Esther 03.07 l THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD part01

Today’s reading: Esther 01.01-03.15

Esther 03.07 “7 In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, Pur, that is the lot, was cast before Haman from day to day and from month to month, until the twelfth month, that is the month Adar.”

The Book of Esther records the how God used Esther to save the Jews from being wiped out, which then was the beginning of the Feast of Purim, held every year in February-March.

Key People in the Book

-King Ahasuerus (Hebrew name of Xerxes I)

-Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite (Esther 03.01) Haman was a descendant of Agag, who we can read about it as the king of the Amalekites who Saul did not kill in 1Samuel 15.01-35. All throughout the Bible, we see that the Amalekites were trying to harm and disrupt the Jews.

-Esther (Persian for “star”; Hebrew name Hadassah which means “myrtle”) was a Jewish girl whose parents were both dead, and later became Queen.

-Mordecai, Esther’s cousin, raised her and counseled her.

It is the only book that the name of God is found nowhere throughout the book. Though the name of God is never mentioned once in this book, we see the hand of God throughout this book.

Evidence of this is seen in that Esther gained favor from the chief eunuch (Esther 02.09, 15), as well as the king (Esther 02.17) so that now she was queen! The lot (Babylonian word “pur”) was cast in Nisan (March-April) and wasn’t to be executed until Adar (February-March) the following year (Esther 03.07), but we know that even in a pagan ritual like casting lots is controlled by the LORD (Proverbs 16.33)! Just as the enemies of the Jews cast lots to try to annihilate them, so to did the soldiers cast lots for the garments of Jesus (Matthew 27.35)

God put Esther in the position of queen so that He could use her to save the Jews. The name of God is not mentioned in this book, but this book is dripping with the providence of God!

In today’s reading, we see that King Ahasuerus was King of Persia, and he had a huge party that lasted for a total of 180 days (Esther 01.04). The King wanted to show off his queen towards the end of the party, but she refused to come (Esther 01.12)! He then listened to his advisors, made a law and removed her from being queen. After some time, he then became lonely (Esther 02.01), and had a beauty contest, where the king would spend a night with a virgin, and then chose his next queen. Esther was the one chosen. After she became queen, Mordecai heard a plot to kill the king, he then told Esther, who then told the king what she was told by Mordecai. In Esther 03.01-15 Haman was promoted above everyone else. Whenever he went out, people would bow down to him, except Mordecai, and this made him mad! So he then convinced the king to make a law that allowed everyone to kill the Jews!