Esther

ESTHER

About her:

The only book of the Bible that doesn’t mention God’s name.

Esther was Jewish and she was from the tribe of Benjamin. She was taken to Babylon around 600 B.C. when the Jews were taken captive.

Esther’s Jewish name is Hadassah which means “myrtle”

Esther means “star” and she most definitely is the “star” in this drama!

Esther was an orphan. Her parents had died.

Esther lived with her uncle Mordecai. He took care of her as his own daughter.

Esther was physically beautiful.

Esther had a specific call from God at a specific time in history. God sovereignly placed you where you are and has a unique calling and purpose for your life at this particular time in history.

1 Corinthians 1:9 NKJV “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Ephesian 4:1 NKJV “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,”

1 Peter 2:9 NKJV “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”

Setting the Stage:

King Ahasuerus reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces. 180 show of this royalty and all that he had. He was basically showing off.

The feast was 7 days in the court of the garden. Everything for the feast was beautiful! Beautiful curtains, couches of gold and silver, pearls, marble. It was a royal event! Drinks were served in golden vessels.

The kings orders were to “do as each man desired.” (Esther 1:8)

The queen of King Ahasuerus was Queen Vashti.

Vashti means “beautiful”

She gave a feast for all the women in the palace that belonged to the king. Imagine a week long Women’s Bible Study!

It was the KING that she refused! If you are in leadership, you're actions are magnified and you set the tone and the example. Her rebellion could possibly cause a women's rights movement and the men would see to it that that didn't happen. Obviously women were viewed of as objects to be possessed…no different than today really. Despite all of women's attempts to be viewed as individuals…not by merely what they possess on the outside…the world and society today still holds on to vanity.

We are going to see God’s sovereignty in removing this queen so that one of his own people the position.

The decree of all women giving honor to their husbands. High and low alike (Esther 1:20). Is a godly Biblical principle.

Ephesians 5:33 NKJV “Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”

Esther 2:2 -the young men were probably thinking "so the beautiful young women you don't have maybe we'll get a chance at them."

Huge decisions can be made in one conversation. Never underestimate your influence.

“You can never really live anyone else's life, not even your child's. The influence you exert is through your own life, and what you've become yourself.”  -Eleanor Roosevelt

“Leadership is influence.” -John C. Maxwell

“I have thought a sufficient measure of civilization is the influence of good women.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Only God Himself fully appreciates the influence of a Christian mother in the molding of character in her children.” -Billy Graham

The story begins:

Mordecai was a Jew who lived in Susa who had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah during the Babylonian captivity.

Esther is described by her physical beauty but we will see her inner beauty and courage as the story progresses.

She immediately pleased the king and won his favor and was given cosmetics, food, servants and was advanced to the best place in the harem.

What do you think Esther was like to get this kind of favor? What is your personal idea and description of what she was probably like?

Every day Esther updated Mordecai with what was going on. She had a good family relationship! Constant communication.

Esther was a Jew but she did not make that known because Mordecai told her to keep quiet about it. Esther had a submissive spirit and knew her place which is a very attractive quality.

Submission:

James 4:7 NKJV “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

1 Peter 2:13-14 NKJV “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and [for the] praise of those who do good.”

Colossians 3:18 NKJV “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.”

Esther had gone a whole year of beauty treatments! Six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and ointments.

Esther 2:15 -she was a woman who took advice and received counsel and sought wisdom. She had a submissive spirit but look what that brought her! A TON of influence and a position of great authority. She was a woman whom everyone loved…and it wasn't just because of what she looked like! It was WHO she was.

Psalm 90:12 NKJV “So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.” This verse is so appropriate for Esther as she truly put her life on the line for her people.

Proverbs 3:13 NKJV “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding;”

Esther 2:20 -Esther was a “good kid”...she wasn’t a rebellious teenager. She was a mature young adult full of hope.

(2:19-23) -God kept giving Esther favor with the king! A lot of the blessing that came with the favor was in her relationship with Mordecai. God know what you need and who needs to be in your life. He is a sovereign God...working things out.

God’s Sovereignty:

Joseph understood - Genesis 50:20 "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”

God has purposes you don’t understand - Deuteronomy 8:2 NKJV "And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”

God got the Israelites out of Egypt but they wandered for 40 years because He had to get Egypt out of their hearts.

God uses circumstances for our good and for His glory - 2 Corinthians 4:14 NKJV “For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.”

Esther 4

Esther was brave and willing. She didn’t live life to please herself. The world didn’t revolve around her. This is a beautiful quality!

1 Chronicles 15:30 NKJV “Tremble before Him, all the earth. The world also is firmly established, it shall not be moved.”

Psalm 33:8 NKJV “Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.”

Psalm 89:11 NKJV “The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all its fullness, You have founded them.”

Esther 5

Queen Esther won favor in the kings sight and he offered her up to half the kingdom. She invited him to a feast she prepared for him.

5:7 -Esther is building the anticipation of the king. You know when someone tells you they have to talk with you about something...and you know it’s serious and you’re wondering what it is and you have to wait???

Proverbs 25:15 NKJV “By long forbearance a ruler is persuaded, and a gentle tongue breaks a bone.”

Esther 6

God is ALWAYS working sovereignly behind the scenes!

6:6 -when you seek to honor yourself you will be brought low. Always humble yourself and you will be lifted higher. Read Luke 14:8-11

Esther 7:1-6

What a scene of drama!

Proverbs 26:27 NKJV “Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.”

Psalm 9:16 NKJV “The LORD is known by the judgment He executes; The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.”

God moves MIGHTILY in times of “silence”

Psalm 53:7 “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.”

Esther 9

God blessed Esther and heard the cries of His people.

Psalm 72:12 NKJV “For He will deliver the needy when he cries, the poor also, and him who has no helper.”

God turned their mourning into dancing and their fasting into feasting!

Psalm 30:11 NKJV “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,”

Psalm 30:5 NKJV “For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”

She is now known as Queen Esther. Isn’t it, at one time or another, every girls dream to be a queen? Haven’t we all played that before?

Esther 10

Mordecai became second to the King!!!!!

Esther was brave and bold. Esther lost her life...and by losing it to God’s will...she gained it!

Matthew 10:39 NKJV "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”