TOPIC : ESTHER

OBJECTIVES:
1. Know the meaning of God is sovereign
2. See the hand of God moving in our midst
3. Trust that God’s move is always for our good

WEEK 1
TOPIC : GOD IS SOVEREIGN: HE IS IN CHARGE

PASSAGE: ESTHER 1-2

DESCRIPTION:
Changing of leadership is very uncertain in any group of people during the Old Testament. For the Jews
we were in exile, it was a time of uncertainty. Questions like: Will we get the favor the King? Will he
treat us better or worst than before? What if he hates Jews? Will he allow us to go back to Jerusalem?
However, during the reign of King Xerxes, God showed the Israelites who was still in charge. He showed
them that even in the most powerful nation during that time, He still moves in the midst of the
leadership of that nation. That’s why we need to learn that in every situation, even in difficult situations,
God is still in charge.

SUGGESTED POINTS FOR DISCUSSION:

1. God is faithful, He remembers His promises.
God had a promise:
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “This is what the Lord, the God of
Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. 3 The days are coming,’
declares the Lord, ‘when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity[a] and
restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess,’ says the Lord.” 4These are the
words the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah: J Jeremiah 30:1-4

a. God is more powerful than anyone else.

b. We can trust God even in difficult situation.

2. Anyone can be used by God to fulfill His plan.

a. King Xerxes – proud
in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his princes and attendants, the
army officers of Persia and Media, the nobles and the princes of his provinces being in
his presence. 4 [a]And he displayed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor of his
great majesty for many days, 180 days. - Esther 1:3-4

b. Queen Vashti – disobedient

On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded
Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs
who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, 11 to bring Queen Vashti before the king
with her royal crown in order to display her beauty to the people and the princes, for she
was beautiful. 12 But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by
the eunuchs. Then the king became very angry and his wrath burned within him.. -
Esther 1:10-12
 Because of this,
2 Then the king’s attendants, who served him, said, “Let beautiful young virgins be
sought for the king. 3 Let the king appoint overseers in all the provinces of his kingdom
that they may gather every beautiful young virgin to the citadel of Susa - Esther 2:2-3a

c. Esther – came from a broken family

Mordecai had a very beautiful cousin named Esther, whose Hebrew name was
Hadassah. He had raised her as his own daughter, after her father and mother died.
When the king ordered the search for beautiful women, many were taken to the king’s
palace in Susa, and Esther was one of them. - Esther 2:7-8 CEV

She found favor with the King

So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus to his royal palace in the tenth month which is
the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. The king loved Esther more than all
the women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that
he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. Esther 2:16-
17

Note to Speaker:
Kindly give emphasis to God being IN CHARGE since it might be interchangeably used with God
being IN CONTROL. This topic (God is in control) will be discussed in Week 3 of the series.
Attached here is the abstract of the topics to give you an overview of the whole series.

SUGGESTED BREAKOUT QUESTIONS:

1. How do you see God working behind the scenes in the first two chapters of the book of Esther?
2. Describe a moment in your life when you didn’t understand why God allowed something to
happen to you.
3. Take a moment to reflect on the circumstances you are currently facing. Has God placed you in
these situations for a specific purpose?

References:
https://bible.org/seriespage/1-esther-becomes-queen-esther-11-218
https://bible.org/seriespage/2-esther-s-choice-esther-219-52
https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/esther-1/
https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/esther-2/

CHECKPOINT SPIRITUAL GROWTH

TOPIC ESTHER
PROPOSED TITLE ESTHER: GOD IS SOVEREIGN
ABSTRACT

Thousands of years ago, there was a group of people who experienced something similar to a
quarantine. Even though they still could go out of their houses, they were not completely free and
they live in a place not their own. This group of people is called the Israelites. Their exile is part of
God’s punishment because they were disobedient. As a result, the Babylon Empire conquered them.
They lost their land, freedom, and yet God still blessed them in the end. Eventually, another empire
took over, the Persian Empire. During this time, the Israelites were scared because of the possibility of
genocide. Nevertheless, in their exile and the possibility of being wiped out as a nation, we can see
that God is sovereign. This means that He still moves even though we don’t see it and even though it
takes a long time. One book was written to see this characteristic of God: His sovereignty. And, it’s
one of the only two books in the Bible where we won’t see the word God written but we can see His
hand all over it. This is the book of Esther.

OBJECTIVES

1. Know the meaning of God is sovereign

2. See the hand of God moving in our midst
3. Trust that God’s move is always for our good

BREAKDOWN OF MESSAGES
WEEK 1
TOPIC: GOD IS SOVEREIGN: HE IS IN CHARGE

PASSAGE: Esther 1-2

DESCRIPTION:
Changing of leadership is very uncertain in any group of people during the Old Testament. For the
Jews we were in exile, it was a time of uncertainty. Questions like: Will we get the favor the King? Will
he treat us better or worst than before? What if he hates Jews? Will he allow us to go back to
Jerusalem? However, during the reign of King Xerxes, God showed the Israelites who was still in
charge. He showed them that even in the most powerful nation during that time, He still moves in the
midst of the leadership of that nation. That’s why we need to learn that in every situation, even in
difficult situations, God is still in charge.

WEEK 2
TOPIC: GOD IS SOVEREIGN: RESPOND IN HUMILITY

PASSAGE: Esther 3-5

DESCRIPTION:
The plot thickens in the story of the Israelites when a certain man named Haman wanted to eradicate
the entire Jews people. Because God is still in charge, He used people who were inside to influence
the King. However, influencing the King during that time was not an easy task. It requires faith in God,
confidence in the Lord, and humility of hearts. Mordecai and Esther responded that way. When we
trust that God is sovereign, we trust His direction for us.

WEEK 3
TOPIC: GOD IS SOVEREIGN: HE IS IN CONTROL

PASSAGE: Esther 6-10

DESCRIPTION:
Sometimes we feel like God is not doing anything or God has left us already. In Mordecai’s case, he
may have felt that. But, as we see in the later part of the book of Esther, God showed that He is still in
control. That even if there are people more powerful than us or situations that are to difficult to
handle, God will still move to protect His people and accomplish His will. That’s what happened to the
Israelites. As a result, they were saved and honored.

WEEK 4
TOPIC: GOD IS SOVEREIGN: WAIT ON THE LORD

PASSAGE: Isaiah 40
DESCRIPTION:
Years before this exile, God has already assured the Israelites of who He is. He prepared them for this
exile. That is why Isaiah wrote chapter 40 to give comfort to the Israelites once they are in exile. They
needed the reminder that God is still God. And, knowing who He is should move us to wait on the
Lord. What does this waiting mean? That’s what we are going to discover. The truth is, God will allow
us to go through long times of trials or challenges so we can exercise the true meaning of the phrase
“wait on the Lord.”