Read or Summarize Esther 1-10
Here is our summary:
King was the King of Persia and owned a lot of provinces or cities throughout the land. One day, he was holding a feast for all of the princes and noble people of Persia, Media, and other surrounding provinces.
On the third day of the feast, the king called to his wife, Queen Vashti. The queen was very beautiful, and he wanted to show her off to all of his guests so that they could see how beautiful his wife was.
Queen Vashti did not want to come. In fact, she refused to come.
The princes and noblemen said that if other queens and princesses heard what the queen did, then they too would rebel. So they told the king to take away her crown so that she would no longer be queen.
The king’s servants didn’t want the king to be without a queen, so they gathered up all of the beautiful girls in the land, who were not married.
Among these women was a beautiful woman, named Esther. Esther had been raised by her cousin, Mordecai, after both of her parents died.
When the servants saw Esther, they said that the king would love to marry Esther, and they wanted her to be the next queen.
As soon as the king saw her, he loved her above all the other women. So, he married her, and Esther became the next queen.
One day, Haman, one of the king’s most trusted officials, was walking through the city. The Persians were required to bow to Haman as he passed by, but the Jews were not required to obey the laws of the king. Mordecai was one of the people that Haman passed by.
He told Mordecai to bow to him. Mordecai reminded him that he was not required to follow that law, and he told him that the only person that he would bow to is God.
This made Haman very angry, he sent out a decree that all Jews were to be killed, on a specific day.
Mordecai went to Esther and asked her to talk to the king and save her people.
Esther was scared, because usually the king would kill people who went to see him, without an invitation. Esther told Mordecai, Esther 4:16 “Go, gather together all of the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.”
After the fast, Esther went into the king. The king put his staff down to show his willingness to listen. Esther touched the end of the staff. To begin her conference with the king. The king expressed his love for Esther and told her he would do anything for her, even give her half of the kingdom. Esther just asked that he protected the Jews from Haman’s decree.
The king was mad that Haman made such a decree, and so the king put Haman to death. The Jews were protected from Haman’s decree. Esther was a hero, because she put her trust in God and protected her people.
Discuss
How can you have the courage to stand up for what is right, no matter how scary and difficult it is? Here are some scenarios, to help your children to prepare to be brave, like Esther and stand up for what is right.
You are at a friend’s house, watching a movie. The movie has a lot of bad language and makes you feel uncomfortable. What could you do?
Your friend shows you some pictures on their phone. The pictures are of girls and boys with little or no clothing. What do you do? (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has the antipornography lesson that teaches 3 steps when you see pornography. They say to 1-) Name it, say “That’s pornography” 2-) Get away from it 3-) Tell a trusted adult.)
You are hanging out with a group of friends. Some of your friends begin to bully another child, by saying mean things and pushing them. What do you do?
You have been saving for a new toy for a long time. You are at the store with your parents, and you see someone drop a $20 bill. If you keep that money, you can buy your toy. What do you do?
A really hard math test is coming up in school. One of your friends said that they are an aide in the copy center, and they have the answers to the test. They offer to let you memorize the answers with them. What do you do?
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