ESTHER 4:1-3, 9-17 FEBRUARY 15, 2009 ESTHER RISKS HER LIFE I. LESSON SUMMARY What can we learn about commitment from Esther’s story? A. First, this part of Esther’s story might well be a story out of today’s news. 1. Change a few of the external surroundings and Esther could easily be living among us today—at least as far as her relationship with God is concerned. 2. Her commitment came from experiencing God just like we do today. a. There is no burning bush or pillar of fire in this story. b. Esther found God and began to understand His will through personal relationships with other people of faith. - e.g., Mordecai raised her in the faith and later on helped her to see God’s will in his request and challenge to her. c. She had obviously learned to experience God in prayer just as we do, and in today’s story she uses both individual and collective prayer to help her better understand God’s will. B. Secondly, we see that Esther already had a relationship and commitment to God at a certain level, but it didn’t remain fixed at that level—it was not a finished product. 1. Esther’s commitment to God grew to a much stronger and deeper level—how did this happen? 2. Continuing to experience God through personal relationships and prayer certainly contributed to this growth. 3. But this story shows us that perhaps the most important factor was that she responded positively and obediently to an opportunity for growth from God. a. The story teaches us that God is at work in our world every day. - And everyday He gives us opportunities to be a part of what He is doing. b. Esther came to recognize this through prayer and the encouragement of Mordecai. - She began to understand more about God’s providence—that He does provide and care for His people—this is certain. - The only uncertainty was whether or not she would participate with Him in His work. c. And it was this process of being challenged and working through a decision to respond in faith that made her commitment stronger and her relationship with God deeper. C. This same story is unfolding for us today. 1. God wants to bring our commitments to a new and deeper level. a. Every day He offers opportunities for us to take advantage of. b. The challenge is to work through the decision process with the same resources Esther used and step out in faith. 2. Harbour commentary: In the providence of God, He put Esther in the right place at the right time with the right opportunity—and she said “Yes”. - That is our model for a growing commitment to God. II. INTRODUCTION A. The Book of Esther 1. The Book of Esther is one of those “instructional stories” like the one celebrated and told at Passover, which is to be told and passed on to each succeeding generation. a. Like the Passover story, the story of Esther describes how the Jewish people overcame persecution and survived. - Also like Passover, Esther’s story is associated with a Jewish feast or celebration. b. The celebration is called “Purim”, which means “lots” in Hebrew and refers to a game of chance. - In Esther’s story, lots were cast to determine by chance the day on which the Jews were to be executed. - Unlike Passover, which began to be celebrated as soon as the Israelites entered the Promised Land and was authorized by the Law of Moses, Purim developed sometime after the Exile and may have been adapted from a Persian or Babylonian festival. 2. To date, there has been no evidence uncovered to confirm that the story of Esther is an actual historical event. a. Some scholars believe Esther is really a historical novel rather than recorded history. - However, this does not really detract from the teaching purposes of the story. b. And lack of historical evidence should not be too surprising since very little is known about the Jews living in 3. In addition to the historical questions, some people (most notably Martin Luther) have raised objections to including this book in the Bible for 2 other reasons: (1) the book seems to promote Judaism too much (2) God is never mentioned in the book. - On the other hand, if we are willing to assume that faith in God is implied and the author had some valid reason for never mentioning God directly, then the book does provide good lessons and examples about our relationship with God. 4. The lesson writer compares Esther to a book like Exodus which does most certainly mention God. a. He says in Exodus we see God doing miraculous things like speaking through a burning bush, sending plagues and parting the water—but is that how most people experience God? - In Esther, God works through regular people who are committed to the faith just like us today. b. In Exodus, God speaks to Moses directly and gives him instructions and encouragement. - Esther must act on faith, and trust that she has heard God correctly through prayer and the counsel of other people—just as we experience God today. c. In Exodus, God is seen on a physical level, e.g., in the pillars of cloud and fire. - In Esther, God’s people experience Him through prayer and their personal relationships; He is not hidden, but His power is felt on a spiritual rather than physical level. 5. How do you experience God today—is it more likely to be through miracles that you see and hear about?...or through people who are faithful in their commitment to Him? B. Background 1. Timeline 586 BC – 539 BC – who allowed the Jews to begin returning to independent nation, but they were allowed to rebuild – Cyrus was an enlightened ruler who allowed conquered peoples to essentially govern themselves and worship as they pleased as long as they paid taxes to authority. 485 BC – After a succession of Persian rulers, Xerxes ascended to the throne. – In Esther’s story, Xerxes is referred to by the Hebrew name, “Ahasuerus”. – Unlike Cyrus, Xerxes enforced a more strict, authoritarian rule across the empire. – It was perhaps this less tolerant attitude that might have made Xerxes more susceptible to accusations and persecutions against foreign people in his empire. 470 BC – The approximate date for the story of Esther. 2. Setting a. Many Jews had not returned to and cities across the and raised and was really the only home they knew. - This story is set in the royal city of b. Esther was a young Jewish girl whose parents had died, so she was taken in and raised by her cousin, Mordecai. - When the queen of her, banished her from the kingdom and proceeded to search for a new queen. - Mordecai arranged for Esther to participate in the selection process without revealing that she was Jewish, and eventually she was chosen to be the new queen because of her beauty and the way she conducted herself. c. About the same time, a Persian named Haman was promoted by the king to one of the highest offices in the kingdom. - The king decreed that everyone should bow and defer to Haman, especially in public places. - But possibly for religious reasons, Mordecai refused to bow and defer to Haman and it infuriated Haman so much that he began scheming for revenge not only against Mordecai but against all Jews. - In his plot, Haman tells the king that there is a certain foreign people living throughout his kingdom whose ideas and customs are very different from those of the kingdom and who disobey the king’s laws. - Haman suggests that such people are troublemakers and should be eliminated. - Haman proposes a plan to eliminate these troublemakers and seize their assets. - He promises to pay into the king’s treasury a large sum of money for each of these people that are eliminated. - The king agrees to this plan and issues an edict calling for all Jews in the land to be killed on a date selected by Haman. III. SCRIPTURE A. Read Esther 4:1-3 1. Mordecai’s actions seem strange to us—why did he do these things? a. His actions were customary rituals for expressing grief and emotional pain. b. While not stated explicitly, public and private prayer would also be included. c. The purpose of these rituals was to get God’s attention and plead with Him to intervene. 2. What we notice in these verses is that while God is not mentioned directly, the actions described are clearly directed towards God and would only be done by devout believers. 3. Mordecai may have also had another motive in going to the king’s gate—what would that be? a. He also wanted to get the attention of Queen Esther. b. Even as a relative, he no longer had direct access to the queen. - Furthermore, in his mourning attire Mordecai was prohibited from entering the part of the city where the queen lived. - So he did the next best thing—he made a scene that she was certain to hear about.
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