DAY THREE: A Preparation Period
Please carefully read Esther 2:10-14 and answer the following questions.
1. What had Mordecai told Esther to not do, and how did he show concern for this young woman he had taken in as his own daughter (vv. 10, 11)?
2. What types of preparations were made for each woman’s turn to go before the king? (vv. 12, 13)?
3. What happened to these young women when they made their appearance, and how does this demonstrate Ahasuerus’ shameful treatment of them (v. 14)?
NOTE: As we saw last week, the translators of Esther were quite genteel in how they dealt with some situations, but it doesn’t take much reading between the lines to know what was going on. These women then became part of the king’s harem, under the custody of Shaashgaz, whose fitting name meant “servant of the beautiful.”[xi]
4. Estimates of how many women were taken from their families to satisfy the king’s perverse lusts have ranged from 400 to 1,460; saddest of all is that these misused young women lived the rest of their lives in a state of widowhood more than marriage![xii] Each one would only come back to see the king if he delighted in her (“unless he especially enjoyed her,” nlt) and called her by name.
Treating women in this way dehumanizes them, whether it is through real sexual encounters or by viewing pornography or other similar things. It can ultimately destroy our lives and has a damaging, victimizing effect on the others involved. We cannot over-remind ourselves of how dangerous, enslaving, and destructive sexual sin is. Read the following passages from Proverbs, and record some things they teach us about the foolishness of letting such a sin dominate our lives.
Proverbs 2:16-20
Proverbs 5:3-20
5. Just as in Jesus’ parable about the unjust judge unwilling helping someone contrasted to the willingness of God to help us (see Luke 18), we can see here a picture of God’s willingness to delight in and call us by name, not casting us away to a life of abandonment or having to face life’s struggles on our own. What are some of the wonderful things you read in the following passages about our King’s delight in and calling us by name to demonstrate His love?
Isaiah 43:1; 45:4
Malachi 3:16, 17
1 Peter 2:9, 10
Scripture Memory: Try to fill in the missing words in the blanks below, by memory if at all possible, and then review the passage several times today.
But now, thus says the LORD, who ______________________ you, O Jacob, and He who _______________________ you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have __________________________ you; I have _______________________ you by your ___________________; you are Mine. Isaiah 43:1 (nkjv)
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© 2005 by Harvest Christian Fellowship. All rights reserved. Written by Thomas Klock for Men’s Bible Fellowship, 2004-2005.
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