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An Argument of the Book of Esther MESSAGE STATEMENT:1
THE PRESERVATION OF MORDECAI AND THE JEWS UNDER KING AHASUERUS
FROM THE PERSECUTION INITIATED THROUGH HAMAN WAS PROVIDENTIALLY
REALIZED THROUGH THE PERSONS OF MORDECAI, ESTHER, & KING
AHASUERUS AND COMMEMORATED THROUGH THE INAUGURATION OF THE FEAST
OF PURIM
I. SETTING THE SCENE--ESTHER ELEVATED TO QUEEN OF PERSIA: After
king Ahasuerus rashly demoted his wife, Vashti, because of
her rebelliousness, he replaced her with Esther who had a
preserving presence as she obeyed her uncle Mordecai's words
1:1--2:23
A. Vashti's Dethronement: In the midst of emotion king
Ahasuerus issued an edict forbidding Queen Vashti to
ever come before him again due to her rebelliousness
1:1-22
1. The Great Banquets of Xerxes: 1:1-9
2. Vashti's Fall: 1:10-22
a. Vashti's Refusal to Obey the King: 1:10-12
b. The Wise Men's Advise against Vashti: 1:13-22
B. Esther's Rise to Power: After the king replaced his
queen with Esther, she demonstrated herself to have a
preserving presence as she listened to the words of her
uncle Mordecai 2:1-23
1. The Rise of Esther: When the king sought a woman
to replace the queen, he was pleased with Esther
and chose her 2:1-18
a. The Search for a New Queen: 2:1-4
b. Esther's Rise as a Candidate for Queen: 2:5-
11
c. The Traditional Procedure for a Candidate:
2:12-14
d. Esther Chosen as Queen: 2:15-18
2. Esther's Preserving Presence: Queen Esther
continued to be obedient to her uncle Mordecai
causing her to conceal her race, the king's life
to be rescued from an assassination plot, and
Mordecai's good deed to be recorded in the history
book 2:19-23
II. HAMAN'S PLOT TO KILL MORDECAI & THE JEWS: After Haman was
appointed Prime Minister, he had his pride offended by
Mordecai, causing him to devise a plan to kill all of the
Jews in the kingdom, and to secure the King's approval for
the destruction 3:1-15
A. Haman's Anger with Mordecai: After Haman was appointed
with authority over all of the princes who were with
him, he became enraged at Mordecai who being a Jew
would not bow down or pay homage to him at the king's
gate, causing Haman to devise a plan to kill Mordecai
through killing all of his people 3:1-6
1. Haman Promoted 3:1
2. Haman Provoked: 3:1-5
3. Haman's Initial Plot: 3:6
B. A Day of Revenge Chosen by Lot and Approved by the
King: After casting lots, Haman determined the
thirteenth day of the twelfth as the time to destroy
the Jews and received permission from King Ahasuerus to
slay all of the Jews and to receive their plunder into
the King's treasury 3:7-15
1. Haman's Plot Developed: 3:6-9
2. King Ahasuerus' Proclamation: 3:10-15
III. MORDECAI'S PLAN TO SAVE THE JEWS THROUGH ESTHER: After
Mordecai responded to the decree of extermination with
sackcloth and ashes outside the palace gate, he urged Esther
to intervene on behalf of her people, whereupon she at first
refused, but then agreed with the supportive prayer of
Mordecai and other 4:1-17
A. Mordecai's Personal Response: Mordecai responded to the
king's decree by standing outside of the palace gate in
sackcloth and ashes 4:1-3
B. Esther's First Response: Esther heard of the king's
edict, but did not want to confront the king as
Mordecai requested for fear of her life 4:4-12
C. Esther's Second Response: When Mordecai rejected
Esther's excuse and reminded her of who she was (a Jew)
and of God's sovereignty in placing her as queen, she
agreed to go to the king while Mordecai and others
prayed 4:13-17
IV. A PROVIDENTIAL REVERSAL--MORDECAI EXALTED & HAMAN DESTROYED:
Although Haman continued to plot against Mordecai in his
prideful arrogance, he was providentially overturned in his
evil through the king's sudden honor of Mordecai and
Esther's timely preparation and exposure of Haman at her
banquets causing Haman to be killed and Mordecai to be
exalted 5:1--8:2
A. Banquet Invitations and The First Banquet: Esther
appeared before the king and invited him and Haman to a
banquet, and then at that banquet, to another banquet
to prepare the king for her request: 5:1-8
B. Haman's Continued Plot against Mordecai: Haman, though
pleased with the special attention he has received,
still had his pride hurt when Mordecai would not honor
him, so he plotted to kill Mordecai 5:9-14
C. Haman's Humiliation--His Plot Backfires and Mordecai is
Honored: After reading the kingdom's records, the king
desired to honor Mordecai for saving his life; so when
Haman, thinking that the king was going to honor him,
advised how a man ought to be honored, he was told to
bestow that honor on Mordecai causing Haman's family to
affirm his downfall before he was called to the next
banquet 6:1-14
1. The King's Discovery of an Unrewarded Deed by
Mordecai: 6:1-5
2. Mordecai Honored: 6:6-11
3. Haman's Wife Affirms His Downfall: 6:12-13
4. Haman Summoned to the Next Banquet: 6:14
D. Second Banquet: At the second banquet Haman's plot to
kill Mordecai and the Jews was exposed by Esther to the
king and Haman was put to death 7:1-10
E. Mordecai's Elevation: Haman's possessions were given to
Esther and Mordecai was given Haman's position as well
as charge of his estate 8:1-2
V. A SECOND, EXTENDED, PROVIDENTIAL REVERSAL--THE JEWS OVER
THEIR ENEMIES: When the king responded to Esther's pleading
for the lives of the Jews, he issued a counter edict to that
of Haman which allowed the Jews to defend themselves and
realize victory over their enemies 8:3--9:19
A. Counter Authority over Haman's Edict: When Esther
pleaded to the king for the lives of the Jews, he
provided to her and Mordecai the authority to counter-
act the previous edict from Haman 8:3-8
B. Jewish Hoped Increased: When Mordecai wrote and sent an
edict giving the Jews the permission to defend
themselves from Haman's edict, the hope of the Jews was
greatly increased 8:9-17
C. Jewish Victory Realized: When the two edicts were
carried out, the enemies of the Jews were destroyed and
even an extra day was given to the Jews at Susa for
this 9:1-19
1. A Great Slaughter: 9:1-10
2. Vengeance in Susa: 9:11-15
3. Celebration in the Provinces and in Susa: 9:16-19
VI. EPILOGUE--INSTITUTION OF THE FEAST OF PURIM & THE PROMINENCE
OF MORDECAI THE JEW: As a conclusion to the book Mordecai
established the feast of Purim under Esther's authority and
Mordecai was exalted to a place of authority in Ahasuerus'
great kingdom 9:20-10:3
A. Institution of the Feast of Purim: The feast of Purim
was established to remember the deliverance of the Jews
from Haman's edict 9:20-32
1. Mordecai's Letter--The Command to Observe Purim:
9:20-28
2. Esther's Confirmation of the Command: Under
Esther's authority Mordecai established the days
of Purim 9:29-32
B. The Prominence of Mordecai the Jew: Mordecai became an
important person in the great kingdom of king Ahasuerus
10:1-3
1. King's Record: 10:1-2
2. Mordecai's Greatness: 10:3
___________________________
1 This outline is adapted through my own study from the
analyses of Gleason L. Archer, Jr. A Survey of Old Testament
Introduction, 425; Gary W. Derickson, "An Argument of Esther,"
(Paper submitted for the course 372 Seminar in Old Testament
Historical Literature, Spring 1989); Andrew E. Hill and John H.
Walton, A Survey of the Old Testament, 232; F. B. Huey, Jr.
"Esther." in The Expositor's Bible Commentary, 773-839, vol. 4.
(Grand Rapids: Regency Reference Library, Zondervan, 1988);
Jeffrey L. Townsend, "The Book of Esther," (unpublished class
notes in 302 Old Testament History II, Dallas Theological
Seminary, Fall 1983).
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