Today, we will finish the story of Esther. Last week, we learned that God had a plan for Esther’s life. She became Queen of all Persia! Let’s see what Esther chose to do while she was queen.

Question: If you could be king or queen for one day only, and you could do whatever you wanted, what would you want to do as the king or queen?

Question: Who are some of the people you remember from last week’s story? (The King, Vashti, Mordecai, and Esther.)

Now remember, Mordecai was Esther’s cousin and his job was to guard the palace gates. Mordecai and Esther were Jews and they loved the Lord very much.

One of the king’s leaders was an evil man named Haman. Haman wanted to have power in the land so he commanded everyone to bow to him wherever he walked. One day, he walked past Mordecai. However, Mordecai refused to bow his knee to any man—he only bowed to God. Because of this, Haman decided to get rid of all the Jewish people in the kingdom. He made a plan and convinced the king to make his plan a law.

When Mordecai heard of the new law to get rid of the Jews, he sent a message to Esther. He begged Esther to go before the king to stop Haman. He even told Esther that this might be the reason she had been picked to be queen—so she could save her people. Even though Esther was Jewish as well, the king did not know it.

Esther knew that going to the king when he did not call for her was dangerous. But she knew that she had to go. Esther spent 3 days praying and fasting about this. She then put on her royal clothes to go see the king. If the king held out his royal scepter, Esther would live to tell him her news. If the king did not hold out his scepter, Esther would die.
The Bible tells us that the King loved Esther (Esther 5:2-3). When Esther entered the king’s throne room, he held out his scepter in approval. The King told Esther to tell him what she wanted. He would give her anything up to half of his kingdom (Esther 5:3)! Instead of telling the king her news, she invited him and Haman to a special banquet (dinner). At this banquet, the king again asked Esther to tell him what she wanted. Again, Esther invited the king and Haman to another banquet for the next night.

Question: Why do you think Esther kept inviting the king and Haman to a banquet instead of just telling her news? (Maybe she was nervous or worried)

At this time, Haman was very happy. He felt special to have been invited to dinner TWICE by the queen herself. However, at the second banquet, Esther finally told the king her news. The king told Esther, “Whatever you ask will be given to you.” Ether said, “If the king is pleased, spare my life and the lives of my people. We have been sold out to destruction and death.”

The king asked, “Who is the person who created this evil plan against your people?” When Esther told him it was Haman, the king was very angry. The king had the evil Haman killed instead of the Jewish people. That day, the king wrote a new law that would help the Jewish people protect themselves against anyone who tried to kill them.

God had a plan to rescue His people through Esther. Because Esther trusted God to take care of her and because she had courage to stand up for what was right (even when it was scary), God used her to save her people. God uses ordinary people like you and me to do extraordinary things. Even when we don’t understand what is going on around us, God is working things out for His amazing purposes and plan. We can trust God.

Family Activity: