Teaching Notes

TH1076: ESTHER

As we move into the book of Esther, understand that it fits historically between chapters 6 and 7 of the book of Ezra. If you remember from our previous studies, Zerubbabel lead the first return from the Babylonian captivity around 538 BC, bringing with him just under 50,000 people. You can read of this in Ezra chapters 1-6. Then Ezra lead the second return from captivity with just under 2,000 men around 457 BC. And you can read of this in Ezra chapters 7-10. Thus, between the first and second returns from captivity is some 80 years. The time frame between chapters 6 and 7 of Ezra are some 57 years, and it is within this gap, between chapters 6 and 7 of the book of Ezra, that the events of Esther took place, with Esther becoming queen of Persia in 478 BC.

The book of Esther is a controversial book because the name of God is not mentioned and thus, many people, including Martin Luther, felt it should not be part of the Old Testament Scriptures. There is no mention of Elohim, Jehovah, Shaddai, Adonai, nothing about heaven, hell, prayer, worship and-so-on. Because of all of that, many feel that it is just a great story, but does not belong in the Scriptures. I disagree, for throughout the pages of this story is the hand of God.

Let me make two points regarding this issue and I think you will understand where I am coming from. First of all, the theme of this book is the providence of God, which one commentator said regarding the word "providence" that it is "that continuous agency of God by which He makes all the events of the physical and moral universe fulfill the original design with which He created it...Providence is God's attention concentrated everywhere."

And as you read the book of Esther you see the hand of God throughout the pages. God is working behind the scenes, orchestrating the people, the situations, for His ultimate purpose. As G. Campbell Morgan wrote, "While there is no name of God, and no mention of the Hebrew religion anywhere, no one reads this book without being conscious of God."

The second point I want to make is this. The name "Esther" many feel, means "star". But the root word means "something hidden". Yes the name of God is not seen openly, but hidden behind the story line, you not only see the hand of God working, but you will also see the name of God. No less than 5 times is the name of God mentioned in acrostics. Now an acrostic is a word or phrase made up of a pre-selected pattern of letters extracted from a text. Four times we see the name YHWH, (YHVH) and once as EHYH, (EHVH) which means "I AM".

1. ESTHER 1:20 FOUND BACKWARD HVHY

Hi Vekal Hannashim Yittenu

it and all the wives shall give

2. ESTHER 5:4 FOUND FORWARD YHVH

Yabo Hammelek Vehamin Hayyom

let come the king and Haman this way

3. ESTHER 5:13 FOUND BACKWARD HVHY

zeH `eynennV shoveH leY

this avalith nothing to me

4. ESTHER 7:7 FOUND FORWARD YHVH

kY kilethaH `elayV hara'aH

that evil was determined against him

5. ESTHER 7:5 I AM EHWH

huE zeH veeY zeH

who is he this [man] and where [is] this [man]

With all that in mind, lets dig into the book of Esther and see the providence of God working mightily throughout this story.

ESTHER 1

VERSES 1-2

1. King Ahasuerus, his Hebrew name; Khshayarsha was his Persian name; and the name most know him by is his Greek name, Xerxes I, who ruled for some 21 years from around 485 to 465 BC. His father was Darius I, the friend of Daniel. And his grandfather was Cyrus the Great, who defeated the Babylonians. And yet with all the royalty, all the greatness that came to him, Ahasuerus was not great. He allowed the flesh, his passions, to control his actions and because of that, he was ineffective as a king, for he was not really a leader.

2. The Persian kingdom was wealthy and extended from modern day Greece to the west, to India on the east, and from Southern Russia to the north, to Saudi Arabia to the south. The kingdom covered some 600,000 square miles and thus the 127 provinces which he ruled over.

3. Shushan was the kings winter palace, located some 200 miles east of Babylon.

VERSES 3-4

1. To understand what this party was all about, you have to understand the historical background. Ahasuerus, according to the historian Josephus, was upset over the events that transpired during his fathers reign. His father, Darius I, was defeated by the up and coming Greeks at the battle of Marathon near Athens. So Ahasuerus wants to avenge his fathers defeat and holds this party and strategy meeting for all the leaders of his provinces. Herodotus, the Greek historian (485-425 BC) tells us that he was conferring with these leaders about a possible invasion of Greece.

2. Now understand that all these leaders did not come at once to see the king and enjoy this party, but throughout the 6 months they came at various times, as the king wined and dined them, preparing them to assist in this battle. He was buttering them up so he could count on them for their assistance.

VERSE 5

1. After this 6 month party is over, and all the heads of state returned home, he throws a 7 day party for the workers.

VERSES 6-8

1. At this time the Persian empire was tremendously wealthy, but that will not last to much longer.

2. At least at this party he did not force the people to drink, but left it up to them, as they felt comfortable.

VERSE 9

1. This seems strange that the king has his party and his queen, Vashti, has her own. But women did not congregate with the men, and because of that, many times they would have their own separate parties.

VERSES 10-11

1. There is a old Japanese proverb that says "First the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink, and then the drink takes the man!" That is what happened to Ahasuerus. This was not just a harmless request to present his beautiful queen before the men. Either he wanted her to come before them unveiled, which was inappropriate in that culture, or she was to come only wearing her crown! "When wine enters into a man's body, wisdom exists!" And as Proverbs 25:28 says "Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls."

VERSE 12

1. The Queen refused to come before the king, which not only made him look like a fool, but it also showed that he couldn't rule his own house, and did not show him in a good light to rule this massive kingdom. Because of that, he burned with anger over this situation. Proverbs 16:32 says "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city."

VERSES 13-18

1. The king consults his wisemen, astrologers, soothsayers, to come up with a solution to this problem. They responded by saying "Look king, you better do something and do it quick. If you don't you are going to see a women's liberation movement begin and no husband is going to be able to control his wife if Queen Vashti gets away with this."

VERSE 19

1. They suggested that a decree be made and that queen Vashti be deposed of her position. And once something became a law in this empire, you could not change it. Remember the decree that Darius I made, that for 30 days no one was to petition any other god except for him, and if they did they would be tossed into the den of lions. In Daniel 6:8 we read "Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter."

VERSES 20-22

1. So he signs this decree and sends letters throughout all the provinces of his kingdom. He is trying to put an end to this women's liberation movement.

2. Between chapters 1 and 2 is a time lapse of some 4 years. And during that time the king takes his army to avenge the defeat of his father by the Greeks. He did defeat the Greeks at Thermopylae but was soundly defeated in the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC and the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC. During this unsuccessful attempt to defeat the Greeks, he not only lost a large portion of the kingdoms wealth, but returned home in shame. It is because of all this, that we see the events of chapter 2 transpire.

ESTHER 2

VERSES 1-4

1. As the king settles back into his kingdom after this defeat, he misses his queen, whom he cast from her position some 4 years earlier. And his men pick up on this and suggest a beauty contest to be held for a new queen. Now understand that this beauty contest was only for the king, and the women involved had no choice in the matter. You see, they would gather together the most beautiful young virgins, without their consent. They would present themselves before the king but before they would do that they would spend time beautifying themselves. And when the time came each would spend a night with the king, to see if he liked them, and if he did he would call for you again. And if he did not like you, you would become part of his harem, never marrying anyone else. Some feel that Esther was taken in this manner, with Mordecai trying unsuccessfully in hiding her from these men.

2. Now these eunuch's were in charge of all the beautiful women in the kings harem, and you may think that this was a great job, being around all those women. Well the king was well aware of some of those desires you might be having and so to prevent you from doing something against the kings will, he had these men castrated, which put an end to all those desires you might be having.

VERSES 5-7

1. Hadassah is her Hebrew name, but we know her by her Persian name, Esther. And Mordecai adopts Esther, after the death of her family, and raises her as his own.

VERSE 8

1. Notice that Esther was "taken" and did not freely go to become part of the kings harem.

VERSE 9

1. Again you see the hand of God upon Esther, as she finds favor in the eyes of Hegai, the eunuch.

VERSES 10-11

1. Mordecai loved Esther and was concerned for her well-being.

VERSES 12-14

1. For 12 months they prepared themselves before they would go before the king. And understand this, for most, it was just a one night stand. If he liked you, he would call for you again. If he did not call for you again, you were relegated to living the rest of your life in the harem of the king, many not ever seeing the king again.

VERSE 15

1. When you presented yourself before the king you were allowed to wear anything you wanted. Esther is very wise here, for she asks Hegai what to wear, for he knew what the king liked and disliked.

VERSES 16-18

1. The king falls for Esther and makes her queen. And then he throws a big celebration for all to see his new queen.

VERSE 19

1. Now just because the king found a wife for himself, don't think that for a minute he was going to live a monogamous life. He still had his harem and from time to time it needed to be updated and replenished. You see, a woman, during this period of time, was just slightly above a slave, having no rights of her own, as queen Vashti found out.

2. It seems that Mordecai rose to a position of judge within this kingdom, as he sat at the gate, a place where official business took place. And this too will be important and shows us God's hand upon this situation.

VERSES 20-21

1. Now being king, you always had enemies that wanted to kill you. That is why the king did not get close to many, but kept his distance. It was those few that were close to the king that would carry out his orders. Here we see these 2 guys plotting to kill king Ahasuerus.

VERSES 22-23

1. As Mordecai finds out their plan, he tells Esther, who then tells the king. And as the king checks out the story, and finds it to be true, he has these men executed for their assassination attempt. In the Hebrew it says that they were "impaled on a stake", which is how the Persians dealt with rebellion.

2. Now, for some reason Mordecai is not rewarded for his actions, but what he did was placed in the book of the Chronicles. And you may think that this was unfair, he should have been rewarded. Many of you have done things, and maybe you feel the same way. Understand this, God is in control, and if Mordecai was rewarded now, he would not be rewarded later on and receive the greater blessing. And the same is true for us. Jesus said in Revelation 22:12 "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work." Understand that God has a plan and is working through each of us, rest in that and look to Him who is coming with our rewards. God knows not only what you have done for Him, but why you did it! Don't forget that.

3. A little side note about king Ahasuerus. He was assassinated in his bedchamber in 465 BC.

ESTHER 3

VERSE 1

1. Here we are introduced to Haman, who is promoted to be second in command in the kingdom. Haman is a descendant of king Agag, who was an Amalekite. And if you remember the story, king Saul was to completely wipe out the Amalekites because of how they treated the children of Israel when they left Egypt. They would attack the back of the pack, where the old, the sick, the weak were, and because of that God said he would wipe them out. But king Saul did not completely wipe them out but allowed king Agag to live. And it was a descendant of king Agag that killed king Saul, and now is going to threaten the destruction of all the Jews.

2. In Scripture the Amalekites are a type of the flesh. Because of that they must be completely wiped out, they must be destroyed or they will destroy you. The same is true of our flesh, we must destroy it, put it to death, for in it no good dwells. As Christians we need to deal with the flesh on a daily basis and give no room for it to grow. As Paul said in Galatians 5:17 "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish." So how do we deal with it, well Paul tells us in Galatians 5:16 "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."

VERSE 2

1. I don't think Haman was a man who was well liked and because of that the king makes a decree that the people were to pay homage to him. If he deserved it, the people would have been more than happy to give it to him, but I don't think he deserved it.

2. Now Mordecai refuses to bow before him, why? Because God had cursed the Amalekites, and he was not going to bow to a cursed people. Exodus 17:14 says "Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.'"

VERSES 3-4

1. Mordecai must have been liked, because the kings servants want him to bow before Haman so he would not be harmed. But he tells them that he is a Jew, and is not going to bow before a cursed people.

VERSES 5-6

1. Pride is a terrible thing. All are bowing before Haman except for one man, and this is all Haman can see. And it is making Haman furious. And he is so angry that he wants more than just Mordecai dead, he wants all the Jews dead. As one man said "When little men cast long shadows, it is a sign that the sun is setting!" Haman is going to find out how quickly that is going to happen.

VERSE 7

1. Haman wants to find out the best time to carry out his plan, so he goes to the astrologers, the wisemen, and they cast lots, or Pur, and it falls on the 12th month, which corresponds to our March.

VERSE 8

1. Yes the Jews had different laws, but they were not rebelling against the king. Haman was telling half-truths, which is nothing more than a lie.

VERSE 9

1. Haman was a wealthy man and willing to pay for the Jews to be wiped out. And some of that money would go into the kings treasuries, which I think helped to seal the deal, for the kingdom was financially hurt from the wars they fought and lost, and this money was almost more than what was taken in annually in the kingdom, which was 15,000 talents of silver, and Haman was offering 10,000 talents of silver for the Jews to be exterminated.

VERSES 10-11

1. The signet ring represented the kings authority, and he was saying to Haman, go and do what you need to do, I have given you my permission to do it.

VERSES 12-15

1. The decrees were issued and sent throughout this vast kingdom, that on the 13th day of the 12th month, all the Jews were to be destroyed and their wealth plundered. It seemed like a hopeless situation, there was no way out. And yet we know the end of the story. In saying that, next time you find yourself in a difficult situation, a situation that seems hopeless, remember this story and the words of Paul in Romans 8:28. He said "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."