Study 6: Esther 3:1-10

The plot is beginning to thicken for Esther and her kin, as Mordecai refuses to bow to Haman in the gate, and Haman, in turn, hatches a genocidal plot to destroy the Jewish people. On the one hand, this sounds a whole lot like Daniel, another book dealing with the challenges of being faithful to God in the midst of exile (remember Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, thrown into the furnace because they wouldn't bow to the king's image?). On the other hand, it's really telling, the justification Haman gives King Ahasuerus for destroying them: their customs and way of life are different from all the other people (3:8). This, ultimately, is the challenge for God's people: to remain "different" from the way the World does business, in the face of immense pressure to conform. They asked Mordecai why he wouldn't just bow to Haman and be done with it (3:3), and no answer is given; but I think 3:8 is the answer: he's determined to stay true to the Jewish way of life, come what may. It left me reflecting this morning on ways that I might be "bowing to Haman"-- that is, giving in to the cultural pressures to conform to the "world's way of doing things," and so compromising my distinct identity as a follower of Jesus. Would the Hamans of this age be able to say to the Ahasueruses of this age, that my way of life is distinct from all the other peoples? This is not easy: bowing to Haman would have seemed like such a small thing, and the reprisal it met with was huge (really Haman? Total genocide?). But part of the message of Esther, I think, is that God will be faithful in the big things, if we will be faithful in the small. May God bring us up off our knees and stand us on our feet, today, if it should just so happen that we’ve been bowing to Haman lately. 

Discussion Questions 
  1. Time and time again we see similar stories of individuals staying true to God. Mordecai would not bow to Haman, just like Daniel would not bow down to the statue of King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3. How you ever been compel to do something but knew that it went against what God was wanting? 
  2. Once again we see God's timing. The story started in the third year and it is now the 12th year. Nine years have already passed since the story began. Esther has now been queen for 5 years. Taken away from her family and brought into the palace and for 5 years not really knowing why she was there. How do you think Esther felt all those years, just waiting?

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