Esther 1-2
We begin the week with Esther. Although Esther is famously the only book of the Bible that does not mention God, the sovereign hand of God is discernable throughout its pages. Written in 5th Century B.C. to the exiles who had not returned to Jerusalem, it tells the story of an insidious threat to the Jews, and how God (though He is not mentioned) brought them deliverance and victory.
Here are the main characters of the account (in order of appearance):
- Ahasuerus (Xerxes), king of Persia from 486-464 B.C.
- Vashti, queen of Persia.
- Mordecai, an exiled Jew, who had raised his younger cousin as a daughter.
- Esther, Mordecai’s “lovely and beautiful” younger cousin.
- Haman, the king’s prideful, hateful “second in command.”
The book begins in the 3rd year of his reign at a banquet before his historic defeat at the hands of the Greeks at Salamis in 479 B.C. The first two chapters of Esther set the stage.Ahasuerus is holding a banquet and desires the show off the wealth and wonders of Persia to those in attendance. When he summons his wife, Queen Vashti, to the banquet, she refuses to come. The king, in his anger, dethroned the queen and made a decree that women should obey their husbands. I guess that showed them!
After calming down, he set about to find a new queen, hosting something like a beauty pageant. Eligible women from throughout the realm were brought to the king, including Esther, who did not reveal that she was a Jew at Mordecai’s direction. Of course, she was chosen as the next queen.
Meanwhile, out of concern for Esther, Mordecai stayed close to the front gate of the king’s palace. One day, he overheard a plot against the king, told Esther, who informed the king, and the culprits were arrested and executed. This will be remembered!
Tomorrow, the villain bursts on the scene!
Your Bible brother,
Pastor Gary
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