#Nofilter - Esther

Chapter 1
XERXES IS HAVING A MASSIVE PARTY:

Then Memukan replied in the presence of the king and the nobles, “Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes. For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.’ This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility who have heard about the queen’s conduct will respond to all the king’s nobles in the same way. There will be no end of disrespect and discord.
Esther 1:16-18

Chapter #2
NOW WE HAVE A BACHELOR KING LONELY:

Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This advice appealed to the king, and he followed it.
Esther 2:4

Chapter #3
AND THE PLOT THICKENS:

Chapter #4
ESTHER GETS WORD FROM MORDECAI ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING:
For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
Esther 4:14

Chapter #5
ESTHER HAS A PLAN:

Chapter #6
CRAZY IRONY:
His attendants answered, “Haman is standing in the court.” “Bring him in,” the king ordered. When Haman entered, the king asked him, “What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?” Now Haman thought to himself, “Who is there that the king would rather honor than me?”
Esther 6:5-6

So he answered the king, “For the man the king delights to honor, have them bring a royal robe the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head. Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them robe the man the king delights to honor, and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!’”
Esther 6:7-9

“Go at once,” the king commanded Haman. “Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended.”
Esther 6:10

Chapter #7
ESTHER’S REQUEST:

Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.
Esther 7:3-4

King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?”
Esther 7:5

Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life. Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?” As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.
Esther 7:6-8

Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A gallows reaching to a height of 75 feet stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.” The king said, “Impale him on it!” So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided.
Esther 7:9-10

THE QUESTION FOR US:
How can we leverage our current circumstances for God’s purpose?

Opportunity and Influence

“… Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life.”
Philippians 2:14-16