The Book of Esther
As the book of Esther begins, King Xerxes of Persia summons his wife, Queen Vashti, to his presence. Apparently not in the mood to be admired, the queen refuses in a manner which really rubs the king the wrong way. Sensing that such disrespect would set a bad example for the rest of his kingdom, King Xerxes banishes Vashti from his presence forever. As a result, the search was on for a new queen.
As the young ladies of the kingdom were paraded before the king, a lovely young Jewish girl named Esther caught his eye. Esther had been orphaned and adopted by her cousin Mordecai, who raised her as his own according to Jewish custom. Since the Jews were a persecuted minority, Mordecai had forbidden her from revealing her background out of fear for their safety. Taken by Esther’s beauty, the king made her his queen.
The king’s right-hand man, Haman, had a habit of going through the kingdom and demanding that the people bow to him. Mordecai, however, refused; for a Jew, bowing to any man was considered to be disrespectful to God. Enraged, Haman manipulated the king into believing that the Jews were intent on subverting his authority and therefore needed to be eliminated.
At Mordecai’s urging, Esther eventually goes to the king and exposes Haman’s manipulation. Going before the king required great diplomacy and courage, because doing so could have dire consequences, and may have been punishable by death. Inspired by her faith, Esther proclaims, “I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish (Esther 4:16, NIV). Esther’s courage saved the entire Jewish people.
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