This post is the first in a series of studies about “Esther”.

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Esther – Day 1

Esther is the only book of the Bible which never mentions The Lord. But He was obviously part of the story, and like many stories, God has things to teach us through it. The introduction to the book of Esther is letting us know that the king was very rich!

Esther 1:1-3

This is what happened during the time of Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush (Upper Nile region) At that time King Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa, and in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for his nobles and officials. The military leaders of Persia and Media, the princes and the nobles of the provinces were present.

The Thought

The introduction to the book of Esther is letting us know that the king was rich. Very rich!

In some Bibles King Xerxes is called King Ahasuerus. (Don’t ask me why!) He reigned over a huge territory for about 20 years around 486BC and he was extremely rich!

This is the only book of the Bible which never mentions The Lord. But He was obviously part of the story, and like many stories, God has things to teach us through it.

The beginning of the book of Esther is early in Xerxes’ reign, and we can imagine that this generous ruler wanted to get all his high ranking staff together for a celebration.

As a new king over such a huge territory it was easier to get his representatives to come to him than for him to go visiting each area. We can also imagine that it took many of them several weeks to get to Susa from the outskirts of the kingdom.

Action

Ask yourself today…

• Who would you invite to a “no expenses spared” party?
• How far would you travel to eat with a ruling monarch?

Praise God today that you and I don’t have to travel anywhere to meet with Jesus, our ruling monarch. He comes to us, wherever we are. And we don’t have to fight for an audience either, He is always listening, not just to our words, but to our hearts.

Praise Him too for the great banquet that we will share with Father God and our Bridegroom once we all get to Heaven. (Revelation 19:9)