Esther 1 - 10
Thank you for continuing this journey of The Gospel Project®
for Kids. Let’s set the scene for the account of how Esther saved her
people. The Babylonian captivity had ended while Cyrus was king. Some of
God’s people—now referred to as Jews (people from Judah)—traveled back
to Judah to rebuild the temple, the city, and their lives. Others,
however, stayed in Persia where life among the pagans had become
relatively comfortable.
Ahasuerus (uh haz yoo
EHR uhs), also known by his Greek name, Xerxes (ZUHRK seez), was the
king of Persia. Esther was a young Jewish girl who became queen by
winning a beauty contest of sorts. Before becoming queen, Esther was an
orphan raised by her cousin Mordecai.
Mordecai
had an enemy, Haman the Agagite (a descendant of Agag, king of the
Amalekites). The king gave Haman an important position in the kingdom;
people were supposed to bow down to Haman when he passed by. Mordecai
refused. Infuriated, Haman wanted to destroy not only Mordecai but all
of the Jews in the kingdom.
Mordecai
turned to Esther for help. After all, she was in a position of power;
and the Jews were her people. The stakes were high, but Esther
approached the king and explained her people’s plight. God was in
control over Haman’s evil plan to destroy the Jews. Like Haman, Satan
wants to destroy believers. He thought he had won when Jesus died on the
cross, but God raised Jesus from the dead and defeated Satan once and
for all. (Heb. 2:14-15)
No comments:
Post a Comment