Esther 3:1,2,5a,6b

Esther 3:1,2,5a,6b  After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. And all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman ... But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence. And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath. ... wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai. Haman was a sneaky man and wormed his way up to the top of the king’s ministers. He enjoyed everyone bowing to him. Everyone, that is, except Mordecai. The Jews did not bow down to anyone except Almighty God. Mordecai must have been a special man, for Haman couldn’t attach him personally. But Haman had a plan. He would talk King Ahasuerus into killing all of the Jews, which would just happen to include Mordecai. Oh it was a deliciously wicked plan – and Haman just loved it! But what Haman hadn’t counted on was that the Jews were God’s chosen people. And Haman certainly hadn’t counted on Queen Esther being a Jew!

Esther 2:21-23

Esther 2:21-23 In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen; and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai's name. And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king. Mordecai hung around the king’s gate to make sure Esther was alright. But one day he overheard two men plotting to assassinate the king. He told Esther of their plans and Esther told the king. After an investigation, their evil plot was foiled and they were hanged. Mordecai should have been rewarded, but the incident went unnoticed - at least for a while. But then, that was in God’s plan as well.

Esther 2:5,7,17

Esther 2:5,7,17 Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite; And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter. And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti. When King Ahasuerus announced the beauty contest, Esther was selected for the short list because she was so beautiful. But no one knew that she was of the despised Jewish people who had been brought to Babylon as captives. Esther’s mother and father were dead and she had been raised by her older cousin, Mordecai. He told Esther to keep her identity a secret. It wasn’t popular to be a Jew in the Persian capital. But God was at work. Esther might have the king’s heart, but God had Esther’s heart.

Esther 1:1,3,12

Esther 1:1,3,12 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus ... In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him: But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him. King Ahasuerus put on a great feast and invited all of the important men of the kingdom. During the feast he called for Queen Vashti. He just wanted to show off his gorgeous queen. But she was having a party for all of the women at the same time in her royal house. She didn’t want all of those drunken men staring at her, so she refused the king’s command. Well, that wasn’t the thing to do. The king was furious and decided to remove her from being his queen. But he had to have a queen, so he asked his advisors what to do. They said to have a kingdom-wide beauty contest and find a new queen. And this is where it starts to get interesting. Once again, God was at work looking out for His chosen people, the Jews. And we are going to find out how God was working. This is the story of Esther.

Nehemiah 9:3,5,36

Nehemiah 9:3,5,36 And they (the people) stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God. Then the Levites ... said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it: Ezra and Nehemiah and all of the people read the Book of the Law of God, and then they confessed their sin and worshiped God. They reminded themselves that they were the servants of the Most High God. They reminded themselves that they were living in the land that God had given to them. God had blessed them and for that they were grateful. Has God blessed you? What are you grateful for today?

Nehemiah 8:13,14,17

Nehemiah 8:13,14,17 And on the second day were gathered together the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law. And they found written in the law which the LORD had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month: And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness. When the Children of Israel came out of Egypt, God instituted the Feast of Tabernacles. Once a year, the Jews were supposed to live outdoors in lean-to’s made of tree branches. This was to remind them of when they were wandering in the wilderness and only had tents to live in. So during this feast, they were to stay in these booths of branches for seven days. And did they have fun! Wouldn’t you love to camp out in hand-made huts made out of tree limbs? The Jews hadn’t kept this feast for hundreds of years! But this time they kept it with great joy! God has great fun in store for us if we obey His Word!