VERSES: Esther 7:1-10:3
MEMORY VERSE: Esther 7:3 "...let my life be given at my petition and my people at my request."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: Acts. Write "Acts" on small slips of paper and hand out at the end of class, so the students may memorize the verse at home.
PRAYER: May we watch what we say and do because we know that the LORD watches over us and knows what good and bad that we do.
SPECIAL SONG: Jesus Loves Me (see February - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #2 on this blog)
VISUAL AID: TV Box (see February - Visual Aid #1 on this blog)
LESSON POINTS:
- So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther's second banquet. King Ahasuerus asked again what Esther's request might be. Finally, Esther let her request be known to the king. She said that, if she had found favor in the king's sight, to let her life be her petition and her people be her request. She said that she and her people were to be destroyed. She told the king that if she and her people were to be sold into slavery, she would have held her tongue and not said a word. The king was astounded and caught by surprise. He asked her, "Who is the one and where is he that thinks that he can do this?" Esther said, "The enemy is wicked Haman!" Haman then was very afraid of the king and queen. The king was angry and got up from the table and went outside to the palace garden. Haman saw that the king meant to do him harm, so he turned to Esther, the one he was going to kill, to talk to her when the king came back into the room. The king must have brought his officers back with him because they covered up Haman's face and led him from the room. One the king's officers told the king that the gallows or the place where Haman had intended to kill Mordecai was ready at the house of Haman. The king commanded that the men hang him on the very gallows that he had built for Mordecai! Haman died and the king was not angry anymore.
- The king gave Haman's house to Queen Esther. Mordecai came before king and Esther told King Ahasuerus that Mordecai was her uncle. The king took off his ring which he had taken from Haman and gave it to Mordecai. Esther, too, had a present for her uncle. She gave Mordecai a new job. She set Mordecai as the one responsible for Haman's house.
- But they still had a problem. Esther spoke again to the king. She fell down at his feet and cried, asking him to change the law that Haman was responsible for. The king held out the golden sceptre to Esther, so Esther stood up before the king. Then Esther suggested that the king reverse the letters that Haman had written to destroy the Jews. The king gave Esther permission to write letters of her own, sealing it with his ring, but in Persia, no man could change a law that the king had made. It was quite a predicament!
- Mordecai called in the scribes and they started writing letters that said that the Jews could defend themselves against any man that would hurt them. Then Mordecai sealed the letters and sent them out to the people by way of mule, camel, and horse! Everyone had to hurry and get out the word! All the Jews who received the letters, talked to others about defending themselves against the possible attackers. When they read the letters, they were extremely relieved and happy. The letters were met with joy in every province that received them!
- So, the day came that Haman had intended to destroy the Jews, but instead, the Jews fought against anyone who wanted to harm them. In the end, there were 75,810 enemies of the Jews that died. The Jews made two special feast days to remember what had happened during this time and they were days of celebration called Purim. There were lots of things to eat, everyone was happy, and they gave presents to the poor people. Mordecai was praised for all the good he did for the Jews. He was next to the king, and great in the eyes of all the Jewish people, sought wealth for the people and peace to all his descendants.
- It is interesting to notice that Esther did not hold the king responsible in Haman's wrong doing since she fell down at his feet and and cried.
- Not one time is God mentioned in the book of Esther, but by reading this book, everyone knows that God provided for His people.
Materials needed: 9" x 12" yellow construction paper, 9" x 12" brown construction paper, scraps of black, green, blue, and tan construction paper, 1" x 2" thin white paper, glue, scissors, marker, crayons. Optional: stapler and staples.
- Hand out yellow paper.
- Hand out brown horse.
- Draw a BIG horse.
- Cit out horse.
- Glue horse in the middle of the yellow paper.
- From blue scrap (or really any color), cut blanket.
- Glue blanket on horse's back.
- Decorate blanket.
- Draw man (or postman) out of scraps.
- Glue man on top of horse.
- Take a 1 1/2" x 4" black strip and fold in half.
- Glue the sides of black paper ONLY, leaving an unglued area in middle. (This is the mail bag or saddle bag for letters.
- Fold black paper again and secure.
- Hand out white paper.
- Write "DEFEND YOURSELVES!" on the white paper.
- Fold white paper in half.
- Fold white paper in half again.
- See if the paper will fit in the "saddlebag". If not, fold again.
- Leave folded white paper in saddlebag, so it may removed and read again and again. (Option: staple sides of saddlebag.)
- Write "Mordecai wrote in the king's name, and sealed it with the king's ring, and sent letters by posts on horses, mules, and camels that said "Defend Yourselves!" and "Esther 8:10,11" on the yellow paper.
- Color man and horse's face and dirt on the ground.
