For Such a Time as This Esther Her story takes up an entire book of the Bible. Outside the Bible, from both secular and religious sources, her story has been written about for millennia, published as novels and made into several movies, most of them bearing her name – Esther. The more than two dozen movies produced in reference to the Biblical book and story of Esther include: Esther and Mordecai (1910); Esther and the King (1960); Esther, the Movie (1999); One Night with the King (2006); the Book of Esther (2013) just to name just a few. It is truly a powerful story of intrigue, power, faith, romance, good versus evil, and God triumphing in the midst of a no-win situation. Unfortunately, many of the movies were based more upon Hollywood caricatures and stereotypes than the actual people we find within the pages of the Bible. There are primarily five main characters in the book: Esther (also known as Hadassah) Mordecai (Esther’s Uncle) Ahasuerus (also known as Xerxes), ruler of the Persian Empire Vashti (Xerxes wife) Haman (a top palace official) When Ezra and Nehemiah were commissioned to return from captivity to rebuild the Temple and walls of Jerusalem, many of the Jews left Babylon with them. However, there were still many Jews who remained in the foreign country and (in essence) made their home there. Once the Persians took control over the Babylonian Empire they moved the capital city from the city of Babylon, a little east to the city of Shushan (Susa). After going through a succession of Kings, by 486 B.C. Ahasuerus (or Xerxes) was made King. Esther 1 3 In the third year of his reign he made a feast for all his officials and servants-the powers of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the princes of the provinces being before him- 4 when he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty for many days, one hundred and eighty days in all. 5 And when these days were completed, the king made a feast lasting seven days for all the people who were present in Shushan the citadel, from great to small, in the court of the garden of the king's palace. 9 Queen Vashti also made a feast for the women in the royal palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus. Although the drinking wasn’t mandatory, there was a whole lot of drinking going on. After seven days of pretty much solid drinking Ahasuerus called for his eunuchs to (in essence), “go and fetch” the Queen, so he could show her off to all of his drinking buddies, for she was beautiful to behold. Well, the Queen (in essence) told the King to “take a hike, you’re not going to show me off like a piece of livestock or furniture.” Reasonable response, but not a good one… As a matter of fact, the King got angry... VERY angry, so he talked to his “wise men”. After a time of consultation, one of the “wise guys” tells the King (in essence), “You’ve got to do something, otherwise all of the women of the Empire will no longer obey the commands of their husbands. Chaos will pursue… Anarchy will arise… Who will make our dinner? Who will wash our clothes? You need to get rid of her and make another woman your Queen for the sake of modern civilization!!” Verses 21 and 22 tell us, “…the reply pleased the king, … and he sent letters to all the king's provinces, to each province in its own script, and to every people in their own language, that each man should be master in his own house, and speak in the language of his own people.” The Queen was then exiled, the disaster averted and all the wives of the Kingdom got in line and submitted to the master of the home... Now it was time to hold a beauty pageant to find the next lucky little lady to serve as the Queen. Through a long series of events, Esther (who was a Jew living in the land), won the beauty contest and became the next Queen. Mordecai, Esther’s uncle had raised her as though she was his own. After she became Queen, Mordecai hung around the palace, just to make sure everything was okay with his niece. One day he heard about a plot by a couple of the eunuchs to murder the King. He told Esther..., she told the King..., the eunuchs plot was found out..., and they were hung out to dry (so to speak). The whole story of how Modecai saved the King's life gets written into the book of the chronicles for the King. End of chapter 2 and enter a fellow by the name of Haman, an Agagite. (Remember the story of Mordecai and remember that Haman is an Agagite) Turns out King Ahasuerus promote Haman and everyone in the kingdom has to bow and pay homage to Haman. The problem is Mordecai is a Jew and he remembered that the Agagites should have been hacked to pieces by King Saul years ago – they are no friends to the Jews. So, he would not bow down or pay homage to Haman. So, Haman (in essence) got pretty mad. Not only was he going to go after Mordecai, he was going to obliterate all the Jews. He came up with a plan. Esther 3 8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people's, and they do not keep the king's laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work. The plan was to destroy the Jews and plunder all that they had and put it into the Kings Treasure. The King thought it was a pretty good idea. So a decree was sent out to have a certain day on the calendar 13-15 …to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, …and to plunder their possessions… So the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Shushan was perplexed. End of chapter 3. I’m not sure, but I don’t think drinking is good for Ahasuerus! Chapter 4 is a series of quick events: Mordecai finds out about the plan Through one of the eunuchs, Mordecai and Esther communicate back and forth “Tell her Haman has a plan to kill all the Jews. You need to talk to the King and get him to change his mind.” “Tell him that no one can just get an audience with the King. If you walk into the King without getting summoned you could get yourself killed.” “Tell her if she doesn’t do something, she is going to perish just like all the other Jews. Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" “Tell him, hmmm good point. Tell all the Jews to pray and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which (in essence) is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!" End of chapter 4. The beginning of intrigue. Chapter 5 Esther gets her audience with the King, he grants her request of attending a party along with Haman. Then they are asked to attend another party. Haman thinks he “all that” until he leaves the first party only to find Mordecai not bowing before him. He goes home and sulks and whines before his wife about how great everything is, how much money he has how much prestige he has, yet none of it means anything, because Mordecai doesn’t bow before him. So his wife and all his friends tell him, before you go to the banquet tomorrow night over at Esther’s place, ask the King to let you hang the Mordecai, then you can “go merrily with the king to the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; so he had the gallows made (that night, mind you!).” End of Chapter 5. The intrigue continues and God intervenes. Although God’s name is NEVER mentioned in this book – one of the reasons some through the years have said it shouldn’t be in the Bible – we still see His hand all over it. That night, while Haman is having the gallows built, King Ahasuerus can’t sleep. There was nothing on HBO or Net Flicks, so he has the books of the Chronicles read to him. It just so happens that the place where they read dealt with how Mordecai had saved the life of the King when the eunuchs were plotting to kill him – I told you to remember that. The King wants to award Mordecai for his selfless act. As he wondered what to do, in the early morning hours Haman comes by to see if it would be okay to hang Mordecai. But before he could ask the question Ahasuerus has a quick question for him. Esther 6 6 So Haman came in, and the king asked him, "What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?" Now Haman thought in his heart, "Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?" 7 And Haman answered the king, "For the man whom the king delights to honor, 8 let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal crest placed on its head.