• The first group of Jews returned to Jerusalem in 538 b.c.
• Twenty years later the temple was completed (Ezra 1–6).
• The story of Esther takes place about 40 years after the temple was rebuilt.
• She became queen of Persia in 478 b.c. and saved the Jews from being massacred in 473 b.c.
• Fifteen years after Queen Esther saved the Jews, Ezra went to Jerusalem (458 b.c.),
• Thirteen years after that, Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem.

• Her marriage to the king must have given Jews great prestige.
• It is impossible to guess what might have happened to the Hebrew nation had there been no Esther.
• Except for her, Jerusalem might never have been rebuilt, and there might have been a different story to tell to all future ages.

• God's people were delivered from annihilation in the days following the Babylonian captivity.
• If the Hebrew nation had been wiped out of existence 500 years before it brought Christ into the world, it would have made all the difference in the world...
• ...no Hebrew nation, no Messiah; no Messiah, a lost world.
• This beautiful Jewish girl of long ago, though she herself may not have known it, yet played her part in paving the way for the coming of the world's Savior.
• Also, the Book of Esther is a great book for young girls to read, as well as all women, actually!

• Do your own word study of these interesting words... head; royal; favour; pleased
• 1:10-12; 15-18 - Vashti not a good example for the King and to others... King was looking for someone better than her!
• 2:5-7 - Hadassah, Esther's real name... Mordecai took care of her.
• 2:10,20 - nobody knew she was a jew
• 2:11 - Mordecai checked on her every day
• 2:15-20 - King loved Esther
• 2:21-23 - two men conspired against the King - Mordecai heard of the plot, told Esther - she told the King - King has them hanged.  Solved that problem!
• 3:6 - Haman wanted all Jews destroyed!
• 3:7-15 - decree published to kill all Jews! (vs 13)
• 4:1-3 - Mordecai was shocked when he perceived all that was done!
• 4:4-5 - Esthers response when she heard
• 4:5-9 - Esther sends out Hatach to find out more!
• 4:10-12 - The danger of going in to see the king!
• 4:16 -  Esther says she is going anyway!
• 5 - the banquet / gallows made for Mordecai
• 6-10 - do you know the rest of the story?
• 10 - Mordecai was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, etc.

Esther 1
Queen Vashti Deposed

• Ahasuerus was another name for Xerxes, who ruled Persia from 486 to 464 b.c., one of the most illustrious monarchs of the ancient world.
• The great feast described in this chapter, as has been learned from Persian inscriptions, was held in preparation for his famous expedition against Greece, in which he fought the battles of Thermopylae and Salamis (480 b.c.).
• It seems that he deposed Vashti in 483 b.c,, before he left, and married Esther in 478 b.c., after he returned from his expedition against Greece (1:3; 2:16).

• Ahasuerus (Xerxes) died 13 years later.
• Esther, no doubt, lived far into the reign of her stepson, Artaxerxes.
• As queen-mother, she may have been a person of influence in Persia in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah.

• The decree was a call to kill all the Jews in all the provinces (3:12–13).
• This was in the king's 12th year (3:7), after Esther had been queen for five years.
• Her lament, “I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days,” may indicate that the novelty of Esther had worn off, and Esther took a great risk in inviting the king to the banquet.
• But the king came, and when the king saw Esther again, his reaction shows that she still pleased him (5:3), even though she had been his wife for five years.
• The outcome was that Haman was hanged, and his place was given to Mordecai, Esther's cousin.

• Since a decree issued by a Persian king could not be changed (8:8; Daniel 6:15), the decree for the Jews' massacre could not be reversed.
• But Esther did persuade the king to make another decree that authorized the Jews to resist and slay all who would attack them, which they did.
• Thus Esther saved the Jewish race from annihilation.
• This was the origin of the Feast of Purim, which Jews still observe. Esther was not only beautiful, but wise.
• Purim means 'lot' - 3:7; 9:24 - they cast Pur, that is, the lot,
• or Feast of the Lots
• Celebrated 14 Adar - March 4th
• begins at sundown on the 13th and ends at sundown on the 14th.
• Possibly the feast mentioned in John 5:1 - and one that Jesus attended.
• (only feast day that occurs between december and March/April, which is the time of the Passover.)
• Traditional to have the Book of Esther read each year at Purim
• from a scroll called a "Megillah."
• There is a carnival atmosphere, with people wearing colorful costumes.
• The people make a lot of noise with groggers.
• They hiss when the name Haman is mentioned.
• Hammentashen - a three cornered cookie or pastry, filled with poppy-seed or other filling is served.
• tashen means pockets - mohn means poppy seed
• It is figured that is represents Haman's hat - a three cornered hat (Scriptures do not describe the hat, though).
• They also figure that Haman had bribe money in his pockets!
• They eat his hat possibly to symbolize destroying his memory!
• or - to represent Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, their three patriarchs.
• or - to symbolize the humbling of Haman of having his ears clipped as he was humbled and shamed.
• Mishloach Manot - People send gifts of 'festively wrapped plates of delicacies.
• Julius Streicher shouted "Purim 1946" as he was taken away to be hung as a Nazi war criminal.

• Mordecai became more and more powerful; he was second in rank after the king of Persia (9:4; 10:3).
• His acts of power and his greatness were written in detail in the official records of the kings of Media and Persia.
• This was in the reign of Xerxes, the mighty monarch of the Persian Empire.
• Xerxes' prime minister was a Jew; his favorite wife was a Jewess—Mordecai and Esther, the brains and heart of the palace!
• This paved the way for the work of Ezra and Nehemiah.