Study of Esther- First Session
Welcome to the study of Esther where even though God isn’t even mentioned in the book…HE IS IN CHARGE!!! The term we use is the Sovereignty of God… we have all heard this before… but just to hear it is one thing… and agree to it… but to really TRUST that this is true is what we will focus on for these next few weeks.
Who is really in Charge? Is life just about getting up everyday…doing the best you can and then back to bed at night to start the whole thing over again? What do we even know or want to know about our lives and those around us. Do you wonder if things just happen…. No order, out of the blue… when we finish this book… we will marvel on how God was working /is working constantly and nothing is a surprise or a plan B…. it is all Plan A…. God’s plan- from the beginning. It truly is a mystery. But knowing this…. We have no fear but fear of God. If God is truly in charge…. Why do we fear???
The book of Esther is a book often overlooked…some (Luther) even wished it was not even in the Bible. However, we shall see these next few weeks the power of the Word of God…even when His name is not even mentioned.
When we study any book of the Bible, it is very very important to put it in context and answer the Who, When, Where and Why… or purpose and what as the author’s intent-what did he aim for us to know.
Let’s start with the when and include the context of when this happened…what is the story behind the story.
When:
First: Put these 20 major OT+ events in order (no looking in book) 10 minutes or so
Leaders hand out sheets and time lines to check. You can read this essay from Tom Schreiner at home to give you more detail for each event. Maybe do this with others to help them see the sequence of these important events.
Let’s go to our book now and see the timeline provided by Lydia. She also matches up when the books of the OT were written which is super helpful…especially as we read through the Bible.
Now let’s look at the Extensive timeline sheet and find 722 BC (also called BCE-before the common era)
Look at all that happened until we get to Esther 483-473 (events of Esther takes about 10 years)
Those of us who studied Joshua saw how the people were strong and obedient (1399) and received the Promised Land. Ah then Judges happened, the kings, etc. until we come to the destruction of Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple. (without a temple, the people could no longer have sacrifices or have public worship but they did have the Torah…scriptures Jobes) Not all the Israelites left and other peoples were brought in from all over the empire to Israel. The people were scattered all over… not just to Babylon and were first called Jews at this time. (Jobes) Some people were in exile for the allotted 70 years… exile they brought upon themselves knowing full well the judgment of God on them if they disobeyed. The Babylonian Empire fell to the Persians and King Cyrus took over.
Look at page 15…
While in Babylon, Jeremiah told them what to do in chapter 29:4-7…and 10-14…page 17.That brings us to the beginning of Esther when the grandson of Cyrus is in power. Why didn’t all them go back as they were instructed to do? Page 17
Who wrote it: lots of ideas but really don’t know but written after the time…and the author has purposefully given us what he deemed was important and has a sense of humor as well. They are not quite sure when it was actually written… though we know when the actual events took place.
Who was the audience: Jewish people… they needed to know how God saved them from this potential evil wipe out of the entire Jewish people. We need to see how God is totally sovereign …in charge of it all.
Who are the main figures- God, Esther, Xerxes, Mordecai, Haman and Vashti, the Jews…in Persia and elsewhere.
Where –colored maps in folder
Who are the themes… purpose of the book: Themes: what do we want to know at the end of this
Page 18
1. God is faithful to keep His promises and to deliver His people
2. Providence of God…reversal…(God turns things around) Christ has turned our lives… from destruction to salvation from His death and resurrection
Providence of God- “God, in some invisible and inscrutable way, governs all creatures, actions and circumstances through the normal and the ordinary course of human life, without the intervention of the miraculous. Even in the most pagan corner of the world, God is ruling all things to the benefit of His people and the glory of His name. Even when His own people, like Esther and Mordecai, make decisions that come from ambiguous motives at best, or perhaps even outright disobedience, God is still providentially working through those very things to fulfill His covenant.. Romans 8:28 Karen Jobes
3. See the importance of banquets and festivals including Purim
4. Jesus Christ … the better deliverer, the better king and the better kingdom The Bible is what God has written for us and about Him. The Old Testament is about the coming of the messiah… Jesus Christ. “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27)
As we do this study, take time to think back on our life and see how God DID work in your life, making all things work together for good (Romans 8:28)
1 Samuel 2:7-10 ESV
The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and on them he has set the world. “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the power of his anointed.”
Isaiah 45:7-9 NLT 7 I create the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times.I, the Lord, am the one who does these things.8 “Open up, O heavens, and pour out your righteousness. Let the earth open wide so salvation and righteousness can sprout up together. I, the Lord, created them.9 “What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying,
‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’
The NIV Application Commentary on Esther Karen H. Jobes
God fulfills His covenant promises through His providence. The major point of contemporary significance is that God unfolds His will for Individual lives through that same providence. God continues to work through providence, through seemingly insignificant events. To call people in every age to Himself. God sovereignly controls events of history and flawed human decisions to fulfill His promise to save for Himself a people. He uses the ordinary events of life, some happy, some quite tragic, to form Christ in us.
Finding the will of God for our lives…I failed to realize that God’s will for my life was being revealed day by day in the unfolding of ordinary events. The true test is living for Christ at this present moment, in the place where one happens to be , in whatever situation one finds herself. A given event in our life might be good or it might be bad, and it is most often a mixed blessing. Often we cannot evaluate the significance of an event until years later, if ever. To confuse us further bad decisions may nevertheless produce good things and what start out as good intentions may end up in heartbreak., So often our carefully laid plans are frustrated and we are forced to admit that we are not in control of our lives, no matter how hard we try to be. We will see Esther make decisions with no word from God… no scripture to read, no promise of scripture.. she was responsible for making a decision with serious consequences. Just like us…she did not know the outcome…is it coincidence…
God’s triump in history ultimately does not depend on what we do, but on what He does. It depends not on our character but on His character.
We struggle to respond wisely and faithfully in difficult circumstances… over which we have no control.
God has guaranteed Christians life even though we face certain death. He reverses our lot, not because of the merit of anything we do, but because He has chosen us in Christ. God is working providentially in the completely secular and ungodly course of human events to save His people against all expectation and to bring all of history in culmination in Christ. There is no plot, no plan that can thwart God’s purposes that stretch from Genesis to Revelation… Karen Jobes
Does God Control Everything? R.C. Sproul –mini book
What to watch or listen to
Bible Project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JydNSlufRIs
Alistair Begg (series) https://blog.truthforlife.org/sermons-from-esther-by-alistair-begg
Back to the Bible Canada one sermon https://www.backtothebible.ca/messages/esther-submitting-gods-purposes/
John MacArthur one sermon https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/80-392/esther-for-such-a-time-as-this