ESTHER


A. "THEN ESTHER BADE THEM TO RETURN MORDECAI THIS ANSWER, GO, GATHER TOGETHER ALL THE JEWS THAT RE PRESENT IN SHUSHAN, AND FAST YE FOR ME, AND NEITHER EAT NOR DRINK THREE DAYS, NIGHT OR DAY: I ALSO AND MY MAIDENS WILL FAST LIKEWISE; AND SO WILL I GO IN UNTO THE KING, WHICH IS NOT ACCORDING TO THE LAW: AND IF I PERISH, I PERISH."
  1. The book of Esther can rightly be called:
    1. A crisis book - Satan had finished his plans to destroy the Jews from the land
    2. Haman had succeeded to get the signature of the king to the law that gave him full power to kill all Jews
  2. But the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob foresaw this plot against God's people and He raised up:
    1. Mordecai
    2. Esther to meet and foil Satan's plot
B. A CLOSER LOOK AT QUEEN ESTHER
  1. Name and family connections:
    1. The word Esther is of Persian origin - meaning "star"
    2. Her family name was "Hadassah" - "myrtle"
    3. She was the daughter of Abihail who lived at Shushan the Persian Royal city. She was one of the Jews who preferred to stay in Medo-Persia. Mordecai, who was her uncle by marriage took her to his home and brought her up as his own child - he loved her dearly
  2. The story of Queen Esther is given in the book that bears her own name:
    1. There were only two women honored by God to have two books of the Bible bear their names - the Book of Ruth; and the Book of Esther
    2. This honor from the Lord was a reward to them for resoluteness to stand for what they believed to be their first duty
  3. The story of Esther can be grouped into three main sections:
    1. Her apparent poverty and obscurity in her childhood - This seems clear from the early death of her parents and her uncle taking her into his own home
    2. Her great beauty which was brought to the king's notice at the hour he was replacing a queen in the place of Queen Vashti, who had refused the king's invitation to parade her beauty before his drunken guests - Esther 2:7
    3. Finally, her becoming God's agent to save her people from being exterminated by Haman
C. WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM THE STORY OF QUEEN ESTHER
  1. If God is with and for us - no weapon directed against us can succeed:
    1. Picture, if you please, how Satan had used Haman, a deadly enemy of the Jews, to destroy the Jews - Esther 3:1-15
    2. Haman was so sure of his plot that he had the gallows built to hand Mordecai - Esther 6:4
    3. From a human viewpoint there was no escape for the Jews, including Esther
  2. But, God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform:
    1. He who knows the end from the beginning placed Mordecai and Esther into a place where He could use them to foil Satan's plans - that we learn from the book of Esther
    2. Take a brief look into the history of God's people in all ages - and see how God on many occasions foiled the Devil's plans to destroy God's people - How he used Jochebed to deliver Moses from being drowned in the Nile; Moses to deliver his people from bondage; how He foiled Herod from killing Jesus; and how He sent Martin Luther to the Wartburg to prevent the powers from destroying him
  3. Here are a few of God's promises to His loyal children in the hour of crisis:
    1. "For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall be my defense." - Ps. 27:5
    2. "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper" - Is. 54:17
    3. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." - Ps. 46:1
  4. These glorious promises in the Bible were fully demonstrated in life and experience of Queen Esther; and they are written for our encouragement upon whom the ends of the world are come - I Cor. 10:11; Rom. 15:4


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