Esther

Esther 9: Sorrow turned into gladness

Begin in prayer

Before we read how God turns sorrow into gladness for His people, let us pray together. Ask Him to show us Christ, who came from this people, and to keep our hearts humble as we hear a hard chapter.

for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.

Jeremiah 31:13

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that You keep Your people alive, and lead us to Jesus, who came from among them. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

The thirteenth of Adar comes, the day the enemies of the Jews hoped to overcome them, but the day turns the other way. The Jews gather in their cities to defend themselves, and fear of them falls on all peoples. The king's officers help them, because the fear of Mordecai has fallen on them. In Susa the Jews kill five hundred men and Haman's ten sons, and they do not touch the plunder. At Esther's request they may do the same the next day, and three hundred more are killed, and Haman's ten sons are hanged. In the provinces the Jews have rest from their enemies. Mordecai writes that the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar be kept every year as days of feasting, gladness and gifts.

As you read Esther 9, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God keeps His people alive, and turns their sorrow into gladness.

The thirteenth of Adar is the day Haman's letter set for destroying the Jews, and now the day turns the other way (verse 1). The Jews gather to lay hands on those who wanted to harm them, and no one can stand against them (verse 2). The king's officers help them, for the fear of Mordecai has fallen on them (verse 3). The chapter counts the dead plainly, eight hundred men in Susa with Haman's ten sons, and seventy-five thousand elsewhere (verses 6 to 16). Their sorrow had been real, with fasting and weeping in every province (Esther 4 verse 3), and now it turns to gladness (verse 22). Three times the chapter says the Jews laid no hand on the plunder (verses 10, 15 and 16). Haman's letter had ordered the plunder of the Jews (Esther 3 verse 13). The days become Purim, named from Pur, the lot, a feast with gifts of food and gifts to the needy (verses 22 and 26). God, never named in this book, kept alive the people from whom Christ would come (Romans 9 verse 5).

How does Esther 9 show us that God keeps His people alive, and turns their sorrow into gladness?

The day Haman chose is turned around.

The thirteenth of Adar was the day the enemies of the Jews hoped to overcome them (verse 1). The Jews gather to defend themselves, and fear of them falls on all peoples (verse 2). The king's officers help them (verse 3). The lot Haman cast had chosen the day, yet the result was the opposite of what he hoped.

The Jews defend their lives, and do not take the plunder.

The chapter tells plainly of fighting and of many deaths, in Susa and in the provinces (verses 5 to 16). The Jews gather to defend their lives and have rest from their enemies (verse 16). Three times the chapter says they laid no hand on the plunder (verses 10, 15 and 16). Please do not teach this as a pattern for Christians today. Jesus said His kingdom is not of this world (John 18 verse 36).

Purim remembers that God turned sorrow into gladness.

Mordecai writes that the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar be kept every year (verses 20 and 21). They are days of feasting, gladness, gifts of food and gifts to the needy (verse 22). The name Purim comes from Pur, the lot that Haman cast (verse 26). God kept His people alive, and from them the Savior was born (Romans 9 verse 5). He turns mourning into everlasting gladness for all who trust Him.

Memorise

the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day

Esther 9:22

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, who can turn my sin and sorrow into gladness?

The Jews kept Purim as the days of a month that “was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day”. Haman had cast “Pur, that is the lot” to consume them, and instead they lived. God had kept His people alive.

Jesus became a man of sorrows for sinners. On the cross He carried the sins of His people, and He rose again to give them joy that does not end. His sacrifice is enough for every sin of those who trust Him.

So come to Him. Turn from your sin and put your trust in Jesus. Every sinner who comes to Him is forgiven, and He turns their mourning into gladness.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God keeps His people alive, and that Jesus came from them to save sinners. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart. Verses 5 to 16 tell of killing, so please explain what happened in your own words.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for keeping His people alive and for sending Christ, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

Yahweh has done great things for us, and we are glad.

Psalm 126:3

Lord God, thank You for keeping Your people alive and for sending Jesus from among them. Please give each child a heart that turns from sin and trusts Him. Turn our sorrow into gladness, and teach our family to give thanks this week. Amen.