First of all, King Xerxes was rocking a pretty huge empire at this time...486-465 B.C. Maybe you have heard of it, its called the Persian Empire and Xerxes was one of the most powerful men in the world. If you have seen the movie 300, you know who I am talking about, that movie was based on a battle that took place during Xerxes 6th year as king, 480 B.C.
In chapter 1, we see how rich the King is and how he just does work wherever he goes. His Queen, Queen Vashti refuses to come to the King when he calls for her. So King Xerxes banishes her from the Kings presence and he has a "beauty pageant" to pick his next queen.
In Chapter 2, Esther becomes queen because she is the hottest thing in the empire. Xerxes thinks she is incredible and "she was admired by everyone who saw her" (2:15). Xerxes did not know that she was a Jew, but her decision to keep quiet about it would prove to be one of the most important decisions in the history of the Jewish Nation. Finally, near the end of the chapter, Mordecai (Esther's Cousin/Adopted Father) overhears some men plotting against the King and he quickly told Queen Esther and the men were found to be guilty.
In Chapter 3, Haman becomes the most powerful official in the empire. Haman required that people bow to him when he walked by to show that he was the most important man in the empire, outside of King Xerxes himself. But, Mordecai refused to bow to him, causing great anger. Then, Haman found out the Mordecai was a Jew and decided that all Jews in the empire need to be killed. So they decide that on March 7, 474 B.C. that ALL Jews will be killed. This is a near Holocaust situation, all Jews had been exiled to the Persian Empire, so the entire race would be destroyed!
In Chapter 4, Queen Esther is asked to help. She is hesistant at first, but Mordecai gets here with the sentence from verse 14 "Who knows if perhaps you were made Queen for such a time as this."
In Chapter 5, King Xerxes agrees to do whatever Queen Esther wants because he is completely blown away by her. Meanwhile, Haman is still planning to kill Mordecai, then all of the Jews around a year later.
In Chapter 6, The King finally honors Mordecai for his good deed in Chapter 2! Its kinda funny because the King was struggling to sleep, so he ordered an attendant to read the history of his reign to him. When he did, he was reminded that Mordecai saved his life. At that same time, Haman is in the outer palace planning out how to kill Mordecai! Xerxes calls him in and asks him what he should do to honor Mordecai (without telling Haman that was who was to be honored). Haman says that he should be paraded through the the streets...so Xerxes tells Haman to go and get Mordecai and parade him through the streets!! Haman was obviously humiliated by this turn of events.
In Chapter 7, Queen Esther cleverly calls Haman to the palace for dinner with herself and King Xerxes and eventually Haman is impaled on a pole that he made to impale Mordecai on.
In Chapters 8-10, the Jews are saved from destruction and Mordecai becomes Prime Minister of the Persian Empire.
In Conclusion, God is soverign. God knew that at this exact time in history the Queen had to be a Jew if His chosen people were to be saved. God also let an enemy of the Israelites make his own impaling pole and not know it. Being an enemy of God is like standing on a stool, with a noose around your neck. He can kick the chair or wait for you to fall on your own but either way...the enemies of God will be destroyed. I love this book and the courage of the Jewish Nation during this time of possible annihilation. What a great story of God keeping those he loves.
Chase Culbertson
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