WEEK 2
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Shuffle
the Deck
1. Happy Birthday. Go to this website and enter your
birthday. Jot down any interesting events or inspiring people that were
born or died on your birthday.
2. Paper Doll. This is Esther. Add clothing, makeup
and a hairstyle. Go to Culture of Iran and click on Culture & Art to learn the history of cosmetics.
3. Cinderella. Just for fun, watch the trailer to
Disney’s movie, “A
Cinderella Story."
Deal
the Cards (top)
A lot of people love rags-to-riches stories. Think about Cinderella.
Lots of cultures have such stories, whether mythological or fact-based.
The plotline goes something like this: poor girl meets rich, handsome
prince who rescues her from her fate by taking her to the castle, where
they live happily ever after.
What Cinderella is to America, Esther was to the children of Israel.
That she was the Queen of Persia (Iran) only makes the story that much
better.
Yet if we stop to think about it, the one who gets first mention in
the Playbill of the Esther story isn’t Queen Esther. Or King Xerxes.
Or cousin Mordecai. It's God.
What’s really ironic is that God’s name is never mentioned.
Any good story writer knows you can’t have too many coincidences
or the story won’t work. People say, “No way.” That
is, unless the story is true. Then when you string together a bunch
of seeming coincidences, people shake their heads in amazement. The
more “coincidences,” the more people attribute the goings-on
to God.
Consider a sampling of the numerous “coincidences” in Esther’s
story:
· Esther is blessed with astounding beauty—enough to win
the kingdom’s beauty contest.
· Esther’s cousin has both access to Esther and info on
a plot to kill the king.
· Somebody records Mordecai’s revelation in the king’s
annals. (This will be important later. Years later.)
· When the lot is cast to see when the Jews will be slaughtered,
the dice fall in such a way as to give God's people the most possible
time to prepare.
· The king walks in just as Haman is falling on Esther for mercy.
Oops! That doesn’t look so good. So “off with his head”
(in a manner of speaking).
· The post that Haman has erected for having Mordecai spiked
(ew!) ends up being Haman’s own gallows.
· Not one Jewish person dies, while more than 75,000 of those
who set out to destroy them get killed.
Kind of points to God, eh? I’d say the shoe definitely fits. The
queen is at the right place in the right time with the right circumstances
to save her people—God’s people—from genocide. God
had made promises to his people centuries earlier, and he orchestrates
this Cinderella story to demonstrate that, despite their failure, He
keeps His word.
He has made promises to us, too. And He hasn’t changed a bit.
Monday -
Ahasuerus Introduced
1. Read Esther
1:1–2:10.
2. Know: From history we assume King
Ahasuerus is Xerxes I. That the name is different isn’t all
that strange. My daughter’s name is “Alexandra” but
in Russia she would go by “Sasha.” The men who translated
the Hebrew Bible into Greek for the first time rendered Ahasuerus (Hebrew)
as “Artaxerxes” (Greek). Artaxerxes reigned for twenty-one
years around 486–465 B.C. He was known to have invaded Greece with
a huge army that definitely should have won, had numbers been the only
consideration. Yet only about five thousand of his men made it home, having
been soundly trounced by the tenacious Greeks. After his disastrous Greek
campaign Xerxes chose Esther as queen.
The name “Ahasuerus,” when pronounced aloud in Hebrew, sounds
a lot like “King Headache.” So perhaps it was intended by
the author as a stage name rather than the actual historical name of the
king.
3. We learn some things about Xerxes from the following:
A. The size of his kingdom (Esther
1:1): B. His wealth (Esther
1:4, 6, 7):
C. His attitude about women (Esther
2:4, 6–19): Herodotus makes mention of Xerxes’ illegitimate
sons [The Histories 8.107].
D. His attitude about the genocide of his own subjects (Esther
3:8–11)?
E. Sometimes Esther’s story is told like “The King and
I” as a great love story between a kind king and a holy girl.
How does that portrayal compare to what you find in the biblical text?
Tuesday -
Esther Introduced
Esther was a Jewish woman living under Jewish law in a pagan land. Yet
apparently she wasn’t observing God’s law. What of God laws
did she violate?
1. Deuteronomy
7:1–4?
2. Leviticus
11:46–47?
3. Now Read Daniel
1:5, 8. Compare and contrast Esther’s actions during this
period of history with Daniel’s.
Wednesday
- Mordecai Introduced
1. What was Mordecai’s nationality (Esther
2:5)?
2. Why is Mordecai in Susa when he’s from Judah (2:5–6)?
3. How are Mordecai’s and Esther related (2:7,
11, 15)?
4. What instructions did Mordecai give Esther about her nationality
(2:10,
20)?
5. Where did Mordecai spend his time (2:19,
21)?
6. What was Mordecai’s response to Haman (3:2–4)?
7. Why did Mordecai say he refused to pay homage to Haman (3:4)?
Thursday
- Haman Introduced
1. What do we know is Esther’s nationality?
2. What was Haman’s nationality (Esther
3:1)?
3. Who was Agag according to 1
Sam. 15:7–14?
4. Who were Agag’s ancestors according to Exodus
17?
5. Who were the Amalekites and what did they do?
6. Read Deuteronomy
25:17–19. What had God commanded concerning the Amalekites?
7. Later what did God command King Saul to do with the Amalekites?
Contrast His command with what Saul actually did (1
Samuel 15).
8. What was the ultimate significance of ongoing disobedience on the
part of their ancestors mean for Esther and her people?
Friday -
God Plays the Lead
God isn’t mentioned in the Book of Esther, so we can’t find
Him in any chapter and verse.
1. List ways you know from this book that God is present, even though
He isn’t named.
2. List ways you know He is working in your life and in the lives of
others you know, though you can’t see Him.
Saturday -
Of Prejudice and Patience
God was patient with His people. Here he had given clear instructions
about what should happen to all the Amalekites, yet His people disobeyed.
The Book of Esther gives us an example of the consequences.
Jewish Mordecai refuses to bow down to Amalekite Haman. As the descendent
of an Amalekite king, Haman is ready to exact revenge against Israel,
and he’s willing to pay big bucks to do it (see Esther
3:9).
Now, how much exactly did he offer? Well, we know that the Persian Empire’s
annual revenue was 14,560 Euboean talents, so Haman’s offer comes
to about two-thirds of the royal income for the year. Bear in mind that
the king has just had a badly failed campaign that cost big bucks. Haman
probably didn’t have that kind of money, but no problem! All he
had to do was plunder the Israelites he killed and pay what he’d
promised by using their own money and property as payment (3:13).
This king is not exactly looking out for his own subjects. When Haman
makes his offer, the king tells him, “The silver is given to you.”
Now, most scholars through the years have understood this to mean that
the king turned down the money, but recently translators have reconsidered.
Perhaps “the silver is given to you” is an ancient way of
saying, “Hey, it’s your money!”
The fact that Mordecai knows the amount (4:7)
and Esther says later “I and my people have been sold” (7:4)
suggest this interpretation has much to commend it.
Whether the king stood to profit, we know for sure that Haman has pride
and prejudice motivating him.
If only God’s people had obeyed in the first place, there never
would have been a Haman.
If only…
We might read that and criticize. Yet consider what commands we ourselves
fail to obey.
We are told to quit laying up treasures down here and send them ahead
to heaven. But that car looks so great!
God tells us to treat our bodies as temples worthy of His Spirit’s
presence. Yet we stuff them with French fries, all the while condemning
smoking.
We know we’re supposed to have dominion over the earth, to demonstrate
good stewardship with what God has made. Yet we consider recycling too
much of a hassle. 1. List commands you know that you need to do
a better job of obeying.
2. Give thanks for His unseen hand of care in your life and in that
of your church.
Group Option: As a group,
agree on a common lament and write it out using these elements as a
guide.
1. Share your favorite rags-to-riches story. It might be a Hollywood
production or it could be about someone you know.
2. Share about a time when someone’s courage inspired you. It
could be a story from history (such as a martyr),
or someone from a popular story (such as Erin Brockovich), or someone
in your church or office.
Play
Your Hand (top)
Decorate a playing card or a playing-card-sized piece of paper or cardboard
with something associated with the following:
1. Qualities, both internal and external, Esther displayed that made
her stand out among women.
2. A “coincidence” from your own experience that can only
be attributed to God.
3. The result of disobeying a command of God.
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©2005 Sandra Glahn
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