34

Esther was an orphan who lived inShushan, the capital city of Persia.She was Jewish. Her people had beencaptured back in the land of Judah andbrought to the land of Persia. Esthers oldercousin Mordecai, who worked in thepalace, raised her as his own daughter.

Ahasuerus, the king of Persia, set about tochoose a queen. He ordered that all thebeautiful young women in the kingdom bebrought to him so he could choose one to behis wife. Esther was one of manygirls taken to the palace. Beforeshe left, Mordecai warned hernot to tell anyone that shewas a Jew.

Ahasuerus saw that Es-ther was an outstandingyoung woman, and heloved her most of all. Hechose her to be his queenand placed the royalcrown on her head. NowPersia had a Jewish queen,but even the king didntknow this.

Trouble lay ahead forthe Jews living in Persia. King Ahasueruspromoted a man named Haman above hisother princes. All the kings servants exceptMordecai bowed in respect to Haman when-ever he passed. When Haman noticed thatMordecai didnt bow to him, he became veryangry. Instead of being upset with Mordecai

alone, hatred burned in his heart toward allJews. He plotted to kill them.

Haman lied to the king about the Jews,and King Ahasuerus gave him permissionto kill them. Haman set a date for the Jewsto be killed. Messengers on horseback gal-loped to spread the message to everyone.Imagine how the Jews throughout Persiafelt when they heard the news!

When Mordecai heard of Hamanswicked plot, he thought of Esther. Perhaps

God would save His people through her.Mordecai sent a message to Esther,

You must go to the king and askfor the lives of your people.

Esther knew that if she went tothe king without being called,

the king could have her killed.But Mordecai urged her,Dont think that you will es-

cape Hamans plot becauseyou live in the palace. Ifyou refuse to help, wewill be saved some otherway, but you will be de-

stroyed.Three days later, Esther, dressed in

her best, entered the throne room unin-vited. King Ahasuerus saw her coming, andcould have ordered her death. Instead, heheld out to her his golden scepter. Estherstepped forward and touched the tip of thescepter.

What is your wish? the king asked.

9L E S S O N

Queen Esther Saves Her People

Esther 17

Lesson 9

You shall have it, even up to half of mykingdom.

Come to the banquet Ive prepared foryou and Haman today, Esther replied. Atthe banquet, Esther invited them to anotherbanquet the next day. I willtell you my wish tomor-row, she said.

Haman left the firstbanquet very pleased. Hehad been invited to abanquet with the kingand queen. And not justone banquet, but two!But as he left the palace, hesaw Mordecai, and his spirits fell. All thishonor is worth nothing to me as long asMordecai the Jew is alive, he complainedas he told his wife about his good day.

But trouble lay ahead for Haman. Thatnight, he built a gallows on which to hang

Mordecai. The next morning, the king as-signed him to reward Mordecai for a gooddeed Mordecai had done. Haman couldhardly stand it.

At the banquet that evening, QueenEsther told the kingthat her people were indanger from an enemy.Who is it? demandedthe king.

Our enemy is thiswicked Haman, Esthersaid.

King Ahasuerus wasfurious. Then he heard that

Haman had already built a gallows forhanging Mordecai. Hang Haman on hisown gallows, the king ordered.

So Haman was hanged, and the lives ofthe Jews were saved because Esther riskedher life for the lives of her people.

Copy the verse on the lines below to help you learn the meaning.

35

hath

than this,

.

John 15:13

Bible MemoryGreater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

The answers for the following questions are given below. Write the letter of each correct answer beside the question it answers.

1. Why did Mordecai raise Esther as his daughter?

2. Why were many beautiful girls taken to the palace in Shushan?

3. What warning did Mordecai give to Esther?

4. Why did Haman want all the Jews to be killed?

5. Why was Esther afraid to go to the king and plead for the lives of her people?

6. What did the king do when Esther appeared before him uninvited?

7. When did Esther actually tell the king what she wanted?

8. What did Haman plan to do beause of his hatred for Mordecai?

9. What happened to Haman in the end?

Remember This

36

Lesson 9

Turn to pages 62 and 63. Do the map work for Lesson 9.

Esther lived in the Persian city of Shushan. Write her name on the first line below Shushan. Color the combined kingdoms of Media and Persia purple. Color the Caspian Sea, which bordered Media.

Map It

AnswersA. Haman wanted all the Jews killed because of his hatred for Mordecai.

B. He asked her to tell no one that she was a Jew.

C. She was an orphan.

D. He held out his golden scepter to her.

E. Haman was hanged upon his own gallows.

F . Haman planned to hang Mordecai.

G. Esther told the king what she wanted at the second banquet she gave for him and Haman.

H. King Ahasuerus wanted to choose one of them to be his new queen.

I . If she went uninvited, she could be killed unless the king held out his scepter to her.

37* For more activities on Lesson 9, turn to pages 5889.

Lesson 9

I finish my class work longbefore the bell rings.

Remove the section for Lesson 9 on page 65. Follow the instructions to make a message about sacrifice.

What Can I Give Up?

Im getting As inmath class.

I just got a new bike but Ialready own one. I can draw well.

Part of Mordecais message to Esther was this, Who knowsmaybe it was for such atime as this that you came to the kingdom. Esther was able to use her position as queen todo good things for Gods people. We are not kings or queens, but we can do many thingsto help other people with our talents, time, and belongings.

In each situation below, write something you could do to help others.

For Such a Time as This

38

Nehemiah was a Jewish man whoserved as a cupbearer for Artax-erxes, the Persian king. One daythe king reached for the wine brought tohim by his trusted servant. Nehemiah,you look sad today, the king observed.Why is this? You are not sick.

Long live the king, Nehemiah began.Why shouldnt I be sad? I haveheard sad news from my home-land. My beloved city Jerusalemlies in ruins. The walls are brokendown, and the gates burnt.

What would you like to doabout it? the king asked.

This was his chance! Nehemiah sent aquick prayer heavenward before he answered.If it please the king, I ask that you wouldsend me to Jerusalem to rebuild the city.

Gods blessing was on Nehemiah. Afterdiscussing how long Nehemiah would begone, the king and queen granted hisrequest to return to Jerusalem.Artaxerxes also sent an escortalong for the journey anddonated a supply of lumber.

When Nehemiah ar-rived in Jerusalem, hetold no one why hewas there. Hewanted to scout theruined city for him-self first. He made hisfirst investigation of

the broken-down walls at night, riding ona donkey.

Then he called the leaders of the Jewstogether. You see the distress we are in,he said. You see how the city wall lies inruins and ashes. Lets rebuild the walls!Then we will no longer be a disgrace.

When the Jews at Jerusalem heard howGod and the king had blessed Nehemiahsplan, they were eager to help. Everyone

made preparations for the big job. Nehemiah organized his workers

into groups. Then he assigned eachgroup to build a section of the wall.The people had made up their minds

to work, and shouts and sounds of toolsfilled the air as the building began. Dayafter day they fitted into place the hugeblocks that had been strewn about, and thewalls began to take shape.

But not everyone was happy that the

10L E S S O N

Nehemiah RebuildsJerusalems Walls

Nehemiah 1, 2, 4, 6

39

Lesson 10

walls of Jerusalem were being rebuilt.Sanballat and Tobiah were two of theJews enemies. When they heard what washappening, they set out to stop the work.They tried laughing at the Jews. Yourwall is so flimsy that if a fox ran along thetop it would fall over, jeered Tobiah.

The Jews didnt let this ridicule stopthem, so Sanballat and Tobiah put theirheads together and made a plan. Theywould ambush the workers on the walland kill them.

Someone warned Nehemiah, and the Jewsprepared for an attack. Do not be afraid,Nehemiah told them. God will fight foryou. When the enemies saw that God was

working against them, they gave up theirplans, and the Jews went back to work.

But Nehemiah didnt trust his enemies.From then on, half of the workers keptwatch and had their weapons ready, whilethe other half worked on the wall. All thebuilders kept their swords at their sides.At night they slept in their clothes to beready to respond to an attack.

Sanballat and Tobiah tried every trickand lie they could think of to get Nehemiahto stop building the wall. But the Jews fin-ished the wall in fifty-two days. Everyone,even their enemies, knew that their workhad been blessed by God. Jerusalem wasonce again a safe, protected city.

,

.

Ecclesiastes 9:10

Copy the verse on the lines below to help you learn the meaning.

Bible MemoryWhatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might. Ecclesiastes 9:10

40

Lesson 10

.

Turn to pages 62 and 63. Do the map work for Lesson 10.

Nehemiah lived in the same city as Esther. Write his name beside the wine goblet to remind you that he was the kings cupbearer. Color the cup.

Map It

T X H X E P E Y O Y P L E

X Y H A Y D Z A X M I N D

Z T Y X O W Z O Y R X K X

Color the blocks that give true statements that are a part of your story. Decide withyour class how you could correct the false statements.

Remember This

The gates hingesneeded oil.

The king sent muledrivers to rebuild.

Tobiah wasNehemiahs best

friend.

101 days to

build the wall.

Only 52 days to build a wall several miles long! How could the Jews do it? Part of the answer is in Nehemiah 4:6.

Cross out every X, Y, and Z. Write the remaining letters on the lines.

A Mind to Work

Jerusalem's wallswere broken.

The people carriedswords to work.

Lets rebuild, saidNehemiah.

The walls were builtin 52 days.

Nehemiah was theking's cupbearer.

God willfight for you.

A fox could break yourwalls, said Tobiah.

It took

41* For more activities on Lesson 10, turn to pages 6061.

Everyone had to do their part to re-build Jerusalems walls. Some didmore work and some did less butthey all had to do their partthatscalled teamwork.

Write things people can do tohelp build Gods kingdomtoday. One is done for you.

Teamwork

What would happen if you removed any one of these team members?

Lesson 10

Look not every man onhis own things, but

every man also on thethings of others.

Philippians 2:4

Invite

others to

Bible school.