Saluki downtime November 4th, 2024


Esther


What events changed the course of the world, a country, or a region?


Have you done anything that changed the future for yourself or a group of people? 


Is anything coming up that might?



God is not mentioned 1 time in the book is Esther. 


This was in a Jewish town after the Babylonian Exile. Some returned to Jerusalem, and some stayed in the country away from towns, making their own towns. 


Characters - 

Mordecai - Uncle to Esther

Esther - Main character. Niece of Mordecai - Queen of Persia

King of Persia

Haman


The king decided to throw himself a huge party so everyone could look at him and praise him. This banquet lasted 187 days straight. 


On the last day, the King was drunk and he made his wife Vashti show off her beauty by coming out and showing off. She refuses to do as he commands. 


So the King got rid of her and held a beauty pageant to see who would be the next lady of the King. This did happen and Esther was there. She also hid that she was Jewish. The King really liked her and asked her to hang around and eventually Esther became his girl. 


Mordecai was there hanging out watching over his niece and overheard two guys saying they were going to kill the king. He tells Esther and Esther tells the king and Mordacai found favor to the king. 


Haman was the highest-ranking official to the king. And demands that everyone bow to him. Mordecai refuses and this makes Haman angry. So Haman made a decree to kill all the Jews. 


In 11 months on the 13th of Adar. 


So Mordacai decides that Esther needs to tell the King she is Jewish. But the courts made it illegal to talk to the king without a reason, and she did not have one. 


She made a plan anyway. 


Esther invited the King and Haman to her Banquet. 


Haman sees Mordecai in the street and realizes he wants him dead. Haman put up a steak in the street to hang him on in the morning. 


That same night, the king could not sleep, so he had someone read the royal chronicles to him. This was just what happened daily. It was boring, so he thought it would put him to sleep. While getting these read to him, he had forgotten that Mordecai had saved his life earlier. 


In the morning, Haman came to the king to get permission to hang Mordecai. The king told him no and to actually honor him. He would take him through the town and let everyone know this man saved his life. 


The next day was Esther Banquet. At the Banquet she shares with the King that she is Jewish and that Haman wants to kill her, Mordecai, and all the Jews. 


She is risking her life here because she does not have permission and Jews were not allowed to be at this banquet and he was not allowed to marry a Jew. Persian law. 


The King was drunk and ordered Haman to be hung on the stake he put up for Mordecai. Haman's death didn’t stop the decree he put into place to kill all the Jews. 


So the king made another decree, saying that on the 13th of Adar, they could defend themselves from attack and destroy anyone who came against them. 


The Jews won, and they actually won by a lot. They started with Hamans' family and those who plotted with him. 


Now there is a two-day feast to celebrate this victory called Purim. 


Mordecai was put into second command and Esther remained queen. 


Together they saved the king and saved the Jews. 


A lot of bad happened in this book. Drinking, Sex, and murder. All of these were a violation of the Torah. 


There is a moral problem in the book of Esther. 


When God is not mentioned does that mean God does not exist or that he is done? 


No God has not abandoned his promises. 




Have you had a chance to do the right thing that was against what was expected?


What decision have you made that negatively affected the people around you? Positively?


From a young age, you get to choose the people around you. From a young age, you get to influence those around you.


Your daily choices affect those around you.


As you become who you want to be, you will make decisions that affect the people around you.


Esther chose to do the right thing, even though she had to hide the truth about herself. Her decisions changed the future of the church as we know it, and she saved the Jewish nation in that area at that time.


why is this so important? She changed the future of the Christian faith.


What does this story mean for you? 

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