, then go merrily with the king to the dinner." This council pleased Hmon and he had the gallows made. Chapter 6. The king honors Morortei.

8:55 On that night, the king could not sleep and he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written how Mordei had told about Big Than and Tesh, two of the king's Unix who guarded the threshold and who had sought to lay hands upon King Ahaseros. And the king said, "What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Morai for this?" The king<unk>s servants who attended him said,"Nothing has been done for him." And the king said, "Who was in the court?" Now Hmon had just entered the outer court of the king<unk>s palace to speak to the king about having Morai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him. So the king's servants told him, "Hmon is here standing in the court." And the king said, "Let him come in." So Hmon came in and the king said to him, "What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?" And Hmon said to himself,

9:44 "Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?" And Hmon said to the king, "For the man whom the king delights to honor, let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse which the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set. And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble princes. Let him clothe the man whom the king delights to honor. And let him conduct the man on horseback through the open square of the city, proclaiming before him. Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.

10:16 Then the king said to Hmon, "Make haste. Take the robes and the horse as you have said, and do so to Morai the Jew who sits at the king<unk>s gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned." So Hmon took the robes and the horse, and he clothed Mordei, and made him ride through the open square of the city, proclaiming, "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor." Then Mordei returned to the king<unk>s gate. But Hmon hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered. And Hmon told his wife, Zaresh, and all his friends everything that had befallen him. Then his wise men and his wife Zaresh said to him, "If Mordeai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not prevail against him, but will surely fall before him." Hmon's downfall and Mordeai's advancement. While they were yet talking with him, the king's Unix arrived and brought Hmon in haste to the

11:08 banquet that Esther had prepared. Chapter 7. So the king and Hmon went in to feast with Queen Esther. And on the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, "What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled." Then Queen Esther answered, "If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace. For our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king. Then King Aaswerus said to Queen Esther, "Who is he and where is he that he would presume to do this?" And Esther said, "A foe and enemy, this wicked Hmon." Then Hmon was in terror before

12:07 the king and the queen. And the king rose from the feast in wrath and went into the palace garden. But Hmon stayed to beg his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine. As Hmon was falling on the couch where Esther was, and the king said, "Will he even assault the queen in my presence in my own house?" As the words left the mouth of the king, they covered Hmon's face. Then said Harbona, one of the unics in attendance on the king. Moreover, the gallows which Hmon has prepared for Mordei, whose word saved the king is standing in Hmon's house 50 cubits high.

12:46 And the king said, "Hang him on that." So they hanged Hmon on the gallows which he had prepared for Mori. Then the anger of the king abaded. The book of Proverbs 21 13-6. He who closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself cry out and not be heard. A gift in secret averts anger and a bribe in the bosom strong wrath. When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but dismay to evildoers. A man who wanders from the way of understanding will rest in the assembly of the dead. Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory. Thank you so much, Father. Just we ask that you please in the name of your son Jesus Christ this day receive our thanks, receive our praise, receive the glory and honor that is yours. Thank you for bringing us once again to a new day. And thank you for um your word. Thank you for speaking to us and thank you for calling us to renew our relationship with you to renew the

13:54 covenant that you have established in the blood of your son Jesus Christ. In his name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So, you know, the book of Nehemiah, we're we're trucking right along. And um yesterday, we had this great prayer in chapter 9 of Ezra. Ezra was praying, recounting the story. Here's all the goodness you've done, Lord. Here's our sins, but we renew this our desire to repent and turn back to you. And then at the end of chapter 9, it says, "Because of all this, we make a firm covenant and write it. Our princes, our Levites, and our priests put their set their seal to it." And then chapter 10, of course, is the names of all the um people who signed this. And the most incredible, well, I don't know if it's the most incredible thing, but something that's really, really powerful and really beautiful. Remember in the divided kingdom, there was so much

14:40 idolatry. There was so much, you know, falseness when it came to how quick the people of Israel who had been brought into covenant with the Lord God, how quick they were to turn their back on God. And it was kind of like one of those things where we've inherited this, but you know, we might as well just turn to the local gods. Might as well just turn to the gods of our neighbors. We might as well just live like everyone else. And yet here in chapter 10, as they're signing this covenant, there is this this collective decision of like, no, we're going to we're going to be faithful to this that we're we're going to live up to this that that we're choosing not idolatry. We are choosing not other foreign gods. We are choosing to belong to the Lord our God. And not only that, but we're taking upon, you know, every real relationship, we might have said this before, every real relationship has real rights. Here we

15:28 are, God's people, but also real responsibilities. Every real relationship has real rights and also real responsibilities. And the people of Israel here in chapter 10, they're taking upon themselves the real responsibilities that here's how we we're going to have to live. Here's how we're going to bring our sacrifices to the temple. Here's how we're going to bring the tithes, our firstborn, our first fruits. Like all of these pieces they're taking that they're voluntarily taking upon themselves. It's almost like one of those situations where maybe maybe if you were raised uh in the church, maybe you were raised in the faith and at some point you just walked away, right? You just drifted away. It didn't mean anything to you. It was your parents faith. It was your grandparents faith. But then maybe if you were brought back, all of the things that your grandparents told you to do, all the things your parents might have told

16:11 you to do, all of a sudden that's what you wanted to do. It was the sense of okay, I however God is asking me to live, that's how I'm going to live because you actually encountered God for yourself. And there's something about a a revival, something of a a conversion that's happening here. I mean, it started way back when Ezra the scribe st stood up and began to read the words of the of the book of the law that began this revival where people are saying, "Okay, how has God called us to live? Let's live that way. Who is God? He's he's he's good. He's gracious. He's loving. He's merciful. And we belong to him. Well, let's live like we belong to him." And it's just this is a turning point. This is a real turning point in the life of the people of Israel, which is incredible. Well, you know, as I said, we only have after today only three days left in Nehemiah and Esther.

16:54 We have the prophet Malachi and then we're at the end of the return and then we begin with um some incredible books. We're going to be first and second Makabes, which I know many of you have never read. Um we're also reading Sirak, which many of you have never read, and wisdom, which many of you have never read, but these books are phenomenal. You're going to love them. But before that, we have still have the book of Esther. Here is Esther. I I love the fact that in chapter 15 which is again part of the dudero canonical passage um it's a later expansion of the Hebrew text chapter 5:es 1 and 2 it talks about how Esther was terrified a and also it describes how as Esther comes into the palace of the king in the presence of the king it says he was most terrifying lifting his face flushed with splendor he looked at her in fierce anger that his initial response wasn't oh hey there's my beautiful queen that I

17:46 haven't seen in 30 days. His initial response was fierce anger. And in fact, it wasn't even Esther's elegance, her grace, her beauty, her strength, her courage. Now, her courage is and her faith in the Lord is what brought her to this place. But in that moment, what's it say? And the queen faltered and turned pale and faint and collapsed. And this is verse 8. Then God changed the spirit of the king to gentleness. And in alarm, he sprang from his throne and took her in his arms until she came to herself. There's something about this that just like you've seen this before.

18:17 Maybe you've done this before where you saw a person or a situation or something going on and your response was negative. Your response was maybe like like I swear it was this looked at her with fierce anger and then you see the weakness of the person and the weakness does something to your heart that melts the anger that that dowses the anger melts the the hardness of your heart and you realize wait a second I need to help this person. Now again it wasn't Queen Esther's beauty that originally got his attention. And it wasn't wasn't her grace, although she was filled with beauty, filled with grace. Um, it was her weakness. Again, she's filled with courage. She's filled with faith, but what he saw was weakness. And again, this this broken man, like significantly broken man, Aaseros, he wouldn't have been moved by grace. He wouldn't have been moved by by beauty.

19:02 He wouldn't have been moved by how gorgeous uh Queen Esther was because I mean, gosh, the guy's got a thousand thousand hers. know, we didn't have a real number, but you know, it's that's not something that would pull on his heart. But the Lord knew what would pull on his heart, and he allowed Esther to be weak and to falter and to faint in his presence, knowing that would change King Awar's heart. Isn't that interesting? Just again, so often we think, "No, I have got to be the best. I've got to be perfect. I've got to be I've got to be good. I've got to be holy. I've got to be perfect." I said perfect twice, but here's how perfect I am. I've got to be perfect. I've got to be strong. In fact, I've got to have the exact right words. I've got to do the exact right thing. And we forget sometimes that God not only works in our weakness, he wants to work in our weakness.

19:51 And just that there's something so powerful about God wanting to work with our weakness that um we just need to be reminded of today because it was not again the strength and the grace and the beauty of Queen Esther that melted King Awar's heart. She was, again, keep this in mind, she was courageous. She was full of faith, filled with beauty, full of grace. But is the fact that God wants to work with our weakness? That he was able to work a miracle in the king's heart. This evil king's heart was moved by weakness, which doesn't make any sense, but that's how we are. And it gives us solace, right? Gives us encouragement to know that God wants to work with our weakness. So in our weakness we pray. In our strength we pray. In our faith we pray. And courageously we pray. Today I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.

20:48 Let's go. I wake up to a little bit of drool on my pillow. Feel like it's going to be a bad day.

20:54 Yeah. I'm tired of and the coffee ain't hit yet. Damn. ain't that great.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Covenant Renewal and Esther’s Bold Faith - The Bible in a Year Podcast"?

Hamon (Guest), Father Mike Schmidz (Host), Queen Esther (Guest), King Ahasuerus (Guest), Zaresh (Guest).

What is "Covenant Renewal and Esther’s Bold Faith - The Bible in a Year Podcast" about?

This content explores the themes of covenant renewal in Nehemiah and highlights Esther's bold faith during pivotal moments in the biblical narrative. It focuses on the significance of reaffirming commitments to God as depicted in Nehemiah and the courageous actions of Esther, illustrating how these stories contribute to the overarching message of salvation history.

What is mentioned in this The Bible in a Year episode?

5 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Nehemiah, King Ahasuerus, Esther, Proverbs. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Covenant Renewal and Esther’s Bold Faith - The Bible in a Year Podcast"?

The episode runs 21 min; the transcript is about 4,015 words in 28 timestamped sections.

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