Imagine
living in a foreign country where there was a dictatorship in power you have
no rights your life is not your own.
A)You
are an orphan you are a woman which means you have no rights what so
ever you are regarded as a piece of property.
B)And on top of all of
that you are
a minority in that country a minority that is hated and looked on with
suspicion.
C)The only good thing
happening in your life is You are being raised by a
cousin who has done a good job
of raising you as his daughter.
1)Raising you in the ways of
the Lord
C)That is the life that
Esther was living!
The place is
The time is 482 BC
The King is Ahasuerus We
know him as Xerxes
It is the 3rd
year of his 21 year reign
CH.
2 After these things, What things
A)Here is what we need to
know is that there is about a 3 year gap in between the events of ch. 1-2
B)Recap
on Ch. 1 6 month Banquet leaders from 127 Providences
C) Partying for 6 months
1)Purpose: Win approval and
support for a war with
C) Turning point: Final seven days calls for his wife Parade
Crown
1)Disgrace
D)She
refuses Emergency meeting
1)Instead of humbling
himself and asking for forgiveness
E) Ahasuerus takes the
advice of little men and decides to make Queen an example to all women in
F)Queen Vashti is banished!
That
is how
A)Unsuccessful in conquering
them.
B)
C)About 3 yrs have gone by
since he put her away in
D)The
events of
1)And the text tells us that
the ladies were each given a year to prepare to meet the King
E)Thus we know at least 3
years have gone by!
After
these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus subsided, he remembered Vashti,
what she had done, and what had been decreed against her. 2 Then the king's
servants who attended him said: "Let beautiful young virgins be sought for
the king; 3 and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his
kingdom, that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to Shushan the
citadel, into the women's quarters, under the custody of Hegai the king's eunuch,
custodian of the women. And let beauty preparations be given them. 4 Then let the young woman who pleases the
king be queen instead of Vashti."
Lets
have a Miss Persia Pageant { Sole Judge
This thing
pleased the king, and he did so.
Now we are going to meet the
Beauty of the Pageant
V. 5 In Shushan
the citadel there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair,
the son of Shimei, the son of
So
When the Babylonians led by
A)Mordecais great
grandfather
B)Which means Mordecai was
born in
C) We will find that Mordecai is a godly Jewish man living in
1)Man of great faith and
integrity.
D)He is a man who is going
to take on the role of a father to his cousin Hadassah
1)A role that will have ramifications beyond what he could ever possibly
imagine.
7 And Mordecai
had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had
neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her
father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.
At
this point in the story this information is given as sort of a passing
thought
A)Oh and by the way- when his uncle died he raised his uncles daughter as
his own
B)And by the way she was
Lovely and beautiful.
C) Hadassah is a Hebrew name
that means myrtle Myrtle bush- myrtle = fragrance
1)Myrtle branches are still
carried during the Feast of Tabs Signifying Peace and thanksgiving
D)The Persian name she is
given is Esther which means Star
1)Ray Stedman points of one
Hebrew Scholar translates Esther to mean to hide or hidden
I
like the combo of those two definitions because up to this point God had
indeed hidden a Star in
A)God had his hand on this
little forgotten orphan and was going to do something huge thru her life.
B)When Esther lost her mom
and dad at a young age she might have thought her life was over.
1)In reality it had just
begun
C)God would bring this godly
relative into her life to love her and care for her
1)To raise her in the ways
of the Lord
D)God
had something great in Store Mordecai had no idea { Never know the impact
1)Time invested in one life
one person one young
Teenager JR. High student
Mike Harris
Greg Laurie / Raul/ Mike / Brokeness -
I
love the description that we are given here of Esther Lovely and beautiful
A)Original language
beautiful in form and lovely to look at.
B)We will also see that she
was lovely on the inside as well. That is what matters most!
8 So it was,
when the king's command and decree were heard, and when many young women were
gathered at Shushan the citadel, under the custody of Hegai, that Esther also
was taken to the king's palace, into the care of Hegai the custodian of the
women.
A)Now there are two
important things to point out here from the text
B)#1
The Beauty pageant was a decree the decree said that all the girls
deemed beautiful would be brought to the Palace.
C)#2 Word
concerning Esther that she was taken
Idea taken
against her will. Taken by force
D)She was a reluctant
participant in this whole thing
I
think some Bible Commentators I read ignore the text here and start thinking
Cinderella
A)Mordecai and Esther
conspiring together to advance Esther in a worldly fashion
B)Use her good looks to get
ahead.
C)That is not what is
happening here at all.
1)Esther is spotted for her
beauty and is taken against her will.
D)All
to Mordecais dismay because both know that if she is not chosen to be
Queen
1)There is a good Chance she
will become a part of the Kings Harem. {He must have been heartbroken
E)At this moment Esther and
Mordecai have no idea what God is doing. All they can do is trust God
F)Your
situation tonight In the dark confused dont understand what God
is doing / not doing
1)TRUST HIM !!!!!
So
beautiful girls are gathered from all 127 provinces to the Palace Josephus
tells us
.. 400 girls
V.9 Now the
young woman pleased him, (Hegai)and she obtained his favor; so he readily gave beauty
preparations to her, besides her allowance. Then seven choice maidservants were
provided for her from the king's palace, and he moved her and her maidservants
to the best place in the house of the women.
So
Esther catches the eye of Hegai something about her that he really likes
A)Notice that phrase again
in V. she obtained his favor
B)The literal translation of
the original language is pregnant with meaning
1)It says She lifted up
grace before his face.
C)That is an awesome
expression one worthy of taking note of.
D)Her countenance was grace
magnified -
Here
she is taken against her will thrust into this pageant all these other girls
the competition and atmosphere had to be intense cut throat
A)In the midst of all that
Esther did not display a Sour attitude.
B)She didnt display a it
is all about me attitude
C)Instead she chose to model
grace before this influential servant of the king
Great
trait - What do you Model in difficulty?
1)Peter sleeping
2)Paul and Silas singing
A)Self Centered all about
you mentality ?
B)What
about you Complaining grumpy downcast woe is me my life is so hard
1)Been guilty of that Lord
help me
C)Viki Alred Saint
Others oriented in spite of her pain.
Esther
Modeled grace God blesses her for it
Hegai
starts to give her some special attention.
A)Obvious God is working
here Given Esther favor in the eyes of the Custodian of these girls
B) He is giving her extra
spa treatments extra maidens to help her not just extra but CHOICE
1)Best of the Best
trainers beauticians
C)And he moves her to the
Best place in the house!
Now from a
human perspective we could look at this and think NOT
FAIR
A)No wonder Esther is going
to Win She got all this extra treatment
B)But the way that we need
to see this is Here the Lord is coming along side this Scared young girl and
is letting her know I AM WITH YOU!
C)When everything around us
is seemingly falling apart and filled with
uncertainty
1)God has his ways of
reminding us He is there
D)My life - Letters Emails
Calls opportunities
That
I believe is what He is doing here with Esther He is assuring her Dont
worry Trust me!
10 Esther had
not revealed her people or family, for Mordecai had charged her not to reveal
it.
Danger Anti Semetic
Again Some commentators take
this too far Mordecai is being secretive and isnt practicing Judiasm {Next
Not
the point: Being wise no one in that
circle would have even suspected Esther as being a Jew
A)Mordecai is calling on her
to exercise some verbal restraint and self control
B) A little bit of Mystery
is attractive
C)Because women are more
expressive than guys exercising restraint can be difficult for them.
1)Facebook Myspace
Men
and women are different - I just need a
good Cry What does that mean? Never had a good cry.
A)Emotional Noah Carter
Sobbed
B)Wasnt a good cry didnt
feel better
C)Women good cry ?
D)Women
are expressive Retreats first night
1)Guys maybe on the drive
home
But let me say this to you
gals There is a certain attractiveness when a women uses some verbal
restraint
A)Attractive Mystery in not
knowing what is always going on in your head.
B)Dont finish your husbands
sentences
C)So Esther Wisely exercises
some restraint here
11 And every
day Mordecai paced in front of the court of the women's quarters, to learn of
Esther's welfare and what was happening to her.
Precious Dad worried
12 Each young
woman's turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had completed twelve
months' preparation, according to the regulations for the women, for thus were
the days of their preparation apportioned: six months with oil of myrrh, and
six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women./ One Whole year
of nothing but Beautifying {Wow sounds awesome right?
13 Thus
prepared, each young woman went to the king, and she was given whatever she
desired to take with her from the women's quarters to the king's palace.
14 In the
evening she went, and in the morning she returned to the second house of the
women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch who kept the concubines.
She would not go in to the king again unless the king delighted in her and
called for her by name.
This is like the Bachelor
Esthers turn:
15 Now when the
turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had
taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what
Hegai the king's eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised. And Esther
obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her.
Obtained
Favor Grace was all over her!
A)Gods grace causing
everyone to like her.
Psalm
For You, O
Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor You
will surround him as with a shield.
A good man
obtains favor from the Lord,
But a man of
wicked intentions He will condemn.
16
So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth
month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
17
The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and
favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon
her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
A)The King loved her is
literally more attracted to her than all the others.
B)I think the king is going
to grow to love her which is why he gives her some special priviledges later
1)Right now all attraction
Physical and this special Grace
C)Right
now it is all God moving working in the invisible to orchestrate
events to put his Star into Place { So She can Shine for Him
18 Then the king
made a great feast, the Feast of Esther, for all his officials and servants;
and he proclaimed a holiday in the provinces and gave gifts according to the
generosity of a king.
19 When virgins
were gathered together a second time, {more for the
Harem} Mordecai sat within the king's gate. 20 Now
Esther had not revealed her family and her people, just as Mordecai had charged
her, for Esther obeyed the command of Mordecai as when she was brought up by
him.
Esther
was teachable: Still listening to Mordecai even after she is chosen to be
queen.
A)Not getting prideful with
her position.
B)Lesson for women
today: Compassion for women
C)World Portrayal Strong yet sexy Aggressive
Unsubmissive yet tender
Esther:
Her beauty on the inside made her stand out more than on the outside.
A)Teachable watches what
she says
B)Gracious under difficult
circumstances
As
the Chapter ends we move from Beauty to something really ugly
21 In those
days, {What days- Everyone is feasting celebrating
happy things are going well. }
while Mordecai
sat within the king's gate, two of the king's eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh,
doorkeepers, became furious and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. Now isnt this the way it always happens
Things
are going great these two guys get angry with the king not sure why they
just do
A)They start to plan an
assassination plot
B)That is they way evil is
angry let it grow leads to bitterness
C)Anger
is allowed to fester it leads to rage and sometimes murder.
"Be angry,
and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give
place to the devil.
Dont let the Devil get his
foot in the door!
22 So the
matter became known to Mordecai, who told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the
king in Mordecai's name. 23 And when an inquiry was made into the matter, it
was confirmed, and both were hanged on a gallows; and it was written in the
book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.
That little piece of
information is going to become very important later in the Story.