The Story of Esther in the Bible

The story of Esther opens with a lavish banquet at the palace

of King Ahasuerus, (also known as King Xerxes. The king
had become drunk on wine and commanded that his wife,
Queen Vashti come, at once, to show everyone how beautiful
she was. Queen Vashti refused to obey her husband and didn’t
come when he beckoned. The king was so enraged at her
disrespect and disobedience that he decided to divorce her.
 

The king then arranged for all of the beautiful virgins in his
kingdom to come forth – a type of beauty pageant – so that he
could choose a new queen.
 

Esther, a beautiful young woman in the kingdom, who had

been raised by her cousin Mordecai when her parents died,
was among those who were summoned to the palace. Before
she left, Mordecai told Esther not to tell anyone her
nationality as it could be very dangerous for her. There were
many who despised the Jews. There was a man named Hegai
who was put in charge of preparing the women for meeting
the king. Hegai was struck by Esther’s beauty and she was
given special attention.
When Esther was called before the king to “be paraded”, he
immediately was drawn to her for her beauty and placed the
queen’s crown on her head. King Xerxes/Ahasuerus then held
a grand banquet for his new queen, Esther.
 

One night while Mordecai was sitting by the king’s gate, he

overheard two guards conspiring to assassinate King Xerxes.
Mordecai immediately told Queen Esther of the plan and
Esther told the king. She of course, gave the credit to
Mordecai for his protection of the king and the two guards
were hanged.
 

The King had a “right hand man”, Haman who was full of
pride and haught. When Mordecai refused to bow down the
Haman This bothered Haman to the point of rage. When
Haman found out that Mordecai was a Jew, he decided to kill
not just Mordecai, but all of the Jewish nation. To carry out
his evil plan, Haman convinced King Xerxes that the Jews
opposed the king and advised that they all be killed to protect
the king. The King, relying on his most trusted adviser, agreed
and set a date for the Jews to be killed.
 

When Mordecai learned of Haman and the king’s  plan, he

told Esther about it. He implored her to approach the king to
stop it. Of course, Esther was afraid for her own life, too. No
one was to approach the king, without being first called before
him. Ester tried to avoid taking any action, but Mordecai
again pleaded with Queen Esther to do something to save the
Jewish people.
 

Finally, Esther instructed all of the Jews to join her in fasting

for three days and three nights. At the end of those three days,
she would then approach the king with her request.
 
As promised, Esther went to King Xerxes after the period of
fasting. The king asked her what her request was and told her
she could have up to half the kingdom, if she pleased. Queen
Esther requested that the king and Haman join her at a
banquet the next day. The king said yes, of course,  and asked
Esther to tell him her request at the banquet.
 

Meanwhile Haman was still so infuriated with Mordecai that

the morning before the banquet, he want to set up the pole to
impale Mordecai.
 

Did you ever have one of those nights where you tossed and
turned and couldn’t sleep? Well, the king could not sleep that
night and began to read the book which listed all that occurred
during his reign. The king reread and was reminded of how
Mordecai saved his life by exposing the plot to assassinate
him. He decided that Mordecai deserved a reward for this
good deed, so he called Haman to seek his advice.
 

He asked Haman what should be done for a man whom the

king “delights in”. Haman, being the self-centered, boastful
man that he was, thought the king was referring to him. He
responded by saying that the man should be rewarded by land,
gifts and honor.
 

When the king revealed that the one who he was delighted by
was Mordecai, Haman was furious!
 
The next day, during the banquet Queen Esther had arranged
for the King and Haman, the king again asked Esther what her
request was.
Esther, using all of the bravery she could muster, boldly
requested that she and her people be spared. She further
shared that Haman had  been the one plotting to kill all Jews.
The king was filled with anger against Haman and had him
hanged on the very pole that Haman had set up for Mordecai.
Talk about poetic justice!
 

For an ironnic twist, Queen Esther and Mordecai were given

Haman’s estate and were honored with royal garments. The
king also wrote a special decree to protect all Jews.
 

Whew! What an action-packed story, right? Intrigue,

suspense, gratitude, bravery – all in one beautiful story in the
Bible.
 

  What we can learn from Esther

There’s much we can learn from Esther and her story.
Although, I’m sure there’s even more, here’s my take on what
we can learn from Esther in the Bible.
 

1. God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things

 
Remember that Esther lived in a time when Israel was in
captivity as a consequence to their disobedience to God. She
was just an adopted daughter of a cousin living in a foreign
land. Other than her beauty, she was not unique in any way. In
fact, she was a Jew, which was a minority race that was
frowned upon and at times scorned or worse.. 
 

On a typical day in the Kingdom of Xerxes, God used Esther

to carry out His plan. A plan that He ordained before she was
even born.
 

God can use you, too, for His plans. You just need to submit
to His will and go when and where He calls you. (If you are
struggling with finding God’s calling for your life, see this
post).
 

2. Beauty should not make us boastful

 

From all biblical accounts, Esther was a very beautiful

woman. And, given a whole year of pampering and beauty
treatments, her beauty could only have been enhanced.
 

The king was enthralled with her physical beauty, but her
quiet and humble spirit shone through, especially to Hegai,
the eunuch charged with preparing the virgins for their time
with the king.
 
When the king summoned one of the young maidens, each
was permitted to bring in with her anything she felt would
help her to be more attractive. Esther, however, took only
what Hegai advised and the king was very pleased. So
pleased, that he chose her to be his queen.
 

She could have requested anything. She could have been

demanding, but she was humble and let her inner beauty and
her faith in God shine through.
 

You may have been born with physical good looks, but if your
attitude or personality is sour, no amount of beauty will cover
that up. Remember that God has blessed you with your looks,
but it is up to you to treat people with respect, be humble and
gracious and remember Who created you.
 
 

3. With God’s help, we can step out in faith and fight our
fears
 

Esther was a Jewish woman (a lowly esteemed group) who

was wife to a powerful king. No one, not even the queen, was
to approach the king without being asked. And, remember,
that King Xerxes had an evil member of his cabinet, Haman,
who had already convinced the king to kill all of the Jews.
Can you imagine the fear she would be feeling?
 

Her first reaction was hesitation. She did not want to approach
the king. Instead, she prayed and fasted for three days and
then bravely approached the king.
 

4. Our past doesn’t dictate our future

 As I’ve mentioned, Esther didn’t come from much, but God
had a plan for her life. Esther, an orphan, living in a strange
country, probably didn’t dream of being queen. No matter
where we come from, where we live or the mistakes we’ve
made, we can put that all in the past and move confidently
forward knowing that God has plans for us, for hope and a
future. You, too, my friend. Your past does not dictate your
future – only God can!
 

5. God places mentors in our life to teach us wisdom

Mordecai proved to be a wonderful mentor and parent to
Esther. He gave her good advice before she went to the palace
with the other virgins (don’t share that you are Jewish) and he
continued to give her advice after she became queen.
 

Mordecai was also very loyal. Remember that he went to

Esther when he uncovered the plot of the guards to murder the
king.
 

When he learned of the plan to kill all of the Jews, he asked

Esther to go before the king. We now know that this timely
advice, from her trusted advisor, saved a nation.
 

We all need God-loving mentors in our life will advise,

correct and at times, rebuke. God places these special people
in our lives to raise up the next generation and help them to
follow His ways.
 

If you are facing a struggle, seek the advice of a mentor who

will help you discern and guide you with the Bible as your
compass.
 

Look, too, for other women that you can mentor. Titus 2 calls
“mature” women to teach the younger women. You can touch
the lives of others by acting as a loving guide.
 

6. Our strength does not come from us

 
When Esther was reminded that she may have been made
queen “for such a time as this”, she drew on strength to save
her fellow Jews, but that strength was not of her own. Her
strength came from God. She fasted and prayed and drew on
the supernatural strength from God to approach the king and
save a nation.
 

When you feel weak. When life’s struggles seem

overwhelming and you feel like you just can’t do it. Don’t.
Give it to God and let Him do it for you. Let Him fight your
battles.
 

I love this song that reminds us that He will fight our battles
for us. He, alone, is our strength and stronghold.
 

7. God’s timing is perfect. Ours is flawed.

 

I struggle with this one, myself. I’m so type A. A planner. A

doer. When I see that something needs to be done, I jump
right in. That’s not always the best course of action, however.
Sometimes, I need to wait on God and let His timing play out.
It’s always perfect. Mine, however, not-so-perfect. If I act
immediately, sometimes I mess things up. I’m working on
stopping. Praying and waiting for God to reveal His timing.
I’m a work in progress.
 

When Esther learned of Haman’s plan to massacre the Jews,

she didn’t instantly jump up and run to the king. Rather, she
prayed, fasted and waiting for God to prompt her on when to
approach the king and how to do it.
 

While Esther, Mordecai and the other Jews faster and prayed,
God was keeping a certain king up at night and pointed him to
read the book of the kingdom.
 

If Esther had immediately approached the king when she

heard of the plan to kill the Jews, the king would not have had
the opportunity to read the book and be reminded of
Mordecai’s good deed of saving his life. This, in turn, opened
the door for Mordecai to be honored and Esther to ask the
king to save the lives of the Jews.
 

God’s timing is always perfect. The story of Esther in the

Bible reminds us to pray and wait for God to work.
 

8. Loving others is the most beautiful thing we can do

Jesus reminded us when He paraphrased the Torah and said
that love is the greatest commandment. Loving God and
loving others. THAT is what it’s all about.
 
Esther knew this in her heart and said “When this is done, I
will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I
perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16).
 

She was willing to risk her own life to save the lives of many.
 

While there aren’t too many of us who would be faced with

this type of situation, I pray that, if the situation called for it,
that I would call on God and be willing to risk my own life to
save others.
 

Since many of us won’t ever, thankfully, be faced with this

type of decision, we have many other opportunities each day
to love others as God commands us to. You can get some
ideas and learn more in this post.
 

9. We can make an impact for generations

When Esther stepped up and spoke to save the Jewish people,
she couldn’t have known that she would be impacting
generations to come. Her selfless and brave act have been
celebrated since that time.
 

Could inviting that friend to church and leading her to Jesus

be a catalyst in her whole family being redeemed? Could that
prayer you pray for the inmate, turn their life around and be
the encouragement for them to study at seminary and become
a renknowned pastor who reaches millions?
 

You will never know how one small act of loving others can
make an impact on many. What can you do today which can
impact a generation?
Purim
Mordechai and Esther established a holiday to commemorate
these amazing events. Jews worldwide celebrate on the 14th
of Adar (this usually falls sometime in March in the modern
day calendar). This holiday, called “Purim,” is the most
joyous holiday on the Jewish calendar.
 

Key Bible Verses from the Book of Esther 

There are several beautiful and encouraging Bible verses from
the Book of Esther. I’ve shared a downloadable/printable PDF
for you containing some of these verses. Print them and use
them in your war binder, Bible journaling or consider verse
mapping them. Just click on the image below for your
printable.
 
 
Fun Facts from the Book of Esther
 Queen Esther’s Hebrew name was Hadasaah (“Esther” is
Persian)
Mordechai was the first person in history to be called a
“Jew”.
 

He wasn’t the first Jewish person; he’s thought to be the first

person to be referred to as a Jew rather than an Israelite or
Hebrew.
 

 Achashverosh searched four years for a queen, during

which he considered more than 1400 contestants, before
choosing Esther.
 

 The Word Purim Means Lot –That’s lot as in drawing

lots. In this case it refers to the way Haman chose the
date for slaughtering all of the Jews in Persia.
 

 The earliest observances of Purim are believed to date

back to the 5th century BC.
 

 Mordechai was a very old man during the story of Purim.

(He was already a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest
court of Torah law in Jerusalem, 79 years before the
miracle of Purim!)
 
  The day before Purim is a day of fasting, to
commemorate Esther’s fasting.
 

 God’s name is not mentioned even once in the entire

Book of Esther.