Esther Discussion Questions

Introduction

Esther Discussion Groups

Week of February 12-18

“The Story Behind the Ordinary”

Chapter 2:1-18

1. Share a favorite movie that reflects the “Cinderella Story” in some way.

2. What is it about a “Cinderella story” that interests us and captivates us?

3. We all have an “approval addiction”. Psychologists say that it takes 10 positive affirmations to overcome 1 hurtful statement made about us from others. This is not to suggest that we should never say anything negative to people. But what does this suggest about people’s self-image?

Study Questions

1. The King who Returns from Battle:

• Read 2:1-2

• The decision to find another queen has been delayed for about 3 years, due to Xerxes’ war with Greece. Having been defeated in his war, Xerxes finds himself emotionally licking his wounds and reaching for his wife who has long since been removed as queen. In chapter 2:1-2, Xerxes has replaced his anger with depression and is likely to be looking for comfort.

• Put yourself in Xerxes’ shoes for a moment. When you get down and depressed, what do you find yourself turning to for temporary comfort?

2. The Bachellor Reality Show of the Ancient World:

• Read 2:3-4, 12-14

• The king’s advisers came up with the idea of forcefully enslaving young, beautiful, virgin women to compete for the position of new queen. There was no romance in this whatsoever. They were forced to perform to the King’s satisfaction. He would ultimately select the women who pleased him most. Although the culture towards women was very man-centered in the ancient world, this process was still degrading. This is an important part of the story because it stands to illustrate how some measure the importance and value of people in contrast to the way God sees them.

• What do you find yourself feeling most measured by? What is your self-image most threatened by?

• We live in a sex-saturated culture that is producing unashamed womanizers who see women as nothing less than sexual objects.

a. In your experience, what have you found to be overt signs that someone’s sexual outlook has diminished respect for women?

b. Have you ever been the victim of sexual harassment?

c. What kind of impossible standards do we measure the average women by?

d. What kind of pressure are young girls (and guys) being put under today when it comes to beauty and image?

3. An Ordinary Women:

• Read 2:5-11, 15-18.

• We are introduced to the third and fourth characters in the story: Mordecai and Hadassah, who is also called Esther. Hadassah in Hebrew means, “Myrtle”. A Myrtle is a small bush that grows 2 feet at its highest size. Her name gives us a window into her ordinary life. The name Esther means, “Star”. This name was most likely given to her after she became queen. The next Queen of Persia will go from “Myrtle” to “Star”, not because she meets the world’s image standards of success, but because God is writing a story behind the ordinary in her life. Esther is orphaned and her cousin, Mordecai, has adopted her as his own child.

• Esther has 3 “myrtle traits in her life. You might say they are her “Cinderella scars”: a. She had an unstable family upbringing (2:5-7)

• Often when there is instability in our upbringing, whether it is from a divorce, dysfunction, loss of a family member, alcoholism, or parents playing favorites, it leaves an insecurity that often linger with us as an adult.

• Was there anything unstable about your upbringing that has effected you and your self-image to this day?

• Why does our family upbringing have such a factoring influence on our lives? b. She was a victim of pressured abuse (2:8)

• Esther was forced into this sex slavery audition. None of these young women ever conceived of loosing their virginity in this way. No women dreams of a romantic future where they share a man with hundreds of other women. Esther is under prsssure to fight for her life and survival.

• Have you been the victim of someone hurting you that caused such an emotional blow that you found yourself questioning your value?

c. She morally compromised under pressure (2:9, 15-18)

Most controversial about the story is Esther’s lack of hesitation to come against orders that compromise her faith as a Jew. She likely ate food that was against her dietary laws; she sexually compromised and ultimately married someone who was spiritually incompatible. It’s important that the reader not blindly dismiss this. Just because they story does not comment on such behavior, it doesn’t mean it was the right thing to do.

There are significant insights to consider: • Put yourself in her situation. What do you supposed her thinking process was? • How can moral compromise in our past haunt us spiritually?

• It has been 103 years since the Jews were taken captive from their home land. What might Esther’s lack of hesitation reflect about where the Jews are spiritually with God at this point in history?

d. She was racially and socially looked down. (2:10-11)

Being asked to keep her Jewish nationality a secret is insight into a Jew’s self image at the time. When we feel “less then”, we are tempted to do things that will cause people to think better of us. This fuels and approval addition that is difficult to overcome.

• What is it that makes you feel “less than”? What tempts you into an approval addiction in which you think to yourself, “If only I was ___________________ (fill in the blank) people would see me differently and I would feel better

about myself.

• What are the “murtle traits” in your life that tempt you to think you are not extrorinary to God or that the God of the universe saves his plans for greater people?

Life lessons

1.

2.

3.

God saw beyond Esther’s “Myrtle traits” ... and he sees beyond ours as well. We all have Cinderella scars of different types that keep us from believing that that we are loved by God and that he wants to do great things in us and through us. What is a lie that you will stop believing about yourself that has been keeping you from going forward and reaching new heights in your life?

Explain this sentence in your own words: One day of God’s favor is more significant than a life time of trying to make “someone” of yourself.

In what ways could God use us as parents, spouses, and friends to remind others of how God sees them? How can our words be used to bring vision to other people’s life?