25: Esther: Introduction & Esther agrees to help the Jews

Providence: Just as we believe God created all things, Christians believe that God continues to be active and involved in his creation. We believe God is active in three complimentary ways:

• God preserves creation: God has been involved in creation from the beginning – he charged humans to care for the physical world and all creatures in it; he called Abraham to be a blessing to all nations; he protects and safeguards his people. Mary’s “Magnificat” is one of the best summaries of God’s providence [Luke 1:46-55].
• God acts consistently with creation: God’s actions in creation follow the “natural laws” that he built into the universe – which sometimes

• leads to events that harm parts of creation; God also respects human moral choice that is part of creation, which allows (but does not cause or sanction) “evil” actions to take place: All deeds are right in the sight of the doer, but the Lord weighs the heart. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice, [Phil 2:13].
• God manages or guides creation toward his purposes: he governs all aspects of creation to work together; he steers human decisions and actions to achieve his goals: For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life, [Eph 2:10].

4When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went through the city, wailing with a loud and bitter cry; ² he went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. ³ In every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and most of them lay in sackcloth and ashes. 

⁴ When Esther’s maids and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed; she sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth; but he would not accept them. ⁵ Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what was happening and why. ⁶ Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate,
⁷ and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. ⁸ Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther, explain it to her, and charge her to go to the king to make supplication to him and entreat him for her people. 

⁹ Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. ¹⁰ Then Esther spoke to Hathach and gave him a message for Mordecai, saying, ¹¹ “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law — all alike are to be put to death. Only if the king holds out the golden scepter to someone, may that person live. I myself have not been called to come in to the king for thirty days.” ¹² When they told Mordecai what Esther had said, ¹³ Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. ¹⁴ For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.” ¹⁵ Then Esther said in reply to Mordecai, ¹⁶ “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. After that I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.” ¹⁷ Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him. 

5On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, opposite the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne inside the palace opposite the entrance to the palace. ² As soon as the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won his favor and he held out to her the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the top of the scepter. ³ The king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.” ⁴ Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to a banquet that I have prepared for the king.”
⁵ Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther desires.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared. ⁶ While they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your petition? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” ⁷ Then Esther said, “This is my petition and request: ⁸ If I have won the king’s favor, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet that I will prepare for them, and then I will do as the king has said.”  NRSV

Get into the Word:

1. What is happening as this chapter begins [see Introduction for the backstory]? Who is involved? What is he doing? Why is he so upset?

2. Who gets involved in the situation? What does she do? How does Mordecai respond? 3. What does the queen do next? Who does she send? What is his task? What does he learn? What does he bring back to the queen? What does Mordecai ask Esther to do?

4. How does Esther respond to Mordecai’s request? Why does she act as she does? How does a person gain an audience with the king? What happens to those who don’t follow the protocol?

5. What does Mordecai say to Esther about her fate? What about her position as queen? What does Esther tell Mordecai to do? Why do you think she asks for this? What does she say she will do? What does she say about her fate?

6. What happens when Esther goes to the palace? What does the king offer? What is Esther’s request? How does the king respond? Who else is involved at this point?

Get Personal:

How confident are you in God’s protection? How often do you think about God’s actions on your behalf? How often do you ask for his help or protection? How often do you thank him for protection and security?

4:1. All that had been done — Mordecai had refused to bow to Haman, so Haman convinced the king the Jews were enemies and all should be destroyed.
Tore his clothes . . . sackcloth and ashes — three signs of mourning or extreme distress common throughout the ancient Middle East. Sackcloth was made of camel or goat skin and was very uncomfortable.
4:2. King’s gate — at the palace entrance, people could stand just outside and try to get someone’s attention to address their alleged injustice.
4:4. Eunuchs — male palace servants, often impotent. In the Persian Empire eunuchs often served as prime minister or in other powerful positions (as Hathach in v. 5).
4:11. Being called — kings usually had procedures and rules to limit access, even by members of the royal family (although death is a very strong deterrent). 

Thirty days — not an unusual interval with a busy king who had other wives and concubines.
4:14. Perhaps you have come — Mordecai warns Esther and then suggests that her position as queen might be more than coincidence [see Introduction Notes, above].
4:15. Fast — a means of humbling oneself prior to making a request of God [check Psalm 69:10].
5:3. Half of my kingdom — an exaggeration, but also a sign of the king’s willingness to accommodate his wife. Esther asks him to bring Haman to a banquet (which were very popular in the Persian empire). At the banquet the king repeats his offer and Esther asks him to attend a second banquet with Haman. At the second banquet Esther reveals Haman’s plot against the Jews and tells the king she would be killed as well. The king instead orders Haman executed and issues a decree reversing the earlier order to exterminate the Jews.