1. Character Under Pressure
{The Book of Esther}
~ Chapter 1 ~

2. Announcements GroupMe T-shirt sales $15 Bonfire
Launches tomorrow for three weeks only
Buy and share
Sign-up sheet for snacks
Enchanted Forest Fellowship
October 27
Expectations
Be on time
Be prepared
Be engaged
Be expectant
Attendance
GroupMe
MUST get
Talk to Mentor or Angel
Where we do immediate announcements, event planning, and decision-making
T-shirt sales
$15
Bonfire
Launches tomorrow for three weeks only
Buy and share
First fundraising effort
For spring girls’ conference
Enchanted Forest Fellowship
October 27
Expectations
Be on time  11am
Be prepared
Read ahead of time and pull incite
Will require next week for everyone to share one thing (one word or one sentence even) for accountability
Be engaged
Participate in discussion
Don’t be a distraction
Be respectful
Don’t interrupt
Be expectant
Be ready for God to move
Expect to learn something new or to apply this in some way to your life

3. Thoughts? Who has read the book of Esther before?
What do you know about the book of Esther already?
What did you think about this first chapter? What stood out to you?

4. Introduction Most likely written by Mordecai (Esther’s cousin)
Where: Shushan
Heart of Persian empire (stretched from Ethiopia to India)
When:
Written about events in 493 BC
Written in 475 BCE
Completed before Ezra and Nehemiah were written
Temple rebuilt in 515 BC
Overarching theme: the providence of God
John 5:17
Most likely written by Mordecai (Esther’s cousin)
Where: Shushan
Heart of Persian empire (stretched from Ethiopia to India)
When:
Written about events in 493 BC
Written in 475 BCE
Completed before Ezra and Nehemiah were written
Temple rebuilt in 515 BC
In Esther’s day, a small remnant of Jews already went to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem but many still remained living in the Persian Empire.
The Book of Esther is the least "Jewish", or "Christian", book of the Bible, including both the Old Testament and New Testament. The chief reason for this being the word "God" is not mentioned one time in the entire Book of Esther, nor is "Jerusalem" , "the temple", "the Law of Moses", or "Palestine" 
The nature of the book, thus, reflects the nature of life for Jews during the Persian Empire. The people were disjointed, separated from one another, and from their Holy Land. Many of these Jewish people probably felt separated from God as well.
Queen Esther of the Bible was an example to "all Jews of how to face injustice, bigotry and prejudice".
Overarching theme: the providence of God
“The Providence of God” It comes from 2 root words: pro- meaning before and -video which means to see. “The Providence of God” means that God sees the end from the beginning. He orchestrates all circumstances in our lives to produce the outcome He desires, while at the same time not violating our free will.
Jesus said in John 5:17 “My Father has been working until now and I have been working.”
He weaves all of the choices we make
God allows kings to make their decrees, but God overrules them to accomplish His purpose.
How often we are to give credit, give God credit for the bad things and not credit for the good things. How quick we are to blame him for even the bad, but God’s providence is working in our lives at all times.
QUESTION: HOW HAVE YOU SEEN THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD IN YOUR LIFE OR HOW HAVE YOU MIGHT’VE MISSED HIS PROVIDENCE AND QUICKLY BLAMED HIM?
** Share story with nursing and cancer **
Now remember, this book is the only book in the Bible where the name God is actually never mentioned or used. It is as if God wants us to look at this story, and though His name is never even spoken, He’s still at work behind the scenes.

5. Outline Chapters 1-2: Search for a new queen
Chapters 3-7: Haman’s plot to annihilate the Jews
Chapters 8-10: Mordecai’s promotion

6. Chapter 1 No Esther yet Characters: King Xerxes Queen Vashti
What do we learn about these characters?
This chapter is mostly an introduction…
No Esther yet
It’s interesting to me that she isn’t mentioned in this first chapter. In fact, the story starts with the most arrogant, gullible, and frankly stupid characters in the entire story. The book of Esther was most likely written by Mordecai, right? So I thought to myself, why wouldn’t he start with Esther? Let’s go back to the theme of the story – “The Providence of God”. This story is about God, not Esther. It’s about how God is still in control despite the circumstances. So yeah, there might be this king ruling, but if you keep looking, the real King emerges. The same goes with our lives, we can’t stop at the beginning. We have to keep “reading”.
QUESTION: WHY DO YOU THINK IT IS SO HARD FOR US TO LOOK PAST OUR CIRCUMSTANCES?
Characters:
King Xerxes
Queen Vashti
QUESTION: WHAT DO WE LEARN ABOUT THESE CHARACTERS?

7. Lacked love; only cared for appearances; lustful (v. 10)
King Xerxes
Wealthy (v. 2-6)
Arrogant (v. 7-9)
Lacked love; only cared for appearances; lustful (v. 10)
King Xerxes
Wealthy
Inherited the territory from his father Darius I
V.2-4 we see him throw this grand party that lasts 6 months!
V. 5-6 just paints a picture more of how extra this king really was – valuable material, vibrant colors, and a gold and silver couch? Not comfortable, but definitely beautiful…
Arrogant
Now in V. 7-9 obviously, the basic reason for this feast was his pride. I hope you understand that. The king wanted to impress all of his subjects of all of his wealth, all of his power, his vast kingdom that he overruled. And indeed the Medo-Persian Empire this time was very vast. If we put it in a modern map today, it cover what we call today Turkey. Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, parts of Egypt, Sudan and Libya…Vast!..So the king throws this feast to just kind of let them know how great he really is.
Lacked love; only cared for appearances; lustful
In V. 10, he now wants to show off his wife. Keep in mind this was not some kind of innocent request. She would have been asked to expose herself most likely completely, to dance seductively in front of all these high ranking officials..”Look at my wife, look at this gal”
Let’s jump over to Queen Vashti for a quick second…

8. Confident in her true self-worth
Queen Vashti
V. 12 only
Brave
Beautiful
Confident in her true self-worth
How does Queen Vashti’s character differ from the society we live in today and how are we as Christian women expected to display true beauty?
Queen Vashti
Only mentioned in an active way in V. 12 where she refuses to come at the king’s request.
She does not want to be treated like one of his objects, one of his trophies…
Though she isn’t mentioned very much in the story, we see that her one act is brave. Here is this beautiful woman whom King only sees the outward appearance, but the author Mordecai, deemed her beautiful for what was unseen – her bravery and confidence in her true self-worth.
We will see that in this book, as women, beauty lies in character, and that in itself exudes in to those who behold them.
QUESTION: HOW DOES THIS DIFFER FROM THE SOCIETY WE LIVE IN TODAY AND HOW ARE WE AS CHRISTIAN WOMEN EXPECTED TO DISPLAY TRUE BEAUTY?
Now going back to King Xerxes…What else do we see?
He had a temper. V. 11 says he was furious and sought counsel.
He was gullible, easily swayed  just went with the first advice he got and didn’t question
Controlled by his emotions

9. King Xerxes (cont’d) Temper (v.11) Gullible Emotional
Can you think of a real-life example of someone like King Xerxes? In his character, what do you see are the results of wealth?
What decisions do you make that tell of your character? What decisions can you make to build your character regardless of the circumstances?
How can we begin to make steps in allowing our character to be a positive influence to those around us?
Temper (v.11)
Gullible
Emotional
He had a temper. V. 11 says he was furious and sought counsel.
He was gullible, easily swayed  just went with the first advice he got and didn’t question
Controlled by his emotions
QUESTION: CAN YOU THINK OF A REAL-LIFE EXAMPLE OF SOMEONE LIKE KING XERXES? IN HIS CHARACTER, WHAT DO YOU SEE ARE THE RESULTS OF WEALTH?
Having money is not a bad thing, but it is something the enemy can use to distract us.
In King Xerxes, we saw that his money consumed him. He gloated in what he had. He saw things to be owned and soon treated people the same way, and because his mind was consumed with only wealth and appearances, it kept him shallow-minded.
What we own doesn’t have to own us though. Take for instance Queen Vashti. She sat in the royal palace and lived with all its luxuries, but she still knew where her worth lied. She knew as well that how she responded not only would speak volumes about her character, but can serve as an influence to those watching (v.18)
QUESTION: WHAT DECISIONS DO YOU MAKE THAT TELL OF YOUR CHARACTER? WHAT DECISIONS CAN YOU MAKE TO BUILD YOUR CHARACTER REGARDLESS OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING IT?
QUESTION: HOW CAN WE BEGIN TO MAKE STEPS IN ALLOWING OUR CHARACTER TO BE A POSITIVE INFLUENCE TO THOSE AROUND US?

10. Our character…
…is is far more valuable than and unrelated to our circumstances. 1
…is something we can make the conscious decision to change. 2
…is potentially and powerfully useable to make a difference. 3

11. Journal Questions
If someone were to introduce me into a story, how would they introduce my character?
What do my actions say about who I am to those around me?
I’m not perfect, so what are negative character traits I can begin working on and how?
Challenge: Ask someone who knows you well to list three positive and three negative traits about you. Be humble and accept their feedback as constructive criticism on how to change and build your character to be more like Christ.

12. Read Chapter 2 for next week (Angel teaches)
Snacks next week?
Be on time – 11:00am
Don’t Forget!

13. Accountability Time Mentors Mentees Becca Leighann and Selah Rebeca
Daniela and Julie
Angel
Brianna and Denise
Destine
Cindy
Mimi
Bebe and Dani
Felissa
Meaghan
Natalia
Nataly

14. Accountability Questions
What did you think of the lesson?
What has God been teaching you?
How can we be praying for you?
Accountability Questions