Esther: Not a Fairy Tale!

Good morning, today we are beginning a new series on the book of Esther. Esther is one of the most debated books in the entire bible, for a few reasons…which we will get into in just a little bit. This series will conclude a week before Easter…between now and then, it’s my goal to present the story of Esther to you in an exciting and relevant way. This week we will be covering chapters 1-2; next week we will do 3-7; then on the final week Dean will wrap up the series and present the final chapters. Then on Easter we will look at Isaiah chapter 53 and 1 Cor. 15. Let’s go ahead and pray, then we will get into Esther

PRAY

I’ve thought much about how I want to approach the book of Esther over the next few weeks. It is not a terribly long book, but it is a very important part of the O.T. . So, I think we will break the sermon up into 6 parts:

Introduction

2. Chapter 1

3. Chapter 2

4. Conclusion/Application

Obviously, we do not have time to read all 4 chapters…that is why I texted out earlier this week for everyone to read the passages ahead of time, if you could. One of the most fascinating aspects of the book of Esther is the context in which the story takes place, as well as the controversy surrounding the book itself. We will discuss both of these, along with many themes that are presented in the passages themselves. I’ve included a very simple outline of Ester in your handouts

Esther Outline

I. The Selection of Esther (1–2)

A. The king loses Vashti (1)

B. The king chooses Esther (2)

II. The Detection of Haman (3–7)

A. Haman’s evil plot (3)

B. Mordecai’s great concern (4)

C. Esther’s courageous intercession (5–7)

III. The Protection of Israel (8–10)

A. The king’s new decree (8)

B. The Jews’ new victory (9)

C. Mordecai’s new honor (10)

Today, we are going to try and get all the way through 1 and then half-way through 2. Next week we will finish 2, then Dean will finish up by doing 3. I have a much more detailed outline of Esther if anyone is interested, but for the sake of space, I did not include it on the handouts.

Introduction

I normally do not talk too much about (what is called) textual and literary criticism when starting a new series…I will address the context…which I will do in a few moments, but the book of Esther stands pretty unique in the amount of criticism. Most of the early reformers did not like the book of Esther. . For example, Martin Luther did not like the book of Esther, because it has Jews engaging in “heathen activities” and Esther never mentions God or the Law of Moses. Famously, John Calvin never preached a sermon on Esther and left the book out when we wrote his commentaries. In fact, in the 1st 700 years of the early church, not one commentary was written on the book of Esther. Let’s talk about when the events were supposed to take place. All of that to say, Esther is pretty widely accepted these days…mainly because how we tend to look at O.T. books is a bit different than before…I think in a good way, for the most part.

Historical Context of Esther:

The book of Esther has been a major part of Jewish culture and custom for thousands of years. In fact, once a year the Jewish people have the:

Feast of Purim: Celebrates God for sparing the lives of the Jews in Persia from the hands of Haman.

During the feast of Purim, the story of Esther is read aloud for all to hear. They also exchange gifts and engage in a number of other activities. The feast is actually coming up on the Jewish calendar:

Evening of Sat, Mar 23, 2024 – Sun, Mar 24, 2024

The events in the book of Esther take place over about a 10 year span of time, during the reign of King Artaxerxes, also known as King Ahasuerus.

Timeline of Persian Kings and biblical Events

As far as when the story of Esther takes place in the O.T. timeline, it takes place way, way after guys like Isaiah and Jeremiah. If you recall from our brief series in Isaiah, God was warning the people to be faithful, or they would be defeated and taken into exile…well, that eventually happens. Both Israel and Judah are defeated and the people are forced to leave their land. Well, eventually, the people of Israel were allowed to go back home. This takes place in the books of Ezra.

Ezra 1:1 “In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord roused the spirit of King Cyrus to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and to put it in writing:”

The Persian king Cyrus issued a decree saying that the people of Israel can return home to rebuild their temple. Naturally, rebuilding the temple would be a long process. The rebuilding of the temple took place during the reign of 3 Persian kings:

Cyrus: Issues initial decree, releasing the Jews

Darius: Reaffirms support for the Jews

Artaxerxes =The story of Esther.

Once Cyrus issued the decree allowing the Jews to return home, a large number decided to go…however, a large number of them stayed behind as they had made a life in Persia and the 3 Persian kings allowed the Jews to worship how they wanted…unlike previous Persian kings or Babylonian kings.

Are we all together here? Everyone following along so far. Ok…the context of Esther is important to understand what God is communicating through the story.

Esther Ch. 1

Esther 1:1–4 “These events took place during the days of Ahasuerus, who ruled 127 provinces from India to Cush. In those days King Ahasuerus reigned from his royal throne in the fortress at Susa. He held a feast in the third year of his reign for all his officials and staff, the army of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the officials from the provinces. He displayed the glorious wealth of his kingdom and the magnificent splendor of his greatness for a total of 180 days.”

The book of Esther opens up with the King of Persia, Ahasuerus…otherwise known as Artaxerxes…which I will call him, because it’s easier to say…well, Artaxerxes calls for an epic party…one lasting for literally 6 months. So, who is this guy? This king who would throw such a lavish party? Thankfully, we not only have information from the bible, we also have a good bit of information about this king from both Persian writing and from the most well known writer of that time period, Herodotus.

Herodotus (born around 450 B.C.) Greek author who wrote: A History of the Greco-Persian Wars.

In other words, Herodotus wrote about the wars between Persia and Greece…which were the two main world powers at the time. This historian writes much about Artaxerxes, as he tried to conquer the Greeks 3 separate times and lost every one. Notice who was invited to this 6 month long party: all of the army leaders, all of the officials from the entire area that he ruled. Everyone who was anyone was invited to this party. Verse 4 says that the Persian king displayed his wealth and the “splendor of his greatness” for 180 days.

We read that and just kind of skip over it…yes, we acknowledge that it’s a big party....but imagine for a moment how much this feast would have cost the king....hundreds if not thousands of people were there for a considerable amount of time.

Big Party Picture

All of their food and beverages and living accommodations were provided for them via the king. Just to put it into perspective, cost wise…a big wedding reception, which only lasts for a few hours and only normally feeds, even at a big wedding, 200 or 300 people can cost $5000, if you want the best food and entertainment…and that is only for a 2 hour party. Imagine putting on a wedding reception with thousands of guests, 24 hours a day for 6 months straight..the cost would be astronomical. Now, we aren’t sure if the author of Esther is using hyperbole, as most can’t imagine that a kingdom could operate under such conditions…regardless, the point is that this feast lasted much longer than a normal feast.

To be honest though, this type of excess was not uncommon by royal standards....we know that from kings like Solomon.

So, this party was thrown 3 years into the kings reign…before any of his campaigns against the Greeks. It is widely believed that

Artaxerxes threw this lavish party to drum up support for his first war against Greece.

He would need all of his provinces to provide soldiers and support…and I supposed there is not better way to do that than keep everyone drunk for 6 months.

So, after the 180 days, the King was then feeling especially generous, so he opened up the feast to literately everyone in the surrounding area for another 7 days. Unfortunately, that isn’t the only thing that happened at the end of the party. Scripture makes it clear, although I’m pretty sure is doesn’t have to be stated that the people were engaging in an obscene amount of alcohol. In fact, the king ordered that everyone could drink as much as they wanted to. Can you imagine that scene? Especially after so long. Going back to the wedding reception analogy, most of us have probably been to a wedding reception or a party where people were drinking in excess. Back then the men and women were typically kept apart…so only men were invited to these events…although in this case, I don’t think the ladies were missing out on too much.

Turns out though, that the King’s favorite wife…whom the bible refers to as

Vashti (meaning “the Best”)

threw a banquet for the women during this time. Well, as the King’s party was winding down, the king made a request of his favorite wife.

Esther 1:10–12 “On the seventh day, when the king was feeling good from the wine, Ahasuerus commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas—the seven eunuchs who personally served him—to bring Queen Vashti before him with her royal crown. He wanted to show off her beauty to the people and the officials, because she was very beautiful. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command that was delivered by his eunuchs. The king became furious and his anger burned within him.”

I love how the biblical authors often understate things....

”when the king was feeling good from the wine,”

otherwise known as, the king was 3 sheets to the wind, hammered, loaded, pickled, tanked-up, inebriated, one that I won’t say that includes the word faced, blitzed and finally, under the influence. The king was drunk…hopefully I’ve communicated that effectively.

The Persian king asked for his wife, but the author says that Vashti refused to do what the King asked. Now, when I first read this long ago I couldn’t understand why Vashti wouldn’t simply humor the King. Think about it for a moment, it was bad enough to be a woman back then…you pretty much had 3 roles:

Women had 3 primary roles: baby-maker, object of pleasure, or a maid/cook

that was about it. Vashti had it about as good as a woman could possibly have it back then. She was the kings favorite wife-meaning that she wasn’t simply used for pleasure…she had servants and such…so she wasn’t relegated to being a maid or cook…why would she throw all of that away just because she wanted to be stubborn? That is how it appears to me, anyway. Turns out, it wasn’t quite that simple.

According to not only ancient Jewish writer, but also the writer Herodotus, the Persian royalty had a particular custom. First, it was not common for women to wear veils in Persia…meaning, beauty was something admired. A powerful King would often flaunt his women to show everyone that he is the one who had the best looking women…this was typically reserved for the ladies in a kings harem. How it normally went, according to Herodotus, during these extravagant events a king would order his harem to come out and prance around with nothing but jewels on…so he could show off his women to the other men. This was also a very common custom in the Roman empire under Caligula and Nero.

It is widely believed that the King, because he was very drunk, was asking Vashti to come out and

The King wanted Vashti to parade herself around like she was a part of His harem…

it is believed this is why she refused. Once I did some research and saw this idea from more than one source, her refusal made more sense. Even so, a person, man or woman did not refuse the king under any circumstances. This would have been terribly embarrassing to the king.

Naturally, this angered the King, so he got with his advisors and came up with a plan to make sure it does not happen again.

Esther 1:19–22 ““If it meets the king’s approval, he should personally issue a royal decree. Let it be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it cannot be revoked: Vashti is not to enter King Ahasuerus’s presence, and her royal position is to be given to another woman who is more worthy than she. The decree the king issues will be heard throughout his vast kingdom, so all women will honor their husbands, from the greatest to the least.” The king and his counselors approved the proposal, and he followed Memucan’s advice. He sent letters to all the royal provinces, to each province in its own script and to each ethnic group in its own language, that every man should be master of his own house and speak in the language of his own people.”

We are not sure what exactly happened to Vashti after refusing the king, other than the fact that the King never wanted to see her again. There are some educated guesses, but we are not sure and there really isn’t a strong consensus among those who study the subject in depth. What we do know is that chapter 1 ends with the King making a new law…

The new law decreed that “women will honor their husbands,”

which sounds very noble and biblical…but I’ll let you decided whether or not the intent behind the law was similar to what Paul taught in the N.T. Additionally, the kings stated that each man is to be the

“Master of his own house.”

Again, there are a lot of men who like the sound of this and would even “amen” this if a preacher said it today. But words have meanings and the word used here “master” indicates exactly what it sounds like. The men were not concerned with respect and love…as no amount of law or mandate can cause a woman to respect and lover her husband.

The Bible says you have to submit!

This is why I always tell couples that as soon as a man tries to use the bible to make his wife submit, he is out of line and does not understand the type of submission Paul had in mind…rather, when men try to use the bible to force their wives to submit, in reality, they are acting more like Artaxerxes, not Paul.

Also, the king sent out word that he is looking for a new wife…but not just any wife…he wanted a wife that is “more worthy” than Vashti. The wording was obviously meant to degrade Vashti, suggesting that she was no longer worthy to be the king’s favorite wife.

Esther Chapter 2

Esther 2:1–2 “Some time later, when King Ahasuerus’s rage had cooled down, he remembered Vashti, what she had done, and what was decided against her. The king’s personal attendants suggested, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king.”

Now there is actually a long time between chapter 1 of Esther and Chapter 2. Remember, the book covers a 10 year span of time. In between chapter 1 and chapter 2 the king had gone to war against the Greeks and lost. The countries moral was down and the king was not happy.

I think this is another example of the author of Esther greatly understating a fact. In this instance, the true lesson comes from what the author does not say. He just points out some facts, then moves on. Can anyone tell me one of the lessons that are not stated by the author but come across to you in verses 1 and 2…there are no wrong answers....I’ll tell you what I see though.

There are a couple of things, first, it is clear that the king was so drunk that he did not remember what happened between him and Vashti. The king didn’t even remember getting rid of his favorite wife, nor did he remember shaming her in the law he wrote. It also suggests that the King made this new law while drunk and angry…which further exposes the intent behind the wording of the law. Now the king is kind of stuck, he can’t go back on the law, so the adviser suggests that He search for a new wife. It actually uses the plural…so the advisor suggested to bring in a number of new young ladies.

Starting in verse 5 we get introduced to a man by the name of Mordecai.

Esther 2:5 “In the fortress of Susa, there was a Jewish man named Mordecai son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite.”

Picture of Susa

The author goes on to give a little bit of Mordecai’s lineage and how he ended up in Persia. Then we learn that this man, Mordecai was the guardian of Esther

Esther 2:7 “Mordecai was the legal guardian of his cousin Hadassah (that is, Esther), because she had no father or mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was extremely good-looking. When her father and mother died, Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter.”

The NASB says describes Esther as:

Now the young woman was beautiful of form and face, NASB

In other words, she was a knockout…and according to the customs of that day, it was Mordecai’s job to protect her honor. To be honest, we do not have much information on Esther (Hadassah), other than her father’s name Abahail, she was from the tribe of Benjamin, a cousin to her guardian, Mordecai and was really hot…that’s about it. While all of the events in chapter 1 were going on, Esther and Mordecai were both living their lives and minding their own business.

Back to the Kings now…He puts out a royal decree that he is looking for the most beautiful women in his kingdom. To be honest, this was not a request that could be refused. If you were an unmarried young woman you had to respond to this summons. The remainder of chapter 2 is where much of the controversy comes into play…that and the very end of the book. Let me paint a picture for you here to describe what happens in the remainder of the chapter…as we go along I will point us to the appropriate passages.

Once the Kings summons reached a particular town or village the young women would be escorted to the palace where where they would be placed under the care of one of the King’s eunuch's. In many Royal courts, if you wanted to work for the king in the palace you had to get castrated.

Once Esther presented herself to the palace a eunuch by the name of Hegai became responsible for her, as well as all of the other ladies in the palace. Knowing that Esther was going to be going into the palace, Mordecai offered her some advice.

Esther 2:10 “Esther did not reveal her ethnicity or her family background, because Mordecai had ordered her not to make them known.”

Naturally, the king will want to know Esther’s lineage and background…her cousin told her to keep it secret. It’s not difficult to know why he did this, even if it was a questionable decision. Remember, Jews were not looked upon very well. They had been defeated a few decades earlier and forced to leave their land. They were foreigners in a foreign land, serving a foreign king…what Mordecai didn’t realize is that God was working behind the scenes, even if it could not been seen, and even in a situation where Esther and Mordecai were not being the most faithful Jews. The author states that poor Mordecai was a nervous wreck…every day he would walk to the palace to see what was going on.

Normally, when the king wanted to marry someone he would just do it, or if he wanted to add someone to his harm he would just add her…those ladies would then go through a lengthy process to prepare them to be a proper companion to the king.

The situation in Esther is different…the king sent out a decree and hundreds of women showed up to the palace. Each of these ladies were then put into a special group of their own…they were not with the wives or with the regular harem. Anyway, sure enough. All of the ladies then went through the customary process of getting them ready for the king.

Esther 2:12–14 “During the year before each young woman’s turn to go to King Ahasuerus, the harem regulation required her to receive beauty treatments with oil of myrrh for six months and then with perfumes and cosmetics for another six months. When the young woman would go to the king, she was given whatever she requested to take with her from the harem to the palace. She would go in the evening, and in the morning she would return to a second harem under the supervision of the king’s eunuch Shaashgaz, keeper of the concubines. She never went to the king again, unless he desired her and summoned her by name.”

What the author is saying is that each lady, after the ceremonial time of preparation would go to be with the king. The author notes that she could bring something with her…this means the jewelry, perfume or various gifts that they were given as part of their training. Why would they want to do that....well, the author tells us why…and again, what isn’t said is worse than what is said.

So, after all of that preparation, each lady would go to the king…he would have sex with her, then she would leave in the morning and be sent to the group of women that had already been with the king. In other words, the king takes their virginity, meaning they are then unable to merry anyone else…and unless the king calls them again, they spend the rest of their life with these other women…all of whom were also with the king…once. This is why they were allowed to bring something…I’d assume most of these young ladies never got called again and were just stuck living with this quasi harem that never was with the king. Remember, these women did not then go to the regular harem of women…this was a separate group..only for the wife competition.

Eventually, it was Esther’s time to be with the king.

Esther 2:16–17 “She was taken to King Ahasuerus in the palace in the tenth month, the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. The king loved Esther more than all the other women. She won more favor and approval from him than did any of the other virgins. He placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.”

One of the main issues with many early church leaders was the fact that Esther appeared to willingly eat the food and participate in the palace requirements…unlike what we see in the book of Daniel…where the men rejected the kings decrees. Not only that, but the author makes it clear (in the Hebrew) that Esther was a willing participant in this process…not that she loved it or anything, but no language suggests that she was forced. Verse 16 says that she was taken to the king…some have tried to claim that “taken” indicates force…but that is not at all accurate. Not only that, but it’s clear....and I do not want to be crude or inappropriate or anything…but whatever she did so impressed the king that he ended up making her queen. Yes, it’s for sure that the favor of the Lord was on her, but the idea here is that she impressed him…make of that what you will.

So, Esther becomes the queen…the Lord blessed her greatly. Meanwhile, Mordecai was still outside the gates trying to get information on what was happening. Think about it…Mordecai knew how these things worked. DO you think he wanted to see his cousin thrown into some harem with a bunch of women that the king rejected? I’m sure Mordecai was besides himself. Chapter 2 ends with a brief description of a plot to kill king Artaxerxes...

Esther 2:21–22 “During those days while Mordecai was sitting at the King’s Gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, became infuriated and planned to assassinate King Ahasuerus. When Mordecai learned of the plot, he reported it to Queen Esther, and she told the king on Mordecai’s behalf.”

Apparently, a couple of the kings eunuchs decided to try and kill the king....I suppose they were not too good at keeping secrets because Mordecai found out and told Esther…who then informed the king. The men were hanged for their treason. For whatever reason, the king did not reward Mordecai for this information, which would have been customary. Not only that, but keep in mind as well, that Esther has still not revealed the fact that she is a Jew. This story is important, as it comes into play later on in the book of Esther.

Conclusion:

So, that wraps up the first couple of chapters of the book of Esther. Like any story whether in scripture or not, setting the context and introducing the main characters take time…I pray that you found it useful and have learned something about this unique book of the Bible. Let’s take the next few moments and reflect on what we’ve covered.

There are so many things we could talk about…

How the pagan Persian society compares with aspects of our own

lust

corrupt power

the dangers of alcohol

making decisions when you are angry

how NOT to treat women.

to name just a few…and all of those things are present in the first 2 chapters of Esther…but, like I’ve stated multiple times today, our lesson comes from what was not written, rather than what was written. I can understand why so many people have had issues with the book of Esther. When we compare either Mordicai or Esther to Daniel, or the 3 kingly advisors…Shadrach, Meschack, and Abednego…they do not exactly measure up to the same level of devotion to God’s or the Mosiac Law. Despite this, the number 1 lesson that presents itself in chapters 1 and 2 is that even when it seems that God is absent or or it seems that we are in a no-win situation, the shadow of God’s providence is always lingering in the background. What is God’s providence?

Providence is the governing power of God that oversees his creation and works out his plans for it.

The continuing and often unseen activity of God in sustaining his universe, providing for the needs of every creature, and preparing for the completion of his eternal purposes.

Does that mean that every bad situation will turn out OK? Of course not, but we can always be assured that God is not ignoring the issue. We see God’s providence all throughout scripture....when his followers were being obedient and when they were being disobedient. We see the Lord using those who oppose him. The story of Sampson is a great example of God’s providence flowing through someone who was disobedient, even King Solomon is another example… We can also find this in the New Testament…God’s providence moving in situations to bring about God’s will. For example, In the book of Matthew chapter 2 we can read about how King Herod got wind that the Jewish Messiah was born. This would have threatened King Herod’s position as the Jewish King.

Matthew 2:16–18 “Then Herod, when he realized that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage. He gave orders to massacre all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men. Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”

King Herod had scores of babies boys killed, simply because of his fear and jealousy. In my mind, this is similar to King Artaxerxes taking the honor of the young ladies, then forcing them to live in a harem for the rest of their lives. Both King Herod and Artaxerxes committed terrible acts against people who had no say and could not defend themselves…yet, as terrible as that is…God’s providence was working in the background, in order to achieve God’s ultimate plan for humanity.

Today is no different…one of the biggest lies of the enemy is that everything happens for no reason…that it is merely good luck or back luck. Or even for Christians, we’ve been discipled to believe that if we are good then God will protect us, but if we are bad, then we are no longer under his protection. We can take encouragement from the fact that our Lord is the one in control and that He uses all situations to bring glory to Christ.

Romans 9:14–18

“What should we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! For he tells Moses, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then, it does not depend on human will or effort but on God who shows mercy. For the Scripture tells Pharaoh, I raised you up for this reason so that I may display my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed in the whole earth. So then, he has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy and he hardens whom he wants to harden.”

When we read a book like Esther we can someone scratch our heads, wondering why God would allow a guy like Artaxerxes to do what he does. As we will see though, God will use this Pagan king to fulfill God’s plan for Israel. In the same way, God can, will and does use the various circumstances and people in our lives to fowarward His plan, even though it may not make sense to us.

PRAY!