Cornerstone Class Outline for 3/31/19
·
Announcements,
praises and prayer requests—Joe Kerns
·
Introduction:
o
Good morning! I
hope you’re enjoying the nice weather.
 |
| Purchase Mornings with Larry at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HNQKB1L |
§ The big news is that I bought a Bing cherry tree
instead of a Black Tartarian, because Black Tartarians weren’t available. The
Bing will cross pollinate just fine with my Rainier cherry.
o
Today we begin
the book of Esther. I have a handout [see below] that I put together that gives
a one-page overview of Esther.
§ Figuring the historical context and dates took me the
most time when I prepared this.
§ We’ll watch the nice 9-minute video on Esther at a
future date. It will be fun watching that after we’ve spent time learning
Esther.
o
[spend a few
minutes going over the handout]
·
Let’s read Esther
1:1-5 NIV:
1 This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the
Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush: 2 At that
time King Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa, 3 and in
the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his nobles and officials.
The military leaders of Persia and Media, the princes, and the nobles of the
provinces were present.
4 For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of
his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. 5 When these days were
over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days, in the enclosed garden of
the king’s palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest who were
in the citadel of Susa.
o
Again, the
Persian empire stretched from the border of India to the border of Greece,
including a large part of northern Africa (Cush).
·
QUESTIONS on Esther
1:1-5
o
Keep in mind that
the Persian empire was often at war with Greece. Why did Xerxes feel the need to invest so much time, energy and expense
in throwing such a lavish party for guests that included military leaders,
nobles, officials and even common people?
§ It was likely that Xerxes threw the party to garner
support for a military campaign against Greece.
§ He also wanted to butter up common men, because these
were the ones who would do the actual fighting.
·
Let’s read Esther
1:8-12 NIV:
8 By the king’s command each guest was allowed to
drink with no restrictions, for the king instructed all the wine stewards to
serve each man what he wished.
9 Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in
the royal palace of King Xerxes.
10 On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high
spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him—Mehuman,
Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Karkas— 11 to bring before him
Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the
people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. 12 But when the attendants
delivered the king’s command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king
became furious and burned with anger.
·
QUESTIONS on
Esther 1:8-12
o
Here’s the
setting. Queen Vashti has been ordered to display her beauty in front of
hundreds, perhaps over a thousand drunken men. Did she show courage in refusing Xerxes’ order or was she being a
rebellious, disrespectful wife?
§ In his book, Esther:
A Woman of Strength and Dignity, Chuck Swindoll writes, “I, too, admire
Queen Vashti. In the midst of an unsavory scene she was brave enough to say no
to that which was blatantly wrong, and in resisting this insulting act of
indignity, she took a stand against the greatest power in her universe. Good
for her!”
·
Application/Conclusion
·
Closing prayer
Book of Esther: Overview
One-Sentence Summary:
The
book of Esther is about a beautiful young Jewish woman who becomes queen and
risks her life to prevent the annihilation of all the Jews in the vast Persian
empire.
Author: Unknown, but possibly
Mordecai
Setting and Historical Context:
·
The story of
Esther begins in 483 BC, during the reign of Xerxes I, ruler of the huge Persian
(aka Persian-Median) empire that spanned from Pakistan through Turkey to the
border of Greece, and included parts of northern Africa. Ancient historian
Herodotus described Xerxes as the “tallest and most handsome of the Persian
kings.” (quote by Karen Jobes)
·
The Persian empire
was often at war with Greece to the west. Persia would eventually be conquered
by Greece (under Alexander the Great) in 330 BC.
·
The Babylonian
captivity had ended about 56 years earlier under Persian king Cyrus II (the
Great), who decreed in 539 BC that the Jews could return to their homeland and
rebuild the temple in Jerusalem (completed in 516 BC under King Darius I).
·
Mordecai and Esther
(means star) were part of a large
population of Jews who remained in Persia, rather than return to Israel.
Themes:
·
God’s providence
and sovereignty the main themes:
o
Seen in many
(seeming) coincidences
o
Seen in a number
of plot reversal
·
Courage: Esther,
Mordecai, Vashti
· Abuse of power: Xerxes, Haman, nobles
·
Pride: self-deceptive,
destructive (Jobes)
·
Feasting! 10
banquets in the book
Purposes:
·
To celebrate
God’s deliverance of the Jewish people and to establish the festival of Purim.
·
To remind the
world that God will uphold His everlasting covenant with Israel, even toward
those Jews living outside of Israel (diaspora). If the Jewish people were annihilated,
then the Abrahamic covenant would have been nullified, and Abraham’s seed
(Jesus the Messiah) would not have been born. In essence, the salvation of the
human race was at stake in Esther.
The Really Big Omission:
·
Esther is the
only book of the Bible where God is not mentioned.
·
However, the sovereign
and providential hand of God is quite evident in the book’s details and plot
twists.
Study tips:
·
The details of
the book of Esther are best understood with the whole in mind.
·
Try to read
through the entire book in one or two sittings to get the big picture.
·
Then, when the
Cornerstone class discusses the book verse-by-verse, the details will make
better sense.
Brief Outline:
I.
Xerxes throws a
huge party, deposes Queen Vashti, and Esther becomes the new queen
II.
Mordecai refuses
to bow to Haman, so Haman plans the genocide of all the Jews in the entire Persian
empire. Xerxes agrees.
III.
Mordecai
persuades Esther to risk her life by pleading with Xerxes for the deliverance
of the Jews.
a.
Xerxes extends
the gold scepter to Esther, preventing her execution.
IV.
Haman found
guilty and impaled on the very pole intended for Mordecai (reversal).
V.
Xerxes enacts a
counter-edict allowing the Jews to defend themselves against their enemies,
thus disempowering Haman’s earlier edict (another reversal).
VI.
Festival of Purim
established.
VII.
Mordecai promoted
to Haman’s former position of power (another reversal).
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