Samuel’s Birth and Dedication

1 Samuel 1:19-28 NLT
¹⁹ The entire family got up early the next morning and went to worship the Lord once more. Then they returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the Lord remembered her plea, ²⁰ and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked the Lord for him.”
²¹ The next year Elkanah and his family went on their annual trip to offer a sacrifice to the Lord and to keep his vow. ²² But Hannah did not go. She told her husband, “Wait until the boy is weaned. Then I will take him to the Tabernacle and leave him there with the Lord permanently.”
²³ “Whatever you think is best,” Elkanah agreed. “Stay here for now, and may the Lord help you keep your promise.” So she stayed home and nursed the boy until he was weaned.
²⁴ When the child was weaned, Hannah took him to the Tabernacle in Shiloh. They brought along a three-year-old bull for the sacrifice and a basket of flour and some wine. ²⁵ After sacrificing the bull, they brought the boy to Eli. ²⁶ “Sir, do you remember me?” Hannah asked. “I am the very woman who stood here several years ago praying to the Lord. ²⁷ I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. ²⁸ Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life.” And they worshiped the Lord there.

Examine the Scriptures

1 Samuel 1:19-28 NLT

Samuel’s Birth and Dedication 

¹⁹ The entire family got up early the next morning and went to worship the Lord once more. 

From the previous lesson.

1 Samuel 1:3 NLT
³ Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle.  

The entire family would include Elkanah, Hannah, Peninnah and her children, and household servants.  Possibly extended family would travel with this group.

• Elkanah’s family worshipping the Lord is a reoccurring theme throughout this story.

Samuel came from a family that valued worshipping the Lord.

• Scripture clearly commands us to worship the Lord.

Psalm 95:6 NLT
⁶ Come, let us worship and bow down.
Let us kneel before the Lord our maker,

1 Chronicles 16:29 NLT
²⁹ Give to the Lord the glory he deserves!
Bring your offering and come into his presence.
Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor.

Psalm 96:8-9 NLT
⁸ Give to the Lord the glory he deserves!
Bring your offering and come into his courts.
⁹ Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor.
Let all the earth tremble before him.

Luke 4:8 NLT
⁸ Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say,
‘You must worship the Lord your God
and serve only him.’”

Psalm 92:1-2 NLT
¹ It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to the Most High.
² It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning,
your faithfulness in the evening,

Then they returned home to Ramah. 

When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the Lord remembered her plea, ²⁰ and in due time she gave birth to a son. 

She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked the Lord for him.”

The name Samuel can mean several different things. Meanings of this name include “his name is God”, “name of God”, “asked or heard of God”, or “offspring of God”

Hannah named her son Samuel since God had heard and answered her prayer for a son.

She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked the Lord for him.”

• The birth of Samuel came about after Hannah had prayed to God asking Him to give her a son.

• Scripture instructs us to pray without ceasing.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 NLT
¹⁷ Never stop praying.

Prayer is powerful.

Matthew 7:7 NLT
⁷ “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.

John 15:7 NLT
⁷ But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!

John 14:13-14 NLT
¹³ You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴ Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it! 

Matthew 21:22 NLT
²² You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”

Samuel was born in response to Hannah’s earnest prayer.  “The Lord remembered her plea…” 

²¹ The next year Elkanah and his family went on their annual trip to offer a sacrifice to the Lord  

1 Samuel 1:3 NLT
³ Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle. 

As stated earlier, worshipping the Lord is a reoccurring theme throughout this story.

Review from previous lesson:

The law required:

Exodus 23:14-17 NLT
Three Annual Festivals (also recorded in Deuteronomy 16:1-17)
¹⁴ “Each year you must celebrate three festivals in my honor. ¹⁵ First, celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast, just as I commanded you. Celebrate this festival annually at the appointed time in early spring, in the month of Abib, for that is the anniversary of your departure from Egypt. No one may appear before me without an offering.
¹⁶ “Second, celebrate the Festival of Harvest, when you bring me the first crops of your harvest.  “Finally, celebrate the Festival of the Final Harvest at the end of the harvest season, when you have harvested all the crops from your fields. ¹⁷ At these three times each year, every man in Israel must appear before the Sovereign, the Lord.

Why are these festivals so important?

Remember what God has done for us.

Celebrate what God has done for us.

Teach the next generation how God is working in our lives.

What would the mood or atmosphere be like at these festivals?

Psalm 100 NLT
¹ Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
²     Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
³ Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

• In Exodus 23 and Deuteronomy 16 God commanded the Israelites to celebrate three festival in His honor.

Leviticus 7:16 NLT
¹⁶ “If you bring an offering to fulfill a vow or as a voluntary offering, the meat must be eaten on the same day the sacrifice is offered, but whatever is left over may be eaten on the second day. 

and to keep his vow. 

Numbers 30:1-2 NLT
Laws concerning Vows
^30:1 Then Moses summoned the leaders of the tribes of Israel and told them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ² A man who makes a vow to the Lord or makes a pledge under oath must never break it. He must do exactly what he said he would do. 

Deuteronomy 23:21 NLT
²¹ “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, be prompt in fulfilling whatever you promised him. For the Lord your God demands that you promptly fulfill all your vows, or you will be guilty of sin.

Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 NLT
⁴ When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him. ⁵ It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it.

Matthew 5:33 NLT
Teaching about Vows
³³ “You have also heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not break your vows; you must carry out the vows you make to the Lord.’

• A man (a person) who makes a vow to the Lordor makes a pledge under oath must never break it. He must do exactly what he said he would do.

God always keeps his promises.

Psalm 89:34 NLT
³⁴ No, I (God) will not break my covenant;
I will not take back a single word I said. 

Numbers 23:19 NLT
¹⁹ God is not a man, so he does not lie.
He is not human, so he does not change his mind.
Has he ever spoken and failed to act?
Has he ever promised and not carried it through?

²² But Hannah did not go. She told her husband, “Wait until the boy is weaned.

Then I will take him to the Tabernacle and leave him there with the Lord permanently.” 

²³ “Whatever you think is best,” Elkanah agreed. “Stay here for now,

• Elkanah supported Hannah’s decisions.

and may the Lord help you keep your promise.”

Elkanah knew that it would be hard for Hannah to give up her son and he knew that she would need the Lords help to keep her promise.

Hebrews 4:14-16 NLT
¹⁴ So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. ¹⁵ This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

• So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

So she stayed home and nursed the boy until he was weaned.

At this point in time Samuel was totally dependent on his mother.

Hannah may have nursed Samuel two to four years.

Several years later. 

²⁴ When the child was weaned, Hannah took him to the Tabernacle in Shiloh. They brought along a three-year-old bull for the sacrifice and a basket of flour and some wine. 

Or three bulls

Apparently Elkanah could afford expensive offerings.

Numbers 15:8-10 NLT
⁸ “When you present a young bull as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice to fulfill a vow or as a peace offering to the Lord, ⁹ you must also give a grain offering of six quarts of choice flour mixed with two quarts of olive oil, ¹⁰ and give two quarts of wine as a liquid offering. This will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 

Think of this as a celebration.

A time of remembrance.

• Taking Samuel to the Tabernacle in Shiloh would have been a very memorable occasion for Elkanah and his family. 

²⁵ After sacrificing the bull, they brought the boy to Eli. ²⁶ “Sir, do you remember me?” Hannah asked. “I am the very woman who stood here several years ago praying to the Lord. ²⁷ I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. 

Previous lesson:

1 Samuel 1:17 NLT
¹⁷ “In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.” 

A blessing from God’s high priest was an assurance that Hannah’s prayer would be answered. 

²⁸ Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life.”

• Samuel was left with Eli to serve the Lord in the Tabernacle for the rest of his life.

And they worshiped the Lord there.

More Worship.
(As stated earlier, worshipping the Lord is a reoccurring theme throughout this story.)

 

*********************************************

• Elkanah’s family worshipping the Lord is a reoccurring theme throughout this story.

• Scripture clearly commands us to worship the Lord.

• The birth of Samuel came about after Hannah had prayed to God asking Him to give her a son.

• Scripture instructs us to pray without ceasing.

• In Exodus 23 and Deuteronomy 16 God commanded the Israelites to celebrate three festival in His honor.

• A man (a person) who makes a vow to the Lord or makes a pledge under oath must never break it. He must do exactly what he said he would do. 

• Elkanah supported Hannah’s decisions.

• So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. 

• Taking Samuel to the Tabernacle in Shiloh would have been a very memorable occasion for Elkanah and his family.

• Samuel was left with Eli to serve the Lord in the Tabernacle for the rest of his life.

 

 

 

 

Elkanah and His Family & Hannah’s Prayer for a Son

1 Samuel 1:1-18 NLT
Elkanah and His Family
¹ There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah in the region of Zuph in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, of Ephraim. ² Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not.
³ Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle. The priests of the Lord at that time were the two sons of Eli—Hophni and Phinehas. ⁴ On the days Elkanah presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Peninnah and each of her children. ⁵ And though he loved Hannah, he would give her only one choice portion because the Lord had given her no children. ⁶ So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lord had kept her from having children. ⁷ Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat.
⁸ “Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me—isn’t that better than having ten sons?”

Hannah’s Prayer for a Son

⁹ Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle. ¹⁰ Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. ¹¹ And she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut.”
¹² As she was praying to the Lord, Eli watched her. ¹³ Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking. ¹⁴ “Must you come here drunk?” he demanded. “Throw away your wine!”
¹⁵ “Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. ¹⁶ Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.”
¹⁷ “In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.”
¹⁸ “Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad.

Examine the Scriptures

1 Samuel 1:1-18 NLT
Elkanah and His Family

¹ There was a man named Elkanah

Elkanah’s name means “God has created”.

Elkanah was the father of Samuel.

Elkanah was a Levite.

His name is listed in the Levite Clans found in 1 Chronicles 6:16-30.

Levi  >  Kohath (a son of Levi)  >  Elkanah (a descendant of Kohath)

• Elkanah was the father of Samuel.

• Elkanah was a Levite. 

who lived in Ramah in the region of Zuph in the hill country of Ephraim.

• Elkanah lived in Ramah.

• The ESV (and other versions of scripture) use Ramathaim-zophim instead of Ramah.

Ramah is located 5-15 miles north of Jerusalem (It is not possible to locate the town with certainty)

The Levites lived in towns scattered throughout all of the other twelve tribes.

Joshua 21:20 NLT
²⁰ The rest of the Kohathite clan from the tribe of Levi was allotted the following towns and pasturelands from the tribe of Ephraim:

Elkanah was a Levite by lineage.

Elkanah was an Ephraimite by residence.

 

Ramah was Samuel’s birthplace, the place of his residence, and the place of his burial.

Samuel’s birthplace:
1 Samuel 1:19-20 NLT
¹⁹ The entire family got up early the next morning and went to worship the Lord once more. Then they returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the Lord remembered her plea, ²⁰ and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked the Lord for him.”

Samuel’s residence:
1 Samuel 7:17 NLT
¹⁷ Then he would return to his home at Ramah, and he would hear cases there, too. And Samuel built an altar to the Lord at Ramah.

Samuel’s burial place:
1 Samuel 25:1 NLT
Now Samuel died, and all Israel gathered for his funeral. They buried him at his house in Ramah.

• Ramah was Samuel’s birthplace, the place of his residence, and the place of his burial.

He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, of Ephraim.  

² Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not. 

Hannah (grace, favor)

Peninnah (ruby)

Elkanah may have married Peninnah because of Hannah’s inability to have children.

In scripture children are considered a blessing from the Lord.

Deuteronomy 7:13-14 NLT
¹³ He (the Lord) will love you and bless you, and he will give you many children. He will give fertility to your land and your animals. When you arrive in the land he swore to give your ancestors, you will have large harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. ¹⁴ You will be blessed above all the nations of the earth. None of your men or women will be childless, and all your livestock will bear young.

Conversely the Israelites considered the inability to have children a curse.

• Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah.

• Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not.

• Multiple wives frequently result in serious friction between the wives.

See verses 6-7

Genesis 16 & 21: Sarah and Hagar

Genesis 29: Leah and Rachel

³ Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh

15 miles north of Ramah.  20 miles north of Jerusalem

(Ramah is located 5-15 miles north of Jerusalem (It is not possible to locate the town with certainty))

Joshua 18:1 NLT
Now that the land was under Israelite control, the entire community of Israel gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tabernacle.

to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle.

The law required:

Exodus 23:14-17 NLT
Three Annual Festivals (also recorded in Deuteronomy 16:1-17)
¹⁴ “Each year you must celebrate three festivals in my honor. ¹⁵ First, celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast, just as I commanded you. Celebrate this festival annually at the appointed time in early spring, in the month of Abib, for that is the anniversary of your departure from Egypt. No one may appear before me without an offering.
¹⁶ “Second, celebrate the Festival of Harvest, when you bring me the first crops of your harvest.  “Finally, celebrate the Festival of the Final Harvest at the end of the harvest season, when you have harvested all the crops from your fields. ¹⁷ At these three times each year, every man in Israel must appear before the Sovereign, the Lord.

The title Lord of Heaven’s Armies or Lord of Hosts emphasizes the Lord as sovereign over all of the powers in heaven and on earth. 

• Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle.

The priests of the Lord at that time were the two sons of Eli—Hophni and Phinehas.  

⁴ On the days Elkanah presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Peninnah and each of her children. 

Certain sacrifices involved sharing part of the sacrificial animal in a communal meal. (Leviticus 7)

Elkanah’s sacrifice was a peace offering:

Parts of the sacrifice are burned.

Parts of the sacrifice are given to the priest.

Parts of the sacrifice are eaten by the people who brought the sacrifice.

⁵ And though he loved Hannah, he would give her only one choice portion because the Lord had given her no children. 

• Hannah’s barrenness was the result of divine providence like Sarah’s (Genesis 16:2) and Rachel’s (Genesis 30:2)

Psalm 127:3 NLT
³ Children are a gift from the Lord;
they are a reward from him.

Genesis 18:13 NLT
¹³ Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Can an old woman like me have a baby?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Genesis 29:31 NLT
³¹ When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to have children, but Rachel could not conceive.

Genesis 30:2 NLT
² Then Jacob became furious with Rachel. “Am I God?” he asked. “He’s the one who has kept you from having children!”

Genesis 30:22NLT
²² Then God remembered Rachel’s plight and answered her prayers by enabling her to have children.

⁶ So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lord had kept her from having children.  

⁷ Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. 

The House of the Lord.

The Temple of the Lord.

• Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lord had kept her from having children.

Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat. 

⁸ “Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me—isn’t that better than having ten sons?”

• Elkanah’s attempts to comfort Hannah were unsuccessful.

Hannah’s Prayer for a Son 

⁹ Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle.  

¹⁰ Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. 

¹¹ And she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut.” 

• Hannah prayed and pledged to give the Lord her son in return for God’s favor in giving her that son.

This dedication of her son sounds like a commitment to the Nazarite vow, described in Numbers 6.

Similar to the story of Samson

Judges 13:2-5 NLT
² In those days a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and they had no children. ³ The angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah’s wife and said, “Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son. ⁴ So be careful; you must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food. ⁵ You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.” 

Long hair was a symbol of dedication to the service of the Lord and was one of the characteristics of the Nazarite vow. This vow was normally taken for a limited time rather than for life.

• Elkanah apparently supported Hannah’s wishes.

NUMBERS 30:10
¹⁰ “But suppose a woman is married and living in her husband’s home when she makes a vow or binds herself with a pledge. ¹¹ If her husband hears of it and does not object to it, her vow or pledge will stand. 

¹² As she was praying to the Lord, Eli watched her.  

¹³ Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking.  

Some people may have used the feast times at Shiloh as an occasion to get drunk. 

¹⁴ “Must you come here drunk?” he demanded. “Throw away your wine!” 

• Eli assumed that Hannah was drunk and therefore rebukes her. 

¹⁵ “Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. ¹⁶ Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.”

Acts 2:13-15 NLT
¹³ But others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying, “They’re just drunk, that’s all!”
¹⁴ Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. ¹⁵ These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. 

¹⁷ “In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.”

It was the duty and privilege of the priests to bless the people in the name of the Lord.

Numbers 6:22-27 NLT
²² Then the Lord said to Moses, ²³ “Tell Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing:
²⁴ ‘May the Lord bless you
and protect you.
²⁵ May the Lord smile on you
and be gracious to you.
²⁶ May the Lord show you his favor
and give you his peace.’
²⁷ Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them.” 

Lev 9:22-23 NLT
²² After that, Aaron raised his hands toward the people and blessed them. Then, after presenting the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering, he stepped down from the altar. ²³ Then Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle, and when they came back out, they blessed the people again, and the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole community.  

• A blessing from God’s high priest was an assurance that Hannah’s prayer would be answered. 

¹⁸ “Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad.

• Hannah believed that God would answer her prayer.

• Pray believing that God will answer your prayers.

Psalm 145:18 NLT
¹⁸ The Lord is close to all who call on him,
yes, to all who call on him in truth.

John 14:13-14 NLT
¹³ You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴ Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

John 15:7 NLT
⁷ But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!

James 5:16 NLT
¹⁶ Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

1 John 5:14-15 NLT
¹⁴ And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. ¹⁵ And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.

Matthew 7:8 NLT
⁸ For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

 

************************* 

• Elkanah was the father of Samuel.

• Elkanah was a Levite.

• Elkanah lived in Ramah.

• The ESV (and other versions of scripture) use Ramathaim-zophim instead of Ramah.

• Ramah was Samuel’s birthplace, the place of his residence, and the place of his burial.

• Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah.

• Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not.

• Multiple wives frequently result in serious friction between the wives.

• Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lordof Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle.

• Hannah’s barrenness was the result of divine providence like Sarah’s (Genesis 16:2) and Rachel’s (Genesis 30:2)

• Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lordhad kept her from having children.

• Elkanah’s attempts to comfort Hannah were unsuccessful.

• Hannah prayed and pledged to give the Lord her son in return for God’s favor in giving her that son.

• Elkanah apparently supported Hannah’s wishes.

• Eli assumed that Hannah was drunk and therefore rebukes her.

• A blessing from God’s high priest was an assurance that Hannah’s prayer would be answered.

• Hannah believed that God would answer her prayer.

• Pray believing that God will answer your prayers.

Introduction to 1^st and 2^nd Samuel 

Names used for the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel.

The Books of 1 and 2 Samuel take their names from the Prophet Samuel, who is the first important character in the first book, because of the role he played in Israel’s transition to a monarchy (Not the author of the books.)

Samuel was a prophet, priest, the last of the judges, and an anointer of kings.

The events described in 1 and 2 Samuel center about the lives of three important figures—Samuel, Saul, and David.

The earliest Hebrew manuscripts made no division between the two books.

First and second Samuel were considered as one book in the earliest Hebrew manuscripts.

They simply entitled the whole collection “Samuel.”

They were later divided into two books by the translators of the Greek version, the Septuagint (LXX).  The Septuagint was the first version to divide the material into two parts.  The trans­lators of the Septuagint, or the Greek OT, divided it into two books, 1-2 Kingdoms (The First and Second Book of Kingdoms).  Later Hebrew tradition also divided the book but retained the name Samuel, as do most English versions.  That division into 1^st and 2^nd Samuel has continued to the present day in all translations and versions, including Hebrew-printed Bibles.

Septuagint (LXX)

The term Septuagint is the name given to the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures.  It contains what are now known as the apocryphal (a poc ry phal) books.  The name Septuagint derives from the Latin word septuaginta, which means 70. The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible is called Septuagint because 70 or 72 Jewish scholars reportedly took part in the translation process.  The Septuagint Bible originated in the 3rd century B.C., (or third and second century B.C.) when the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, was translated into Greek.

It is also called the Greek Old Testament.

This translation is quoted in the New Testament, particularly by Paul.

Names used for the books of 1^st and 2^nd Samuel:

Samuel

1-2 Kingdoms (The First and Second Book of Kingdoms).

First and Second Kings (1^st and 2^nd Kings were titled 3^rd and 4^th Kings)

1^st and 2^nd Samuel

Author of 1^st and 2^nd Samuel 

Jewish tradition ascribed the writing of Samuel to Samuel himself or to Samuel, Nathan and Gad (based on 1 Chr. 29:29).

1 Chronicles 29:29 NLT
²⁹ All the events of King David’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in The Record of Samuel the Seer, The Record of Nathan the Prophet, and The Record of Gad the Seer.

This could not be true for several reasons.

The authorship of 1 and 2 Samuel is anonymous, though one can hardly doubt that Samuel himself may have written or supplied information for 1 Samuel 1:1-25:1, all of which describes his life and career up to and including his death.

It is impossible, however, to say anything with certainty about the authorship of the remainder of 1 Samuel and of 2 Samuel.

But Samuel cannot be the writer because his death is recorded in 1 Samuel 25:1.

1 Samuel 25:1 NLT
The Death of Samuel
^25:1 Now Samuel died, and all Israel gathered for his funeral. They buried him at his house in Ramah.

1 Samuel has 31 chapters. 

Further, Nathan and Gad were prophets of the Lord during David’s lifetime and would not have been alive when the book of Samuel was written.

Though the records of these three prophets could have been used for information in the writing of 1 and 2 Samuel, the human author of these books is unknown. The work comes to the readers as an anonymous writing, i.e., the human author speaks for the Lord and give; the divine interpretation of the events nar­rated.

The author of 1^st and 2^nd Samuel is unknown.

 

Important Dates 

The date of the composition of the books cannot be determined with any degree of precision.  It had to be after 971 B.C. (the death of David).  Some scholars say after the division of the king­dom between Israel and Judah in 931 B.C..

The Books of Samuel contain no clear in­dication of the date of composition. Some scholars say that the author wrote after the division of the king­dom between Israel and Judah in 931 B.C.  due to the many references to Israel and Judah as distinct entities (1 Sam. 11:8; 17:52; 18:16; 2 Sam. 5:5; 11:11; 12:8; 19:42-43; 24:1, 9).

2 Samuel 12:8 NLT
⁸ I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. 

Vs. the kingdom of Israel.

This could also be indicated by the reference to Ziklag, a Philistine city which, the narrator wrote, “has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day” (1 Sam. 27:6)

1 Samuel 27:6 NLT
⁶ So Achish gave him the town of Ziklag (which still belongs to the kings of Judah to this day)… 

During the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon the kingdom was known as the Kingdom of Israel.  Saul, David, and Solomon were kings of Israel.

Scholars believe strongly that 1^st and 2^nd Samuel was written before 722 B.C. The fall of Samaria.

Approximate chronological timeline.

1376-1050 bc              The era of the judges

The 300 or so years of the history of Israel under the Judges were marked by political, moral, and spiritual anarchy and deterioration.   Throughout the days of the judges, discontent grew over the lack of unity among Israel’s tribes. (see Judges 17-21). When Samuel became old and a successor was needed, it was evident to all that his own sons were unfit to take his place. This factor, coupled with the encroachments of the Ammonites on the east side of the Jordan River, prompted Israel to demand of Samuel that he give them a king “like all the other nations” to unite the nation and protect it from internal and external threats.

1200 bc                       The Philistines arrive in Canaan

1100-950 bc                The period covered by the books of Samuel (150 years)

1100-1070 bc              Eli as priest at Shiloh

1075-1040 bc              The ministry of Samuel

1050-1011 _BC               The reign of Saul

1025 _BC                        David is anointed as king

1020 _BC                        David fights Goliath

1011 bc                       The death of Saul and Jonathan

1011-971 _BC                 David as king of Israel

Second Samuel concludes with a story of royal succession in which David on his deathbed made provision for his son Solomon to follow him on the throne. This must be dated at 971 b.c. 

Setting

The majority of the action recorded in 1 and 2 Samuel took place in and around the cen­tral highlands in the land of Israel.

The major cities of 1st and 2^nd Samuel are to be found in these cen­tral highlands:

Shiloh, the residence of Eli and the tabernacle;

Ramah, the hometown of Samuel;

Gibeah, the headquarters of Saul;

Bethlehem, the birthplace of David;

Hebron, David’s capital when he ruled over Judah;

and Jerusalem, the ultimate “city of David.”

 Purpose.

1^st
The Books of Samuel provide an account of the history of Israel from the end of the 12th through the beginning of the 10th centuries before Christ. That critical period from judgeship to monarchy, from loose tribal affiliation to strong central government.

2^nd
More importantly, the books of Samuel show/teach/demonstrate theological themes.

Teach Biblical truths.

The events of David’s life recorded in Samuel foreshadow the actions of David’s greater son (i.e., Christ) in the future.

There are four predominant theological themes in 1 and 2 Samuel.

1. The Davidic Covenant.

This is an unconditional covenant made between God and David through which God promises David and Israel that the Messiah (Jesus Christ) would come from the lineage of David and the tribe of Judah and would establish a kingdom that would endure forever.

2 Samuel 7:12-16 NLT
¹² For when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. ¹³ He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever. ¹⁴ I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he sins, I will correct and discipline him with the rod, like any father would do. ¹⁵ But my favor will not be taken from him as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from your sight. ¹⁶ Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever.’”

2. The sovereignty of God.
3. The work of the Holy Spirit in empowering men for divinely appointed tasks.
4. The personal and national effects of sin.

Sources:
The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty.
NLT Study Bible: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
The MacArthur Bible Commentary
NLT Study Bible
ESV Student Study Bible
NIV Study Bible

In today’s lesson we will finish studying the book of Esther.

We will be learning about the Jewish Festival of Purim

Esther 9:20 – 10:3 NLT
The Festival of Purim
²⁰ Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to the Jews near and far, throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes, ²¹ calling on them to celebrate an annual festival on these two days. ²² He told them to celebrate these days with feasting and gladness and by giving gifts of food to each other and presents to the poor. This would commemorate a time when the Jews gained relief from their enemies, when their sorrow was turned into gladness and their mourning into joy.
²³ So the Jews accepted Mordecai’s proposal and adopted this annual custom. ²⁴ Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews, had plotted to crush and destroy them on the date determined by casting lots (the lots were called purim). ²⁵ But when Esther came before the king, he issued a decree causing Haman’s evil plot to backfire, and Haman and his sons were impaled on a sharpened pole. ²⁶ That is why this celebration is called Purim, because it is the ancient word for casting lots.
So because of Mordecai’s letter and because of what they had experienced, ²⁷ the Jews throughout the realm agreed to inaugurate this tradition and to pass it on to their descendants and to all who became Jews. They declared they would never fail to celebrate these two prescribed days at the appointed time each year. ²⁸ These days would be remembered and kept from generation to generation and celebrated by every family throughout the provinces and cities of the empire. This Festival of Purim would never cease to be celebrated among the Jews, nor would the memory of what happened ever die out among their descendants.
²⁹ Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote another letter putting the queen’s full authority behind Mordecai’s letter to establish the Festival of Purim. ³⁰ Letters wishing peace and security were sent to the Jews throughout the 127 provinces of the empire of Xerxes. ³¹ These letters established the Festival of Purim—an annual celebration of these days at the appointed time, decreed by both Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther. (The people decided to observe this festival, just as they had decided for themselves and their descendants to establish the times of fasting and mourning.) ³² So the command of Esther confirmed the practices of Purim, and it was all written down in the records.

The Greatness of Xerxes and Mordecai

^10:1 King Xerxes imposed a tribute throughout his empire, even to the distant coastlands. ² His great achievements and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Media and Persia. ³ Mordecai the Jew became the prime minister, with authority next to that of King Xerxes himself. He was very great among the Jews, who held him in high esteem, because he continued to work for the good of his people and to speak up for the welfare of all their descendants.

Examine the Scriptures

Esther 9:20 – 10:3 NLT
The Festival of Purim

²⁰ Mordecai recorded these events

The events Mordecai recorded:

Esther 9:16-19 NLT
¹⁶ Meanwhile, the other Jews throughout the king’s provinces had gathered together to defend their lives. They gained relief from all their enemies, killing 75,000 of those who hated them. But they did not take any plunder. ¹⁷ This was done throughout the provinces on March 7, and on March 8 they rested, celebrating their victory with a day of feasting and gladness. ¹⁸ (The Jews at Susa killed their enemies on March 7 and again on March 8, then rested on March 9, making that their day of feasting and gladness.) ¹⁹ So to this day, rural Jews living in remote villages celebrate an annual festival and holiday on the appointed day in late winter, when they rejoice and send gifts of food to each other. 

and sent letters to the Jews near and far, throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes, ²¹ calling on them to celebrate an annual festival on these two days. 

• Mordecai and Queen Esther established (proposed v.23) the Festival of Purim.

The festival of Purim was not established by Mosaic Law.   It was established by Mordecai and Esther (v 29-32).

The festival of Purim is the only OT festival not established by Moses. 

²² He told them to celebrate these days with feasting and gladness and by giving gifts of food to each other and presents to the poor.

How did the Jews celebrate Purim?

Eating, rejoicing, giving gifts of food to each other, and giving gifts to the poor.

• The Jews celebrated Purim with eating, rejoicing, giving gifts of food to each other, and giving gifts to the poor. 

This would commemorate a time when the Jews gained relief from their enemies, when their sorrow was turned into gladness and their mourning into joy.

Why did the Jews celebrate Purim?

The festival of Purim was for remembering the goodness of God working through a number of circumstances to protect His people from extinction.

On that fateful day, March 7, 473 BC, God miraculously rescued His people from certain death, much like He rescued His people from Egypt at the Passover.

The festival of Purim is much like the Passover celebration.

• The festival of Purim was for remembering the goodness of God working through a number of circumstances to protect His people from extinction. 

²³ So the Jews accepted Mordecai’s proposal and adopted this annual custom.  

²⁴ Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews, had plotted to crush and destroy them on the date determined by casting lots (the lots were called purim). ²⁵ But when Esther came before the king, he issued a decree causing Haman’s evil plot to backfire, and Haman and his sons were impaled on a sharpened pole. ²⁶ That is why this celebration is called Purim, because it is the ancient word for casting lots.

The above verses summarize the events leading to the Festival of Purim.

It was a common practice in the ancient world to cast purim to determine whether God favored a particular course of action.

Esther 3:7 NLT
⁷ So in the month of April, during the twelfth year of King Xerxes’ reign, lots were cast in Haman’s presence (the lots were called purim) to determine the best day and month to take action. And the day selected was March 7, nearly a year later. 

• The date of this celebration (events leading up to this celebration) had been determined by casting lots (the lots were called purim).

So because of Mordecai’s letter and because of what they had experienced, ²⁷ the Jews throughout the realm agreed to inaugurate this tradition and to pass it on to their descendants and to all who became Jews. They declared they would never fail to celebrate these two prescribed days at the appointed time each year. ²⁸ These days would be remembered and kept from generation to generation and celebrated by every family throughout the provinces and cities of the empire. This Festival of Purim would never cease to be celebrated among the Jews, nor would the memory of what happened ever die out among their descendants.

Even though Moses did not authorize this festival, Jews throughout the realm agreed to inaugurate this tradition and to pass it on to their descendants and to all who became Jews.

Now more than 2,400 years later, the festival of Purim is still celebrated annually by the Jews.

Purim is celebrated on Adar 14 because the Jews in unwalled cities fought their enemies on Adar 13 and rested the following day.

Shushan Purim falls on Adar 15 and is the day on which Jews in Jerusalem (a walled city) celebrate Purim.

• Now more than 2,400 years later, the festival of Purim is still celebrated annually by the Jews. 

²⁹ Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote another letter putting the queen’s full authority behind Mordecai’s letter to establish the Festival of Purim.  

Esther’s letter provided further official endorsement to Mordecai’s proposal.

³⁰ Letters wishing peace and security were sent to the Jews throughout the 127 provinces of the empire of Xerxes. ³¹ These letters established the Festival of Purim—an annual celebration of these days at the appointed time, decreed by both Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther. 

(The people decided to observe this festival, just as they had decided for themselves and their descendants to establish the times of fasting and mourning.) 

• The people decided to observe the Festival of Purim. 

A decree by Mordecai and Queen Esther would not have meant much without the acceptance of the Jewish people. 

³² So the command of Esther confirmed the practices of Purim, and it was all written down in the records.

A copy of Esther’s letter was put into the royal archives.

The festival of Purim is still celebrated annually by the Jews.

Today, Jewish people fast and pray to commutate Esther’s fasting (The Fast of Esther). This fast is then followed by Purim.

Two events:

A time of fasting.

A time of celebration.

 

The Greatness of Xerxes and Mordecai

^10:1 King Xerxes imposed a tribute throughout his empire,

This negated an earlier remission of taxes.

Esther 2:18
English Standard Version
¹⁸ Then the king gave a great feast for all his officials and servants; it was Esther’s feast. He also granted a remission of taxes to the provinces and gave gifts with royal generosity. 

Esther 2:18
New Living Translation
¹⁸ To celebrate the occasion, he gave a great banquet in Esther’s honor for all his nobles and officials, declaring a public holiday for the provinces and giving generous gifts to everyone.

From lesson on Esther 2:

“Holiday” The Hebrew for this word, unique to this verse, may imply a remission of taxes,

an emancipation of slaves,

a cancellation of debt

or a remission of obligatory military service.

• King Xerxes imposed a tax throughout his empire. (Showing the extent of his power.)

Persian taxes on the provinces were heavy.

even to the distant coastlands. 

Esther 1:1 NLT
These events happened in the days of King Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. 

Review the Map of the Persian Empire

² His great achievements and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Media and Persia.  

³ Mordecai the Jew became the prime minister, with authority next to that of King Xerxes himself.

• Mordecai was rewarded with a high government position.

Mordecai became the prime minister, with authority next to that of King Xerxes himself.

Joseph ranked second in the Egyptian dynasty.

Daniel ranked high in both the Babylonian and Medo-Persian Empires.

He was very great among the Jews, who held him in high esteem, because he continued to work for the good of his people and to speak up for the welfare of all their descendants.

• Mordecai was held in high esteem by his people, the Jews.

Nowhere in the book of Esther does it say that Mordecai was a righteous man or that he was careful to follow the Law of Moses.

There are no farther details about Mordecai or Esther.

King Xerxes was assassinated in 465 B.C. (less than ten years later.)

• God’s sovereignty is clearly seen in the book of Esther. Many things happened that were beyond anyone’s control except that of God, who oversees history.

• • • (Chapter 1) The king’s wise men advised King Xerxes to banish Queen Vashti from his presence forever and choose another queen more worthy than Queen Vashti.

• • • (Chapter 2) Esther, a Jew, was placed in a position in which she could help the nation Israel, even before Israel needed help.

• • • (Chapter 2) Mordecai is at the right place at the right time. – Mordecai heard two guards plotting to assassinate King Xerxes.

• • • (Chapter 3) Lots were cast to determine the best day and month for the execution of the Jews to take place.  –  The Jews would have nearly a year to prepare themselves for this event.

• • • (Chapter 4) Esther’s rise to power at this precise time.  Esther’s position as Xerxes’ favored wife and queen allowed her to influence the king in such a way it would favor the Jewish people.

• • • The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases. (Chapter 5)

• • • (Chapter 6) The night between the first and second banquet hosted by Esther, the king had trouble sleeping.  Listening to 12 years of recorded history being read to him, the king discovered the account of how Mordecai exposed a plot to have him (King Xerxes) assassinated.  King Xerxes is reminded of the fact that nothing has been done for Mordecai for saving the king’s life.

• • • (Chapter 7) The king appears to be surprised to hear that Esther is a Jew.  Esther was able to ask the king to spare her life and the lives of her people.

• • • (Chapter 8) A decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring that gave the Jews authority to unite to defend their lives. They were allowed to kill, slaughter, and annihilate anyone of any nationality or province who might attack them or their children and wives, and to take the property of their enemies.

• • • (Chapter 9) The enemies of the Jews could not make a stand against them, for everyone was afraid of them.

The Festival of Purim

The Greatness of Xerxes and Mordecai

• Mordecai and Queen Esther established (proposed v.23) the Festival of Purim.

• The Jews celebrated Purim with eating, rejoicing, giving gifts of food to each other, and giving gifts to the poor.

• The festival of Purim was for remembering the goodness of God working through a number of circumstances to protect His people from extinction.

• The date of this celebration (events leading up to this celebration) had been determined by casting lots (the lots were called purim).

• Now more than 2,400 years later, the festival of Purim is still celebrated annually by the Jews.

• The people decided to observe the Festival of Purim. (A decree by Mordecai and Queen Esther would not have meant much without it being accepted by the Jewish people.)

• King Xerxes imposed a tax throughout his empire. (Showing the extent of his power.)

• Mordecai was rewarded with a high government position.

• Mordecai was held in high esteem by his people, the Jews.

• God’s sovereignty is clearly seen in the book of Esther. Many things happened that were beyond anyone’s control except that of God, who oversees history.

The Victory of the Jews.  God will preserve His chosen people.

Esther 9:1-19 NLT
The Victory of the Jews
9 So on March 7 the two decrees of the king were put into effect. On that day, the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but quite the opposite happened. It was the Jews who overpowered their enemies. ² The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the king’s provinces to attack anyone who tried to harm them. But no one could make a stand against them, for everyone was afraid of them. ³ And all the nobles of the provinces, the highest officers, the governors, and the royal officials helped the Jews for fear of Mordecai. ⁴ For Mordecai had been promoted in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces as he became more and more powerful.
⁵ So the Jews went ahead on the appointed day and struck down their enemies with the sword. They killed and annihilated their enemies and did as they pleased with those who hated them. ⁶ In the fortress of Susa itself, the Jews killed 500 men. ⁷ They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha— ¹⁰ the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not take any plunder.
¹¹ That very day, when the king was informed of the number of people killed in the fortress of Susa, ¹² he called for Queen Esther. He said, “The Jews have killed 500 men in the fortress of Susa alone, as well as Haman’s ten sons. If they have done that here, what has happened in the rest of the provinces? But now, what more do you want? It will be granted to you; tell me and I will do it.”
¹³ Esther responded, “If it please the king, give the Jews in Susa permission to do again tomorrow as they have done today, and let the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be impaled on a pole.”
¹⁴ So the king agreed, and the decree was announced in Susa. And they impaled the bodies of Haman’s ten sons. ¹⁵ Then the Jews at Susa gathered together on March 8 and killed 300 more men, and again they took no plunder.
¹⁶ Meanwhile, the other Jews throughout the king’s provinces had gathered together to defend their lives. They gained relief from all their enemies, killing 75,000 of those who hated them. But they did not take any plunder. ¹⁷ This was done throughout the provinces on March 7, and on March 8 they rested, celebrating their victory with a day of feasting and gladness. ¹⁸ (The Jews at Susa killed their enemies on March 7 and again on March 8, then rested on March 9, making that their day of feasting and gladness.) ¹⁹ So to this day, rural Jews living in remote villages celebrate an annual festival and holiday on the appointed day in late winter, when they rejoice and send gifts of food to each other.

Examine the Scriptures
Esther 9:1-19 NLT
The Victory of the Jews

^9:1 So on March 7 the two decrees of the king were put into effect.

Esther 3:13 NLT
¹³ Dispatches were sent by swift messengers into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order that all Jews—young and old, including women and children—must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. This was scheduled to happen on March 7 of the next year. The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them. 

Esther 8:10-11 NLT
Mordecai sent the dispatches by swift messengers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king’s service.
¹¹ The king’s decree gave the Jews in every city authority to unite to defend their lives. They were allowed to kill, slaughter, and annihilate anyone of any nationality or province who might attack them or their children and wives, and to take the property of their enemies. ¹² The day chosen for this event throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes was March 7 of the next year. 

• On March 7^th Haman’s decree and Mordecai’s decree were put into effect.

Two opposing forces will come face to face.

Many thought it was the enemies of the Jews vs. the Jews.

In reality it was the enemy of the Jews vs. God. 

On that day, the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them,

According to verse 16 we know that there were at least 75,000 enemies of the Jews.

• The enemies of the Jews hoped to overpower the Jews. 

but quite the opposite happened.

The tables are turned.

It was the Jews who overpowered their enemies. 

God was preserving the Jewish race.

Genesis 17:1-8 NLT
^17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. ² I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.”
³ At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, ⁴ “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! ⁵ What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. ⁶ I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!
⁷ “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁸ And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.” 

² The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the king’s provinces to attack anyone who tried to harm them. 

But no one could make a stand against them, for everyone was afraid of them. 

The enemies of the Jews were now afraid of the Jews.

The opportunity to get rich at someone else’s expense lost its appeal.

Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

• The enemies of the Jews could not make a stand against the Jews, for everyone was afraid of them.

³ And all the nobles of the provinces, the highest officers, the governors, and the royal officials helped the Jews for fear of Mordecai. 

The government authorities helped the Jews.

To be pro-Jewish would put one in favor with the king and his court.

Numbers 24:9 NLT (Genesis 12:3)
 Like a lion, Israel crouches and lies down;
like a lioness, who dares to arouse her?
Blessed is everyone who blesses you, O Israel,
and cursed is everyone who curses you.” 

• The nobles of the provinces, the highest officers, the governors, and the royal officials helped the Jews. 

⁴ For Mordecai had been promoted in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces as he became more and more powerful.

• By God’s sovereign intervention, Mordecai was now in a position of authority.

The popular phrase found in Esther chapter 4:14, “Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”  could easily be adapted to apply to Mordecai by saying, “Who knows if perhaps you, Mordecai, have “been promoted in the king’s palace” for just such a time as this?”

This principle also applies to us:

Ephesians 2:10 NLT
¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

1 Corinthians 12:18 NLT
¹⁸ But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.

⁵ So the Jews went ahead on the appointed day and struck down their enemies with the sword. They killed and annihilated their enemies and did as they pleased with those who hated them.  

They were allowed to kill, slaughter, and annihilate anyone of any nationality or province who might attack them or their children and wives, (8:11) 

This was a defensive (self-defense) action. 

⁶ In the fortress of Susa itself, the Jews killed 500 men.  

⁷ They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha— ¹⁰ the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews.

Esther 5:11 NLT
¹¹ and (Haman) boasted to them about his great wealth and his many children. 

• Everything Haman had boasted about was gone.

• In the fortress of Susa alone, the Jews killed 500 men plus the ten sons of Haman. 

But they did not take any plunder. 

The enemies of the Jews were motivated by “plunder”.

The king’s decree gave the Jews permission to take plunder (Esther 8:11)

The Jews were fighting to save their lives and to preserve the Jewish race.

By not taking any plunder it made their motives clear.

• The Jews killed and annihilated their enemies and did as they pleased with those who hated them. But they did not take any plunder. 

¹¹ That very day, when the king was informed of the number of people killed in the fortress of Susa, ¹² he called for Queen Esther. He said, “The Jews have killed 500 men in the fortress of Susa alone, as well as Haman’s ten sons.

If they have done that here, what has happened in the rest of the provinces?

But now, what more do you want? It will be granted to you; tell me and I will do it.”

This is the fifth time King Xerxes agreed to give Esther what she asked for.

(5:3, 5:6, 7:2, 8:8 similar, here)

¹³ Esther responded, “If it please the king, give the Jews in Susa permission to do again tomorrow as they have done today,

Probably because Esther knew that there were still armed enemies in Susa committed to carrying out Haman’s decree.

and let the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be impaled on a pole.”

A visual warning. (This was not an unusual practice in the ancient Near East.)

¹⁴ So the king agreed, and the decree was announced in Susa.

The King granted Esther’s wish, but this was also a good political move.  It was not in the king’s interest to have warring parties in the capitol city plotting to kill one another.

And they impaled the bodies of Haman’s ten sons.  

¹⁵ Then the Jews at Susa gathered together on March 8 and killed 300 more men,

300 more men were killed in Susa.

• The Jews killed an additional 300 men in the fortress of Susa. (Totaling 800 plus the ten sons of Haman.)

To allow enemies of the Jews to remain active in one of the capitols of the Persian Empire could have had long lasting negative impacts on the Jewish community.

Haman alone was a huge political threat to the Jews.

and again they took no plunder.

The Jews were not doing this for money.

¹⁶ Meanwhile, the other Jews throughout the king’s provinces had gathered together to defend their lives. They gained relief from all their enemies, killing 75,000 of those who hated them.

• Outside of Susa the Jews killed 75,000 of their enemies.

Anti-Semitism exists throughout history,

BUT

God promises to preserve His Chosen People.

Jeremiah 30 NLT
Promises of Deliverance
¹ The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, ² “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Write down for the record everything I have said to you, Jeremiah. ³ For the time is coming when I will restore the fortunes of my people of Israel and Judah. I will bring them home to this land that I gave to their ancestors, and they will possess it again. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
⁴ This is the message the Lord gave concerning Israel and Judah. ⁵ This is what the Lord says:
…
¹¹ For I am with you and will save you,”
says the Lord.
…
¹⁶ “But all who devour you will be devoured,
and all your enemies will be sent into exile.
All who plunder you will be plundered,
and all who attack you will be attacked.
^…
19 There will be joy and songs of thanksgiving,
and I will multiply my people, not diminish them;
I will honor them, not despise them.
²⁰     Their children will prosper as they did long ago.
I will establish them as a nation before me,
and I will punish anyone who hurts them.
…
²² You will be my people,
and I will be your God.”

• Anti-Semitism exists throughout history, but scripture records God promises to preserve His Chosen People.

But they did not take any plunder. 

Clearly the Jews were not in this for financial gain.  They were in this to defend their lives.

¹⁷ This was done throughout the provinces on March 7, and on March 8 they rested, celebrating their victory with a day of feasting and gladness. 

¹⁸ (The Jews at Susa killed their enemies on March 7 and again on March 8, then rested on March 9, making that their day of feasting and gladness.) 

It was only in Susa that the fighting lasted for two days.

• The Jews rested and celebrated their victory with a day of feasting and gladness.

¹⁹ So to this day, rural Jews living in remote villages celebrate an annual festival and holiday on the appointed day in late winter, when they rejoice and send gifts of food to each other.

This will be discussed in more detail in the next lesson.

In today’s lesson:

What goes around comes around.

The tables are turned.

            But

Note the similarities.

Esther 8 NLT
A Decree to Help the Jews
^8:1 On that same day King Xerxes gave the property of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Then Mordecai was brought before the king, for Esther had told the king how they were related. ² The king took off his signet ring—which he had taken back from Haman—and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s property.
³ Then Esther went again before the king, falling down at his feet and begging him with tears to stop the evil plot devised by Haman the Agagite against the Jews. ⁴ Again the king held out the gold scepter to Esther. So she rose and stood before him.
⁵ Esther said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor with him, and if he thinks it is right, and if I am pleasing to him, let there be a decree that reverses the orders of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, who ordered that Jews throughout all the king’s provinces should be destroyed. ⁶ For how can I endure to see my people and my family slaughtered and destroyed?”
⁷ Then King Xerxes said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “I have given Esther the property of Haman, and he has been impaled on a pole because he tried to destroy the Jews. ⁸ Now go ahead and send a message to the Jews in the king’s name, telling them whatever you want, and seal it with the king’s signet ring. But remember that whatever has already been written in the king’s name and sealed with his signet ring can never be revoked.”
⁹ So on June 25 the king’s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Mordecai dictated. It was sent to the Jews and to the highest officers, the governors, and the nobles of all the 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. The decree was written in the scripts and languages of all the peoples of the empire, including that of the Jews. ¹⁰ The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. Mordecai sent the dispatches by swift messengers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king’s service.
¹¹ The king’s decree gave the Jews in every city authority to unite to defend their lives. They were allowed to kill, slaughter, and annihilate anyone of any nationality or province who might attack them or their children and wives, and to take the property of their enemies. ¹² The day chosen for this event throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes was March 7 of the next year.
¹³ A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all peoples, so that the Jews would be ready to take revenge on their enemies on the appointed day. ¹⁴ So urged on by the king’s command, the messengers rode out swiftly on fast horses bred for the king’s service. The same decree was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa.
¹⁵ Then Mordecai left the king’s presence, wearing the royal robe of blue and white, the great crown of gold, and an outer cloak of fine linen and purple. And the people of Susa celebrated the new decree. ¹⁶ The Jews were filled with joy and gladness and were honored everywhere. ¹⁷ In every province and city, wherever the king’s decree arrived, the Jews rejoiced and had a great celebration and declared a public festival and holiday. And many of the people of the land became Jews themselves, for they feared what the Jews might do to them.

Examine the Scriptures
Esther 8 NLT
A Decree to Help the Jews

Begin at Esther 7:9
⁹ Then Harbona, one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Haman has set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall in his own courtyard. He intended to use it to impale Mordecai, the man who saved the king from assassination.”
“Then impale Haman on it!” the king ordered. ¹⁰ So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided.

Counsel for the Hamans of this world. (Really this is counsel for all of us.)

Isaiah 3:11 NLT
¹¹ But the wicked are doomed,
for they will get exactly what they deserve.

Proverbs 26:27 NLT
²⁷ If you set a trap for others,
you will get caught in it yourself.
If you roll a boulder down on others,
it will crush you instead.

Galatians 6:7 NLT
⁷ Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.

Colossians 3:25 NLT
²⁵ But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites.

Proverbs 22:8 NLT
⁸ Those who plant injustice will harvest disaster,
and their reign of terror will come to an end.

Matthew 7:1-2 NLT
^7:1 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. ² For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.

Matthew 7:12 NLT
¹² “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.

^8:1 On that same day King Xerxes gave the property of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther.

By Persian custom, King Xerxes confiscated Haman’s property.

• Just as Haman had promised the wealth of the Jews to those who would kill them, King Xerxes gave the property of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther.

Note the similarity:

Esther 3:13 …the property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them.

Then Mordecai was brought before the king, for Esther had told the king how they were related. ² The king took off his signet ring—which he had taken back from Haman—and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s property.

Again the tables are turned.

Note the similarity:

Esther 3:10 NLT
¹⁰ The king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his signet ring from his finger and giving it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.

• The signet ring that Haman had used to seal the decree to destroy the Jewish people was now given to the Jewish person he had most wanted to destroy.

Mordecai now had the power Haman had wanted so desperately.

³ Then Esther went again before the king, falling down at his feet and begging him with tears to stop the evil plot devised by Haman the Agagite against the Jews. 

• Esther went again before the king begging him to stop the evil plot devised by Haman against the Jews.

Previously King Xerxes had agreed to Haman’s request to have a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of (his) empire…, who refuse to obey the laws of the king, destroyed .

Esther 3:8-11 NLT
⁸ Then Haman approached King Xerxes and said, “There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live. ⁹ If it please the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 10,000 large sacks of silver to the government administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury.”
¹⁰ The king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his signet ring from his finger and giving it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. ¹¹ The king said, “The money and the people are both yours to do with as you see fit.”

• • • • • A decree to execute all of the Jews in the Persian Empire was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring.

• • • • • A decree sealed with the king’s signet ring was irrevocable

⁴ Again the king held out the gold scepter to Esther. So she rose and stood before him.

• Again King Xerxes welcomed Esther into his presence.

⁵ Esther said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor with him, and if he thinks it is right, and if I am pleasing to him, let there be a decree that reverses the orders of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, who ordered that Jews throughout all the king’s provinces should be destroyed. ⁶ For how can I endure to see my people and my family slaughtered and destroyed?”

• Esther was asking the king to reverse a law signed with the King’s seal.
• Esther was asking the king to do something he was unable to do.

⁷ Then King Xerxes said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “I have given Esther the property of Haman, and he has been impaled on a pole because he tried to destroy the Jews. ⁸ Now go ahead and send a message to the Jews in the king’s name, telling them whatever you want, and seal it with the king’s signet ring. But remember that whatever has already been written in the king’s name and sealed with his signet ring can never be revoked.”

• According to Persian law whatever has been written can never be revoked. That meant that Haman’s decree could not be reversed.

Daniel 6:8 NLT
⁸ And now, Your Majesty, issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.”

• However, Mordecai could write different or counter-decree to supersede the first decree and seal them with the king’s signet ring which would make it difficult to carry out Haman’s decree.

⁹ So on June 25 the king’s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Mordecai dictated. It was sent to the Jews and to the highest officers, the governors, and the nobles of all the 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. The decree was written in the scripts and languages of all the peoples of the empire, including that of the Jews. ¹⁰ The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. 

Note the similarity:

Esther 3:12 NLT
¹² So on April 17 the king’s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Haman dictated. It was sent to the king’s highest officers, the governors of the respective provinces, and the nobles of each province in their own scripts and languages. The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. 

Mordecai sent the dispatches by swift messengers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king’s service.
¹¹ The king’s decree gave the Jews in every city authority to unite to defend their lives. They were allowed to kill, slaughter, and annihilate anyone of any nationality or province who might attack them or their children and wives, and to take the property of their enemies. ¹² The day chosen for this event throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes was March 7 of the next year.

The king’s decree did not permit the Jewish people to start a war but to defend themselves and plunder the property of those who attacked them.

Note the use of:

defend
kill, slaughter, and annihilate
take the property of their enemies

Here the king is using Haman’s words.

Esther used Haman’s words in 7:4

Again, note the similarity:

Esther 3:13 NLT
¹³ (Haman’s) Dispatches were sent by swift messengers into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order that all Jews—young and old, including women and children—must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. This was scheduled to happen on March 7 of the next year. The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them.

• A decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring that gave the Jews authority to unite to defend their lives. They were allowed to kill, slaughter, and annihilate anyone of any nationality or province who might attack them or their children and wives, and to take the property of their enemies.

¹³ A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all peoples, so that the Jews would be ready to take revenge on their enemies on the appointed day. ¹⁴ So urged on by the king’s command, the messengers rode out swiftly on fast horses bred for the king’s service. The same decree was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa.

• The king could not reverse the orders of Haman but this decree, written by Mordecai, would allow the Jews to establish justice by correcting wrongs committed against them.

¹⁵ Then Mordecai left the king’s presence, wearing the royal robe of blue and white, the great crown of gold, and an outer cloak of fine linen and purple. 

• Mordecai was honored. 

And the people of Susa celebrated the new decree.  

Note the difference:

Esther 3:15 NLT
¹⁵ At the king’s command, the decree went out by swift messengers, and it was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa fell into confusion.

• The people of Susa celebrated the new decree.  Many of the Persian people did not share Haman’s hatred toward the Jews. They understood the injustice of the original decree and the justice of the new decree. 

¹⁶ The Jews were filled with joy and gladness and were honored everywhere. ¹⁷ In every province and city, wherever the king’s decree arrived, the Jews rejoiced and had a great celebration and declared a public festival and holiday.

• The Jewish people saw that the king himself now favored them.

And many of the people of the land became Jews themselves, for they feared what the Jews might do to them.

• The new decree gave hope to the Jewish people.

 

 

 

 

 

The King Executes Haman

Esther 7 NLT
^7:1 So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet. ² On this second occasion, while they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “Tell me what you want, Queen Esther. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”
³ Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request, I ask that my life and the lives of my people will be spared. ⁴ For my people and I have been sold to those who would kill, slaughter, and annihilate us. If we had merely been sold as slaves, I could remain quiet, for that would be too trivial a matter to warrant disturbing the king.”
⁵ “Who would do such a thing?” King Xerxes demanded. “Who would be so presumptuous as to touch you?”
⁶ Esther replied, “This wicked Haman is our adversary and our enemy.” Haman grew pale with fright before the king and queen. ⁷ Then the king jumped to his feet in a rage and went out into the palace garden.
Haman, however, stayed behind to plead for his life with Queen Esther, for he knew that the king intended to kill him. ⁸ In despair he fell on the couch where Queen Esther was reclining, just as the king was returning from the palace garden.
The king exclaimed, “Will he even assault the queen right here in the palace, before my very eyes?” And as soon as the king spoke, his attendants covered Haman’s face, signaling his doom.
⁹ Then Harbona, one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Haman has set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall in his own courtyard. He intended to use it to impale Mordecai, the man who saved the king from assassination.”
“Then impale Haman on it!” the king ordered. ¹⁰ So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided.

Examine the Scriptures

Esther 7 NLT
The King Executes Haman

^7:1 So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet. 

Remember how chapter 6 ended.

^6:14 While they were still talking, the king’s eunuchs arrived and quickly took Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared.

• Haman may not have known the connection between Esther and Mordecai.

Esther 5:5-9 NLT
⁵ The king turned to his attendants and said, “Tell Haman to come quickly to a banquet, as Esther has requested.” So the king and Haman went to Esther’s banquet.  ⁶ …
⁹ Haman was a happy man as he left the banquet! But when he saw Mordecai sitting at the palace gate, not standing up or trembling nervously before him, Haman became furious.

• Haman was a happy man when he left the first banquet. 

² On this second occasion,

• King Xerxes and Haman attend Esther’s second banquet.

Five banquets are mentioned in the book of Esther.

 Two given by King Xerxes.
One given by Queen Vashti.
Two are given by Queen Esther.

while they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “Tell me what you want, Queen Esther. What is your request?

I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”

• Again King Xerxes promised Esther that he would grant her wish.

Note:  Throughout the story King Xerxes treats Esther well.

³ Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request,

Esther was well “coached’.

Esther received lots of good training and council from Mordecai.

Esther received good training from the personnel in the king’s haram.

Esther was a receptive student.

Esther was respectful and her words were well chosen.

• Respectful appeals go a long way.

I ask that my life and the lives of my people will be spared. 

This time Esther got right to the point.  She petitioned for her life and for the lives of her people.

Esther was appealing to the king to spare the Jews much like Moses had appealed to Pharaoh.

⁴ For my people and I have been sold to those who would kill, slaughter, and annihilate us. 

Esther explained that all her people had been sold into extension.

Esther 3:9 NLT
⁹ If it please the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 10,000 large sacks of silver to the government administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury.”

Esther 4:7 NLT
⁷ Mordecai told him the whole story, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. 

Esther used Haman’s words.

Esther 3:13 NLT
¹³ Dispatches were sent by swift messengers into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order that all Jews—young and old, including women and children—must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. This was scheduled to happen on March 7 of the next year. The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them. 

• Esther asks the king to spare her life and the lives of her people.

• It is now clear to King Xerxes that Esther is a Jew.

Esther 2:8-20 NLT
⁸ As a result of the king’s decree, Esther, along with many other young women, was brought to the king’s harem at the fortress of Susa and placed in Hegai’s care. … ¹⁰ Esther had not told anyone of her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had directed her not to do so. ¹¹…¹⁷ And the king loved Esther more than any of the other young women. He was so delighted with her that he set the royal crown on her head and declared her queen instead of Vashti. ¹⁸ ….
¹⁹ Even after all the young women had been transferred to the second harem and Mordecai had become a palace official, ²⁰ Esther continued to keep her family background and nationality a secret. She was still following Mordecai’s directions, just as she did when she lived in his home.

If we had merely been sold as slaves, I could remain quiet, for that would be too trivial a matter to warrant disturbing the king.”

• Esther humbly justifies her request because of the severity of the attack on her and her people.

Esther would have known how upset King Xerxes had gotten with Vashti when she was not submissive to the king.

⁵ “Who would do such a thing?” King Xerxes demanded. “Who would be so presumptuous as to touch you?” 

• The king appears to be surprised by what he was hearing.

Again King Xerxes did not get upset with Esther.

King Xerxes appeared to want to protect Esther.

He asked for more information about who was doing such a thing to Esther and her people. 

⁶ Esther replied, “This wicked Haman is our adversary and our enemy.”

Haman grew pale with fright before the king and queen. 

Haman’s honor had quickly turned to humiliation, and then to horror.

• At this point in time, Haman knew that his fate was sealed.

⁷ Then the king jumped to his feet in a rage and went out into the palace garden.

He could have gone into the palace garden for any number of reasons.  Scripture does not go into detail about this action.

The king may have wanted to be alone to process all the information he had just heard.  It appears that he was hearing things for the first time. 

Haman, however, stayed behind to plead for his life with Queen Esther, for he knew that the king intended to kill him.  

⁸ In despair he fell on the couch where Queen Esther was reclining, just as the king was returning from the palace garden.

Even under normal circumstances it would be inappropriate to touch a Persian queen, much less be on the same couch with her.

• Haman pleads for his life.

Remember:

Proverbs 16:18 NLT
¹⁸ Pride goes before destruction,
and haughtiness before a fall.

Luke 14:11 NLT
¹¹ For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

James 4:6 NLT
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”

The king exclaimed, “Will he even assault the queen right here in the palace, before my very eyes?”

• King Xerxes interpreted Haman’s plea for mercy to be an act of violence against Esther, rather than a plea for mercy.

And as soon as the king spoke, his attendants covered Haman’s face, signaling his doom.

Covering the head of a condemned prisoner is a well-known custom. 

⁹ Then Harbona, one of the king’s eunuchs (and no friend of Haman), said, “Haman has set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall in his own courtyard. He intended to use it to impale Mordecai, the man who saved the king from assassination.”

The third of three capitol offenses charged against Haman.

1. 1. He had manipulated the king in planning to kill the queen’s people.
   2. He was perceived to accost the queen.
   3. He planned to execute a man whom the king had just honored for loyalty to the kingdom. 

“Then impale Haman on it!” the king ordered. ¹⁰ So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided.

• Haman is impaled on the pole he had set up for Mordecai.

Psalm 9:15-16 NLT
¹⁵ The nations have fallen into the pit they dug for others.
Their own feet have been caught in the trap they set.
¹⁶ The Lord is known for his justice.
The wicked are trapped by their own deeds. 

The tables have now been turned, but the Jews were still in serious trouble.

The king’s edict to eradicate them was still in effect.

Review:

Esther 3:12 NLT
¹² So on April 17 the king’s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Haman dictated. It was sent to the king’s highest officers, the governors of the respective provinces, and the nobles of each province in their own scripts and languages. The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. 

• A decree to execute all of the Jews in the Persian Empire was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring.

• A decree sealed with the king’s signet ring was irrevocable

Per a Persian decree there would still be a great slaughter of many innocent people because of the wicked actions of Haman.

The King Honors Mordecai

Esther 6 NLT
^6:1 That night the king had trouble sleeping, so he ordered an attendant to bring the book of the history of his reign so it could be read to him. ² In those records he discovered an account of how Mordecai had exposed the plot of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs who guarded the door to the king’s private quarters. They had plotted to assassinate King Xerxes.
³ “What reward or recognition did we ever give Mordecai for this?” the king asked.
His attendants replied, “Nothing has been done for him.”
⁴ “Who is that in the outer court?” the king inquired. As it happened, Haman had just arrived in the outer court of the palace to ask the king to impale Mordecai on the pole he had prepared.
⁵ So the attendants replied to the king, “Haman is out in the court.”
“Bring him in,” the king ordered. ⁶ So Haman came in, and the king said, “What should I do to honor a man who truly pleases me?”
Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?” ⁷ So he replied, “If the king wishes to honor someone, ⁸ he should bring out one of the king’s own royal robes, as well as a horse that the king himself has ridden—one with a royal emblem on its head. ⁹ Let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. And let him see that the man whom the king wishes to honor is dressed in the king’s robes and led through the city square on the king’s horse. Have the official shout as they go, ‘This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor!’”
¹⁰ “Excellent!” the king said to Haman. “Quick! Take the robes and my horse, and do just as you have said for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the gate of the palace. Leave out nothing you have suggested!”
¹¹ So Haman took the robes and put them on Mordecai, placed him on the king’s own horse, and led him through the city square, shouting, “This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor!” ¹² Afterward Mordecai returned to the palace gate, but Haman hurried home dejected and completely humiliated.
¹³ When Haman told his wife, Zeresh, and all his friends what had happened, his wise advisers and his wife said, “Since Mordecai—this man who has humiliated you—is of Jewish birth, you will never succeed in your plans against him. It will be fatal to continue opposing him.”¹⁴ While they were still talking, the king’s eunuchs arrived and quickly took Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared.

Examine the Scriptures

Esther 6 NLT
The King Honors Mordecai

^6:1 That night

The night between the first and second banquet.

the king had trouble sleeping,

• The night between the first and second banquet hosted by Esther, the king had trouble sleeping.

Coincidence?  I don’t think so!

Again, God’s sovereignty is at work.

so he ordered an attendant to bring the book of the history of his reign so it could be read to him.  

Ancient kings kept recorded history of their reigns.

Reading can help put a person to sleep.

² In those records

At this point in time there would have been 12 years of recorded history for the reign of King Xerxes.

he discovered an account of how Mordecai had exposed the plot of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs who guarded the door to the king’s private quarters. They had plotted to assassinate King Xerxes.

• Listening to 12 years of recorded history being read to him, the king discovered the account of how Mordecai exposed a plot to have him (King Xerxes) assassinated.

Esther 2:21-23 NLT
²¹ One day as Mordecai was on duty at the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthana and Teresh—who were guards at the door of the king’s private quarters—became angry at King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him. ²² But Mordecai heard about the plot and gave the information to Queen Esther. She then told the king about it and gave Mordecai credit for the report.  ²³ When an investigation was made and Mordecai’s story was found to be true, the two men were impaled on a sharpened pole. This was all recorded in The Book of the History of King Xerxes’ Reign.

This event took place 5 years prior to this part of the story.

What are the odds that this particular event would be read to the king?

³ “What reward or recognition did we ever give Mordecai for this?” the king asked.

His attendants replied, “Nothing has been done for him.”

Persian kings were known for their generosity to their supporters.  (Some things don’t change.)

King Xerxes was about to make this right and would recognize Mordecai for saving his life.

If the king had already recognized Mordecai, the following events would not have taken place. 

• King Xerxes is reminded of the fact that nothing has been done for Mordecai for saving the king’s life.

The story now shifts to Haman.

The tables are about to be turned. 

⁴ “Who is that in the outer court?” the king inquired. 

As it happened, 

“As it happened” 

Haman had just arrived in the outer court of the palace to ask the king to impale Mordecai on the pole he had prepared.

Haman just arrived to ask King Xerxes to allow him to kill the man who was responsible for saving the King’s life.  This is the man the king was about to reward.

Wrong time with a wrong reason.

⁵ So the attendants replied to the king, “Haman is out in the court.”

“Bring him in,” the king ordered.  

• Haman arrives in the outer court of the palace to ask the king to impale Mordecai on the pole he had prepared. 

⁶ So Haman came in, and the king said, “What should I do to honor a man who truly pleases me?”

Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?” 

The egotistical Haman assumed that King Xerxes wanted to honor him.

Once again Haman would have been filled with joy and enthusiasm.

⁷ So he replied, “If the king wishes to honor someone, ⁸ he should bring out one of the king’s own royal robes, as well as a horse that the king himself has ridden—one with a royal emblem on its head. ⁹ Let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. And let him see that the man whom the king wishes to honor is dressed in the king’s robes and led through the city square on the king’s horse. Have the official shout as they go, ‘This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor!’”

This was a description of a very unique honor.

Haman thought that he was describing the honor he was about to receive.

More than anything, Haman wanted respect from the people of the city.  He delighted in public acclaim and recognition.

Haman already had great wealth. (Esther 3:9)

Haman already had power.  (Esther 3:1)

Be careful what you ask for.

• When Haman responded to the king’s question, “What should I do to honor a man who truly pleases me?” he thought that he was describing an honor he was about to receive. 

¹⁰ “Excellent!” the king said to Haman.

The king liked Haman’s suggestions.

“Quick! Take the robes and my horse, and do just as you have said for Mordecai the Jew,

Haman must have been in utter shock.

Haman’s heart most likely “skipped a beat”.

Haman would have been completely dejected.

Haman had no choice, but to obey the king.

Haman had to show respect to Mordecai.  This is the exact opposite of what he wanted.

Remember the words of Joseph.

Genesis 50:19-20 NLT
¹⁹ But Joseph replied … ²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.

• Haman must have been completely shocked when he realized that he had to publicly show respect to Mordecai, a man he hated.

This is the first of 5 times Mordecai is called “the Jew”.

who sits at the gate of the palace. Leave out nothing you have suggested!”

A Jew was about to be honored in the Persian Empire.

This is the exact opposite of Haman’s wish:

Esther 3:8-10 NLT
⁸ Then Haman approached King Xerxes and said, “There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live. ⁹ If it please the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 10,000 large sacks of silver to the government administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury.”
¹⁰ The king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his signet ring from his finger and giving it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 

¹¹ So Haman took the robes and put them on Mordecai, placed him on the king’s own horse, and led him through the city square, 

shouting, “This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor!” 

Mordecai was being treated like a king.

God is looking out for his people.

• Haman has no choice, but to obey the king. 

¹² Afterward Mordecai returned to the palace gate, but Haman hurried home dejected and completely humiliated.

The tables are turned.

• Mordecai reverts back to his normal routine while Haman hurries home dejected and completely humiliated.

¹³ When Haman told his wife, Zeresh, and all his friends what had happened,
his wise advisers and his wife said, “Since Mordecai—this man who has humiliated you—is of Jewish birth, you will never succeed in your plans against him. It will be fatal to continue opposing him.”

The text does not explain why Zeresh and all his friends said what they said.

But we do know why this would be true.

The Old Testament is full of stories of God protecting and preserving His chosen people.

Jeremiah 29:10-14 NLT
¹⁰ This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. ¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² In those days when you pray, I will listen. ¹³ If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”

• The Old Testament is full of stories of God protecting and preserving His chosen people. Somehow, Zeresh and Haman’s friends must have known this was happening again at this point in time. 

¹⁴ While they were still talking, the king’s eunuchs arrived and quickly took Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared.

An event Haman had once desired he now dreaded, but he most likely had no idea of just how bad things would turn out.

Esther’s Request to the King

Esther 5 NLT
^5:1 On the third day of the fast, Esther put on her royal robes and entered the inner court of the palace, just across from the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne, facing the entrance. ² When he saw Queen Esther standing there in the inner court, he welcomed her and held out the gold scepter to her. So Esther approached and touched the end of the scepter.
³ Then the king asked her, “What do you want, Queen Esther? What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”
⁴ And Esther replied, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a banquet I have prepared for the king.”
⁵ The king turned to his attendants and said, “Tell Haman to come quickly to a banquet, as Esther has requested.” So the king and Haman went to Esther’s banquet.
⁶ And while they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “Now tell me what you really want. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”
⁷ Esther replied, “This is my request and deepest wish. ⁸ If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request and do what I ask, please come with Haman tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for you. Then I will explain what this is all about.”

Haman’s Plan to Kill Mordecai
⁹ Haman was a happy man as he left the banquet! But when he saw Mordecai sitting at the palace gate, not standing up or trembling nervously before him, Haman became furious. ¹⁰ However, he restrained himself and went on home.
Then Haman gathered together his friends and Zeresh, his wife, ¹¹ and boasted to them about his great wealth and his many children. He bragged about the honors the king had given him and how he had been promoted over all the other nobles and officials.
¹² Then Haman added, “And that’s not all! Queen Esther invited only me and the king himself to the banquet she prepared for us. And she has invited me to dine with her and the king again tomorrow!” ¹³ Then he added, “But this is all worth nothing as long as I see Mordecai the Jew just sitting there at the palace gate.”
¹⁴ So Haman’s wife, Zeresh, and all his friends suggested, “Set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall, and in the morning ask the king to impale Mordecai on it. When this is done, you can go on your merry way to the banquet with the king.” This pleased Haman, and he ordered the pole set up.

Examine the Scriptures

Esther 5 NLT
Esther’s Request to the King

^5:1 On the third day of the fast,

Review

Mordecai has asked Esther to go to the king and plead for her people, the Jews.

Esther had been very apprehensive about doing this. (We can relate to this.)

Esther 4:16 NLT
¹³ Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. ¹⁴ If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”
¹⁵ Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶ “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” ¹⁷ So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him. 

• Mordecai and all the Jews of Susa, along with Esther and her maids fasted for three days.

A reminder for us.

Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Esther put on her royal robes and entered the inner court of the palace, just across from the king’s hall.

Esther had prepared, by fasting, and was ready to go to the king with her request. 

The king was sitting on his royal throne, facing the entrance. ² When he saw Queen Esther standing there in the inner court, he welcomed her and held out the gold scepter to her.

A reminder of God’s sovereignty.

Romans 13:1 NLT
Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. 

Proverbs 21:1 NLT
The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord;
he guides it wherever he pleases.

• The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases.

King Xerxes welcomed Esther.

So Esther approached and touched the end of the scepter. 

³ Then the king asked her, “What do you want, Queen Esther? What is your request?

• The king made it easy for Esther to make a request.

I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”

This comment should not be taken literally. It simply meant that the king would be generous toward her request.

Mark 6:22-23 NLT
²¹… on Herod’s birthday. He gave a party for his high government officials, army officers, and the leading citizens of Galilee. ²² Then his daughter, also named Herodias, came in and performed a dance that greatly pleased Herod and his guests. “Ask me for anything you like,” the king said to the girl, “and I will give it to you.” ²³ He even vowed, “I will give you whatever you ask, up to half my kingdom!” 

⁴ And Esther replied, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a banquet I have prepared for the king.”

It was an unusual honor to be invited to a banquet with the Queen.  Persian officials were protective of their wives.

• Esther shares her real wish in chapter 7.

⁵ The king turned to his attendants and said, “Tell Haman to come quickly to a banquet, as Esther has requested.” So the king and Haman went to Esther’s banquet.

⁶ And while they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “Now tell me what you really want. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”

King Xerxes knew that Esther was not asking for what she really wanted. 

⁷ Esther replied, “This is my request and deepest wish. ⁸ If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request and do what I ask, please come with Haman tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for you. Then I will explain what this is all about.”

It may seem strange that Esther asked for a second banquet.

We don’t know Esther’s thoughts.

We don’t always know God’s thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT
⁸ “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
⁹ For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

Note: Remember, at this point in time King Xerxes had forgotten how Mordecai had heard about a plot, by two of the king’s eunuchs, to kill the king.

Without this information fresh in his mind, King Xerxes may not have looked favorably on Mordecai and the Jews.

God would providentially intervene between the two banquets.

• Remember, at this point in time King Xerxes had forgotten how Mordecai had heard about a plot, by two of the king’s eunuchs, to kill the king.

• God would providentially intervene between the two banquets.

Haman’s Plan to Kill Mordecai

⁹ Haman was a happy man as he left the banquet!

Happy

But when he saw Mordecai sitting at the palace gate, not standing up or trembling nervously before him, Haman became furious. 

Furious

• Haman was on an emotional roller coaster. He went from feeling happy to becoming furious.

It could be seen as a very special privilege to be the guest of honor at a private banquet with only the king and queen two days in a row.

¹⁰ However, he restrained himself and went on home. 

Then Haman gathered together his friends and Zeresh, his wife, ¹¹ and boasted to them about his great wealth and his many children.

Boasted

He bragged about the honors the king had given him and how he had been promoted over all the other nobles and officials.

Bragged

Proverbs 16:18 NLT
¹⁸ Pride goes before destruction,
and haughtiness before a fall.

1 Corinthians 10:12 NLT
¹² If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.

Galatians 6:3 NLT
³ If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.

• Haman personified sinful pride.

• Pride goes before destruction.

¹² Then Haman added, “And that’s not all! Queen Esther invited only me and the king himself to the banquet she prepared for us. And she has invited me to dine with her and the king again tomorrow!” 

It could be seen as a very special privilege to be the guest of honor at a private banquet with only the king and queen two days in a row. 

¹³ Then he added, “But this is all worth nothing as long as I see Mordecai the Jew just sitting there at the palace gate.”

Haman was obsessed with the idea of killing Mordecai.

As long as Mordecai was alive, Haman’s great wealth, his many children, the honors he had received from the king, and his promotions over all the other nobles and officials were worth nothing to him.

Hate destroys:

Proverbs 14:30 NLT
³⁰ A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body;
jealousy is like cancer in the bones.

Hebrews 12:15 NLT
¹⁵ Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.

Proverbs 10:12 NLT
¹² Hatred stirs up quarrels, …

1 John 3:15 NLT
¹⁵ Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.

• Hate destroys.

• Scripture tells us to get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.

Ephesians 4:31 NLT
³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.

Proverbs 19:11 NLT
¹¹ Sensible people control their temper;
they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.

1 Corinthians 4:12 NLT
¹² We work wearily with our own hands to earn our living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who abuse us.

1 Peter 3:9 NLT
⁹ Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.

Luke 6:27-28 NLT
²⁷ “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. ²⁸ Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.

¹⁴ So Haman’s wife, Zeresh, and all his friends suggested, “Set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall, and in the morning ask the king to impale Mordecai on it.

75 feet tall is unusually high.

This is as tall as an eight story building.

This would tower above most, if not all, of the surrounding structures.

• Haman’s wife, Zeresh, and all his friends suggested, “Set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall, and in the morning ask the king to impale Mordecai on it.

When this is done, you can go on your merry way to the banquet with the king.” This pleased Haman, and he ordered the pole set up.

• Haman believed that he could “go on his merry way” if Mordecai was dead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mordecai Requests Esther’s Help

Introduction

Note: Nothing has been said so far in the book of Esther to suggest Esther and Mordecai were people of great faith in Yahweh.

Neither the word for God nor the name Yahweh (Lord), occurs in the book of Esther.

Even though the name of God is nowhere mentioned in the book, His sovereignty, divine guidance, and care are evident throughout the story.

Esther is a story of foreign powers vigorously trying to eliminate the Jewish race and how God sovereignly preserved His people in accordance with His covenant promise to Abraham.

Esther 4 NLT
Mordecai Requests Esther’s Help
^4:1 When Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on burlap and ashes, and went out into the city, crying with a loud and bitter wail. ² He went as far as the gate of the palace, for no one was allowed to enter the palace gate while wearing clothes of mourning. ³ And as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes.
⁴ When Queen Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, she was deeply distressed. She sent clothing to him to replace the burlap, but he refused it. ⁵ Then Esther sent for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been appointed as her attendant. She ordered him to go to Mordecai and find out what was troubling him and why he was in mourning. ⁶ So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the square in front of the palace gate.
⁷ Mordecai told him the whole story, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. ⁸ Mordecai gave Hathach a copy of the decree issued in Susa that called for the death of all Jews. He asked Hathach to show it to Esther and explain the situation to her. He also asked Hathach to direct her to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her people. ⁹ So Hathach returned to Esther with Mordecai’s message.
¹⁰ Then Esther told Hathach to go back and relay this message to Mordecai: ¹¹ “All the king’s officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter. And the king has not called for me to come to him for thirty days.” ¹² So Hathach gave Esther’s message to Mordecai.
¹³ Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. ¹⁴ If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”
¹⁵ Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶ “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” ¹⁷ So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

Examine the Scriptures
Esther 4 NLT
Mordecai Requests Esther’s Help

^4:1 When Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on burlap and ashes, and went out into the city, crying with a loud and bitter wail. 

Mordecai’s response was dramatic.

Tearing his clothes, putting on burlap and ashes, and crying publicly signified mourning.

An outward sign of inward distress and humiliation.

Matthew 11:21 NLT
²¹ …clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse.

• Mordecai’s feud with Haman had caused a great crisis for his whole nation.

Perhaps Mordecai was remorseful for having revealed his nationality and thus having endangered the lives of thousands of his people.

• Mordecai tearing his clothes, putting on burlap and ashes, and crying publicly signified that he was in mourning.

² He went as far as the gate of the palace, for no one was allowed to enter the palace gate while wearing clothes of mourning. 

We know this was where official business took place.  Apparently the king did not want his officials distracted. 

³ And as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes. 

• Jews throughout the provinces heard the king’s decree and responded much like Mordecai. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many lay in burlap and ashes.  Note: God’s name is not mentioned.

⁴ When Queen Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, she was deeply distressed.

As the queen of Persia, Esther had many luxuries and was waited on by maids and eunuchs.

• Esther’s unique position in the haram apparently shut her off from normal lines of communication. 

She sent clothing to him to replace the burlap, but he refused it. 

Wearing these garments Mordecai could then enter the king’s gate and talk to Esther directly. (See v. 2)

⁵ Then Esther sent for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been appointed as her attendant. 

She ordered him to go to Mordecai and find out what was troubling him and why he was in mourning. 

• Apparently Esther was unaware of the king’s edict to have all of the Jews executed. 

⁶ So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the square in front of the palace gate. 

⁷ Mordecai told him the whole story, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. ⁸ Mordecai gave Hathach a copy of the decree issued in Susa that called for the death of all Jews. He asked Hathach to show it to Esther and explain the situation to her.

• The fact that Mordecai possessed this specific knowledge and a copy of the edict further shows his prominent position in Persia.

• Esther now knew the details of the King’s edict and how it came about.

• Hathach would now know that Esther was a Jew. 

He also asked Hathach to direct her to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her people. ⁹ So Hathach returned to Esther with Mordecai’s message.

Mordecai asked Hathach to direct Esther to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her people.

¹⁰ Then Esther told Hathach to go back and relay this message to Mordecai: ¹¹ “All the king’s officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter.

• Esther reminded Mordecai that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter.

And the king has not called for me to come to him for thirty days.” 

Esther had not been in the presence of the king for a month.

This does not mean that Esther had fallen from the king’s favor.

¹² So Hathach gave Esther’s message to Mordecai.

¹³ Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. 

Esther 3:12-13 NLT
¹² … a decree was written exactly as Haman dictated. … The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. ¹³ … giving the order that all Jews—young and old, including women and children—must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. 

• A decree sealed with the king’s signet ring was irrevocable. (Previous chapter.)

• Mordecai planted the idea in Esther’s mind that she would die if she did not act.

If Esther does not exercise her individual responsibility, she and her family will die.

¹⁴ If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, 

• Mordecai knew God’s promises and realized that God would not allow his chosen people to be annihilated.

Genesis 17:1-8 NLT
^17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. ² I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.”
³ At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, ⁴ “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! ⁵ What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. ⁶ I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!
⁷ “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁸ And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.” 

but you and your relatives will die.

Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

God’s providential timing.

A hint of Mordechai’s belief in God’s providence.

• Esther’s rise to power at this precise time was not just a coincidence. Esther’s position as Xerxes’ favored wife and queen was a role God had given her to influence history for the Jewish people.

The story of Joseph.
Genesis 45:5-7 NLT
⁵ But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. ⁶ This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. ⁷ God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. 

In Joseph’s story, Joseph knew God was using him to preserve Jacob’s family.

¹⁵ Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶ “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day.

• Esther was convinced that she needed to act.

No eating or drinking for three days was a serious fast.

No mention of prayer.

An indication of Esther’s faith in God.

Daniel
Daniel 9:3 NLT
³ So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes. 

My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” 

• Esther was willing to die for her people.

It was a serious undertaking to go in to see the king without an invitation.

¹⁷ So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

Most translations say “ordered” or “commanded”.

• Esther and Mordecai are seen as great patriots on behalf of the Jewish nation, but are not presented as righteous people, like others in the Old Testament who fully trusted the Lord.