Primary Education www.GodsAcres.

org

Church of God
Sunday School
ESTHER CHOSEN AS QUEEN

Esther 1:1 — 2:23

When King Ahasuerus (uh-haz-yoo-EE-ruhs) be- advised him to have the most beautiful, young, unmar-
came the king of Persia, he ruled "from India even unto ried women in his kingdom brought to the palace.
Ethiopia." He was king over 127 provinces, or dis- From these young ladies, King Ahasuerus could choose
tricts. His queen's name was Vashti (VASH-tye). She one to be queen instead of Vashti. "And the thing
is believed to have been the daughter of Belshazzar, pleased the king; and he did so."
the last Babylonian king. Before long, many young women were brought to
During his third year as king, Ahasuerus gave a the "house of the women." (The historian Josephus
banquet (a huge feast). So many people attended this wrote that 400 women were brought to the palace.)
banquet that it had to be held in "the court of the There, while in the care of Hege, or Hegai (hay-GAY),
garden of the king's palace." the king's chamberlain, the
At the same time, the queen women would be prepared to
held a banquet for the women. appear before the king.
This feast was held in the pal- At that time, in Shushan,
ace of the king. the capital city of Persia, there
On the last day of the lived a Jew named Mordecai
king's banquet, after he had (MOR-duh-kye). (Many Jews
had too much to drink, King were living in Persia, after
Ahasuerus commanded that having been carried away from
Queen Vashti be brought be- Jerusalem in captivity many
fore him. She was to wear years before.) Mordecai had a
"the crown royal" and show young cousin named Hadassah
the king's guests how beauti- (hud-DAS-uh), or Esther,
ful she was. For some reason whose parents had died. Mor-
Queen Vashti did not want to decai raised Esther as "his own
do as the king commanded. daughter." She was a beautiful
(According to tradition, Vash- young woman.
ti was expected to be dressed Esther was one of the
very immodestly.) So, Vashti many beautiful young ladies
refused! who were brought to the pal-
King Ahasuerus became ace. Each of the young women
angry at Queen Vashti. He asked his wise men what he had to spend one year in "purifications" (beauty treat-
could legally do about her disobedience. The wise men ments) before she could be brought to King Ahasuerus.
said that Queen Vashti had set a bad example for all When Hegai met Esther, he was pleased with her.
the women in the kingdom. They told the king that He quickly supplied her with everything she needed for
other women would now feel free to disrespect and her purification. He gave her seven maidens to wait on
disobey their own husbands. her, and she was also given the best place in the house
On the advice of the wise men, the king forbade of the women.
Vashti from ever coming into his presence again. He Every day Mordecai walked by the court of the
also sent letters to all the provinces, stating that every women, "to know how Esther did, and what should
man was to bear rule over his own household. become of her." But Esther never told anyone that she
Time passed. The king was no longer angry, and he was a Jewess, for Mordecai had warned her not to.
began to think about Vashti, what she had done, and When a young lady was to go to the king, she
the decree he had made against her. The king's servants could ask for "whatsoever she desired"–jewels, beauti-
C opyright © 2012 C hurch of God, Inc. 1 Esther Chosen as Queen
Primary Education www.GodsAcres.org

ful clothes, or perfumes. But when Esther's turn came, Mordecai let Queen Esther know of their plans. She
she asked for nothing. She let Hegai decide what she sent word to the king about the men's wicked plot, but
needed. "And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all she gave Mordecai all the credit for finding out about
them that looked upon her." it. After the king had searched the matter thoroughly,
When Esther came before King Ahasuerus, he both men were put to death.
loved her more than all the other young women. He Mordecai had saved the king's life! All this was
placed "the royal crown upon her head, and made her written in the "book of the chronicles" (a record book
queen instead of Vashti." Then the king held a great of what happened to the king, or the history of the
feast and called it "Esther's feast." The king declared kingdom).
a holiday and gave out gifts. Still, Queen Esther told
no one she was a Jewess.
After those things happened, while Mordecai "sat MEMORY VERSE:
in the king's gate," he learned that two of the king's "And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all
chamberlains, Bigthan (big-THAWN) and Teresh them that looked upon her." —Esther 2:15b
(TEH-rish), were angry and sought to kill the king!

Esther Becomes Queen

Across
4. another name for Hadassah
5. King of Persia

Down
1. the Queen who disobeyed
2. Esther's cousin
3. the keeper of the women

C opyright © 2012 C hurch of God, Inc. 2 Esther Chosen as Queen

START

END

C opyright © 2012 C hurch of God, Inc. 3 Esther Chosen as Queen