Day #266

Sermon - Audio
Esther 1-5 - Audio
Esther 1-5 - Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

The Story - The book of Esther is a story par excellence. It has virtually all of the ingredients that people through the ages have most loved in a story—a beautiful and courageous heroine, a romantic love thread, a dire threat to the good characters, an ideally villainous villain, suspense, *dramatic irony, evocative descriptions of exotic places, sudden *reversal of action, *poetic justice, and a happy ending. God does not enter the action as a named character, but he is the understood presence behind the “seen.” The ostensible purpose of the story is to explain how the annual Jewish celebration of the Feast of Purim began, but the religious meaning of the story is universal. It is a story of divine providence and of the need to resist evil in reliance on God. The book also presents a model for maintaining one’s spiritual identity instead of giving in to cultural pressures when they are ungodly.

Theological Themes:

(1) Providence: the book embodies the theme of providence in the action itself.
(2) Human heroism: we see in the behavior of Esther that heroism is a possibility even in a sinful and pagan world.
(3) The covenant: it is not just any nation whose story is told but specifically the covenant nation of Israel, and we are led to see that the survival of the covenant nation was carefully orchestrated by God.
(4) Sin and judgment: the story of the villainous Haman shows that sinners reap what they sow.

The Book of Esther in the Master Story:

In the OT, the story of salvation history is largely the history of a specific nation, Israel. The nation is nearly rendered extinct in the events that are narrated in the book of Esther, and we are led to feel how miraculously God protected the messianic line until Jesus was born. -ESVLB-

v1 - This king Ahasuerus is well known to history, though more commonly under the name Xerxes. He inherited the vast Persian Empire from his father, Darius I (who is mentioned in passages such as Ezra 4:24, 5:5-7, 6:1-15; Daniel 6:1 and 6:25; Haggai 1:15 and 2:10).

v3-9 - 3 feasts (1st - government officials, 2nd - citizens of the capitol, 3rd - women)

v13-22 - Because Queen Vashti refused to go before the king, the king will issue a decree to make an example of her for the men/women within the kingdom.

2

v1-4 The queen who will replace Vashti must be chosen.

v5 - We see Mordecai, a Jew, Benjamite (Saul's line), being introduced in the story.

Esther (whose Jewish name Hadassah means “Myrtle”; the Persian name Esther means “star”

v8 - Seems like Esther had no choice

V12-14 - The women would put spices and oils on them in preparation for their meeting with the king.

v19- This position indicates that Mordecai was associated with the decision makers and men of influence in the kingdom. - inside the King's gates.

v21-23 - Mordecai saves the king's life.

3

Haman was a descendant of Agag, who was the king of the Amalekites, the people who were Israel’s sworn enemy for generations (Exodus 17:14-16).

*Haman becomes the perfect villain within this drama. He hates the Jews and wants to rid the land of them. Haman casts lots and determines that the 13^th day of the month of Adar would be the propitious time to annihilate Mordechai and his people. After securing the king's permission, Haman sends edicts out to all 127 provinces in Achashveirosh's kingdom, informing them of the new decree.

4

Summary - *The Jewish people are in morning and fear is upon them. Mordechai asks Esther to intercede, and she agrees to risk her life by going before the king unsummoned.

v1-3 - Traditional way of mourning/grieving

v14 - Despite his emotional turmoil (v. 4), deep down Mordecai is sure that the Jews will survive. This reflects his faith that God will protect his people, though the text does not make this explicit. -ESVSB-

v16 - The people fast and pray for Esther's success.

5

*Summary - Not only does Esther go before the king, but she lays a trap for Haman as well. The first banquet would be a setup for the 2nd. Not only was Esther beautiful, but smart as well.