Esther 1-8
Author While the name of the author is
unknown, the book was written by a Jew, who was familiar with Persian customs
and words. Mordecai or Ezra may have been the writer.
Background
and Date The Book of Esther is a graphic narrative, which relates and Date how God’s and Date relates how God’s people were preserved from ruin during the fifth century B.C. The book takes its name from the beautiful, orphaned Jewess who became the queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus. He is generally believed to have been King Xerxes I who succeeded Darius I in 485 B.C. and ruled for twenty years over 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia. He lived in the Persian capital of Shushan.
At this time a number of Jews were still in Babylon under Persian rule, even though they had been free to return to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:2) for over fifty years. The story takes place over a period of four years, starting in the third year of Xerxes’ reign.
Personal
Application One of the main purposes of the Book of Esther is to show us from the Application lives of Esther and Mordecai a classic example of successful teamwork.
Their relationship vividly portrays the unity that the Lord Jesus prayed for His disciples to experience (John 17). The success of their individual roles, even their very survival, depended entirely upon their unity. Esther also shows how God destroys those who try to harm His people. From this we are reminded that He is faithful to destroy Satan and that His sovereign purposes ultimately prevail.
Application One of the main purposes of the Book of Esther is to show us from the Application lives of Esther and Mordecai a classic example of successful teamwork.
Their relationship vividly portrays the unity that the Lord Jesus prayed for His disciples to experience (John 17). The success of their individual roles, even their very survival, depended entirely upon their unity. Esther also shows how God destroys those who try to harm His people. From this we are reminded that He is faithful to destroy Satan and that His sovereign purposes ultimately prevail.
Esther’s
Story Esther was a Jewish woman who was
selected by the Persian King Ahasuerus to be his wife. He had banished his
former wife and chose Esther through a contest. However, the king did not know
she was a Jew.
When the
king’s right-hand man, Haman, devised a plan to kill the Jews, Ether’s uncle
Mordecai found out. He went to Esther and asked her to go before the king and
ask that the family of Israel be spared. Though Esther was the queen she did
not have the right to lay her case before the king without an invitation. King
Ahasuerus had not called for her presence in over a month. She knew that going
before him uninvited could mean death.
Mordecai
convinced Esther that she may have been brought to the position she was in by
God for saving her own people. She agreed to go before the king without an
invitation even if it meant death.
By inviting
the king and wicked Haman to her house for a meal Esther planned a way to tell
the king of Haman’s plot to destroy her family. She won the king’s favor and
invited he and Haman to her house the next day. Between the two meals Haman
grew angrier with Mordecai and the Jews. When Esther revealed to the king that
Haman planned to kill her family the king had Haman hung on the gallows that
were built for Modecai.
FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS
4:14 "AND WHO KNOWS BUT THAT YOU
HAVE COME TO ROYAL POSITION FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS?"
The stakes could not have been higher. The very existence of
an entire people hung in the balance. If
Haman, the ancient Hitler, had his way there would be genocide, and the Jews,
would cease to exist in Persia. Everything now seemed to vector in on the
lovely Esther. She was the only hope, if there was any hope. What she did with
the opportunity before her, how she seized the day, would affect generations to
come. Her cousin, and surrogate father,
Mordecai urged her to act. "Who
knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"
WHAT ARE we to make of a book in the Bible
that doesn’t even mention God? Sometimes actions speak louder than words. The account contained in this book unfolds the way GOD opens destiny to any person who will keep His priorities. Even in the presence of recognition, success, wealth, and luxury - an environment many may covet, but which has so often proven destructive to spiritual commitment - Esther retained her sense of perspective and integrity.
Esther's Hebrew name was "Hadassah," which means "Myrtle," in her courage and obedience, which clearly did not wither, even when she faced death! In Persian "Esther" means "Star"; again Esther's beauty, grace, and character shone, bright and unwavering, against the darkness threatening the Jewish people.
Note: 1) Esther's response to Mordecai's call to recognize God's providence in her placement: She believed God, not her beauty, had put her on the throne (4:14): 2) Her respect for the power of prayer and fasting: She recognized the reality of the spiritual realm and the Holy Spirit's resources: (4:16): 3) Her unswerving will to lay down her own life for others and her practical good sense and patience in pursuing her enterprise (ch.5).
In Christ,
Playwright
Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/CEO
Bible
Stories Theatre of
Fine &
Performing Arts
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