Esther-Lesson Eight -Day 5

DAY FIVE: A Joyful Resolution

Please carefully read Esther 8:15—17 and answer the following questions.

1. For the first time in this book we see a joyful resolution coming about! How does verse 15 describe the presentation of Mordecai as the new Number Two man of the Persian Empire?

NOTES: Wearing the crown/turban and the royal colors of the Persian Empire showed that this second reward outdid the first he received.[viii] Great rejoicing (to shout or cry out a loud sound of delight) and gladness (being joyful, a state of rejoicing)[ix] broke out, but was it among all the people? Many feel that it was the Jews of Susa that were rejoicing, not the people in general.[x] We don’t know either way for certain.

2. What was the result of all this for the Jewish people, probably for the first time in their years of captivity (v. 16)?

NOTE: Light was an Old Testament symbol for prosperity and well being.[xi]

3. How was this edict received throughout the Empire, and what unusual thing came as a result of all this (v. 17)?

4. It would appear from how the last part of v. 17 is translated in other versions that the people were not converting because of the witness of the Jews, but out of panic for what might happen to them. The word fear in Hebrew does seem to carry that idea.[xii] Others feel that v. 17 must not be speaking of an outreach by the Jews to their pagan neighbors, for the idea of proselytizing by the Jews didn’t appear until the time between the Testaments. But couldn’t it be that these Persians saw something different in the lives of the Jews, and could see that there had to be some great power behind them to work such a reversal of fortune? Remember, a mixed multitude of Egyptians followed God because of what He did for the Jews, and others of the Canaanites appear to have assimilated into various Jewish tribes.[xiii]

What was God’s original and ongoing purpose for the Jewish people (Genesis 12:3; Isaiah 42:5—7)?

What has prophetically been said about the Jews having such an impact on the nations in the future (Psalm 18:43—45; Zechariah 8:20—23)?

Scripture Memory: Can you write out this week’s passage by memory here below? Give it a try, and keep reviewing the passage several times throughout the day.

Psalm 97:11, 12:

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