ERIKA MICHELLE THE BOOK OF ESTHER A STUDY GUIDE THE BOOK OF ESTHER A STUDY GUIDE “WHO KNOWS, perhaps you have come to YOUR ROYAL POSITION FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS.” ESTHER 4:14 THE BOOK OF ESTHER IS A BOOK OF PROVIDENCE. IT IS THE STORY OF GOD’S UNFORESEEN HAND WORKING ALL THINGS TOGETHER FOR HIS GOOD. God’s name, nature, or title is never mentioned in the Book of Esther. “The Book of Esther does not ignore the presence of divine activities; rather, it points to the hiddeness of Yahweh’s presence in the world.” - Sandra Berg, The Book of Esther: Motifs, Themes, and Structure 1 THE BOOK OF ESTHER IS ONE OF TWO BOOKS OF THE BIBLE NAMED AFTER A FEMALE. THE OTHER, OF COURSE, IS RUTH. RUTH AND ESTHER . WE DON’T THINK OF THE MARRIAGES OF RUTH AND ESTHER TO HAVE CHANGED THE COURSE OF MANKIND, BUT THE UNIONS OF THESE TWO WOMEN ALTERED MUCH OF THE HUMAN RACE. RUTH: * A Gentile. * Married into a Jewish Family. * Came into the line of David. * Through her marriage, all Gentiles have been blessed. ESTHER: * A Jew. * Married into a Gentile monarch. * Her marriage brought deliverance to the Jewish people. * Her marriage saved the people from whom the Messiah would come. 2 A STUDY GUIDE THE BOOK OF ESTHER DATE OF THE BOOK OF ESTHER. Esther 1:1-4, “In the days of King Ahasuerus . .”. The Book of Esther takes place during the time of the Persian Empire; circa 483-470 B.C. The events take place 30 years prior to those of Nehemiah although the Book of Nehemiah comes first in the Bible. THE PURPOSE OF THE BOOK OF ESTHER. a. To show God’s sovereignty and the care of His people. b. God’s sovereignty and power are always at work, even if we can’t see Him working. c. It is a book of courage in the face of danger. AUTHOR OF THE BOOK OF ESTHER. * The Author is Unknown. * Most attribute the author of Mordecai. * Ezra and Nehemiah are also possible authors. THE BLUEPRINT OF THE BOOK OF ESTHER 1. Esther Becomes Queen (Esther 1:1-2:23) 2. The Jews are threatened (Esther 3:1-4:17) 3. Esther intercedes for the Jews (Esther 5:1-8:17) 4. The Jews are delivered (Esther 9:1-10:3) 3 KEY NOTES AND THOUGHTS FROM ESTHER 1 ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ IN SPEAKING ON THE BOOK OF ESTHER, CHARLES SPURGEON SAID, “You are probably aware that some persons have denied the inspiration of the Book of Esther be- cause the name of God does not occur in it. They might, with equal justice, deny the inspiration of a great number of chapters in the Bible, and of a far greater number of verses. Although the name of God does not occur in the Book of Esther, the Lord Himself is there most conspicuously in every incident which it relates.” 4 KEY NOTES AND THOUGHTS FROM ESTHER 2 ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ DWIGHT L. MOODY SAID . “Christians should live in the world, but not be filled with it. A ship lives in the water; but if the water gets into the ship, she goes to the bottom. So Christians may live in the world; but if the world gets into them, they sink.” 5 KEY NOTES AND THOUGHTS FROM ESTHER 3 ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ XERXES WAS LAZY . He didn’t look into the matter. He made rash decisions without having all of the facts. Be sure that your decisions are based on God’s Word and not just moods and fleeting emotions. 6 KEY NOTES AND THOUGHTS FROM ESTHER 4 ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ MORDECAI AND ESTHER COULD HAVE despaired, decided to save only themselves, or just waited on God’s intervention. Instead, they saw God had placed them in their positions