She could not have forgotten what happened to the last queen who had displeased King Xerxes. Esther knew that she needed to approach the king but she had to do so very carefully. He asked her to use her position to save the Jews. Mordecai heard of the plan and went straight to Esther. Not knowing that his own queen was a Jew, the king passed a law that the Jews could be attacked.

Haman convinced the king that the Jews were a menace to Persia and should be destroyed. Haman’s anger was such that he began to plot to kill not only Mordecai, but also all of the Jews. We are not told why, but Mordecai refused to bow to him. A man named Haman also gained favour with the king and royal officials were ordered by the king to bow to Haman when he passed. All was recorded in the annals (record books) of the king (2:23).įive years passed. The would-be assassins were hanged and Mordecai was honoured. He told Esther who, in turn, told the king. At Mordecai’s suggestion, Esther did not reveal the fact that she was Jewish.Īs time passed, Mordecai happened to overhear an assassination plot being hatched. Even though many of the Jews had returned to Jerusalem, there was still a large population living in Babylon and Persia (and in this case, Susa). It might mean that he was descended from one who was taken. If 2:5-6 were read to mean that Mordecai was personally taken from Jerusalem then he would be over a hundred years old. Her cousin, Mordecai took care of her since her parents had died. One of the girl’s who went to the palace was a young Jewish girl named Hadassah, or Esther. Girl’s were gathered together and taken care of in the palace for one year. He could choose from all of the beautiful young women of the kingdom. The king’s servants suggested that a new queen be found. The law of the Medes and Persians, once written, could not be changed or destroyed by anyone, not even the king. He may have wished he could destroy the law, but he could not. Maybe Xerxes was sorry he had written that law. He remembered the law he had written, stating she could no longer be queen. After the feast was over, and King Xerxes was not drinking wine, he began to think about Queen Vashti. We are not told what her reason was (despite all of the speculation we might have heard) but we do know that her refusal angered the King so much that he deposed her as his queen. At the climax of the feast, King Xerxes asked Vashti to come in so all the other men could see what a beautiful wife he had. He invited many important men of the kingdom to the feast. Xerxes and his queen, Vashti, were living at the winter capital city of Susa. Xerxes (sometimes called Ahasuerus) has succeeded Cyrus and is now the ruler of Persia. Years have passed since Daniel was thrown into a lion’s den. Even so, the book clearly outlines the power of God over the plans of men. The book of Esther is an unusual book because God’s name is not mentioned once in the entire book.

Story of esther bible study