Pre-understandings
· Setting in Time and Place: The Diaspora (The Scattered)
Place: Susa, the Capitol city of Persia (Exile)
Time: Early in the reign of Xerxes (Ahasueras)
Between the early homecoming described in the first half of Ezra and the later homecomings described in the second half of Ezra and Nehemiah
Note the differences between Jews of the Diaspora and the Returnee Jews
o Diaspora Jews bled in and along
o Returnees separate and galvanize a national identity
o Intermarriage
Emphasis on God’s provision for the continuation and survival of His people
The tools God uses
o Xerxes-Easily Manipulated, Alcohol soaked Ruler of a World Super-Power
o Esther (Hadassah)-a beautiful orphaned girl with a secret
o Haman-a power hungry schemer nursing a blood-feud
o Mordecai-the wise and shrewd good uncle of Esther who always seems to be in the right place at the right time
Just when things were going so well… (Reversals and plot twists)
o Vashti flexes her royal muscles only to be deposed-making way for a “Cinderella-like” rinse for Esther (Hadassah)
o Haman is hung on the gallows he built for Mordecai as Mordecai takes over Haman’s home and job
o The “Holocaust” is averted, the slayers become the slain, and many convert to Judaism
Esther 4:14
“Relief and deliverance will arise…Who knew but that you have come for a time such as this?”
What the Enemy intended as evil, God has turned it for good
Consider also the stories of Joseph, young David, and the early chapters of Daniel
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