Esther 1 – 3 opens with King Ahasuerus of Persia giving a banquet to show off his wealth. His wife Queen Vashti also gives a party for the women in the palace. The king sent for the queen to come to his party to show off her beauty, but she refuses to come. The king becomes angry. He believes that if other women learn of her behavior they will all disobey their husbands. He bans Vashti from his presence and writes a decree that all men are to be the master in their own home.

King Ahasuerus begins a search for a new queen. All the beautiful young virgins are gathered together to be presented to the king. A Jewish man named Mordecai who came to Babylon at the time of the exile has a cousin Esther, an orphan, whom he raised as his child. She is very beautiful and is gathered with the other beautiful young women. Mordecai tells Esther not to tell the king that she is Jewish. The king loves Esther and makes her his queen.

A man named Haman becomes the head official in the palace. Everyone is supposed to bow to Haman but Mordecai refuses. When Mordecai is asked why he doesn’t bow down to Haman he says it’s because he is a Jew. Haman becomes angry and plots to destroy all the Jews in the kingdom. Haman goes to the king and tells him that the Jews do not obey the king’s laws. He asks that the king make a decree to destroy the Jews and offers to put money into the king’s treasury if the decree is made. The king agrees and makes an edict for all Jews, young and old to be killed and their possessions to be plundered on the 13^th day of the 12^th month. It is distributed throughout the kingdom. Everyone is thrown into confusion by the edict.

We see here one of those household codes that make women property of their husbands. As we read in Ephesians 5, God’s purpose for the family is much different than this.

Esther is the only book in the Bible that does not mention God or prayer specifically. It is clear though, in reading it that the Jews are praying and do believe that God will deliver them. See if you can find those passages which allude to God and prayer.

Psalm 79 is a plea for help from God. Israel has come under attack. The writer asks God to forgive Israel for the sins of its ancestors and then asks that the enemies be punished so that they may know the strength of Israel’s God.