DAY FOUR: The Final Tally
Please carefully read Esther 9:14—16 and answer the following questions.
1. How was Esther’s first request answered (v. 14)?
2. What did the Jews again do (and not do) the next day (v. 15)?
3. What was the final tally of those slain throughout the
NOTE: There is some disagreement as to how many were actually killed by the Jews. Instead of 75,000, the Septuagint states 15,000, and the Targums read 10,107; also, the word for thousand can possibly mean families or clans, so this might have meant 75 families or clans numbering ten to fifty each.[viii] Either way, it was a tremendous victory for the Jews instead of being wiped out entirely by their enemies!
4. This victory brought rest at last for the Jews after such turmoil. We too have been given rest in Jesus Christ, freed from our enemy! Read Galatians 3:11—14 and record how the way was made for us to also enter into His rest.
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.
Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, the _________________ came for the king's command and his ________________ to be executed. On the day that the ________________________ of the Jews had _________________ to ________________________ them, the _______________________ occurred, in that the ______________ themselves _________________________ those who _________________ them (Esther 9:1, NKJV).
© 2005 by Harvest Christian Fellowship. All rights reserved. Written by Thomas Klock for Men’s Bible Fellowship, 2004-2005.