Esther: Becoming a Girl of PurposeSample

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In these verses, we learn quite a bit about our new friend! And someone very special to her, Mordecai, who was both her cousin and adoptive dad. (We’ll come back to him soon.) But for now . . . let’s review a few things we learned about Esther.

Esther was BEAUTIFUL, but sadly she became an ORPHAN when her parents died. Thankfully, she was adopted by her older COUSIN, Mordecai, who took her in and treated her like his own daughter. We also find out from these verses that Esther was JEWISH and living in SUSA.

These were Esther’s CIRCUMSTANCES. And they were about to set her up to be the STAR of GOD’S STORY!

The star of God’s story

In the ancient Persian language, Esther means “star.” It’s a pretty fitting name for her.

You might remember that the CIRCUMSTANCES were looking pretty dark when we studied the first chapter of this book of the Bible. There were big problems in Susa because King Xerxes was not serving God, but himself. He made a pretty big mess for himself when he did not respect Queen Vashti. And now he had to look for a new queen. So, he sent out a decree.

This decree was kind of like an invitation for all the young women in the land. Only, none of them could RSVP “no.” Everyone was required to say “yes” to participating in one of the world’s most unusual beauty contests. And Esther was one of those young women.

Little did she know that it was because God was going to use her to shine some light in the darkness. Oh, her, and someone else.