Week of November 5th

Esther 2:12-23

Although I usually dive right into the topic covered during classtime, today I'd like to start off by expressing my gratitude to all the members of our Community Bible Study and especially to the Servant Team.

This new Bible Study group in Northwest London is truly a testament to God working in the lives of the women in this area!  Each week, as we gather in worship, prayer, and learning together, we see God at work.  Every week we sense his presence and his call and his everlasting love.  There are stories of answered prayer and fellowship in examining God's word together.  We laugh, we ponder, and we cry together.

THANK YOU FOR BEING PART OF THIS GROUP!! 

We feel very strongly that this is God's class and He is our ultimate teacher.

This week's passage was brief - only 11 verses.

We picked up with Esther in the harem.   She receives 12 months of "treatments" which included 6 months of oil treatments and then 6 months of perfumes and cosmetics.  What was this, a spa??
When she is called to spend the night with the king, she could take anything she wanted.  Esther, wise and humble, asks Hegai, the king's principal eunuch, for suggestions.  She wins the favor of the king, and he prefers her over all the other young women.  She is crowned queen, and there is a great banquet.
Some time afterwards, Mordecai, ever faithful at the gate of the palace, perhaps holding a rank in the government or public office, overhears a plot to murder the king.  He tells Esther, who tells the king, and they investigate to confirm the findings.   The two men plotting to murder the king are then killed.

There is so much we want to know!  So many missing details!!  My husband sometimes gets frustrated because I get caught up in details.  It's true - I want to know it all!  Was she nervous?  Did she pray?  Was she scared?  How did she win everyone's favor?  Was she happy to be queen?

For us as believers, what kind of "treatments" might make us more favorable to God?

Have we specifically asked for God's favor in our lives?

Was it right for her to hide her faith and background?  

Do we sometimes need to "hide" our faith and background, in order to be in situations where God can use us?  Think of missionaries working in anti-Christian countries.  Probably they cannot be very overt about their faith, and often need to keep their following "underground" or "undercover".