Esther Teaching Activities and Insights
- Benjamin Wilcox
- 19 hours ago
- 41 min read
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
LESSON #1 FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS (Esther)
TRUTH:
God may place me where I can make a difference, and when my moment comes, He can give me strength to act faithfully even when I am afraid.
FIRE IN THE BONES:
Now for some fire in the bones. The story of Esther is powerful for us because we know from the story that she was afraid, and yet she still chose to step forward. Now we are never going to be called on to stand before a Persian king, but all of us are inevitably going to face moments where remaining silent will feel safer, when fear will tell us to remain where we are, and when others may be blessed if we are just willing to step forward. Esther teaches us that God does not always remove the fear before the moment comes—but He can give us enough strength to act faithfully while the fear is still there.
ICEBREAKER/VIDEO/HANDOUT:
As an icebreaker and story overview, show the Church video For Such a Time as This. The fourteen-minute version gives students the background they need and ends as Esther approaches the king, allowing them to discover the conclusion in scripture. Students can complete the accompanying crossword as they watch. If time is limited, use the 2:44 animated summary instead. I explain the activity and the historical details more fully in the insight video, so you can refer there if you would like additional help clarifying why Esther’s decision required such extraordinary courage.
But before introducing Esther’s story, you might ask your students: “Have you ever known what the right thing was, but still felt afraid to do it because you could not control what might happen afterward?” Maybe it was telling the truth, apologizing, standing up for someone, asking for help, sharing what you believe, or accepting a responsibility that felt intimidating. They do not need to share the situation out loud, but invite them to hold one example in their minds. Then explain that this is what makes Esther’s story so valuable to us. She knew what she needed to do, but she was genuinely afraid of what might happen if she did it. As we study her experience, we are going to look for what gave her enough strength to step forward anyway.
SEARCH ACTIVITY:
The portion of the story I would most want my students to focus on (and what I feel is the thematic center of Esther’s story) is Esther 4:13–16. This is the moment when Esther is trying to summon the courage to approach the king.
So tell your students: “We know Esther was afraid. But something happened between her first response and her final decision. Let’s find what gave her enough strength to act.”
Invite students to read those verses while looking for answers to this question:
What helped Esther move from fear to faithful action?
You might tell them that you see at least four sources of strength in these verses. Hopefully, these ideas will come from your students, but if they need some help, you could point them toward the following phrases and ideas:
1. The line “Mordecai commanded to answer Esther” suggests the idea of support and encouragement from others can give us strength.
2. “Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” suggests a sense of divine purpose as a source.
3. “Fast ye for me.” is an easier suggesting the power of fasting and spiritual preparation,
4. And then the phrase “If I perish, I perish.” Suggests that we gain strength when we’re willing to trust God with the outcome.
And if your students find something beyond those four, all the better. Add their insights to the board and allow them to strengthen the discussion.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
And for each of those sources, allow me to give you a discussion question or two.
For support and encouragement, ask:
Who helped Esther find courage, and what does that teach us about receiving strength from others?
Help students see that courageous people are often strengthened by righteous family members, friends, leaders, teachers, and others who remind them of what they know and who they can become. Sometimes courage comes through another person who believes we are capable of doing something difficult before we believe it ourselves.
For a sense of divine purpose, ask:
What changes when Esther stops asking, “Why is this happening to me?” and begins asking, “Why might I be here?”
Mordecai is suggesting that Esther’s position may not have been a coincidence. Perhaps she had been placed in the kingdom at that particular time for a particular purpose. Her position was not merely a privilege; it was also a stewardship.
You could then help students liken that truth to themselves by asking:
Where has God already placed you where you may have an opportunity to strengthen, protect, or bless someone else?
This is where I would want students to understand that they too have been sent to the earth at this time for a divine purpose. We have been sent to gather, bless, strengthen, and help bring God’s children to Christ. That sense of purpose can give us courage when doing the right thing feels frightening or uncertain.
If you would like to reinforce that idea, I have included statements from every latter-day prophet from Ezra Taft Benson to Dallin H. Oaks teaching that we have been sent to the earth at this time for a reason.
For fasting and spiritual preparation, ask:
How can fasting prepare us even when it does not remove the difficult situation?
Fasting was not going to change the king’s law, but it could strengthen Esther to face it. In the same way, fasting may not immediately remove our problem, but it can bring greater spiritual strength, clarity, humility, and confidence before we step into something difficult.
And finally, for “If I perish, I perish,” ask:
What is the difference between trusting God and assuming everything will turn out exactly the way we want?
“If I perish, I perish” is not a statement of despair or recklessness. It is a statement of resolve. Esther decided that doing what was right mattered more than receiving a guarantee about the outcome. She refused to let fear of the consequences make the decision for her. God will always honor faithfulness, but that does not mean the world will always respond the way we hope.
At this point, you might do a brief fill-in-the-blank activity. Invite students to think of a righteous action they may be afraid to take because they cannot control what will happen afterward. You set it up like this:
I will _______________ (fill that in with some difficult righteous action that they are afraid to act on)
And If _______________
Then ________________. (fill that in with the possible negative consequence of taking that action).
Then I like to give some examples.
You could give them one or two examples:
I will take this test honestly, and if I fail, I fail.
I will keep my standards high, and if I’m not very popular with my peers, then I not very popular with my peers.
I will put my family ahead of my image or ambition, and if others advance faster than I do, then they advance faster than I do.
TAKE IT TO HEART:
Invite students to quietly consider this question:
Where in my life am I waiting to feel fearless before I act faithfully?
Give them a moment to think before discussing anything further.
You could then say:
“Maybe your doorway is a difficult conversation. Maybe it is telling the truth, defending someone, asking for help, ending something unhealthy, sharing what you believe, forgiving someone, or accepting a responsibility that frightens you. Your moment may not look as dramatic as Esther’s, but the fear may still feel real. Esther’s story does not tell us that faithful people never feel afraid. It tells us where they can turn when they do.”
A second reflection question could be:
Who may be blessed if I take that faithful step?
That keeps the application from becoming entirely self-focused.
I WILL GO AND DO:
What is one thing I can do to be more like Esther this week?
Possible Suggestions:FIND A MORDECAI: Talk to a trusted parent, friend, leader, teacher, spouse, or mentor about a decision that frightens you. Ask for honest encouragement and perspective.
FAST FOR COURAGE: Choose an appropriate time to fast for strength, clarity, or courage concerning a specific decision.
IDENTIFY YOUR PLACE: Write down one place where you currently have influence. Ask:
“Who might God want me to notice, help, protect, encourage, or strengthen here?”
TAKE ONE STEP: Identify one faithful action you have delayed because you are afraid of the response. Choose the smallest honest step you can take.
TAKEAWAY:
So, our takeaway slide captures that moment of courage where Esther stands in the doorway of the Kings’ chamber with the caption: For Such a Time as This. Then you could say something like: As you look at Esther standing in that doorway, do not picture someone without fear. She knew what might happen, but she also believed she had been placed there for a reason. So she stepped forward. You will face doorways of your own—difficult conversations, courageous decisions, or moments when someone needs you to speak. You may still feel afraid. Esther teaches us that God can give us enough strength to take the next faithful step, even when we cannot control the outcome. And who knows whether you have come where you are for such a time as this?
OPTIONAL LESSON ENHANCEMENTS:
OBJECT:
If you would like to include an object lesson, simply use the doorway to your classroom. Stand at the threshold and explain that Esther once faced a doorway like this. On one side was safety and silence. On the other was the king, possible death, and her best chance to save her people.
You might say:
“Esther knew what she needed to do, but she also knew what it might cost. The question is not whether she felt afraid. She did. The question is: What gave her enough strength to step through?”
Then leave the movement unresolved. Do not cross the doorway yet. Tell students that as they study Esther 4, they will look for what helped her take that faithful step.
QUOTE:
From Thomas S. Monson:
“You will probably not be called upon to put your life on the line, as did Esther, for that which you believe. You will, however, most likely find yourself in situations where great courage will be required as you stand firm for truth and righteousness.”
(Conference Report, Apr. 2009 “May You Have Courage”)
NOTE:
Now, a quick note. Esther should probably remain the main focus of your teaching this week. Her courage, faith, and willingness to act “for such a time as this” carry the central message of the book. But if you teach more than once, have additional class time, or simply want to explore the story from another angle, there are two other characters worth considering. Vashti and Haman play smaller roles, but each of them offers a memorable and valuable lesson of their own.
LESSON #2 THE VASHTI PRINCIPLE: (Esther 1)
TRUTH:
My worth comes from my divine identity and character, not from the attention others give my appearance.
FIRE IN THE BONES:
Now for some fire in the bones. Vashti is only a minor character in the book of Esther, and the scriptures don’t tell us exactly why she refused the king’s command. So we need to be careful not to claim more than we know. But we do know the situation. The king had been drinking, he wanted to bring Vashti before a room full of men in order to display her beauty, and she refused to come. Whatever her motivation may have been, her story raises an important question for us: What do we do when other people begin to treat us as though our greatest value is something outward? Our appearance, popularity, usefulness, status, or ability to impress? God sees far more in His children than something to look at, display, compare, or use. He sees a soul, a son or daughter, a person with character, agency, gifts, covenants, and divine worth. Vashti’s story can help us consider whether we value dignity and integrity more than the approval or attention of others.
OBJECT:
For an object, I like to bring in a yearbook. One of my old yearbooks from high school.
ICEBREAKER:
And I use that as part my icebreaker. What you do is you bring out your yearbook and show your class your picture. If you’re teaching teenagers, they will usually enjoy seeing what their teacher looked like at their age, and adults may enjoy it as well.
But then, you could give each student the “More Than a Picture” handout. Invite them to begin by writing inside the frame the kinds of things people can know about someone based only on their picture? And they may write things like their physical appearance, attractiveness, age, or preferred clothing style. Then direct their attention to the other list and ask them to list the deeper qualities that a photograph can never fully capture. And there they may write things like faith, integrity, kindness, courage, loyalty, testimony, or character. After giving them a minute or two, ask: “Which list tells you more about who a person really is?” And the point here is not that outward appearance is unimportant or meaningless, but that it is always incomplete. A picture may show us something about a person, but it can never show us their soul. And that idea becomes especially important as we turn to a lesser-known woman in the book of Esther that can teach us something about how others see us, and how we see ourselves.
SEARCH ACTIVITY:
For the search activity, rather than reading all twenty-two verses of Esther 1 without direction, we’re going to divide the story into four short sections and give students one question for each. Call on students to read a section, then discuss the classes answers to those questions.
So for Esther 1:3–8: What do these verses reveal about the king and what mattered to him?
Students may notice, wealth, power, luxury, image, and impressing others
Then for Esther 1:9–12
What did the king ask Vashti to do, and under what circumstances?
Help students notice that the king’s heart was “merry with wine” and that he wanted to show the people and princes her beauty.
Then for Esther 1:13–18
How did Vashti respond, and what did the king and his advisers fear her choice might cause?
Students will see that Vashti refused and that the men feared other women might follow her example.
Then for Esther 1:19–22
What consequence did Vashti face because she refused?
She lost her position as queen and was made into a public example.
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
Now that our students understand the story, we want to help them discover a principle her example can teach us. Here is the question sequence I might use to help them to do that.
In this moment, what does the king seem to value most about Vashti?
We don’t know for certain, but why do you think she refused to come?
And this is where I might take some time to present the evidence that she probably didn’t come out of a sense of dignity and modesty. That just makes so much sense. She doesn’t want to go parade around in front of bunch of drunk men to ogle her and check her out.
I would probably share the Josephus quote that suggests that reasoning.
What did Vashti lose by refusing, and what did she gain or preserve?
What does that teach you about the value of approval vs. integrity?
And here I would display the central truth of our lesson, and ask: How might that truth change the way we treat ourselves and others?
TAKE IT TO HEART:
Some possible take it to heart questions to choose from:
How can we help others feel valued for more than their appearance?
You might consider sharing the following statement from the “For the Strength of Youth” pamphlet. It says:“Treat your body—and others’ bodies— with respect. As you make decisions about your clothing, hairstyle, and appearance, ask yourself, “Am I honoring my body as a sacred gift from God?” Heavenly Father wants us to see each other for who we really are, not just physical bodies but His beloved children with a divine destiny. Avoid styles that emphasize or draw inappropriate attention to your physical body instead of who you are as a child of God with an eternal future.”
Then ask: How can our appearance either support or compete with the message of who we really are?
I WILL GO AND DO:
How might you apply the lesson of Vashti to your own life?
Suggestions:
GIVE A CHARACTER COMPLIMENT: Compliment someone this week for something deeper than appearance.
SET A HEALTHY BOUNDARY: If someone is pressuring you to do something that compromises your dignity, prepare a clear and respectful response.
SEE THE SOUL: Choose one person you tend to judge quickly. Make a deliberate effort to see more deeply and treat that person with greater dignity.
REMEMBER YOUR IDENTITY: Identify one false label you have placed on yourself and replace it with a revealed truth.
TAKEAWAY:
The takeaway slide invites our students to remember that they are “More than Something to Look At”. And that their worth, and other people’s worth is deeper than what others can see. And you could say: As you look at this image, remember that a person can never be fully captured by what is visible. A face, a body, an outfit, a reputation, a social-media image may tell us something about a person, but it can never tell us what that soul is worth. Vashti lived in a world that wanted to display her beauty, but her story invites us to look more deeply. God does not see His children as objects to be shown, compared, rated, or used. He sees character, agency, potential, and divine identity. So do not hand someone else the power to determine your worth. And do not reduce another person to what you can see on the outside. Choose dignity over attention, integrity over approval, and remember that you—and every person you meet—are always more than something to look at.
OPTIONAL LESSON ENHANCEMENTS:
VIDEO:
As an optional video for this lesson, you might show “Our True Identity”. In the video, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf retells the story of the ugly duckling and uses it to remind us that we can easily misunderstand our worth when we judge ourselves by what we see on the surface or by the way other people view us. That message connects beautifully with Vashti’s story and the “More Than a Picture” idea.
QUOTE:
From Dieter F. Uchtdorf:
“God does not look on the outward appearance. I believe that He doesn’t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely.”
(Conference Report, Oct. 2009 “The Love of God”)
LESSON #3 THE ONE THING THAT RUINED EVERYTHING (Esther)
TRUTH:
Focusing on the negative can make one disappointment feel larger than all my blessings.
FIRE IN THE BONES:
Now for some fire in the bones. Haman had wealth, influence, position, family, and the favor of the king. By almost every outward measure, he had an incredibly successful life. But there was one man who would not bow to him, and Haman allowed that one offense to poison everything else. That resentment eventually grew into obsession, hatred, and destruction. Haman’s story warns us that when we allow one disappointment, criticism, irritation, or imperfect person to dominate our attention, we can become blind to all the good God has already placed around us. Hopefully this lesson can help our students to accentuate the positive and focus their attention on the good in their lives.
OBJECT:
As a simple visual object for this lesson, you might bring a magnifying glass to class. You can point out how a magnifying glass does not actually make an object larger, it only makes it LOOK larger to us. And that’s exactly what Haman allowed his pride and resentment to do.
ICEBREAKER:
For an icebreaker you could play a very quick round of hangman with your class. And I know what you may be thinking: “Brother Wilcox, isn’t hangman one of the most overused Sunday School activities of all time?” Well, yes—but in this case, there is a reason for it. The mystery word is only five letters long: HAMAN. Haman is the villain of Esther’s story, and in the end, he dies on the very structure he had prepared for Mordecai. That reversal makes the activity unusually fitting. Just keep it quick. The purpose is simply to introduce the character and create a little curiosity before turning to the scripture.
SEARCH ACTIVITY:
Before you study and discuss Haman’s attitude, you may want to give your students a brief summary of his role in the story. Haman was one of King Ahasuerus’s highest-ranking officials, and the king commanded that everyone bow before him. Mordecai, Esther’s cousin, refused, and Haman became so angry that he was not satisfied with punishing Mordecai alone. When he learned that Mordecai was a Jew, he persuaded the king to issue a decree allowing all the Jews throughout the empire to be destroyed. Later, Haman built a gallows for Mordecai and went to the palace intending to ask the king for permission to have him hanged. But that same night, the king was reminded that Mordecai had once saved his life and had never been rewarded. In one of the great reversals of the story, Haman was forced to publicly honor the very man he hated. Soon afterward, Esther revealed Haman’s plot to the king, and Haman was hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. His pride and resentment did not merely make him miserable; they led him to choices that eventually destroyed him. With that background in mind, we can now look more closely at the small but revealing moment in Esther 5 where Haman explains what he was allowing to control his happiness.
Tell your students that you’re going to make two lists on the board. One is entitled “What Haman Had,” and the other “What Haman Did Not Have.”
Invite them to read Esther 5:9–13 and look for what they could place under each heading.
And for the “What he had” side, they might identify:
great riches
many children
royal promotion
power and influence
honor above the other princes
Then for “what he didn’t have,” only one thing:
Mordecai’s respect and submission
Then ask: Knowing what we know about how Haman’s story ends, what lesson do you feel he teaches us?
Or you could ask it this way:
How did Haman’s focus affect his happiness and what general principle can we learn from that?
And you’re going to want to draw their attention to verse 13 where he says, “Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.” Be sure to point out the imbalance. Haman had a whole list of blessings and one irritation. But in his mind, that one irritation became larger than everything else.
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
Then you could ask: Have you ever made the same mistake? Have you ever had one negative experience ruin an otherwise good day? Have you ever focused so much on one person’s criticism that you forgot the encouragement of everyone else?
What do you feel could help us not to make Haman’s mistake?
TAKE IT TO HEART:
For the “Take It to Heart” portion of the lesson, you could give each student this simple handout with a black dot in the middle. At first, simply ask them what they notice. Most will immediately point to the small black dot in the center. Then ask, “How much of this page is actually black?” Of course, almost all of it is still white. That is the Haman problem. His life was filled with blessings, but one irritation had become the only thing he could see. Then give your students a minute or two and invite them to fill as much of the white space as they can with the good things in their own lives—people they love, opportunities they have, prayers that have been answered, things they enjoy, strengths they have developed, or blessings they often overlook. The goal is not to pretend the black dot is not there. Problems, disappointments, and frustrations are real. But they should not be allowed to become the whole page. Afterward, you might ask, “What changed when you started looking at the entire page instead of only the dot?” Hopefully, the activity helps students recognize that gratitude does not erase difficulties; it simply puts them back into their proper perspective.
I WILL GO AND DO:
For an I will go and do invite your students to choose one simple action this week to apply this lesson.
Suggestions:
At the end of each day, write down at least three blessings you experienced that day.
Identify one irritation or offense that has been occupying too much mental space. Decide what healthy response it actually deserves—and refuse to give it more attention than that.
When your mind begins replaying an offense, pause and pray for help to respond with humility, perspective, and charity.
Each time you catch yourself magnifying a flaw, deliberately identify one good quality in the same person or situation. Train your attention to look for more than what is wrong.
TAKEAWAY:
Conclude with the following takeaway slide that reminds us “DON’T LET ONE THING RUIN EVERYTHING”
Then you could say something like: As you consider Haman’s mistake, remember that he had an entire life filled with blessings. He had wealth, position, family, influence, and the favor of the king. But all of it “availed him nothing” because one man wouldn’t bow to him. The problem was real, but Haman allowed pride and resentment to make it larger than everything else. We all have black dots in our lives: disappointments, offenses, weaknesses, and things we wish were different. We don’t need to pretend they’re not there. But we also don’t have to let them become the whole page. So notice the good. Give thanks for what remains. Forgive where you can. Deal wisely with what needs to change. And do not let one Mordecai at the gate blind you to every blessing already inside the palace.
OPTIONAL LESSON ENHANCEMENTS:
VIDEO:
As an optional video for this lesson, you might show “Thanksgiving Daily.” The video makes the point that when we see the same good things every day, they can gradually become almost invisible to us. Hopefully, the video will help them to understand that gratitude is partly the practice of training our eyes to see what has been there all along.
QUOTE:
A quote you could share with this lesson comes from Gordon B. Hinckley:
“I come this morning with a plea that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that we “accentuate the positive.” I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort. . .
What I am suggesting and asking is that we turn from the negativism that so permeates our society and look for the remarkable good in the land and times in which we live, that we speak of one another’s virtues more than we speak of one another’s faults, that optimism replace pessimism, that our faith exceed our fears.”
Gordon B. Hinckley (BYU Devotional, October 29, 1974)
INSIGHTS
VASHTI-TRUE VALUE
ICEBREAKER
As an icebreaker, I like to bring one of my old high school yearbooks to class. And if you’re teaching teenagers, they always get a kick out of seeing what you looked like when you were their age, so it’s kind of a fun attention-getter. But even if you aren’t teaching the youth, adults might have some fun with that too. But then I ask them a question. When we take pictures of people to help us remember them, who they are, what part of them do we take a picture of? What part best represents them? Do we take a picture of their left elbow? Or the back of their head? Or the little toe of their right foot? Is that how we remember people? What if the yearbook was filled with pictures of everybody’s right foot? Would you remember them? Oh yeah, I remember that guy, he was so funny. No. We take a picture of their face. Their face is what most sets them apart as them. Now, I have to credit John Bytheway for this idea because I really like the way he used this example to teach the youth a certain gospel standard that I feel is often misunderstood. And we’ll talk about that standard a little later after we study a character from the book of Esther that is often overlooked as a minor character. But I think she has a valuable lesson to teach us. That person was the queen that came before Esther.
SEARCH
What was her name? See if you can find it in Esther chapter 1. Who was she? Vashti. Vashti was King Ahasuerus’s first queen. He was the King of Persia at this time. And we’ve got to remember that the story of Esther takes place sometime after the destruction of Jerusalem during the Jewish exile. So you have Jewish people living scattered all throughout the ancient world, including here in the capitol city of Persia, Susa. Well, this King Ahasuerus is married to this beautiful Persian woman named Vashti. And I believe that she has something to teach us. The question is, is she a good example, or a bad example. Let’s read her story and decide which side she falls on. What do you feel is a lesson her example could teach us? And just to preempt any awkward moments in you class, you could begin by saying that you don’t feel that the lesson of this story is that women should obey their husbands no matter what. That’s not where we’re going with this today. We have, for the most part, as a society, moved beyond that false notion of female subjugation, thank heavens. So if that’s not it, what can she teach us. Read the story found in Esther 1:1-22. You could approach this reading in a number of ways. You could play an audio version of the story for everyone to listen to which can be downloaded from the Church’s website. You could read them the story yourself as a teacher. You could have them read the story quietly to themselves. Or you could have them take turns reading the story as a class. However, I’ve found that that last method usually doesn’t seem to work as well for large sections of text.
Now I’m not going to read it here verse for verse, but I encourage you to do so and then come back.
To summarize it, King Ahasuerus throws a huge party for himself, a 180-day party no less. And then at the end of that huge party, he has a final seven-day feast to end things with a real bang. And the story tells us that all the men are feasting in one place, and all the women in another. And then in verse 10 it says that “when the heart of the king was merry with wine” he commands for Queen Vashti to come in so that he can show everyone how beautiful she is. You know, he’s like, “Oh wow, you guys have got to see my wife. Whew! She’s gorgeous. You’ve got to check her out! Go bring her in.” And how does Vashti respond to that request? She refuses. Now under those circumstances, why do you think she’s refusing? What’s her motivation? Is it out of a sense of defiance and disrespect for the king? I, personally, really don’t think so. Now we don’t know for sure, but there are some really good indicators that she has a very different reason for not coming. I believe that she refuses to come out of sense of modesty and self-respect. I mean, think about it. Women, would you want to be paraded around in front of a bunch of drunk men for them to ogle you and check you out? Probably not. And so she won’t come. She does not want to be treated as an object, a mere possession, or to be valued only for her outward appearance. That’s the lesson that I feel Vashti is teaching us. She’s a great example of strength in womanhood and the principle of modesty. The Jewish historian Josephus suggests this. Josephus lived a little after the time of Jesus Christ and had access to records and a historical understanding that is now lost. He adds these details to the narrative:
“Now the king was desirous to show her to those that feasted with him, as she exceeded all other women in beauty, and he sent some to command her to come to his banquet. But she, out of regard to the laws of the Persians, which forbid the wives to be seen by strangers, did not go to the king; and though he repeatedly sent the eunuchs to her, she nevertheless continued to refuse to come . . .” (Antiquities of the Jews, p. 237)
So, according to Josephus, her refusal to come was out of sense of propriety and a commitment to her cultural values. It must have taken great courage and resolve for Vashti to directly disobey the order of the king. But she does anyway, regardless of the consequences. And what were the consequences? In the heat of his anger, and because of peer pressure put on him by his friends, Ahasuerus is convinced to divorce Vashti, to make her a public example, so that, according to his friends opinion, “all the wives [of the kingdom] shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small.” (Esther 1:20) They’re worried that this story is going to get out there and then all the women of the kingdom are going to start getting ideas and disobeying their husbands wishes. And we can’t have that!
And that’s what he does. But then Josephus adds some more detail to the story. It appears that, after things cool off a bit, Ahasuerus regrets his decision. Which shouldn’t surprise us. How many regrettable things have been done as a result of drunkenness and peer pressure? Josephus writes:
“But the king was in love with her and could not bear the separation, and yet by the law he did not have the power to be reconciled to her; so he grieved at not being able to obtain his desire.
But when his friends saw him in such pain they advised him to cast out the memory of his wife and his desire for her, but to send abroad over all the habitable earth to search out for comely virgins, and to take her he best liked for his wife; because his passion for his former wife would be quenched by the introduction of another, and the affection he had for [Vashti] would little by little be withdrawn and transferred to the woman living with him. He was persuaded to follow this advice, and accordingly gave order to certain persons to select from the virgins of his kingdom those that were esteemed the most beautiful and to bring them to him.”
(Antiquities of the Jews, p. 237)
So that’s what sets up the entire story of Esther. That’s how she ends up in the palace and eventually becomes the new queen. But how sad to discover that the king really regretted having divorced his former wife because of a rash decision made under the coercion of his friends. If there was a quick principle that Ahasuerus could teach us here it might be this:
Beware the influence of alcohol and peer pressure. They can often cause us to do things that we regret.
But back to Vashti. Her resolve in this difficult situation, I feel, makes her a Biblical hero. She was a woman who so valued propriety, virtue, and modesty, that she refused the orders of the most powerful man in the world at great personal risk.
TRUTH
Choose modesty and dignity over affection and attention.
Now that resolve did carry some real social consequences for her, didn’t it. She lost the throne. She lost her marriage. She lost her prestige. But what did she gain or maintain? Something far more valuable. Her integrity. Her dignity. Her virtue. That was more important to her, regardless of the outcome.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
How can we follow the example of Vashti? We can follow her by also being deeply committed to the principle of modesty. And what is the principle of modesty? I think it’s best expressed in the “For the Strength of Youth” pamphlet. Let me read from that here:
“Your body is sacred. Respect it and do not defile it in any way. Through your dress and appearance, you can show that you know how precious your body is. You can show that you are a disciple of Jesus Christ and that you love Him.
Prophets of God have continually counseled His children to dress modestly. When you are well groomed and modestly dressed, you invite the companionship of the Spirit, and you can be a good influence on others. Your dress and grooming influence the way you and others act.
Never lower your standards of dress. Do not use a special occasion as an excuse to be immodest. When you dress immodestly, you send a message that is contrary to your identity as a son or daughter of God. You also send the message that you are using your body to get attention and approval.”
Now, whenever I teach the principle of modesty, I make sure to tell the young men that this standard applies to them just as much as it does to the young women. Remember our icebreaker. What part of ourselves represents US? Our face. The principle of modesty is breached when we do anything that deliberately draws attention away from US—to some other aspect of our appearance. So yes, that’s why young women are often counseled to be wary of the way they dress so as not to draw undue attention to their bodies rather than THEM. And, not even their face so much as them as a person, as an individual, as a soul, represented by the unique appearance of their countenance. God does not want his sons and daughters to be valued for external or superficial reasons. And the way we dress is not the only way the principle of modesty can be infringed. The “For the Strength of Youth” pamphlet adds this line as well:
“Young men and young women should be neat and clean and avoid being extreme or inappropriately casual in clothing, hairstyle, and behavior.”
So, extremes are to be avoided. Why? Because extremes draw attention away from who we are and focuses people on some outward aspect of ourselves. Extreme hairstyles. Extreme piercings. I think this is why the Church discourages tattoos. These are all things that can cause others to concentrate on things other than who we really are on the inside. Remember 1 Samuel 16:7, “the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”
CONCLUSION
So, I encourage us to remember the Vashti principle. Modesty and self-respect, propriety and dignity are worth more than social attention or relationships even. So yes, if you choose to be modest, there may be some social consequences to that. You may not get the notoriety or recognition or attention that others get, as superficial as it may be. But you will gain the respect and the attention of those that really value you for you, and your own respect, and a sense of confidence in your integrity and worth. Vashti teaches us this and I hope we can learn something from her in this book too, just as we can from Esther.
ESTHER-FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS
But now, let’s focus on this other incredible woman whose book bears her name. The story of Esther is really a literary masterpiece that almost reads like a novel. There’s mystery, intrigue, revenge, irony, assassination plots, and the fate of the entire Jewish people resting on the act of one young woman. Such a fun book of scripture with a potent and moving message.
ICEBREAKER
A great icebreaker for the story of Esther would be to show your class the church produced movie of this story. It’s very well done and can help give your students a sense what happens in this book in a relatively short period of time, about 14 minutes (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2011-03-0030-for-such-a-time-as-this?lang=eng&alang=eng). Because a danger with teaching the Book of Esther is to get so caught up in the details of the narrative, that we fail to teach what it teaches, which is far more important than just enjoying an entertaining story. Still, they do need to know the story in order for the lesson to have impact, so do your best to seek a balance between the two. I find that showing the film is a good way to do this. As they watch the movie, they could also fill in the following crossword puzzle which can help them to pay better attention to the details of the story. Also, there are some questions that come from the scriptures after the movie ends since the movie does not cover the entire story—only up to the point where Esther enters the King’s chamber without being summoned. So it’s a bit of a cliffhanger. The scriptures will give your students the rest of the story. On the handout, the questions are arranged in such a manner that they do in fact go in the order of the movie to make it easier to follow along. So here are the answers:
SEARCH
2 ACROSS: Mordecai the Jew refused to do this before Haman, the King's advisor. BOW
6 ACROSS: There was a law in the land that prohibited anyone from approaching the King or entering his chamber without an ________________. INVITATION
12 ACROSS: Because of his divorce, the King had sought throughout the entire kingdom for a new ________ and had chosen Esther. QUEEN
3 DOWN: Haman desired to have all the Jews _____________ by royal decree. DESTROYED
1 DOWN: Mordecai and Esther were related. They were ___________. COUSINS
11 ACROSS: Mordecai mourned at the gate of the palace and sent a message requesting that Esther make supplication to the king for her ______________. PEOPLE
5 DOWN: Esther was afraid to speak to the king. He had not called for her for ___________ days and she knew that anyone who approached the king without being called would be under an immediate death sentence. THIRTY
Now I’ve sometimes had students ask me why it was such a big deal for Esther to talk to her husband. They kind of scoff a little bit and say, “Why is that such a great act of courage?” Well, a couple things to consider here. Marriages back then weren’t quite what they are today. Equality in marriage relationships was not really the order of the day. Men were generally considered the sole leaders of their households and their wives were expected to obedient to their demands. Plus, Ahasuerus is not just any man, but the king. What he says, goes. Esther says that she had not been summoned to him for thirty days. Now why? We don’t know. It could be that the relationship was not really a close one to begin with. Esther was maybe more of a figurehead. He needed a queen to fill that position and Esther was chosen. OR, some have suggested that perhaps they were at odds with each other at the time. OR perhaps Ahasuerus was a bit of an intimidating man, or easily upset. Who knows, but there is something else to consider. Is there any precedent in the story that would justify Esther’s concern for doing something that he didn’t command? Yeah. Remember Vashti. We’ve already seen what he’s willing to do to a queen that doesn’t obey his wishes. He divorces and deposes her—for not coming when he had called. That’s not a far cry from what’s happening here. The only difference is that she is coming to him, when she hasn’t been called—interrupting him. Also, there is another part of the story not depicted in the movie where there is an assassination plot on the life of the King. Now it’s foiled by Mordecai, which eventually leads to his promotion in the kingdom, but that indicates that these are dangerous times. The rules put in place for the safety of the king were no frivolous matter. Also, her request is to go in and ask the King to change a royal decree. Some might have looked at that as rather presumptuous for a newly chosen queen to come in and suggest political moves and policy changes to the King! And the fact that she is so concerned and worried must be taken as an indicator that she truly feels that her life is in danger in this situation. It was certainly a bold and courageous move for Esther to come into the king under those circumstances. Let’s keep that in mind as we study this story.
8 ACROSS: A person could only be saved if the king held out his golden ____________ to pardon them. SCEPTER
13 ACROSS: Mordecai's message to Esther: "who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a ______ as this?" TIME
7 ACROSS: Esther requested that all the Jews of the city ______ for her. FAST
4 DOWN: Esther had the courage to go before the King without being called but obtained __________ in his sight, and was not killed. (Esther 5:2) FAVOUR
9 DOWN: Esther requested that the king _____________ the letters devised by Haman to destroy the Jews. (Esther 8:3-5) REVERSE
10 DOWN: Instead of sorrow and destruction, because of Esther's courage, the Jewish people had light, gladness, honor, and _______. (Esther 8:16-17) JOY
11 DOWN: To this day, Jewish people around the world celebrate Esther's victory over this plot every year with a special holiday called ____________. (Esther 9:26) PURIM
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
Well now that we have a good understanding of the story, we can focus our attention on what the story teaches. To help make this book of scriptures more relevant to us, let’s see if we can draw some comparisons between Esther’s situation and our own. Take each of the following elements of the story and decide what you feel they could represent for us. First of all. Where can we see ourselves in the story? Who do we want to compare ourselves to or strive to be like?
· Esther=
· Esther represents us! Hopefully, we as members of the true Church of Jesus Christ see ourselves in her and can act as she did to become modern-day Esthers.
· Haman=
· Satan. Satan is a good comparison to Haman. He’s somebody who, because of his pride and jealousy and hatred, desires that we be destroyed.
· Law of the land=
· This is a tougher one, but perhaps they could represent the unrighteous philosophies and norms and opinions of the world. There are a lot of social laws and worldly laws out there that stand in contradiction to the laws of God. The question is: How are we going to react to them when they threaten to destroy our faith or morality? Hopefully, we act like Esther.
· Esther's act of going before the king=
· What does that look like in a latter-day member of the Church? Anytime we show the courage and strength of character to stand up for truth and righteousness regardless of the outcome, we’re following Esther’s example. When we defy the laws of the world to defend the laws of God, we’re following her example. When we choose the right when it would be so much easier to just go with the flow, we’re following her example. To do that requires great courage and strength. And sometimes there are real consequences to those decisions. The world isn’t always very pleased with those who don’t bow to their will. The kings of this land are not always willing to hold out the golden scepter of mercy to those who flout their desires.
· Jews being saved=
· They could represent the people that are saved through our examples or our righteous decisions. When latter-day members of the church stand for truth, or preach the gospel, or set a good example to those around them, they save people. They bring joy and rejoicing to the lives of others.
STRENGTH FOR TOUGH TIMES
I think we all know that it’s not always easy to have the courage to do the right thing. We know from the story that it wasn’t easy for Esther to make the decision to approach the King. But there were some things that helped Esther to make that decision. I want you to study Esther 4:13-16 and find as many things as you can that helped give Esther the strength to do the right thing. And perhaps we can find strength in those kinds of things as well. I see at least four things here.
#1 Support and encouragement from family and friends. Mordecai is there to support and encourage Esther to make this decision. We too can surround ourselves with good influences that can help us to be strong in the face of temptation or challenge. I will always be forever grateful for the righteous influence of my parents, especially in my youth. They always taught and encouraged me to choose the right and to honor my priesthood and to live my faith. I also had really amazing friends in my youth and college years that shared and supported my values. I didn’t have to say no to drugs, or ask them to turn off the bad movie, or to use clean language around me. They lived those same standards and we found strength and support in each other. Thomas, John, Travis, Dave, Darren. I had such good friends and their influence helped to keep me on the path throughout those precarious teenage and young adult years.
#2 My favorite line of the whole story. Mordecai’s plea: “and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” Something that can help us to have courage is to know that we have been sent to the earth at this time as members of Christ’s church with a purpose for just such a time as this. And do we know if that’s true? Yes! We do. How many times have we been told that we have been held in reserve for the last days because of our strength and valiance in the pre-mortal world? Here are just a few examples.
“For nearly six thousand years, God has held you in reserve to make your appearance in the final days before the second coming of the Lord. Some individuals will fall away; but the kingdom of God will remain intact to welcome the return of its head—even Jesus Christ. While our generation will be comparable in wickedness to the days of Noah, when the Lord cleansed the earth by flood, there is a major difference this time. It is that God has saved for the final inning some of His strongest
children, who will help bear off the kingdom triumphantly. That is where you come in, for you are the generation that must be prepared to meet your God” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], 104–5).
“Truly, my dear young friends, you are a chosen generation. I hope you will never forget it… I hope there will grow in your hearts an overpowering sense of gratitude to God who has made it possible for you to come upon the earth in this marvelous season of the world’s history.”– Gordon B. Hinckley (Conference Report, April 1992)
Although there have always been challenges in the world, many of those which you face are unique to this time. But you are some of our Heavenly Father’s strongest children, and He has saved you to come to the earth “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14). With His help, you will have the courage to face whatever comes. Though the world may at times appear dark, you have the light of the gospel, which will be as a beacon to guide your way. Thomas S. Monson (Ensign, May 2009)
“My dear extraordinary youth, you were sent to earth at this precise time, the most crucial time in the history of the world, to help gather Israel. There is nothing happening on this earth right now that is more important than that. There is nothing of greater consequence. Absolutely nothing …
My beloved younger brothers and sisters, you are among the best the Lord has ever sent to this world. You have the capacity to be smarter and wiser and have more impact on the world than any previous generation! … You are the hope of Israel, ‘children of the promised day’!”
— President Russell M. Nelson, “Hope of Israel,” June 2018, Worldwide Devotional for youth
And you’ll notice that I’ve shared some quotes from prophets who are long since gone. It’s not just the teenagers or the young people of today that this distinction belongs to. It belongs to all the adults of this time as well-to all faithful members of the Church. The prophets have been telling us this truth for decades. We are all a part of the chosen generation. The generation of the latter-days. We’ve been held in reserve for such a time as this.
Another place we can go to see our foreordained potential and power is our patriarchal blessings. They reveal that our Father in Heaven really does have a specific and personal plan and purpose for us in this life—that we weren’t sent to this earth randomly. We’ve been sent to accomplish certain things and fulfill certain aims—to influence others in a specific way—to live our lives as examples—to be the salt of the earth and to let our light so shine before others. So it’s not, “who knoweth whether we are come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” But “We know that we are come to the kingdom for such a time as this.”
#3 Fasting
Fasting is a powerful way to find strength to do what’s right. If you’re feeling weak. If you’re feeling you don’t have the strength to resist temptation. If you’re feeling that you just don’t have the courage to stand up to your peers, fast! And ask those around you that love you to fast for you as well. There is great strength that comes from that practice. God has provided us this simple way of showing him our level of desire to receive his help. I’ve found in my experience that it really does make a difference.
#4 An “If I perish, I perish” kind of attitude. That’s my second favorite line from the story of Esther. Choosing the right does not guarantee that the world will react positively to it. God will always reward righteous behavior, but the world may not. So we sometimes have to adopt an Esther-like attitude. The attitude of “Oh well, whatever happens will happen, but I’m going to choose the right. And if some negative terrestrial consequence comes because of it, so be it.” So we say, “I will take this test honestly without cheating, and if I fail, I fail.” Or, “I will not swear, or drink, or dress immodestly, or watch inappropriate media, and if I’m not very popular with my peers, then I not very popular with my peers.” “I will go and serve a mission for the Lord, and if I lose my scholarship, then I lose my scholarship.” “I will obey the law of chastity, and if I lose that relationship because of it, then I lose that relationship.” Can you come up a statement like that on your own?
Each of these four things can help us to become latter-day Esthers in our own right and to do the right thing even when the obstacles are many and the stakes high.
TRUTH
If I have the courage to choose the right, God can bless me with the strength to do difficult things, and I can bless the lives of many.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
When have you (or someone you know) stepped out in faith like Esther did? What happened?
CONCLUSION
Well, there are many forces arrayed against truth and righteousness in our modern world. Latter-day disciples of Christ face evils even more dangerous and wicked than Haman of Esther’s day. These forces seek our spiritual destruction and even our physical destruction at times. In light of this danger, the Lord has foreordained, called, and sent forth modern Esthers to come to the earth for such a time as this. You! Us! All members of the Church of Jesus Christ in the latter-days. He has sent us to save the principles of goodness, faith, virtue, and truth. He has sent us to instill hope in others through our courage and example. As modern day Esthers, we must realize that we will have to believe and do things that will often go against the very customs and the conventions of our day. We may face ridicule. Our views ,and beliefs, and lifestyles may not be popular. But with that courage and strength, who knows how many countless souls will be saved.
THE HAMAN PRINCIPLE
ICEBREAKER
There is one other character you may wish to focus your attention on from this story. As an icebreaker and introduction to this individual you can play a quick round of hangman with your class. And I know, I know, you might be saying, “Come on Brother Wilcox, isn’t that the most cliché, overused Sunday School activity of all time?” Well, yeah, but there’s a reason why I choose that particular activity for this part of the lesson. Our word is only five letters long, but what is it? The word is Haman. Haman, the villain in the book of Esther who sought to destroy not only his archenemy Mordecai, but all of the Jewish people of the empire. And what happens to Haman in the end? He’s hanged. He ends up dying on the very gallows that he had erected to hang Mordecai. So do you see why I chose this as the icebreaker? It’s very fitting for the story.
SEARCH
But there is one particular life lesson that I want to briefly share with you when it comes to Haman. What was it that he did that led to this whole challenging situation in the first place? He embodies a very dangerous attitude and mindset to adopt in life. I want you to see if you can figure out what it is. This attitude is exhibited throughout the story but is most clearly seen in Esther 5:9-12
9 Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai.
10 Nevertheless Haman refrained himself: and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife.
11 And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.
12 Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to morrow am I invited unto her also with the king.
13 Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.
Did you catch the problem? Haman has so much going for him, doesn’t he. He’s in a position of great power and influence in the kingdom. He’s basically the king’s right-hand man. He has great riches. He’s married and has a large family. He’s got a pretty darn good life. But he lets one small negative thing sour everything else in his life. This one little gnat of a problem that he’s got begins to be the only thing he thinks about. All the great blessings in his life availed him nothing as long as Mordecai was there. This is what we would call making a mountain out of a molehill. So there’s this one guy that doesn’t bow to you, so what?! Enjoy your life! Focus on the good, be grateful for your blessings, Haman, and forget the rest.
But he doesn’t. And sadly for him. It is that obsession with Mordecai’s refusal to bow that is going to prove his undoing. It’s because of that, that he plots to have all the Jews killed, which is going to require Esther to stand up for her people, which will be the catalyst for Haman’s guilt to be revealed, which will cause the king to have him hanged.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
Do we ever do the same thing? Do we make Haman’s mistake? Do we allow the negative things in our lives to become the focus of all our attention and allow those things to make us miserable? Are we pessimists, cynics, critics, or glass half empty kinds of people? Are we always looking for what’s wrong in ourselves, what’s wrong in others, what’s wrong in our lives, what’s wrong in the world, rather than all that is right? I’m afraid that when we allow the negative to dominate our consciousness, that we too will bring about our own misery or even destruction.
Somebody who really made this point well and always impressed me as a quintessential model of optimism was President Gordon B. Hinckley. He once shared the following:
“Recently I spent the better part of a week in Washington, D.C., living in a hotel room. Each morning I watched the early news on television and then read the morning paper while eating breakfast... The amount of venom that spewed from the mouths and pens of the commentators was unbelievable. They were aflame with indignation. In all that week of morning watching and reading I never heard nor read among the commentators and editorialists a single paragraph of positive thought. The speakers were brilliant. They were men of incisive language, scintillating in expression. The columnists were masters of the written word. With studied art they poured out the sour vinegar of invective and anger, judging as if all wisdom belonged to them. At the conclusion of that week, I too made a negative observation. Said I, ‘Surely this is the age and place of the gifted pickle sucker.’”
The tragedy is that this spirit is epidemic. Criticism, fault-finding, evil speaking—these are of the spirit of the day. They are in our national life. . . The snide remark, the sarcastic gibe, the cutting down of associates—these, too often, are of the essence of our conversation. In our homes wives weep and children finally give up under the barrage of criticism leveled by husbands and fathers. Criticism is the forerunner of divorce, the cultivator of rebellion, sometimes a catalyst that leads to failure. Even in the Church it sows the seed of inactivity and finally apostasy.
I come this morning with a plea that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that we “accentuate the positive.” I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort. . .
What I am suggesting and asking is that we turn from the negativism that so permeates our society and look for the remarkable good in the land and times in which we live, that we speak of one another’s virtues more than we speak of one another’s faults, that optimism replace pessimism, that our faith exceed our fears.
Gordon B. Hinckley (BYU Devotional, October 29, 1974)
Perhaps Haman could have used that talk before he set in motion the events that would lead to his downfall.
TRUTH
If I focus on the negative, the petty, and the imperfect, I invite despair and misfortune into my life.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
To help combat that attitude a little, right here, right now. What are some of the positives of your life? What do you have to be grateful for? What is good and right about your current situation?
CONCLUSION
Well, I believe that optimism and idealism is a far better way to live than to get caught up in the negative and the flawed. We have so much to be grateful for in this world, in this life, in this church, regardless of the problems and difficulties we may face. Let’s not make mountains out of molehills. For all intents and purposes, let’s strive to be optimistic, happy people. Don’t diminish or throw out all of the good of your life because of the bad. Don’t sabotage your own life like Haman did. Accentuate the positive.
