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.”

Michal, Abigail and Bathsheba

Michal, Abigail and Bathsheba

Scripture References: (Michal) 1 Samuel 14:19; 18:20-28; 19:11-17; 25:44; 2 Samuel 3:13, 14; 6:16-23; 21:8; 1 Chronicles 15:29; (Abigail) 1 Samuel 25:1-42; 2 Samuel 3:3; (Bathsheba) 2 Samuel 11:2-3; 12:24; 1 Kings 1:11-31; 2:13-19; 1 Chronicles 3:5

Michal: Woman of Appearances

Read 1 Samuel 18:10-30; 19:11-17; 2 Samuel 3:13-16; 6:12-23

Michal was the younger daughter of Saul.

Michal was David’s first wife.

Her name means “who is like God”

Saul was jealous of David and feared him because God was with him and was prospering all of his ways. He worked out a plan to have David marry his oldest daughter Merab so that the hand of the Philistines would be against him. However, David, did not feel worthy of such an offer.

Saul schemed up another plan after hearing that his daughter Michal loved David. David again didn’t feel worthy of such an offer and Saul presented a challenge that he hoped would bring David to death at the hand of the Philistines. God was with David and gave him victory and he won Michal as his wife.

Michal loved the idea of being married to David more than the reality of it.

David is described in the Bible as “ruddy, with a handsome appearance” (1 Samuel 17:42)

Michal cared for David enough to warn him to flee but she never obeyed Genesis 2:24 which tells us God’s intention in marriage is to “leave and cleave.” She didn’t leave her father Saul and cling to David, instead she left David and even lied about David’s character (1 Samuel 19:17) and added to the false accusations against him.

Michal was a woman who feared man more than she feared God. Her fear of man was a worldly characteristic that lead her to stay with Saul rather than her husband and even be given to another man instead of remain faithful to David.

Michal missed out on the opportunity to embrace the call of being the wife of a man after God’s own heart. It seems she only wanted the easy way out.

2 Samuel 6:16 –In this area of scripture we get to see what is going on in Michal’s heart.

2 Samuel 6:20 - This verse reveals the overflow of her heart through her words.

Luke 6:45 NASB “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”

Here we see Michal’s love for appearance override her respect and submission to David, not only her husband but the King of Israel. Her influence was barren and her life bore no fruit physically nor spiritually. She worshipped at the altar of appearances and no depth of life or character became of her.

She became a woman who missed great opportunity! What opportunities is God placing before you? Are you praying through them and obtaining them or missing out?

Abigail: Woman of Discretion

Read 1 Samuel 25:1-42

Abigail was the wife of Nabal. She was “beauty” and he was “the beast”

Abigail means “cause of joy”

Nabal means “fool”

Proverbs 21:15 NKJV “It is a joy for the just to do justice, but destruction will come to the workers of iniquity.”

Abigail is not only known for her beauty but for her intelligence. She is known as “the woman with brains and beauty.”

The Situation
“David leads his band of nomads to the wilderness of Paran, where they hope to scratch out a living by policing the area for the local ranchers. Although no contracts are signed -a custom of the day -they work hard protecting the herds of sheep from thieves and wild animals. At shearing time, the rich ranchers gather the herds to shave off their profits. Customarily, it is also the time when the owners remunerate the volunteer police for their services. Only a tightfisted miser would refuse to pay.” –Charles Swindoll

In verse 14 we notice Abigail was relational. She had good communication skills and was connected with the men who served her husband so she was able to receive an interceding message.

Proverbs 31:27 NASB “She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.”

A simple way to make good connections with others is to be approachable. What characterizes a woman who is approachable?

In verse 22 we notice she is wise as she thinks through was she needs to do in order to intercede successfully. She also exhibits action. Her wisdom moves her to take risks.

Proverbs 28:1 NASB “The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion.”

Abigail was a woman who didn’t allow her threatening circumstances to define her. Instead, she defined her threatening circumstances.

Verse 23 -Abigail approaches David with humility and knows her place. She refers to herself as “your maidservant” 6 times and refers to him as “my lord” 14 times.

Abigail came to David with a refined fire. An ungodly fire and zeal is born out of the flesh. A godly fire and zeal shows itself in peaceful characteristics.

James 3:13-18 NKJV “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”

Abigail personifies this!

In verse 28 we see her godliness and knowledge of the Holy One.

1 Timothy 4:8 NKJV “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”

In verse 29 we see her instill courage into David by reminding him of God’s deliverance of Goliath in the past! How wise! She reminded him of God’s faithfulness in the past and spoke over him of God’s faithfulness to his future.

A truly powerful woman is one who has control over her spirit.

Proverbs 25:28 NKJV “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.”

In both cases of Michal and Abigail, BOTH women spoke out of the overflow of what was going on in their hearts.

In verse 32, David acknowledges God’s hand in her actions and how God used it to prevent him from causing more bloodshed.

In verse 36 we see Abigail’s sensitivity to timing. Her communication skills were exemplary because she had the characteristic of patience.

Verse 39 -GOD takes care of the situation and David takes Abigail as his wife.

Bathsheba: Woman of Display

Read 2 Samuel 11:1-11

Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah, the most loyal of David’s men.

Bathsheba means “daughter of an oath”

She came from a God-fearing family and was the daughter of Eliam who was the son of Ahithophel.

Abigail was a woman of beauty and brains but Bathsheba was a woman with beauty who lacked the “brains”.

This incident with Bathsheba stained David’s character for the rest of his days.

1 Kings 15:5 NKJV “because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.”

Bathsheba put herself in a position to be violated.

“Although David was to confess that his foul sin was his, and his alone, one wonders how far Bathsheba was the accomplice in such a sin, as well as its provocation. Had she been a careful, modest woman, surely she would have looked around the easily seen adjacent roofs, and if others had been looking, she would have been more appropriately modest in bathing herself. Further, when sent for David, had she been a true wife and a woman of principle she should have refused to obey the king’s summons.” -Herbert Lockyer

In contrast to Abigail who trusted God with the outcome of her marriage, Bathsheba took matters into her own hands. She used this as an opportunity to seduce rather than an opportunity to submit to God and her husband.

Godly men respect women who are a source of godliness in their life, not temptation.

1 Timothy 2:9a NKJV “in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation”

Bathsheba did however seem to learn from her mistakes and became the mother of Solomon. God gave her another chance and David’s confession of the whole incident is recorded in Psalm 51.

Life Lessons:

GOD GIVES US “TAYLOR MADE” TRIALS!

Michal - Trials make us bitter or better.

Abigail - You can choose to have a victim or victor mentality in your circumstances.

Bathsheba - Let pressing situations cause you to encourage rather than entice others.


Discussion Questions:

1. In what ways, like Michal, are women today more concerned with the appearance of things?
2. What stands out to most about Abigail and how does it affect you personally?
3. In what ways are we living in a “Bathsheba” culture and how can we be women of modesty and discretion?