ESTHER
CHAPTER 1
King Ahasuerus Dethrones Queen Vashti
· King gives a feast (483 BC):
o Esther 1:1 - 3 (NASB) 1Now it took place in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces, 2in those days as King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne which was at the citadel in Susa, 3in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his princes and attendants, the army officers of Persia and Media, the nobles and the princes of his provinces being in his presence.
§ Days of Ahasuerus: 486 to 465 BC
§ Third year of reign: 483 BC
· Queen Refuses the King:
o Esther 1:10 - 12 (NASB) 10On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, 11to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown in order to display her beauty to the people and the princes, for she was beautiful. 12But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs. Then the king became very angry and his wrath burned within him.
· Q. What Should We do the the Queen:
o Esther 1:15 (NASB) 15“According to law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti, because she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?”
· Queen has wronged not only the King, but also all the princes and people.
o Esther 1:16 - 19 (NASB) 16In the presence of the king and the princes, Memucan said, “Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king but also all the princes and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. 17“For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women causing them to look with contempt on their husbands by saying, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in to his presence, but she did not come.’ 18“This day the ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s conduct will speak in the same way to all the king’s princes, and there will be plenty of contempt and anger. 19“If it pleases the king, let a royal edict be issued by him and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media so that it cannot be repealed, that Vashti may no longer come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal position to another who is more worthy than she.
· Basic Principle: Man should be Master in his own House.
o Esther 1:22 - 2:1 (NASB) 22So he sent letters to all the king’s provinces, to each province according to its script and to every people according to their language, that every man should be the master in his own house and the one who speaks in the language of his own people.
CHAPTER 2
Esther Becomes Queen
· Find a Queen who Pleases the King
o Esther 2:4 (NASB) 4“Then let the young lady who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti.” And the matter pleased the king, and he did accordingly.
· Mordecai & Hadassah (Esther)
o Mordecai = Jew
§ of line of Benjamin,
§ son of
§ carried away to
o Hadassah
§ Mordecai’s Uncle’s daughter
§ Had no mother or father.
§ Was lovely and beautiful
§ When her mother and father died, Mordecai took her, became responsible for her and raised her.
· Esther Pleases the King and Becomes Queen
o Esther 2:17 (NASB) 17The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
· Esther Obeys Mordecai and Witholds Her Identity.
o Esther 2:20 (NASB) 20Esther had not yet made known her kindred or her people, even as Mordecai had commanded her; for Esther did what Mordecai told her as she had done when under his care.
Mordecai Discovers a Plot
· Mordecai
o Sat at king’s gat
o Overheard two of the king’s eunuchs plotting to kill Ahasuerus.
o He told Esther
o The king investigated and found that to be true.
o King hanged these two guys on gallows
o This got written down in the king’s chronicles
CHAPTER 3
Haman Conspires Against the Jews
· King Ahasuerus Promotes Haman
· King commands all to bow and pay homage to Haman
· All the kings servants bowed and paid homage to Haman
· Mordecai does not bow or pay homage
· Haman becomes furious
· Haman tells king certain people are disobeying his command
· He says there are certain people scattered throughout your kingdom who have different laws and they do not keep your laws.
· Haman then asks the king to make a decree to kill these…and he would pay 10,000 talents of silver to the king.
o This is equal to about 375 tons of silver
o This was about 70% of the kings annual revenue.
o Price of silver on 4/9/08 was $17 per oz.
o Assuming 16 oz to the pound, silver = $272 per pound
o Assuming 2,000 lb per ton, that’s $544,000 dollars per ton
o Now 375 tons would be $204 million dollars.
· The king decided this was a good plan, so he endorsed it and sealed it with his signet ring.
· This was on the 13th day of first month.
o This was April 7, 474 BC.
CHAPTER 4
Esther Agrees to Help the Jews
· Mordecai heard about this and goes into mourning
· Word comes to Esther and she becomes distressed
· Mordecai sends word for Esther to go to the king and seek relief
· Esther responds back that anyone who goes into king without being called is subject to being killed, unless king holds out scepter to them.
· Mordecai sends word back to her that
Esther 4:14 (NASB) 14“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”
· Esther’s response: Go fast and pray for three days and I’ll do the same. Then I’ll go in and if I die, I die.
Esther 4:15 - 17 (NASB) 15Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16“Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.” 17So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.
ESHTER 5
Esther has her First Banquet
· On the 3rd day, Esther put on her best attire and went and stood in the courtyard in front of where the king was holding court.
· When he saw her, she found favor in his eyes…and he invited her in and held out the scepter to her.
· He then asked her what she wanted, and he would give it to her up to ½ the kingdom
o Note: this would amount to ~$150 million a year.
· She says she would like to have a banquet and would like Haman to be a special guest.
· The king OK’s it and Esther has the first banquet
· At the first banquet the king asked her again what she wanted…to which she responded, come again to another banquet I will prepare tomorrow..
Haman Plots Against Mordecai
· Haman goes away from this first banquet on cloud 9. How special he believes he is
· BUT as he passes the city gate, he again sees Mordecai, who doesn’t bow before him…and he gets incensed.
· Going home he asked his wife and friends what he should do about Mordedai?
· Their answer? Build a gallows and have him hanged.
· So he does…build a gallows.
o Builds it 75 feet high
No comments:
Post a Comment