esther it’s tough being a woman BETH MOORE Published by LifeWay Press®. ©2008 Beth Moore. Permission is granted to store, print, and distribute this document for its intended use. Distribution for sale is strictly prohibited. Address requests for additional permissions in writing to Leadership and Adult Publishing; One LifeWay Plaza; Nashville, TN 37234-0175. esther viewer guide y introduction The Background of Esther in the Hebrew Bible and Tradition The Book of Esther is also known as the _______________.Megillah Historical Background Like the Book of Daniel, Esther is a ______________Diaspora story. The Uniqueness of the Book of Esther 1. The total ____absence_______ ____ of any ________________reference to _______God Why study the Book of Esther? • It’s part of __________God’s _________.Word • Based on Psalm 138:2b God’s name may not be ______in _____,it but _____it _____is _____on _____.it • It offers tremendous ____________.hope • It extends a vital perspective on the _______________providence ___of _ ____God_. Merriam Webster’s definition of providence: “God conceived as the power ________________sustaining _____and ____________guiding ____________human _____________.”destiny Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary adds, “In so doing [in His providence] God attends not only to apparently momentous events and people but also to those that seem both ______________mundane and __________trivial . … Indeed, so all encompassing is God’s attention to events within creation that nothing … _______________happens by __________.”chance 8 Ephesians 1:11—Even when we’re blind to the evidence, God “________ works __ _____out _ ______________everything in conformity with the _____________ purpose of His will.” Philippians 2:13—God “_______works __ ___in _ _____you__ to will and to act according to His good _______purpose______.” 2. The title bears a __________woman’s___ ________name___. Throughout the next nine weeks we’ll consider different scenarios to underscore the concept captured in our study’s title. introduction Scenario #1 It’s tough being a woman __in_ _______another _ _______woman’s__ ________shadow _. 3. The God-ordained emphasis on _________human __ ____responsibility_________________ According to Word Biblical Commentary, the inspired author of Esther “lays all the stress on the _________human _________________contribution to the divine-human ______________”synergism [combined or shared energy]. Video sessions are available for download at www.lifeway.com/women 9 esther 2:1-7 viewer guide y session one Today’s session introduces our protagonist and most vital supporting actor. We will use these important “first mentions” to help us draw character sketches of each based on what we know and what we also might imagine. Part One A Character Sketch of Mordecai • He was a __Jew_____ (6:10; 8:7; 9:31; 10:3; 5:13). “Its significance is indicated by the fact that this is the __________only __ ______time in the whole Old Testament that a ___________native ___________member of the community of Israel is named and identified by a gentilic.”1 • He was an ____________.exile Esther 2:6 “employs the root of the word for exile (glh) in four distinct constructions, lest the full measure of the Jewish plight be overlooked.”2 View the repetition in the King James Version: “Who had been __ carried______ ________away from Jerusalem with the _____________captivity which had been __________carried ________away with Jeconiah king of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had __________carried ________away .” • He was a ___________sudden ____________parent to his ____________.cousin 32 Part Two A Character Sketch of Esther Week 1 • A Royal Mess Week • She was named __________________.Hadassah T his Jewish name comes from the word for “___________myrtle ” and means “________________fragrance .”3 • She was _______________.orphaned • She was _______________brought ______up by her male ____________.cousin • She was ___________.lovely esther 2:1-7 Scenario #2 It’s tough being a woman in a ____________world __________where ___beauty ________ is a ____treatment_____________. • She was also __________known as ______________.Esther This Persian name means “__________.”star Perhaps even more significantly, “the name Esther comes from the verbal root in Hebrew str, meaning ‘to _____________.’conceal ”4 Video sessions are available for download at www.lifeway.com/women 33 esther 3:1-5 viewer guide y session two Scenario #3 It’s tough being a woman ____in ___a __mean______ ___world________. 1. __________________Meanness always has a _________________history . Consider the history of these two rivals. Mordecai, Haman, a _______Jew________ from the tribe of a presumed Amalekite and descendant Benjamin and a descendant of of ______________Agag , their king during ________King _____ _____________Saul ______________Saul’s reign The ___________________disobeyed instruction: 1 Samuel 15:10-23,30 The revealed _____________________:explanation Deuteronomy 25:17-19 (Referring to Ex. 17:8-16.) 56 Exodus 17:16—“_______The ___________LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.” 2. ______________Meanness perceives a _________threat (2 Cor. 10:12). Week 2 • A Contest for a Queen for 2 • A Contest Week 3. ______________Meanness catches like a ___virus_______. • The word Agag is believed to be related to an Assyrian term (agagu) that means “to be _______________, vehement, ___________.”5 powerful angry esther 3:1-5 • The name “Haman” sounds similar to the Hebrew word for __________wrath (Hebrew, heman).6 (Compare Prov. 22:24-25.) Consider the following quote “Surely as Christians we must recognize the ‘___________spirit ______ of ___________’Haman not only in our world but ___________ within ________________.”ourselves 7 4. ______________Meanness is ______________curable (Rom. 12:17-21). Video sessions are available for download at www.lifeway.com/women 57 esther 4:1-14 viewer guide y session three The Human Dilemma of Destiny Many of the biblical figures who fulfilled their God-appointed destinies shared some of Esther’s basic inner conflicts. Consider the dilemma of destiny from a human perspective: 1. The __________poor _____________timing . Reflect on Esther 4:11b. 2. The ___________________unreasonable __________________expectation . Scenario #4 It’s tough being a woman ______________thrown ___a_ __________-__________ giant_ size _____________.weight 80 3. The ________risky ___________________identification . • Remember, destiny appoints __one___ __ but affects __many______. • The ____________________revelation of a person’s destiny always demands a revelation of the _____________.person Consider the wording “if you Week 3 • A Raging Passion for Honor for 3 • A Raging Passion Week remain silent at this time.” The Hebrew word translated silent in this verse can also be translated ________________.conceal 4. The ________________unanswered ___question__________. (See verse 14.) esther 4:1-14 “The sentence contains a figure of speech known asaposiopesis —a sudden _______________breaking ______off of what was being said or written so that the mind is more impressed by what is _______left _________,unsaid it being too wonderful, solemn or awful to verbalize. In English this figure is sometimes called the ‘sudden ______________.’silence ”8 Video sessions are available for download at www.lifeway.com/women 81 esther 4:11-17 viewer guide y session four Part One Our protagonist made three shifts that moved her from self-preservation to brave determination. 1. Esther had a ___choice________. “She [Esther] had to _____________overcome ___________herself in order to do what God had created her and positioned her to do.”9 2. Esther ____faced____ ____ _______the _______fear___. Consider general fears, then our context’s specific fear: • Facing any ___fear_______ And if ____________________________, then ___________. [your answers here] 104 Scenario #5 It’s tough being a woman in the __________tight _________ fist ____of __________.fear • Facing fear of ___death_______ Remain Silent 4 • If You Week Hebrews 2:14-15 from The Message: “By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil’s hold on death and freed all who ___________cower through life, ___________scared ____to __________death ____of __________death .” Recall a quote we discussed in week 3 of our homework: “Living perpetually in the shadow of immanent catastrophe, the Jew was threatened not only physically but psychologically. Walking in the _____________shadow _______of ____________death esther 4:11-17 was as _______________perilous as ___________dying .”10 3. Esther ___took______ __the____ __________courage_____ she was offered. Video sessions are available for download at www.lifeway.com/women 105 esther 5:1-8 viewer guide y session five Sometimes God ___________forces the issue of ________.time Amazingly, other times He seems to __________entrust it. Reflect on the importance of knowing … 1. When it’s ________.time See verse 1. Compare Hosea 6:2. 2. When it’s _______time ____to _______.wait Ecclesiastes 3:1,7 say, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven … a time to be _________silent and a time to __________.” speak • Sometimes we need to be __________silent even when man invites us to __________.speak Consider the idiom, “Even up to half the kingdom.” (Compare Mark 6:17-28.) • Sometimes the _________words _________sound ________,right but they don’t ________taste ________.right See Job 34:2-4. (Compare 2 Cor. 6:1-2.) 128 3. When