ESTHER - PART 2

PRAY TO BEGIN

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Read Esther 2:19-23

1. How might Mordecai have expected to been treated following his act of saving the king?

2. How is Mordecai an example in these verses of what it looks like to be a good citizen even in a society opposed to God?

Read Esther 3:1-4:3

3. How would you expect Mordecai to feel, after Haman was promoted ahead of him despite Mordecais deeds in the previous verses?

4. What do you make of Mordecais refusal to bow to Haman? Some interpret this to be an act of righteous defiance, others to be the result of petty bitterness, how does the ambiguity of this moment affect how you read the story?

5. What is revealed in this chapter about the corruption and evil present in the society in which Esther and Mordecai lived?

6. We aren’t told in this chapter what thoughts if any Mordecai and the other jews had about God in response to learning of their coming destruction. What conclusions could you imagine them drawing about God’s character based on the circumstances they find themselves in?

7. Divide the group into 4, giving each set of people one of the following verses. Have them report back to the larger group, reading the verse and sharing what these promises offer us in times that might feel that God has forgotten his people.

2 Cor 4:17  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
1 Peter 5:10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
Isaiah 49:15–16 15  “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. 16  Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands your walls are continually before me
Romans 8:28 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

8. How does Jesus’ crucifiction remind us that God is at work even when things look most bleak?



APPLY AND PRAY IN RESPONSE TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS.

1. Have there been moments or seasons in your life that you have felt like God has forgotten you, and then you have realised he was doing a work in you for your good even during that time?

2. Are there any areas of life presently that you want help to trust God through a season of darkness?