Bible story · Book of Esther
Esther
A brave young queen, a wicked plot, and a God who quietly saves His people, for such a time as this.
Your storyteller
Told by Sebbie & Coco
Sebbie is telling the Bible story of brave Queen Esther, with Coco the dog curled up nearby. So pull up a beanbag, get comfy, and listen along.
A girl who became a queen
Long ago, in the faraway land of Persia, a powerful king named Xerxes ruled over 127 provinces, all the way from India to Cush. He was looking for a new queen.
In his city lived a young Jewish girl named Esther. She had no mother or father, so her kind older cousin Mordecai had raised her as his own. Esther was gentle and brave and lovely. Out of all the young women in the whole kingdom, the king chose Esther to be his queen!
But Esther kept a quiet secret. Nobody in the grand palace knew that she was Jewish, one of God's special people. Not yet.
A wicked plan
The king had a proud and important helper named Haman. Haman loved for everyone to bow down low to him. But Mordecai would only ever bow to God. This made Haman so angry that he hatched a terrible plan: not just against Mordecai, but against all of God's people in the whole kingdom.
Haman tricked the king into signing a law that the Jewish people would be destroyed, all on one chosen day. The king did not even know that his own dear queen was one of them.
For such a time as this
When Mordecai heard the news, his heart broke. He sent an urgent message to Esther: she had to go to the king and beg him to save her people. But there was a big problem. No one, not even the queen, was allowed to walk into the king's throne room unless he called for them first. To go without being asked could cost her life.
Mordecai sent Esther these words, words that have echoed for thousands of years:
And who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
Maybe, Mordecai was saying, God had made Esther a queen for this very moment.
“If I perish, I perish”
Esther was frightened. Of course she was. But she chose to be brave. First she asked all of her people to pray and to fast with her for three days. Then she made up her mind:
After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish!
On the third day, Esther put on her royal robes and walked into the throne room. Her heart must have been pounding. The king looked up, and held out his golden scepter toward her. It was his way of saying, “Welcome. You may come.” God had gone before her. Esther invited the king and Haman to a special dinner.
Rescued!
At the dinner, Esther finally found the courage to tell the king the whole truth: she was Jewish, and wicked Haman had made a plan to destroy her and all her people. The king was furious. Haman's own evil plan came crashing down on his head, and the king gave Mordecai the power to make a new law so the Jewish people could be safe and protected.
The very day that was meant for sadness turned into a day of rescue.
For the Jews it was a time of light and gladness, of joy and honor.
To this very day, God's people remember how He saved them, in a joyful holiday called Purim.
And here is something wonderful. In the whole book of Esther, God's name is never written down, not even once. And yet you can see Him on every single page, quietly working everything out to save His people. God doesn't always shout. Sometimes He works behind the scenes.
Psalms for a brave heart