ESTHER 2:7, 17; 3:5, 3:6, 4: 13-14, 15-17, 7:1-3, 8:11-13, 16
This is the last of the Historical Books of the Old Testament.
The significance of the Book of Esther is that it testifies to the secret watch-care of Jehovah over dispersed Israel. Outstanding peculiarities of the book are the complete absence of the name of God; the lack of any religious teaching; and no mention of prayer. These remarkable features can have occurred only by deliberate design. Probably the book was written for the Jews in the Persian empire as a story that would be circulated without danger of offending the people of that land that ruled over the many Jews. Yet in no other book of the Bible is God’s provision for His people more conspicuous.
Although God’s name never appears, events in the book show the hand of God at work in events both great and small. This makes the book like real life for most believers. We don’t see God, but we see evidences of His providence.
Truth forever on the scaffold. Wrong forever on the throne,---
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own.
When the dispersed Jews, the diaspora, were permitted to return from Babylonia captivity to Palestine a mere remnant returned to Jerusalem. The mass of the nation Israel, preferred the easy lucrative life under the Persian rule. But God did not forsake them. What He here does for Judah, He is surely doing for all the covenant people.
The events recorded in Esther cover a period of only 12 years. The theme of today’s lesson is that taking a stand for God means seizing the moment to act upon God given opportunities to fulfill His will for our lives, whatever the cost. Our example is Queen Esther who risked her life in order to save her Jewish people. She was the Jewish queen of King Ahasuerus, or Xarxes, who reigned in Shusan or Susa, one of the capitals of the Persian empire; which consisted of 127 provinces from India to Ethopia. He reigned from 486 to 465 BC.
TEACHER TO READ ESTHER 2: 7.
Our story opens as King Ahasuerus gave a great feast to all the officials of his realm. Vs. 10-12 says that “on the seventh day, when the king’s heart was merry with wine (when he was drunk) he commanded his chamberlains “to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the royal crown, to show the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on.”
When Queen Vashti refused to come to the drunken feast the king was very angry. He asked his wise men, “What shall we do to Queen Vashti according to the law because she had not obeyed the king? Memucan pointed out that the queen had not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes.
Esther 1:17 points out that once the queen’s action was spread abroad, all women would despise their husbands. The penalty should be that Vashti would come no more before King Ahasuerus and her royal estate should be given to another who is better than she.
The king was to make a decree to be published that all wives shall give their husbands honor, both great and small. The suggestion pleased the king and the princes. The proclamation was sent throughout the empire that “EVERY MAN SHALL BEAR RULE IN HIS OWN HOUSE.”
Vs. 1-7 give the account of how Xerxes set about finding a replacement for his deposed queen Vashti. The story is amazingly detailed and the suspense builds as Mordecai and Esther take center stage. Mordecai was introduced in vs. 5. He was a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin. His great grandfather Kish, was carried to Babylon along with king Jehoiachin and other captives when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC.
Mordecai was the legal guardian of a young woman named Hadassah (huh DASS uh), also known as Esther. Hadassah means “myrtle”; Esther means “star.” Her father and mother had died, though when and how we are not told. Mordecai treated her as a father would treat his own daughter. He followed the Jewish tradition of relatives caring for their own, especially for orphans and widows.
Esther had a beautiful figure and was extremely good-looking. The Babylonians had deported the best, the brightest, and the most beautiful among the Jews in order to use them to their advantage during the exile.
After a twelve month program of beautification in vs. 12, subsequent verses tell how many potential maidens were brought before the king for his inspection and his eyes fell on Esther. We are not told whether the girls were given a choice, but we may assume they were not. One by one they went to the king. Then they became concubines in the king’s harem, summoned only if the king decided to call.
The process took a long time. In Esther 1:3 the king’s drunken feast was in the third year of his reign. Esther’s time to see him was in his seventh year. Esther 2:17 records the king’s choice. He must have been overwhelmed by Esther’s appearance as she won more favor and approval than any other girl. Her beauty was physical, but it is possible that she also radiated the presence of God through her eyes and countenance. God had chosen her as His vessel at a critical time in Israel’s life, and, as always, He gifted her with what she needed to fulfill His task.
More than three years had passed since Vashti had been removed from her throne. Numerous young women appeared before the king, but God’s hand was in this whole matter to make sure Esther was chosen to be Queen of Persia.
We do not know exactly how many young women appeared before Xerxes, but speculations range from 400 to 1,200. The fact that the young women were all fair and beautiful prepares us for the news that Esther was one of the girls from whom the new queen was to be chosen.
Vs. 17 says “And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.” Esther’s beauty must have been greater than all of them. She was chosen. Cousin Mordecai told Esther to keep secret that she was Jewish.
TEACHER READ ESTHER 3:5
“When Haman saw that Mordecai was not bowing down or paying him homage, he was filled with rage.
Two important events took place between Esther 2;18 and 3:4, which set the stage for what happens in the rest of the book. First, Mordecai saved the King’s life. He was sitting at the King’s Gate in 2:21, probably a threshold to the palace. Many believe that Mordecai served as a gatekeeper because he is mentioned several times in connection with the gate. If that was the case, then Mordecai held a high and important office. Two officials who also served as gatekeepers became infuriated with the king and sought to assassinate him. Mordecai learned of this plot and informed Esther, who in turn told the king.
Second, a man named Haman was elevated to the king’s right hand. He was an Agagite, a royal title used by the people known as Amalekites. The title is significant because it reminds us of tensions that go all the way back to when Israel fought with them in the wilderness
Why Haman was promoted to such a high place we are not told, but along with his promotion came a command from the king for everyone to bow down and pay homage to him. Because of his position, most of the king’s servants bowed when he passed.
The king had given Haman his signet ring, which he used to send a royal decree that the Jews in every area be killed on a given day. Haman did not name the Jews but got the king’s approval by describing a group in the empire who were different and did not obey the laws. He also promised to add a large amount of money to the royal treasury if these were killed.
TEACHER READ ESTHER 3: 6.
And when he learned of Mordecai’s ethnic identity, Haman decided not to do away with Mordecai alone. He set out to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout Ahasuerus’ kingom.
Mordecai and Esther had not revealed to the king their racial identity. Perhaps they did not feel it was necessary, or they may have felt it would be too risky to do so. But when Mordecai’s Jewish identity became known, coupled with Haman’s anger and hatred toward the Jews, the real plot of the book becomes clear. Haman was a small man who deeply enjoyed the subservience of the subjects in the king’s palace. When he learned that it was not total, he flew into a rage and decided not to take vengeance on the one rebel. He would stop at nothing short of destroying all of Mordecai’s people.
In vs. 7 Haman and his friends cast lots or Pur to see the best time to set in motion his plan to destroy the Jews. The plural of Pur, Purim, is the name of the celebration the Jews still celebrate to commemorate the date of the death of Haman; the enemy of the Jews.
God alone deserves and demands our worship, but sin and Satan will always seek to take God’s rightful place in our lives. Whether blatantly commanded to bow down in homage to another god or more subtly tempted to compromise our convictions, we must choose every day, if Christ will be Lord to us. And each time we boldly stand for God, as Mordecai did, we seize the opportunity placed before us to show to those around us what it means to be a faithful Christian.