Esther
Communications Between Esther And Mordecai
When Mordecai heard about the decree of Ahasuerus for the destruction of the Jews he rent his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes, which displayed to the Jews great sorrow and grief (v. 1). He displayed his grief publicly, walking throughout the city and crying out bitterly. He was even …
Jews Took Revenge
As this chapter opens, we find two opposing parties ready to leap at each other’s throats. Haman’s decree had stated that on a certain day (13th day of the 12th month) anyone could kill the Jews and take their property (v. 1). This was the very day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to do away …
The Second Decree to Protect The Jews Was Given
Despite Haman’s death and Mordecai’s promotion, the Jews were still doomed to destruction by a decree that could not be reversed by the king. It was decided that a second unalterable decree had to be issued to overcome the effectiveness of the first decree. This second decree gave permission …
Haman Persuades The King to Kill All Jews
We are now introduced to the villain of the story, Haman, who becomes the archenemy of Mordecai, Esther, and the Jewish nation (v. 1). King Ahasuerus evidently did not like to perform the details of government, so he had handed over to Haman the day-to-day work of ruling (v. 2) …
Queen Vashti Dismissed as Queen
On the last day of a seven-day feast in the Shushan palace, the king was feeling happy because of so much wine and called for Vashti to appear before his drunken nobles to show her beauty and she refused (vv. 10-11). The king wanted her to wear her crown and let his people and officials …
Picking a New Queen
Some Bible scholars say there was an interval of two to four years between chapter one and this chapter. It appears that the king begins to wonder as to whether he had done the right thing in being so harsh with Vashti (v. 1). His attendants became afraid that the king would take out on them his …
Mordecai Promoted by Xerxes
The book closes by speaking of the king’s power; but more importantly extols the leadership abilities of Mordecai who was once a hated Jew in the Persian Empire (vv. 1-3). He was promoted by Ahasuerus and loved by the Jews (v. 3). Mordecai did not only act frequently on his own b …
King Xerxes Hosted a Banquet For His Officials
Esther’s story begins 103 years after Nebuchadnezzar had taken the Jews into captivity (II Kings 25), 54 years after Jerubbabel led the first group of exiles back to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:2) and 25 years before Ezra led the second group to Jerusalem (Ezra 7). Only Esther tells us anything about …
Haman’s Position in The Kingdom is Given to Mordecai
In the culture of Esther’s day any person who received the death penalty automatically had to turn over his estate to the king (v 1). This included all of Haman’s property, possessions, as well as all the people in his house. The king gave all of this to Esther, and she then turned it all over to …
Esther agrees to go to the King
Esther is unique among the books of the Bible in that it is the only book in which the Lord God of Israel is never mentioned. But you can’t read this book without seeing the Lord’s hand of providence moving in the background, preparing the way of salvation for his people. Last time …