72. ESTHER

"Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her. "

Aim

To show how Esther, the Jewish maid, became queen of Persia, and by her faith saved her people from destruction.

God had said He would punish His people for their disobedience by driving them out of their land which He had given to them. Those who led them captive hated and oppressed them, so that their lives were made very miserable. As we have seen in our last few lessons, there were among the captives faithful men. who came to the notice of the rulers of the land because of their upright and honest behaviour. Their faith made these rulers show favour at times to the Jews. One such man named Mordecai. sat in the gate of the king's palace in Shushan, the capital of Persia. He had a beautiful young cousin named Esther, whom he cared for in this strange land. It was Esther's faith that saved her people from complete destruction at the hands of those who hated them,

Esther 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6 and 7

THE QUEEN OF PERSIA IS BANISHED: Esther 1; 2:1-4

The king of Persia at this time was called Ahasuerus, "the mighty". His kingdom reached as far as India in the east and to Ethiopia in the west. He made a feast and invited all the nobles and princes of his realm to attend, so that he might show them the splendour and riches of his palace in Shushan, and the glory and honour that surrounded him. This feasting went on for months, and at the end of that time he held a feast for seven days for all the people who lived and served the king in Shushan. Queen Vashti held a feast at the same time for the women in the royal house. On the seventh day, Ahasuerus summoned Vashti to come in to him that he might show his princes her beauty, but Vashti refused to come. The king was furious that she should dare to insult him by such arrogant disobedience and cause him such embarrassment in front of his princes. When he consulted with his counsellors, they agreed that for the sake of the king's honour, and the respect due to all husbands by their wives, Vashti should be queen no longer. "Let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she", was their advice (v 19). So a royal decree was sent throughout all the provinces in the kingdom of Persia that "every man should bear rule in his own house" (v 22).

Then the king's counsellors made another suggestion which the king gladly agreed to. Officers were appointed to go into all the prov inces of his kingdom to choose the most beautiful maidens they could find and bring them all back to Shushan. There, in the house of the women, they could spend a whole year preparing themselves to be presented be fore King Ahasuerus. "Let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti" (2:4).

ESTHER BECOMES QUEEN: Esther 2:5-20

Among |he many maidens chosen for this honour was the young Jewish girl, Esther, who soon came into favour with Hegai, "the keeper of the women". It was obvious that not only was Esther very beautiful, but she was also humble and gracious. She prepared herself like the other women with oil of myrrh and sweet perfumes, and accepted whatever suggestions Hegai made about her appearance and her clothes. When the time came for her to go in before the king, "Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her " (v 15). The king loved Esther above all the other women, and was pleased to set the royal crown upon her head and to make her queen instead of Vashti. When the marriage took place, a feast was held in honour of Esther and all the people of Persia rejoiced.

In all this time Esther had not revealed to anyone that she was a Jew, for Mordecai her cousin, had warned her not to.

HAMAN, THE JEWS' ENEMY: Esther 3

The king had in his court an Agagite (that is, an Amalekite) named Haman, to whom he gave a position of high honour. All the king's serv ants bowed to him - all except Mordecai. He knew that God had cursed the Amalekites (Deuteronomy 25:17-19) and that worship, such as these courtiers were giving, is for God, not men. The king's servants tried to persuade Mordecai to change his mind, but for conscience sake he refused. When they told Haman, he was very angry. Why should this Jew not pay him reverence like everyone else in Shushan? His anger soon turned to hatred, not of Mordecai only, but of all the Jews. "Wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai" (v 6).

The only way that Haman could carry out such a monstrous plan, was to get the king to agree. So he informed the king about "a certain people scattered abroad" in all the provinces of Persia. Their laws were different from the laws of other people "neither keep they the king s laws " (v 8). It was not wise for the king to tolerate such a people but rather they should be destroyed. This sounded quite reasonable to Ahasuerus. So he took off his royal ring and gave it to Haman to seal such a decree, when it was written. "And the letters were sent by posts into a/1 the king's provinces, to destroy to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day" (v 13).

The king did not know that Haman meant the Jews, nor did he yet know that his beloved Queen Esther herself was a Jew.

ESTHER'S FAITH TESTED: Esther 4

While the king and Haman sat down to drink, Mordecai rent his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and cried out with a loud and bitter cry in the midst of the city. In every province of the kingdom, there was great mourning among the Jews and fasting and weeping.

Esther was distressed to hear of Mordecai's grief and sent her serv ant to find out what was wrong. He sent back a copy of the king's decree and told her that she must go into the king and personally plead for her people. Then Esther was afraid, for she knew that if anyone approached the king without being invited, it meant death. "/ have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days ", she said (v 11). When Mordecai was told these words, he sent back a reply that made Esther tremble all the more. "Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the kings house, more than all the Jews" (v 13). She would die because of the decree anyway, but if she would not speak to the king, God would find another way to save His people. "Who knoweth whether thou are come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Mordecai said (v 14).

This made Esther realise that God indeed had brought her to this position of honour, and if she put her trust in Him, He might yet be merci ful and deliver the Jews from their enemies, as He had often done in the past. She asked Mordecai to gather together all the Jews in Shushan to fast for three days and pray for her, and she and her maidens would fast too before she went in to the king. So Esther was prepared to sacrifice her life for the sake of her people. "So will I go in unto the king, which is not according to law: and if I perish, I perish " (v 16).

ESTHER'S BANQUET: Esther 5

After three days, Esther put on her royal robes and went into the inner court of the king's house. When Ahasuerus caught sight of her there, he was delighted to see her and held out to her his golden sceptre. So far God had blessed her. 'What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to half of the kingdom, " said the king (v 3). Esther was greatly relieved to see that the king was pleased, but wisely she did not rush in with her request. Instead she invited the king and Haman to a banquet. At the banquet she did not find the right oppor tunity to speak to the king about Haitian's cruel decree.

So she proposed a second banquet. How puffed up with pride and joy Haman was to receive another special invitation. When he boasted of it to his wife and friends he could not help noting the one thing that spoiled his perfect happiness. "All this availeth me nothing" he said, "so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king s gate " (v 13). His wife and friends thought that could be easily put right. "Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and tomorrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet" (v 14). It seemed like a good idea to Haman and he immediately sent and had the gallows set up on high.

ESTHER SAVES HER PEOPLE: Esther 7

The next day, Esther made her request. She and her people were the victims of an evil plot to destroy them. The king was astounded. Whoever had dared to suggest such a terrible thing! "The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman", Esther cried (v 6). The king was very angry. To think that this man whom he had trusted, had used his honoured position for such evil plans. One of his servants told the king of the gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai. "Hang him thereon ", the king commanded. So Haman, the Jews' enemy, was hanged. The king could not change the first decree which was sealed with his seal. So he made another decree allowing the Jews everywhere to fight to save their lives and their property on that day when the first decree was to be carried out.

By the faith and courage of Mordecai and Esther, God's people were once more delivered from their enemies.

LESSON FOR US

Esther was beautiful, but it was not simply her beauty that made her famous. She was humble and gracious, for she had learned that these qualities are pleasing to God and men. She remained obedient to Mordecai, who was like a father to her, even after she became queen of Persia. She could trust Mordecai because he was a man of great faith. He had always taught her to have faith in God. They really believed that God would hear their prayers and it was this that gave Esther courage to risk her life for the people.

God guides our lives and tests our faith all the time, to see if we really believe Him. We never know when the things we do may change the lives of others, and so we must always be ready to stand up for what we believe and let people know that we worship God.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

We mentioned in Lesson 19 that the Jews have had their enemies in all generations who have hated and cursed them. Haman, "the Jews' enemy, " is probably the worst example in the Bible. His hatred made him want to kill not just Mordecai, but all the Jews everywhere. When he was hanged instead, the king gave all his property to Esther (8:1). Mordecai was given a position of honour higher than Haman had ever had, for "Mordecai the Jew was next unto the king Ahasuerus" (10:3). The Jews were at peace and Mordecai looked after their welfare. So Haman's curse was turned into a blessing for God's people and Haman himself was cursed ("/ will curse him that curseth thee," God had said to Abraham € Genesis 12:3).

The hatred people show today for the Jews will grow more bitter between now and the return of Christ, but when he comes, God will turn their curse into a blessing. He will save His people and their enemies will be destroyed (Zephaniah 3:8; Joel 3:1). The Jews (like Mordecai) will be given positions of honour and dwell in their land in peace (Zephaniah 3:20; Ezekiel 39:27-28; Isaiah 62:1-2). The wealth of the Gentiles who have hated the Jews will be given into the hands of those who will set up God's kingdom (Isaiah 60:9-11).

We ourselves must have the faith of Mordecai and Esther, if we wish to share the joys of the kingdom age.

QUESTIONS

Short Answers

1. What happened when Ahasuerus summoned Vashti to his feast?

2. What advice did the king's counsellors give when Vashti disobeyed the king?

3. What suggestion did the kings counsellors make about finding a new queen?

4. What was Esther like?

5. Who was Mordecai?

6. Why did Mordecai refuse to bow down to Haman?

7. What wicked plan did Haman think up?

8. How did Esther find out about Haman's wicked plan?

9. What did Mordecai tell Esther she must do?

10. What did Esther ask Mordecai to do for three days?

11. When Ahasuerus saw Esther standing in the inner court, what did he do?

12. What did Haman's wife tell him to do?

13. What happened to Haman in the end?

Detailed Answers

14. Tell how Vashti disobeyed the king and Esther became queen instead.

15. (a) Tell how Mordecai made Haman angry.

2. What wicked plan did Haman think up?

3. How did Haman get the king to agree?

Additional Answers

16. Tell how God brought Haman down and lifted Mordecai to honour.

17. How will God turn the curse of Israel € s enemies into a blessing when Christ returns?