NCarolinian

I am a sheep, my shepherd is the LORD Himself.  Wanting anything will not consume me because the Shepherd directs me to rest in and on His provisions (green pastures).  The Shepherd even leads me into a time of refreshing, beside quiet waters, where He restores my soul from my daily wanderings. The Shepherd guides me down the right path that I might boast on Him alone.  And even though I may come close to death sometimes I will not be afraid of any evil because The Shepherd is with me, protecting and comforting me with His rod and staff. While the lions, tigers, and bears - my enemies - stand before me and look on they are powerless as you, The Shepherd, prepare a trough (table) of provisions before me. The Shepherd anoints this sheep's head with oil and I witness my blessings/provisions (cup) overflow. For sure, His goodness and His love will follow me around every day of my life and I will be in the Shepherd's house forever.

My first observation is Haman's wife, Zeresh, and friends were the major contributors to his downfall. Haman still was the one who kicked it all off and kept it going but he was helped along his path of destruction by his own wife and friends. My second observation is that as you read the book of Esther from front to back (not skipping around) I saw a shift of character focus.  The main character in the beginning is Esther with slight undertones of Mordecai.  Then in the middle of the story Mordecai is a greater figure, at least equal to all the other characters of the story.  Finally, there is no doubt Mordecai is the prominent character at the end of the story. To elaborate on my first observation let us look at what happened in the story.  To summarize and paraphrase some (Esther 3:5 - 5:13) it all started when King Xerxes's high official, Haman, saw that a certain someone, Mordecai, would not give him any respect.  Haman not only thought o...