Day 224- Esther #1

Have you read the book of Esther before? Do you think you could relate most of the story, or give a short description of the main characters? Spend a moment thinking over this, if so.

We’ll be reading the entire book of Esther, so if you have the time, you may enjoy just sitting down with it and reading the whole book in one go! It will give helpful context to each day’s studies.

• The book of Esther is a wonderful story. It famously doesn’t mention God at any point, but it is one that has His fingerprints all over. The events in the book quietly but powerfully arrange to rescue the Jewish nation from a potential genocide. On the surface, it is a wonderful story of romance and delicious irony, but the historical importance of the events, ensuring the survival of the Jewish people (and therefore the line to Jesus), cannot be ignored.
• This story takes place towards the end of the exile. You’ll remember that the exile was prophesised by Jeremiah to be 70 years – the amount of time that the people from Judah would live in Babylon before they could return home. Quite a lot of those years have now passed since the destruction of the city, and by now the Persians had taken over as the rulers (we read about this in the book of Daniel). Some Jews had returned back home to Judah by this point, but many had remained in exile. This includes Esther and her cousin Mordecai.
• As you read these opening chapters, take a minute to get a solid grasp in your head of the characters. The King is referred to as “Ahasuerus” in the ESV version and “Xerxes” in the NIV version – it’s the same person. Esther, (also known as Hadassah) and Mordecai are cousins, but after the death of Esther’s parents, she is looked after like she is a daughter by Mordecai.
• Describe the party the king threw in Esther 1. How long was it? What would the atmosphere have been like? What happened when he asked his wife, Vashti, to come in? Her refusal to come and dance for them would have been a great insult to the king.
• After consulting with the eunuch advisers, happened to Vashti? Do you think the king missed her? What did the king decide to do to replace her?
• Esther decided to compete with the other virgins to be the king’s new wife. Why do you think she decided to do it? Do you think it was wise? Take a look at the things she had to do to prepare herself – there was a lot of work to win the affections of the king, wasn’t there!
• Did Esther ever let on that she was a Jew? Why do you think Mordecai advised her to keep it quiet? This is important to how the story evolves.
• What happens with Mordecai at the end of Esther 2? This little story is also important to future events. Note that there is no reference to Mordecai being rewarded for his actions, even though he effectively saved the life of the king.
• Look at the third reading, where we once again look back at the words of the prophet Jeremiah. How did Jeremiah’s prophecy, written several years earlier, fit in with today’s readings in Esther? What do you think the purpose of Jeremiah’s letter was to the people in exile?
• Jeremiah 29:11 is a famous verse of comfort. How do you think the exiled people at the time would have treasured words like this, and how can we?