ESTHER

King Ahasuerus reigned over 127 provinces from India to Ethopia. King Ahaseurus sat on the

throne of his kingdom which was in Shushan, the citadel ( Esther 1:1-5)

In the third year of being king, he held a huge banquet for princes from all over the world.

Esther 1:3

The men ate apart from the women were also banqueting with Queen Vashti. During the feast, the King Ordered the

Queen to wear the royal crown and show her beauty before him. Queen Vashti refused. Esther 1:9-12

To show that ladies should honour their husbands, the King passed a law which took the crown from Vashti. She was no longer queen Esther 1:15-22

A search was made for a new Queen. Esther spent 12 months in preparation. Out of all the beautiful girls in the kingdom, Esther was chosen as the new Queen Esther

2:15-18

Esther did not tell the King she was Jewish. Her cousin Mordecai warned her not to. Esther 2:20

Mordecai sat within the king’s gates and overheard two of the king’s servants plotting to kill King

Ahaseurs. - Esther 2:21

Mordecai told Queen Esther, who informed the King in Mordecai’s name. It was confirmed, the king dealt with

the two men, and it was written in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the King.

Esther 2:22-23

After this all happened, the King promoted Haman, to set his seat above all the princes who were with him Everyone bowed to Haman, except for Mordecai Esther 3:1-3

Mordecai let them know he was a Jew and would not bow down to him. Haman then began to plot to destroy all the Jews. He got the king involved in his plan Esther 3:4-15

Wicked Haman tricked the King into signing a law that at a certain time every Jew in the Kingdom would be killed.

Both Jews and Persian mourned. Mordecai took to the city crying loudly and bitterly. Finally Esther found out what

happened. She was in great distress - Esther 4:1-10

But remember God has made Esther Queen.. And she was a Jew Read Esther 4:12-17 for Esther’s

response

Esther came up with a great plan. She went before the king and asked for Haman to come today to the banquet she had prepared. Esther

5:1-8

Haman went home boasting to his friends and his wife Zeresh about being invited to this special

banquet by Queen Esther. But he just couldn’t shake the fact that Mordecai the Jew was sitting at

the king’s gate. It was his friends and wife who suggested that gallows be made to hand Mordecai.

Haman loved the ideaEsther 5:9-14

That night the King couldn’t sleep. He had his servants read what he had written in the Chronicles about Mordecai. He remembered Mordecai had not

been rewarded for saving his life Esther 6::1-8

The king summoned Haman. He told Haman to let Mordecai parade on horseback through the city

square and tell the people this is done to honour the king. Haman was furious when he went home to his

wifeEsther 6: 9-14

At the same time the banquet was to take place. The king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. At the fest Esther had a moment to speak up. She told

the king someone wanted to destroy and kill her people. She told the king the enemy was Haman.

Esther 7:1-8

The king was furious. He loved Esther. The gallows Haman made for Mordecai, was used to hang him

instead.Esther 7:9-10

Esther finally told the king Mordecai was related to her. Mordecai was given Haman’s position. A new

decree was signed to protect the Jews Esther 8

A feast was instituted called the Day of Purim. Purim Is celebrated on the 14th day of Adar to remind the

Jewish people of how God saved them from the evil plans of Haman

Esther 9