The Story of Queen Esther, Part 1 (Esther 1-8)

Today’s Bible story has four main characters. They are Ahasuerus, the king of Persia; Esther who became Queen of Persia; Mordecai, Esther’s cousin; and Haman, a wicked and powerful servant of King Ahasuerus. Many Jews lived in the cities of Persia at that time, and Mordecai and Esther where Jews. Esther’s parents died when she was a young girl, and Mordecai took her into his home and raised her as his own child. How did Esther become queen? King Ahasuerus picked her as being the most beautiful woman in all the land to replace the previous Queen Vashti who disobeyed him. The way it all happened is not a good part of this Bible Story, but at the same time the providence of God worked things out for Esther to become the new queen. It was a risky situation because no one knew Esther was a Jew, not even the king. Mordecai really cared for Esther and spent a lot of time at the gate of the palace, and Esther was able see him from the window of the palace as he walked by. One day while he was sitting at the gate, Mordecai saw and heard two men that were planning to kill the king. He sent word to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king about the threat on his life. The men were punished by death, and a report of Mordecai’s good deed was written in the book of records of the kingdom. Now, as we said, Haman was a man of great power in the kingdom. When he walked by everyone bowed down to him. However, Mordecai would not bow down because he believed we should bow down to no man but to God only. I agree with Mordecai, don’t you? Tomorrow we will learn of Haman’s wicked plan to kill Mordecai and all the Jews in Persia. Don’t miss it!