Lesson 1 ESTHER HISTORICAL SETTING 483 BC In
Lesson 1 ESTHER
HISTORICAL SETTING � 483 BC In the 3 rd year of King Ahasuerus � Also called Xerxes � Ruled the Persian kingdom from his throne in Susa � Israel is in exile for 70 years because of sin � 2 Kings 24 Babylon destroyed the city 597 BC � People and temple articles taken in 586 BC
CROSS REFERENCES � Daniel 5 Belshazzar, the last king of Babylon, desecrated the temple articles at a feast � That very night the Medes and Persians conquered the Babylonians � Darius the Mede received the kingdom � Cyrus the Persian reigned with him
CROSS REFERENCES � 2 Chron. 36 At the end of the 70 years, the Lord stirred Cyrus’s heart to let the Jews return and build the temple � Is. 44 Isaiah prophesied about Cyrus more than 100 years before he was ever born � The Temple was completed in 516 BC, prior to the time of Esther � Book of Esther: 483 -473 BC
ESTHER 1: 1 -4 � Theme: Wealthy king/Vashti refuses audience/ edict � King Ahasuerus ruled over 127 provinces � In his 3 rd year, he gave banquet #1, for his princes, attendants, army, nobles for 180 days � He displayed his riches, royal glory and the splendor of his greatness
ESTHER 1: 5 -12 � King has banquet #2, right after #1, for seven days for ALL the people in Susa � Queen Vashti has a banquet (#3) as well for the women in the palace � The king wanted to display his queen’s beauty, but she refused to come � The king became “very angry and his wrath burned within him”
ESTHER 1: 13 -16 � The king asked counsel of “the wise men who understood the times” and “knew law and justice” � These men had access to the king’s presence and sat in the first place in the kingdom � This king did not fly off the handle in his anger � Memucan points out the consequences for the kingdom, of Queen Vashti’s refusal
ESTHER 1: 17 -21 � Vashti’s refusal would be an example for all wives to refuse their husbands � Plenty of contempt and anger would result � Memucan suggests a royal edict be issued in the laws of Persia and Media because it cannot be repealed � Punish Queen Vashti by removing her presence to the king, her position and give it to another
ESTHER 1: 22 � The king’s edict was sent to each province in every script and people according to their language. EVERYONE would be able to read it � “Every man should be the master in his own house and the one who speaks in the language of his own people. ” His native tongue � Foreign wives would want to speak their own language: this decree allowed the husband’s language to prevail in his own household
ESTHER 2: 1 -4 � Theme: Esther chosen queen/murder plot thwarted and recorded � Vs. 16 7 th year of his reign, 4 years later…. � The king’s anger subsided and he: � Remembered Vashti, what she had done and what was decreed against her � Solution was presented by his servants and he listened
ESTHER 2: 5 -7 �A MORDECAI Jew, great-grandson of one taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon during King Jeconiah’s reign in 597 BC � Brought up his cousin as his own daughter � Mordecai’s family did NOT return to Jerusalem when Cyrus made his decree � Ezra 1: 5 “…. only those whose spirits God stirred returned”
ESTHER 2: 7 - 9 � Mordecai’s ESTHER/HADASSAH cousin � Parents are dead/orphan � Beautiful � Vashti was also beautiful. King wanted a beautiful wife � Esther is taken to the king’s harem (#1) � Favored by Hegai, given cosmetics, food, 7 choice maids then transferred to the best place in the harem
ESTHER 2: 10 � She does NOT make known her ancestry as Mordecai has instructed her � Why? Ezra 4: 6 An accusation against the Jews was made at the beginning of Ahasuerus’s reign, shortly before the events in Esther 2 � Zerubbabel led the first group back to rebuild the Temple � The Jews had enemies
ESTHER 2: 11 -15 � Mordecai is present, always, outside the harem � One year passes for beautification 479 BC � She is allowed 1 night with the king, then returns to the 2 nd harem as a concubine � She may only return if he summons her by name � She used wisdom by heeding advice of Hegai
ESTHER 2: 16 -18 � Esther was taken in the 7 th year of his reign, 478 BC, four years after Vashti’s refusal � She was loved, favored and crowned queen � Banquet #4 is given for Esther and all the king’s princes and servants � A holiday is decreed and gifts given � Holiday: granted remission of taxes for all provinces
ESTHER 2: 19 -23 � Mordecai, a Jew, sat at the king’s gate. A place of prominence � He overhears a plot to murder the king � Mordecai tells Esther, who is still doing as he has instructed her, even though she is queen � Esther informs the king, but in Mordecai’s name. She does not take the credit � The murderers are hanged and it was recorded in the Book of the Chronicles in king’s presence
LESSONS LEARNED � Esther finds favor in the eyes of ALL who saw her, but not for her beauty � Found favor: Hegai; all who saw her; the king � Esther is not bitter, though she was orphaned and taken to a foreigners palace � Esther seeks out and takes advice � She is submissive, unlike Vashti…. � She does not seem to be proud or haughty
EVENTS IN ORDER REGARDING TEMPLE � 605 Jewish captivity (Daniel) for 70 years � 586 Temple is destroyed as well as Jerusalem � 539 Babylon is destroyed/Medes and Persians � 536 Zerubbabel returns to build Jerusalem � 533 -516 Ezra is prophet � 534 Temple work stopped � 520 Temple work resumes under Darius: Zechariah and Haggai are prophets � 516 Temple is finished, but not the walls
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