Study of Esther - Part 1

Today I want to start sharing with you some of the fascinating information I've learned while participating in a Bible Study on the book of Esther!  We are using Kay Arthur's Precept Upon Precept study.  In the first lesson, we looked at the historical setting of the book of Esther and what was going on just prior to that time.

• Esther takes place between 483-473 B.C.
• The Medo-Persian Empire is ruling at this time.
• In 539 B.C., Babylon fell (remember the writing on the wall in the book of Daniel?) and was taken over by Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian.
• The Jews had been in captivity for 70 years before Cyrus became ruler, and then he released them to return and rebuild the temple.

Okay, here is where we get to the first thing that blew my mind!  In Isaiah 44:24-45:7, look at what was prophesied more than one hundred years before Cyrus was born!


²⁴ Isaiah 44:24-28

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
    who formed you from the womb:
“I am the Lord, who made all things,
    who alone stretched out the heavens,
    who spread out the earth by myself,
²⁵ who frustrates the signs of liars
    and makes fools of diviners,
who turns wise men back
    and makes their knowledge foolish,
²⁶ who confirms the word of his servant
    and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’
    and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,
    and I will raise up their ruins’;
²⁷ who says to the deep, ‘Be dry;
    I will dry up your rivers’;
²⁸ who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,
    and he shall fulfill all my purpose’;
saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’
    and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”

Isaiah 45:1-7

Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
    whose right hand I have grasped,
to subdue nations before him
    and to loose the belts of kings,
to open doors before him
    that gates may not be closed:
² “I will go before you
    and level the exalted places,
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
    and cut through the bars of iron,
³ I will give you the treasures of darkness
    and the hoards in secret places,
that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
    the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
⁴ For the sake of my servant Jacob,
    and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name,
    I name you, though you do not know me.
⁵ I am the Lord, and there is no other,
    besides me there is no God;
    I equip you, though you do not know me,
⁶ that people may know, from the rising of the sun
    and from the west, that there is none besides me;
    I am the Lord, and there is no other.
⁷ I form light and create darkness,
    I make well-being and create calamity,
    I am the Lord, who does all these things.


Here is where the prophecy is fulfilled in 2 Chronicles 36:22-23:


Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, theLord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up.’”


Doesn't that take your breath away?  Knowing God the way we do, it isn't surprising in the least, but it's so awe-inspiring to reflect on how God knows us by name long before we are born and how He has plans for us.  He even uses pagan rulers like Cyrus to accomplish His will.  Why do we fret and worry over the details of this life?  God has everything under control!  Nothing comes as a surprise to Him.  We can trust Him with our future!