The Story of the Book of Esther is the "Cinderella," fairy-tale type story of the Old Testament. This "fairy tale," however, really happened and great lessons can be learned about living for God from it. The story takes place while many Jewish people were still living "in captivity" under the world empire of the Medes and the Persians and the great king Artaxerxes. He is always referred to in the scriptures by his Hebrew name, Ahasuerus. The story of Esther begins in 462 B.C., which was the third year of King Ahasuerus' reign, immediately after he had won complete command of the kingdom by defeating his brother and cousins in a great battle. At this time, the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians was at the height of it's power and splendor. King Ahasuerus reigned after King Cyrus and King Darius so the story of Esther takes place after the life of the prophet Daniel and Ezra and Nehemiah's leading many Jewish people back to Jerusalem.

Esther was a young Jewish woman who had been orphaned at a young age. Her cousin, a man named Mordecai, had raised her as if she were his own daughter. Despite living in Persia, Mordecai worshipped the one, true Jehovah God and taught his adopted daughter to do likewise. From the story, it is obvious that Esther was exceptionally beautiful and Jewish tradition lists her as one of the seven most beautiful women in the history of the world. (There are seven women in the Old Testament where the scriptures imply their beauty: Sarah, Rebekah, Rachael, Rahab, Esther, Bathsheba, and Shulamith.) The importance of this story becomes clear when we realize that Esther's name appears in the Bible fifty-five times which is more than any other woman in scripture. In fact, only Sarah comes even close with "Sarah" being mentioned thirty-five times and as "Sarai" sixteen times.

God is not mentioned by name in the story of Esther, but it is evident that He is working throughout the events. Esther is a great type of the church as the bride of Christ, the King of Kings. As we will see, many lessons can be learned when we realize that, like Esther, we must be faithful to the one, true God of Israel even though we live in an impure society.

The Main Storyline

To celebrate his complete triumph over his enemies, King Ahasuerus threw a humongous party! The kingdom was divided into 127 provinces each with a prince reigning over it similar to our state governors. For 180 days, the King traveled with these princes showing them the great wealth and sights of the Persian kingdom. Returning after this long excursion to the palace in the city of Shushan, the king prepared a great feast which would last for seven days in his great garden. Everyone in the city was invited to attend. The garden was decorated lavishly with pillars of marble and cords of purple and drapes of white, green, and blue. The walkways of the garden were paved with red, blue, white, and black marble. Everyone was given a gold cup to drink from and drink they did: the king ordered that there was no limit to how much you drank and all of the wine of the kingdom was available! At the same time that the men were drinking and feasting in the garden, Queen Vashti, Ahasuerus' Persian wife threw a similar feast in the royal house for all the women of the city. History teaches us that King Ahasuerus had an ulterior motive for this feast and was trying to convince his princes that they were strong enough to attack the Grecians to the north.

After seven days of heavy drinking, the men were running out of things to do and talk about. King Ahasuerus, in no doubt a drunken state, decided to send for Queen Vashti so that the men could "look upon her beauty." Queen Vashti, realizing the situation as not a wholesome one, rejected the royal order and refused to come. The King was furious with his Queen and, following the advice of his princes, decreed that Vashti would no longer be queen and would live and die in poverty, as a "lesson" to all to obey the king's orders.

Vashti has been given a bad "rap" by many scholars with which I totally disagree. I do not think that Vashti was simply being disobedient and rebellious by refusing to come, because it is evident from the king's surprise at her refusal that she had never been rebellious in the past. I believe that Vashti had morals and integrity and did not relish the thought at being paraded before a bunch of drunken men as an object of lust. Rather than compromise her integrity, she was willing to risk death and the loss of immense financial wealth and power! This brings us to our first practical lessons: 1.) It is better to preserve your integrity and morals, even if it means losing position, power, and wealth, than it is to have power and wealth and yet have to live with yourself with compromised principles. Sometimes we are pressured at work, school, etcetera, to compromise our convictions and lifestyle for the ability to "get ahead." Nothing, even the queenship of a kingdom, is worth having to live with yourself after immoral and compromise!

After a time, the king wanted another wife, and he followed the advice of his servants who proposed a "contest" of any young women who wanted to be king. Posters were made up and sent around the kingdom. Any young woman could apply as long as she was a virgin. Anyone entering would have to first pass the scrutiny of Hegai, the king's chamberlain, and then spend 12 months getting ready to meet the king. After this year of preparation, the young lady was given her choice of anything that she wanted to wear and then would appear before the king and meet him, and if the king was impressed and such an impression was made that he could recall the woman's name, then she would return to the chamber of women to await his decision. If the king was not impressed, then the woman returned to life outside of the palace. There must have been many women who entered the "contest" because it was four years before someone became queen!

When Mordecai, Esther's cousin and adopted father, saw the notice, he decided to enter young Esther. When Esther met Hegai, he was so impressed with her that he gave her the best room in the house and seven maid servants to help her prepare. The first six months were a time of continual skin treatments with oil of myrrh. The next six months were spent in baths, perfumes, and various other treatments to ensure that the prospect was as beautiful as she could be. Throughout the entire process, Esther never revealed that she was Jewish.

When it came time for Esther to leave the house of preparation, she was brought into the king's palace and given her choice of what to wear and adorn herself for her meeting with the king. The scriptures say that she "required nothing but what Hegai the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed." In other words, Esther did not put on anything extra besides the clothes that she already wore, and perfume, and she left her skin natural. Makeup was invented by the Egyptians and was already in wide use in this time period, but Esther chose not to wear any. All of the former queen's jewelry was available as well as any style clothing that Esther wanted, and yet Esther chose to wear her normal, modest wear and no jewelry. She was confident that her natural beauty, coupled with her faith in the true, living God, was enough to impress the king. And impressed, he was: When King Ahasuerus met Esther, he was so struck by her radiant beauty and confidence, that he crowned her queen on the spot! The contest was over the moment that he saw Esther!

There is no doubt that the young women before Esther tried every possible means to grab the attention of the king. No doubt many entered wearing revealing clothing in a vie for attention. No doubt most were decked out with the finest jewels in the kingdom. Since the other women were Persians, most probably followed the common fashion of the day with the application of makeup and eye shadow. But it was Esther, who was confident in the beauty that God had given her, who won the favor of the king. It is a lie that women today need to wear revealing clothing or deck themselves with makeup and jewelry and the customs of this world in order to be beautiful. In fact, both Paul and Peter applied the principles of Esther to the Apostolic church:

"Shamefacedness" means "a face that is not forward or beckoning" and is a clear reference to makeup which causes the face to appear alluring. "Sobriety" means "self control" and implies that a woman should not dress to appear "forward" or "inviting." In scripture, makeup is always associated with loose women trying to entice men (see Jeremiah 4:30; II Kings 9:30; Proverbs 6:25; Ezekiel 23:40). The prophet Jeremiah said that "thou rentest" or tear your face when you use makeup which explains Esther's wisdom in refraining using it. She wanted to be beautiful for a lifetime, not just a moment! "Broided hair" refers to the practice of Paul's day of intertwining gold strands and pearls throughout an elaborate hairdo. He also precisely forbids the wearing of jewelry and even takes it to the point of "expensive clothing." And this was a command to the New Testament church!

Peter's command mirrors Paul's and says that a woman is the most beautiful when she has put on the "ornament of a meek and quiet spirit!" And then the key words of this entire passage: "which is in the sight of God of great price." God is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! He is the king which we, the bride of Christ, are trying to impress and woo. He is turned off by forwardness through the wearing of makeup, jewelry, and immodest and expensive clothing but is attracted to those who have the spirit of Esther and are secure enough in their relationship with God that they realize that He created them perfect and that they do not have to live up to the world's idea of normal to be beautiful! 2.) Like Esther, we are attractive to God when we rely upon our natural, God-given beauty and do not depend upon adornment or a "look of forwardness" for our confidence.

Now back to our story. Mordecai made it a habit to sit outside the king's gate so if Esther needed him, he was readily available. Shortly after Esther became queen, Mordecai overheard two men plotting to assassinate the king. By quickly alerting the authorities through Esther, Mordecai saved the king's life and was recorded in the scrolls of the kingdom. Around the same time the King promoted an evil man named Haman to second in command of the kingdom. The king ordered that all men bow in honor of Haman when he walked by. Mordecai refused to bow down because he was Jewish and he believed that the only one who was worthy of worship and bowing was the one, true Jehovah God. Mordecai believed in the ten commandments of Moses and refused to bow to another. Which brings us to our next lesson: 3.) The laws of the government are second place to God's law, and if they contradict each other, then the laws of God's Word are the ones that are to be followed! We should obey the government as long as they do not contradict God's Word, but if they ever contradict, God's Word is supreme!

When the servants of Haman demanded that he bow, Mordecai told them that he would not because he was Jewish. Haman was so upset at the old Jewish man who would not bow that he began an elaborate plot to kill all of the Jewish people who were still in Persia. He "cast Pur," similar to our dice, to decide what day that the Jewish people should die. It fell on the thirteenth day of the month Adar which corresponds to our February/March. Haman went to the king and told him that "there is a people among us who do not obey your commandments and who have their own set of values that they hold as more important than the Persian law." Haman then offered the equivalent of 20 million dollars of his own money to help kill these people if the king would make a decree that they be killed on the 13th of Adar. The king trusted Haman and so offered his signet ring, giving Haman the ability to place the seal of the king upon the decree and it was passed and posted throughout the kingdom that in eleven months all Jews were to be killed. Remember that the King and Haman had no idea that Queen Esther was Jewish or that Mordecai was her kin.

When Mordecai saw the commandment, he tore his clothes and placed ashes on his head (these were signs of great grieving to the Jews) and went before the king's gate crying in distress. Queen Esther's servants saw him and relayed to Esther that her cousin was grieving. Esther sent one of her most trusted servants, Hatach, to see what was wrong and Mordecai gave him a copy of the notice along with the message, "tell Esther that she must go before the king and plead for the Jewish people."

To go before the king uninvited was punishable by death under the Persian law even for the Queen! When a person approached the king on their own accord, the king had to extend his scepter as a token of forgiveness and then their life would be pardoned. If the scepter was not extended then they were killed immediately! For this reason, nobody ever approached the king without first being invited. Esther sent word of all of this back to Mordecai and his reply is the key verse of the book of Esther:

Mordecai basically told her: "God doesn't need you for deliverance, and if you do nothing, then God will raise up salvation from somewhere else, but if He has to do that, then you will be destroyed with the rest of us!" I like Mordecai's attitude. He knew that God would not let His chosen people be destroyed, and a lack of deliverance never crossed his mind! 4.) Your deliverance is not based upon another person being obedient to the will of God, because God will do whatever He has to do in order to deliver His people! Failure is not an option with God! A favorite tact of discouragement of the devil is for you to be in a situation and the person who has the obvious solution fails to help. We cannot allow ourselves to become disappointed or even mad at God because of other's decisions: keep trusting in God, He will not fail you even though salvation may have to come from an unlikely source!

Mordecai continued by telling Esther that if she did not act for her people, then she would be destroyed! He then uttered a very powerful concept to grasp: "who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" 5.) God is looking for people who will step out in faith in tough situations simply because they believe that God has brought them "to the kingdom for such a time as this." We need to change the way we view problems and circumstances. If God has placed you within a tough situation or trial, it could be that He has you there to help others through your response of faith. Of course, if you do not respond in faith, then, like Esther, you will face being destroyed by the situation and God will raise up salvation somewhere else. Somebody needs to get the revelation that God is going to have miracles, a victorious church, powerful disciples, and an end-time revival; it might as well begin with me! Get the resolve of Mordecai in viewing your situations! Choose wisely like Esther did!

Esther decided to approach her situation with faith. She sent word back to Mordecai to gather all the Jewish people in the city and pray and fast for three days for her. After that she would go into the king's throne room unannounced. She closed her message with these words: "if I perish, I perish." 6.) When facing a tough situation or predicament, always approach it with prayer and fasting. After you have prayed and fasted to God for guidance, then step out on faith and place yourself at the mercy of God.

God was with Esther. On the third day of fasting, she donned her royal robe and was standing in the king's court when he entered first thing in the morning. The moment that he saw Esther, he smiled, extended the important scepter, and said "what do you need Queen Esther?" "I'll give you anything that you ask, even half of the kingdom!" Esther looked at the king and at Haman standing next to him and said "I only have one request: that you and Haman would come to a banquet that I would prepare for you tomorrow." They agreed and Esther left to prepare the banquet.

There is a beautiful lesson to be learned in Esther's approach to the king. As the bride of Christ, we do not have to be afraid to approach God with our requests. In fact the writer of Hebrews put it like this:

We serve a caring and merciful God who loves us and is delighted when we approach Him! 7.) Unlike Esther, we can boldy approach the throne of Jesus Christ our king having a promise that we will not only be received but will obtain mercy and "help in time of need!" How do we approach God's throne? Through prayer!

Haman left the palace that day headed home with a happy heart because of his invitation to "dine with the queen!" However, when he passed out of the gate by the palace and everybody bowed except the old Jew Mordecai, Haman's rage grew so that he almost killed Mordecai at once. He reigned in his anger with the mental reminder "in a few months he will be dead anyway." When he got home, Haman's wife and friends asked how his day had been and he told them that his joy at being invited to dine with the queen had been dampened by Mordecai's refusal to bow as he passed by. They suggested to him that he build some gallows for hanging people and ask the king if Mordecai and his family could be hanged upon them. Haman thought it was so good idea that he had the gallows built that night before he went to ask the king.

That night, God got actively involved. For some reason the king could not sleep and so finally he got up and commanded that the chronicles of the kingdom be brought and read to him. The king probably thought if he listened to the things that had happened in the past that he would get sleepy again. God caused the scribe to grab a specific scroll and as it was read, they came to the story of how Mordecai had saved the king's life by thwarting an assassination attempt. The king stopped the story and asked "what was done to thank him for this?" The scribe replied that "nothing was ever done." At this exact moment, Haman had decided to go ask the king's permission to hang Mordecai and was standing in the throne room on the off chance that the king got up early. The king asked the scribe "who is in the court?" and when told Haman asked him: "what should be done to a man whom the king wants to honor?" In his prideful heart, Haman thought "surely I must be the man that he is intending to honor" and suggested that the king give the man a royal robe to wear and placing the crown upon his head, let him ride a royal horse that was led by someone who proclaims throughout the city "thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honor!" Imagine Haman's horror and humiliation when the king agreed with his idea and then commanded him to take the robes, crown, and horse and lead Mordecai through the streets proclaiming those exact words! Not only did Haman not get a chance to ask the king's permission to kill Mordecai, but he had to led him through the city praising him! When God does something, He does it right!

No doubt there were times when Mordecai remembered what he had done to the king, and wondered why he had not received a reward. Which brings us to our next few points: 8.) Just because God does not reward something good that you do in secret right away does not mean that He has forgotten, but simply means that He is waiting for the right moment to bless you! He will bless you as long as you do not get a bad attitude over the situation! Also notice that God caused the trap that Haman had set for Mordecai to backfire into his own humiliation. 9.) If you are faithful to God, then "no weapon formed against you will prosper" and God will cause your enemies' traps to cause their own humiliation! Get your eyes off your circumstances and enemies and stay faithful to God!

Haman returned to his home mortified and embarrassed at what he had had to do. He had just gotten home when the queen's servants arrived to take him to the banquet. Things were about to get even worse for him! At the banquet, after they had all enjoyed their fill of great food and wine, the king asked Esther, "so what are you asking from me by inviting me to this great feast?" The king realized that Esther wanted something that meant so much to her that she had risked her own life to approach him. Esther responded by telling him that she was pleading for her and her families' lives because a great enemy had threatened to kill them all. The king looked at her in astonishment and asked "who in my kingdom would dare threaten my queen and her family?" Esther looked at the king and then at Haman and said "the evil adversary is this Haman." And all at once Haman and the king realized that Esther was Jewish and that Haman's decree was not only against the Jewish people but against the queen!

The king got so mad when he realized what Haman had done that he got up from the table to walk among the garden to cool off before he decreed anything that he regretted. At the same time Haman fell off his chair and practically into Esther's lap begging for his life. When the king walked back in he saw Haman hanging on to Esther in desperation and got even madder saying "are you trying to force yourself upon my wife?" At this time a servant mentioned that Haman had had gallows built the night before where Esther's family could be hanged, and so the king ordered that Haman and his family be hanged upon the same gallows. God caused the enemies' plan to become their own demise. Not only that but the king gave Haman's house and land to Esther. 10.) Trusting in God will always pay off in unexpected blessings even to the point of God giving you more of the things that the enemy was trying to steal!

When Esther had told the king about her life before the palace and how her cousin raised her, the king called for Mordecai to come before him. He took his signet ring which signified his power and took the robes of Haman and placed them upon Mordecai making the old Jewish man the second in command of the entire country! He then granted Mordecai and Esther the power to make any decree that they desired against the plan of Haman. They issued a decree that on the appointed day of Haman the Jewish people were to gather together within their province and fight against anyone who tried to kill them and anyone that they killed would have their property "spoiled" and confiscated by the Jews! Because a Jew was now second in command of the kingdom, all of the princes helped the Jewish people and on the thirteenth day of Adar, all of the Jewish enemies were killed including the ten sons of Haman! The plan of evil Haman was foiled and the Jewish people got victory over ALL of their enemies in the kingdom! Which brings us to another point: 11.) Not only will the enemies' plots of destruction not work in the lives of those who trust God completely but it will end with the destruction of every enemy of God's people! As it was with Esther, so shall it be with the Church. Not only will the enemies' plans fail in our day to day lives, but eventually all of our enemies will be destroyed by Jesus Christ! But we must stay together and be willing to fight against the will of Satan in our lives!

Finally, Queen Esther and Mordecai decreed that the Jewish people should celebrate this day as a remembrance of when God set them free from the plot of Haman. Since Haman had thrown "Pur" to decide the day, they named the festival "Purim." To this day the Jewish people still celebrate the festival of Purim in the following manner: On the thirteenth, everyone fasts in remembrance of the Jewish fast in Esther. When the stars come out on the night of the fourteenth, the Jewish people light candles (the name Esther means "star") and assemble into the synagogues where the book of Esther is read. The fifteenth is a day of feasting and fun. It is always held a month before Passover which is late February or early March in our calendar.

The story closes with Esther as Queen and Mordecai as second in command of the entire Persian empire! God had not only delivered His people but had exalted and blessed Esther and Mordecai for their faithfulness!

Mordecai was the grandson of Shimei, the descendant of King Saul who cursed King David and was eventually killed by Solomon (Esther 2:5). It is interesting to note that King David refused to kill Shimei for the cursing while he was young, instead telling Solomon to do it later when Shimei became older. David was no doubt following the leading of God by doing so because if Shimei had been killed before having a chance to have children, there would have been no Mordecai, and thus no story of Esther and the Jewish people could have been ruined. Remember: God always knows what He is doing even when we cannot understand it at the time!

Also, most people do not realize that King Ahasuerus was trying to convince his princes to support an attack on Greece throughout the initial feast. Eventually, he did attack and this began the decline of the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians. Shortly after the Old Testament ends, the kingdom was conquered by the Grecian army under the command of the young Alexander the Great. Later the Grecians were conquered by the Roman army which set the stage for the birth of Christ.

Haman was a "agagite" (Esther 3:1) or descendant of Agag and was thus an Amalekite (see I Samuel 15:8,32). The Amalekites were the enemies of Israel that God had commanded Saul to completely destroy. When the Jewish people stood up on the thirteenth day of Adar and fought against their enemies, they completely destroyed the remaining Amalekites just as God had commanded Saul to do hundreds of years earlier!

Esther 8:9 has the distinction as being the longest verse in the Bible. (The shortest is John 11:35, "Jesus wept.")

1.) It is better to preserve your integrity and morals, even if it means losing position, power, and wealth, than it is to have power and wealth and yet have to live with yourself with compromised principles.