Esther Part 2. Prayer Focus. Esther 3 & 4. Make notes on the following: Her character. Her sorrow/heartache. Her joy/redemption

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1 Esther Part 2 Make notes on the following: Esther 3 & 4 Her character Her sorrow/heartache Her joy/redemption Write a summary of her story Prayer Focus Our lives are busy. Super busy. Managing families, running schedules, zipping around town doing errands, serving in church...the list goes on. Being overly busy clouds our vision of what God is calling us to. Or maybe we use it as an excuse to avoid God s call - because what He asks us to do is often way out of our comfort zone. Let s focus our prayers this week on hearing clearly what God desires us to do and to have the courage to step out in faith to obey and be faithful to Him. I pray that as you gather supernatural courage fromt he Holy Spirit (not on our own), you will be enveloped in His peace and you will see the many blessings He has in store for you as you obey. You will begin to see how important your part is in His-story (history). Notes:

2 Last week, we studied the first two chapters of Esther. Let s now dive into the next two, shall we? Read chapters three and four. In these chapters, we become aware of an evil plot against the Jews and we see the courage and strength of Esther begin to develop. We also see how she loves and respects Mordecai, taking his request under advisement despite the risk that comes with it.. Don t forget to keep track of how often God is mentioned in the bookof Esther. 1. Haman was not a godly man. However, God allowed him to be promoted. Why? _ Sometimes I get angry when I see the ungodly succeed. And I get a bit jealous, too. I know, not good. But it just doesn t seem fair to me that they receive wealth and prosperity (not that I advocate the prosperity gospel...), they get to go on expensive vacations, they have the new, fancy cars...blah, blah, blah. They appear to be more successful than me. Yes, I know that this is not the truth. But, reading this story about Esther and seeing how God planned to have Haman rise in authority and power reminds me that God is sovereign and He allows the ungodly to prosper in order for his plans to come to fruition. And, well, I don t really want to be in the position of the ungodly. No thanks! How does this realization change the way you think about circumstances in your life? _ 2. What was the king s command? Did Mordecai comply? _ What did the servants do with this information? _ If we read verses like Genesis 18:2, 3:7, or 2 Samuel 16:4, we can see that it is OK to pay homage or bow out of respect to political leaders. Perhaps Mordecai knew something more about Haman. Maybe he knew of Haman s lineage (Amalekites) and that they were sworn enemies of Israel. Maybe he just knew that he was a corrupt man. 3. What did Haman s anger and wrath lead him to do?

3 _ Did Haman tell the king the truth? _ Haman neglected, likely on purpose, to tell the king any additional information about these certain people. He made it sound like there was a very small number of dissenters. He mislead the king about the entire situation. Think about a time when you were mislead with false or incomplete information. What happened? What did you learn from the experience? _ 4. Why do you think the city was perplexed? The Jewish people were no small number. They were great in number. Therefore, the Persian citizens around the empire likely knew several Jews and knew they posed no problem whatsoever. So the sudden decree would have been very confusing for them. They did not see their neighbors as threats, so why would the king? It did not make sense. And all of this came from a wicked man whose pride had been bruised. 5. What does Mordecai do in chapter four? He was deeply grieved by the injustice, and he likely knew that it was because of his integrity. Have you ever done something you knew was right but had someone over-react to your decision? Sometimes we can do something that is right and when we see someone else become angry about it, we begin to regret our decision. We doubt that what we decided was right. I think we need to stay focused on living in righteousness, abiding in Christ, so that we are above reproach. We need to understand that when we make decision because of our integrity, there will be people that don t like it. And they will come against us. When we

4 are abiding in Christ, we can be confident in our character. 6. How did Esther react to the news of what Mordecai had done with his clothes? 7. Mordecai was able to get word to Esther about what Haman had done. What did Mordecai challenge Esther to do? And why was this request a dangerous one? How long had it been since Esther had seen the king herself? What does this tell you about being a Persian queen? _ Her argument to Mordecai s request seems reasonable enough. What makes her think that the king would accept her presence? It must have been a terrifying thought! How could Mordecai ask her to risk her life? 8. What was Mordecai s response to Esther s concern? Would she escape the decree just because she was queen? _ In whom did Mordecai place his trust? In Esther or in God? What is the difference? _ Esther s fate depended upon her faithfulness to God. We may not be called to such drastic measures like Esther. But much does depend upon our own faithfulness and obedience to God. Think about a time when you chose to not be faithful to God. What happened?

5 Now consider a time when you remained faithful to God when it was incredibly difficult to do so. What happened? _ 9. What was Mordecai s last word of encouragement for Esther? Mordecai knew what God was calling Esther into. Often, we doubt our own calling. It is so encouraging to have someone come along side us and confirm that calling. God puts us where He wants us so that we would fulfill His purposes. Nothing is ever a coincidence. I love the following quote by Spurgeon. After reading it, make notes on how it encourages you to follow hard after God s call on your life. I believe that in dark times God is making lamps with which to remove the gloom. Martin Luther is sitting by his father s hearth in the forest when the Pope is selling his wicked indulgences: he will come out soon, and stop the crowing of the cock of the Romish Christ-denying Peter. John Calvin is quietly studying when false doctrine is most rife, and he will be heard of at Geneva. A young man is here this morning - I do not know whereabouts he is, but I pray the Lord to make this to be an ordination sermon to him, starting him on his life-work. I feel as if I were Samuel at Bethlehem, seedlings for David, to anoint him with a horn of oil in the name of the Lord. (Spurgeon) 10. Doesn t this chapter end in such an amazing way? Such incredible, Godly strength from Esther! What was Esther s condition of approaching the king uninvited? What did she instruct the Jewish people to do?

6 What is God calling you into today? Can you say, I will do as You command and if I perish, I perish!? It isn t likely that many of us would actually have our lives in danger as Esther did. But, we will likely have to make a sacrifice or two in order to fulfill God s call on our lives. _ To live is Christ, and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21). Additional thoughts/notes:

7 To live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21 To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power. 2 Thessalonians 1:11...for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Romans 11:29 And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 4:14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. Ephesians 4:1