← Don't Miss This Study
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Hi, there. Welcome to Don't Miss this, a scripture study podcast with Dave Butler and Grace Freeman.
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Each week, we point out things in the scriptures that we love and think you don't want to miss.
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Thanks for listening. Hi, there. I'm Dave Butler.
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And I'm Grace Smith.
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Welcome to Don't Miss this, Grace Smith.
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Okay. I know. I was trying to be subtle about it.
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I like it.
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Good.
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We're making a ton of progress. Acceptance of your new name. Good job, y'.
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All.
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If it's your first time, we are so happy you're here. We love. And if it's your 100th time, we. We're also so happy that you're here to just look at scripture together to sit around this kitchen table of ours and talk about the parts of the Old Testament this year that we love so much and just, oh, fall in love with scripture. Fall in love with Jesus. Just be encouraged, be hopeful. That's our goal every single week. So we're so happy that you're. That you're here. This is wild to say. I'm about to say a wild thing because this is August time, at least when we study this chapter, which is Esther, by the way, everybody. So just get riled up. Riled up for Esther. But, you guys, if you've ever heard of Swiss Days, if you live in Utah, Swiss Days is a local. I don't even know what to call it. Not a farmer's market, but kind of like. Kind of like a farm. Like a woman's farmers. A bougie. I don't know what it is, but
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it's not like bougie. It's like crafts. It's like. Anyways, it's like a shopper girl's dream.
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It's great. So you care about that if you're a. If you're a Utah girl. And the awesome news is. And wild to say that the New Testament don't miss this journal. And new poster set and new365 are going to hopefully be there. Everybody start crossing your fingers and praying that that happens. And conference journals, because conference is also coming up. If you can even believe that it just keeps coming back every six months.
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And where are the six months going?
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Well, to happy things, we hope.
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Yeah, true.
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Okay. Had a great experience, but you guys, I wish I had a picture to show you of the new Don't Miss this journals. Grace moved to New York so that she could go to the Hamptons and all those kind of things. And we just sort of decided to copy the vibe. Okay.
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We Said, let's elevate.
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Let's elevate.
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Me and Trendon are living in the tiniest apartment. But in our dreams.
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Stop. We're just gonna. Yeah, we're gonna talk about. Were just. I cannot wait for you to see what they look like.
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It's unreal, honestly.
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They're gold printed. They're linen. We brought the spiral back, y'. All. People needed the spiral. And it's a. It's a devotional. I'm not gonna say a ton about it because what if it's not even there? But just think gold, gold, gold coils, gold foil stamp.
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So good.
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Super elevated. The 365 is going to look good in every single house. I can't wait for you to see how we elevated that. The posters will have a. There'll be all the names of Jesus with a picture of Jesus on each and every one.
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It's unreal, to be honest. Like, every single thing is your favorite thing.
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It turned out really, really good. We're really proud of it. We can't wait for it. I hope it just brings charm to your scripture study is what we're hoping. Hoping, hoping. The style of the journal, the fun facts that you love are going to be in the newsletter. And then the journal itself is just devotional based. It just is. It kind of makes you want to light a candle, open up your scriptures, open up the journal. That's the vibe of it. It's fantastic. I hope they're all at Swiss Days ready for you to get your first sneak peek. That's so wild to say in the month of August that we're looking forward to New Testament year, but we just are.
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But we can't wait.
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But we have so much of the Old Testament to love. Also including the book of Esther workbooks and the general conference workbooks. I think I. We said. Oh, yeah, general conference workbooks.
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They'll be at days and you can sign up to get them, I think next week, second week of August. So you're preparing for everything.
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Wild. Wild.
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It's like you're back to school shopping. You don't get to get a backpack anymore, so this is what you can get instead.
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Exactly.
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That's.
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That's way better. Okay, let's rebrand Swiss Days as back to school shop. That's why don't miss. This stuff comes out because it's your study stuff. Yeah. It's your crayons and markers and new folders and trapper keepers.
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Nice 64 pack.
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Did you ever get a Trapper Keeper?
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I'd Never even generation. I never even heard. I was moving right along.
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Shout out to my Trapper Keeper people. All right, you guys. Book of Esther, what a great book. This highlight of the Bible from Genesis, the Revelation. Esther is my number one. Yeah, it is your number one. And who will ever forget the time that Grace told the story of Esther at a youth conference and Reno Mahe, our friend, Shout out Reno came home and started telling everyone, you guys, you'll never. I didn't know that Grace was an orphan and that she had to approach the king.
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Like, where did he think I lived?
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He thought you were. He thought you were Esther as you told the story. And Sunny had a really good. So that's how good of a story this is, you guys. It's call your friends worthy.
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Good.
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The piece for the timeline is this crown, the queen's crown that you'll put on now. If you were with us last week, Esther. Excuse me. Ezra and Nehemiah are the story of coming back. So remember a couple episodes ago, the southern, the northern kingdom was taken away by Assyria. The 10 tribes lost 10 tribes. The Southern two kingdoms were taken away by Babylon. They were gone for 70 years. That story is still coming. Okay, that what happens in the 70 years, that's going to be Daniel, by the way, and Shadrach, Meach and Abednego. That's all that stuff. But we're not there yet. In the Bible, we went from King's Chronicles when they got taken away to now Ezra and Nehemiah when they come back. Esther fits right in the middle of Ezra and Nehemiah, timeline wise. It doesn't happen in Jerusalem area though. It happens in the Persian empire. Okay, so you have the Persia years tip in from last time. It'll show you where Esther fits in there. And then you actually have another tip in to put in Esther, which is a summary of the story. Okay. Scene by scene. What do we call it in the journal? Act Act 1, Act 2, Act 3, Act 4, Act 5. Okay, is this one. So let's open up the Book of Esther. And there is something about the Book of Esther that's unique in the Bible. That you may already know this, but. And it may surprise you that the name of God is not mentioned a single time in the Book of Esther. Not. Not Lord, not God, not Holy Spirit, not nothing. No mention of the Lord at all in the book of Esther. Which if you've read the book of Esther or you've heard the book of Esther before, is probably surprising. And you're going to go look it up on Chat GPT, which could lie to you. Okay. Because Chad GBT likes to lie sometime and hallucinate. But if you go page by page through the Book of Esther, you will not find God mentioned a single time in that story, which is so crazy. And some. A lot, I should say. Bible scholars think that was done on purpose, that this is a literary kind of device. It was a way of writing so that a person would do this after they read the Book of Esther, that they would read that book and God is not mentioned. And think about a time in their life when at first they thought God was not there, but when they looked back, they could see his movement, his hand, and his gifts everywhere in the story. As you read the Book of Esther, as it's happening, God is not mentioned. But as you look back on that story, you would say, I see God everywhere in this story. And I think the writers of the Book of Esther wrote this book in this way to train our hearts and train our minds to look back on our stories and see the hand of God everywhere in it. Especially the ones that feel like he's not there because of the way things are going bad.
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Right.
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Because it's so easy when things are stormy right. By nature, fear, bad days, discouragement, tragedy are blinding. They're blinding by nature. But if we can look back, we see that God was there through it all, in the storm with us.
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And I think that some people, even, we kind of do this. Like we just did. Like, we kind of glorify this story of Esther, and it almost makes it unrelatable because we're like, oh, my gosh, it's a fairy tale. And she becomes the queen. And it's like this magical. And there's a castle and there's handmaidens and there's fancy clothes, and it's like, oh, what an incredible story. And then it almost seems unrelatable. And you're like, yeah, that's a really good story in the scriptures, but that has nothing to do with me and my life. And I think that this story is not for people who are living in palaces and dressing up like queens. This is not for them. I think from chapter one of this story, it's for people who are trying to find God in their life when it seems unwritten in their stories. And that is through this whole entire book.
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Yeah. So that's what we're gonna do. So if you look in your journal, this is divided by acts. Okay. Different parts of this story. It's such a great story. There's like, you know, plots and twists and all sorts of things in the story. It's really, really good story writing. Someone should make a movie. So pop some popcorn, right? Let's put on. Put on a soundtrack. And we're going to go through this. And as we go through and look back on the story of Esther, we're going to see. Okay, where did I actually see the hand of God in that particular section of it? Okay, so let's start. Act one is going to be chapters one and two. And there's this kind of unknown, lesser known, I should say, story. Another hero in this story is Queen Vashti. I think, at least the way the story is told. So here we are in the land of Persia, and there is this king in verse one we meet whose name is Ahasuerus. And he throws this gigantic banquet and party with and wants to impress everyone in the whole empire and brings them all in. And it's for days and days on end. And once they're all a little bit tipsy and they're in their bed, banquet, clothing, and in the court of the garden of the king's palace, everybody wants to see Queen Vashti. She's got this renowned beauty. And so he sends for Queen Vashti to come and do a show for all of his friends. And in verse 12 is when we find out that it says, but Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment, and he was so mad. And so he kicks her out of the palace and she's gone from the story after chapter one, which is going to open up a vacancy in the kingdom for a new queen to come. So in one end, it's just interest. I mean, who has the courage and the self confidence to make a decision like that? Like, clearly she knows this is going to mean exile for me or death for her to stand up to the king. You know, today we're just like, yes, stand up. But in those times, and for a woman, yes, yeah. So for her to have this kind of. I mean, as I look back in the story, like this moment where Vashti is so. Is treated so cruelly and so discriminate, I mean, just downgraded as a human being is going to open up the door for the rescue in the end of the story. It's just interesting that the story of rescue begins with humiliation. And you would think that that's the story headed in the wrong direction. But, you know, I think as we'll talk about several times in here, I mean, the Great rescue story of scripture is Jesus of Nazareth and his begins with humiliation. Born in a barn, the rescue itself happens as a humiliation on a criminal's cross. And it's interesting that through this mistreatment of this hero is going to be born this rescue story. But I just love seeing that God's going to work through such a mess that he's going to work through the. He's going to work through the cruelty of Oshuaries. He's going to work through the. And you know, I mean, he's not a good dude. He's not a good dude, but like, he's a product of his time, you know, so I'm not, I'm not. Who am I to judge another, you know, or whatever. But I. But it just is interesting that in the. Chapter one is terrible. It's terrible, but it's going to lay the ground that God's going to still work through it. So I like seeing that. I like seeing that God's already moving in a story that has all of these terrible elements in it. And her who, who gave her that courage, Where'd she get that from?
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Right?
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Where'd she. Where'd she get that? Where'd she get such a. A unique character strength in a time when so many women weren't encouraged to have it. Like a divine. There's a divinity in her, a royalty that is in her that was not typical of the day. And I think it's God given. So then the spot opens up and there's a search in chapter two for a new queen. And we meet this girl whose name is Hadassah, and she's in chapter two. And we meet her as they're searching through the whole kingdom and we meet another person whose name is Mordecai. So Esther, whose name was Hadassah, is going to be given this Persian name, Esther. And because there's a search in the kingdom for a new queen and Mordecai, who is sort of her adopted dad and cousin, I think, you know, the way we read the story, he feels more uncle, like is a cousin of hers and he sends her in to this. I don't know how else to describe it besides like a beauty pageant. It's like where the king's, like the princess Academy. That's like a book I've read exactly where the king's gonna pick this new queen and sends her and tells her you need to keep your Jewish heritage a secret and gives her this Persian name, Esther, and. And sends her into that. And I just love that verse in 7, where we first meet her and she had neither father nor mother, and. And obviously has had some tragedy that's happened in her life where her parents have both died, she's an orphan. And you find out in verse 15 through 17 that she gets picked. Of all the women of the entire Persian empire, this orphan little Jewish girl is picked to become the new queen. What are the odds? What are the odds that something like that happens? And looking back on the story, I see in verse 17, the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than anyone else. And I just like that it uses those words that grace and favor, because those are words that are typically associated with gifts of God for someone. So I love looking at it, looking back and saying, like, don't you think at the end Esther's going to say, like, what are the odds? I got chosen, you know, for that position at that time of everybody, me, I was wearing my Orphan Annie clothes singing Hard Knock Life, and I get picked to be the queen. And I think it's because of the grace and favor of God that was upon her. So that's act one, and you get
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a little introduction into her cousin, her uncle's daughter, Mordecai. Uncle, Wait, Yeah. She's the uncle's daughter.
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She's the uncle, Yeah.
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I can't do a family tree. I can't do a family tree. Is her cousin okay, and kind of like an uncle?
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Oh, yeah, it's his. His uncle's daughter. So cousin. So cousin Mordecai. I was talking about Mordecai and says
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his uncle's daughter Mordecai. We talk a lot about Esther, as we should, okay? I will say that forever. There's enough boy heroes, but there is enough. And Esther is the hero. But I love Mordecai, and you need to understand his heart before you understand the rest of his story. And you get a glimpse of it in verse number seven when it says, which happened two, chapter two, verse seven, when Mordecai, whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter. And he looked at a girl in a terrible situation and said, I will show up for you and I will step into your story and I will be who you need in this moment. And then she gets taken. And he says, listen, I'm gonna help you go to the castle.
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Which again, if we're gonna look back and see the hand of God in a story like what could have been the faith of an orphan girl in the Persian empire in the 5th century BC, right. Like what? The possibilities of that being disastrous are
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way higher than not going, well, way higher.
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So where's that, you know, compassion come from?
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And you start to see more about this boy and you just start to love him because Esther goes to the castle and she's doing her princess academy and learning how to become a queen and seeing if she gets chosen and. And verse 11 of chapter two. You're kidding me. And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the woman's house to know how Esther did and what should become of her. And it would have been so easy in that moment for Mordecai to think, thank goodness I didn't even have a daughter. I didn't even want a daughter. I just. I was trying to, like, help someone out. Thank goodness she's gone, like, hope for the best for her. Like, at least I got her into a good situation. But there he went, and every single day to the gate, every single day to check on how she was doing and what would happen to her and you know, his heart, little by little you get these glimpses of this boy, Mordecai. And what happens?
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Well, can I say this real quick because I was thinking about this the other day, about how, I mean, I know we say this a lot, but I just don't think it can be overstated that when we look for the hand of God in our lives, most often in mine, I see it in an. I see his hand in another person. And I know that's become like a really kind of famous saying in Sunday schools across the church, but I just think that's. It's so. It's so valuable that as we're looking for it in seasons of our life, when it feels like God is not there, that's such a valuable thing to know that, like, look to your left and to your right, look at who God has sent into your story. Cause that I think, is where you're going to see him most often and most clearly.
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And I do not want to discount from Esther at all. I love her. She has always. This has always been my favorite story in scriptures. I love her, I love her story, I love her courage, I love everything. But when I was reading this time, I've just been thinking so much about Mordecai, and this is silly but true. It reminds me so much of that little line in Wicked, like the song for Good. And it just says so much of me is made of what I learned from you. And I think that it's really easy to look at the story and learn about Esther, a courageous girl who saved her people. And I think she would say that about Mordecai. So much of her is made of what she learned from him. And. And I think that there's something to be said about who are the people who have made you who you are, and what did they do? And how did they show up for you? And how was that God showing up in your story? Because we go through, and we're kind of getting this side by side, and we're getting Esther learning to become the queen and getting chosen and going to the palace, and then we're getting Mordecai. And what happens is Haman is one of, like, the king's, like, best guys. And, like, the king is, like, his best friend. It's like one of his best, like, commanders, like leaders, kind of. And he goes out, grace, I'm having
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this idea right now, and I wish we thought about this earlier.
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I think I'm having the same idea. And I was having it when you were talking, and I wait, Say yours.
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Same one. Say yours. Or what are they different? Maybe I have two good ideas here, because I almost want to, like, make a list here, start making a list and say, well, I guess that's what the journal is doing. Act one. Like, where do you see the hand of God in your life? But I thought about it with Mordecai. Well, let me get there first. From act one, I would say, like, okay, what was your what are the odds moment, right? Or maybe even first one, what disappointing circumstance did you see God show up in? Or humiliating circumstance? Question two, what are the what are the odds, like, moment where you saw God's hand? Three, who's been your Mordecai? Like, when and where did God put a Mordecai, an unexpected Mordecai, into your life? I love just maybe taking, like, all the things that happen and creating just, like, a prompt for me to think through each of those.
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And you know why this is good is because I. In my seminary class for years and years, every single day, at the very beginning of class, I would say the same question, where have you seen God in your life? And I would do it on my HXP trips. I would do it at seminary. I would do it all the time. And I cannot count how many kids with say, I don't know, like, nowhere. Like, I don't know. I don't even know what that looks like. Like, there's no way that that happens. Like, da Da, da. All these things, and it just seemed so big that it was impossible to answer.
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Yeah.
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And. And then after a while, if you helped them realize what that looked like, they became masters at it. They would figure it out and they discovered it and the truth about it. And this is a really good example because it's the God's name's not in this book. It's not spelled out. For you to find God in this story, you have to look for it. And sometimes the easiest way to do that is to get prompted through it and to find little ways to say, I need you to explain to me, okay, what's something that happened that had no odds of happening in your life? Tell me that story. And then at the end of answering that question, saying, that is God in your story? When did someone show up in your story that changed who you are today and let them explain who that is and then say, that is God in your story? Sometimes we can't. It's too big for us to be like, okay, like, where's God in the story? And you're like, well, nowhere. It doesn't say his name in this story. He's not in here. And it's like, no, no, let me help you see what that looks like. Get guided through that.
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And just to know, like, usually somebody will stand up at a pulpit and they'll say, like, last week, the good hand of God has been over my life.
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Yeah.
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And if you had a chance to say, can you name a couple of times? Win? Then they would sound it. It would like. It just does. It feels like fairy tale is for someone to say, like, then God showed up in my story, you know? But when someone can lay out the specifics of what that really was, I think we start to. We'll be able to see it a little bit more.
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You know, it's not just Esther's story anymore. It becomes yours. Yeah.
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For example, like Queen Vashti, if you were to ask her, where did God show up in your story? And she just said, I was given, you know, courage to do something I normally wouldn't have had otherwise. Right. It's like, oh, there was favor and graciousness of God, you know, showing up in your story. You may know the story, but I won't go all the details just for. Just to get through it. But to say, I was in the hospital in a really disappointing and painful and discouraging time right where I was, out of the country, out of my element. It was a dream trip that got ruined. My appendix burst, and I was just in the hospital. And I remember laying, like, just so miserable and so annoyed and so mad about what had happened, and laying there. And I read that scripture in Alma where it says, God understands your pains. And I actually was like, well, that's unhelpful, because so what if you actually understood, Maybe you would do something about it. Then. What's the value of saying, like, oh, I feel you really? Well, then do something about it. And in the middle of the night, I woke up and opened up my eyes, and I saw my mom slouched over in the hospital chair next to my bed. And clearly, to my mind, these words came. I did do something about it. I sent her. And that changed the way I look for God in my life, where I sat in that hospital, confident that God had forgotten about me, confident that he wasn't there in that room. And in reality, he was two feet
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away
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in my mom. And so that's why I think this is so valuable. I think it's so valuable to, like, prompt what you're saying is to talk someone through this. Point out when I tell you, as a person of faith, I see God in my story. That's. That's what I'm talking about are things like that.
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B
Absolutely. And this is not the only, like, example. And I think that as we go through, we can keep giving you the ideas of how to do it. And what happens is. So there's Haman, and he's, like, the king's best guy. The king promotes him. He's so excited. He goes out to the city and he wants to, like, kind of, like, brag about his new promotion. And he gets out there, and all the people are bowing in the streets, but not Mordecai. And the king's servants all look at him, and they're like, why are you not. Like, this is the king's commandment to bow to him. Like, why are you not bowing? And Mordecai explains that he's a Jew and that's not his king, and he won't bow down for someone that's not his king. And Haman saw this, loses his mind, okay? Like, this hurt his ego more than anything else. He goes back, he's so mad. He's like, it's not gonna be enough for me just to punish Mordecai. I'm going to punish anyone that is like him. Any Jew that believes there's a better king than him. So he goes to the king, and he's like, this is a problem. We need to figure this out. And the king's kind of like, listen, I don't really know what you're talking about right now, but, like, you, like, I'm gonna give you my ring. I trust you. I'm gonna, like, you do whatever you think will be best, and you handle the situation. He had king things to be worrying about. And so Haman gets the ring, and he's like, okay, I'm gonna come over. And he decides to go to the king's scribes, and he says, I need you to write a decree that we are going to send out everywhere. And on a certain day, we are going to send out that we will destroy, kill, cause, to perish all Jews, young and old, little children, women, in one day, even upon the 13th day of the 12th month. And all of the people, all the scribes, began to write, and they make copies and they make copies of this death decree that would be sent out to all the kingdom to kill all the Jews. And on a certain day. And they write it, and they write it, and they write it and they send it all out. And then the letters started arriving. And out of everything in this story, for some reason, this is the clearest for me to imagine all those letters getting posted in town square and at people's doors and all the teachers telling the kids about the news that just got broke, and all the Jews in the community looking around thinking, but wait, how could this be real? And the mourning and the tears and the fear and the moms and dads trying to sit their kids down to explain why everyone was so sad. And the kids on the playground trying to talk to each other about what's gonna happen. And all the people in the streets looking at each other and thinking, oh, like, there's a Jew or there's not a Jew. And who's like, who does this affect and how does it affect. And everyone's mourning. And everyone starts mourning, of course, and there's great mourning among the Jews. And this is so interesting to me that it's. Chapter four, Esther four, three. This is what it says. There was a great mourning among the Jews and fasting and weeping and wailing. And it is so interesting to me that in the middle of the mourning and the weeping and the wailing, there was fasting. And maybe, just maybe, that's the first change of tone, the first hint that maybe there were still some with hope, maybe there were still some who believed, who said, this does not have to be the end of our story. In the middle of the mourning and the weeping and the wailing, we will fast and we will hope and we will believe. And what happens is all of Esther's maids, who she's had since the beginning, just so you know, Esther gets her maids in verse nine of chapter two, okay, when she's still learning to be a queen, that's before she's even become the queen. She gets these maids that are assigned her to help her become the queen. And she keeps them with them. She keeps them with her. And they go out and they kind of know. They're like the kind of like, middle people between the crowds and the queen. And they come back to the queen and they're like, esther, you would not believe what's happening outside right now. And they tell her everything. The mourning, the people, the decree. Esther's hearing all of this, and she is heartbroken. She is crying and crying and crying, and she's like, you know what? Everyone's wearing their morning clothes, their sackcloth, like, let's get Mordecai some new clothes. And so she's going out to try to help out, to give Mordecai, like, an ounce of hope and happiness in this, the middle of all this grief. And the maids are like, okay, good idea. Like, that's so sweet to, like, think of Mordecai right now. Like, let's give him something. And they go to give him all this stuff, and he refuses. And he's like, I'm not going to take that new clothes. You don't understand. You don't understand how I'm feeling right now. You don't understand the grief and the mourning and the heartbreak that's affecting us. I don't want that. I want to be with my people. I want to grieve with them. I want to fill with them. So they go back and forth, and then all of a sudden, there becomes this discourse, this conversation, and Esther has to stay in the palace, but she gets, like, a little spokesman to go. And he goes and he meets Mordecai at the gates, and they start having this conversation. And Esther goes back to find out how Mordecai's feeling. And they're having this moment that Esther and Mordecai get to communicate through the gates of the palace. And finally they kind of like, have. Like, you can read it through, like, it's verses, like chapter 4, 5 through 12. And finally they tell Mordecai Esther's words in response, and Mordecai commands them to answer Esther, first of all, I don't think it's an accident that it says commanded. And I would underline that in my scriptures, because this was not something that Mordecai was willing to be quiet about. This was something that he said. This is a. I, you need to get this message to Esther. And there are moments in our lives that I really, truly, truly do believe that we are commanded to give a message to someone that there's something on our souls, and it is not something to be quiet or to hope for the time is right, or to just say, like, oh, if they reach out to me, then that's gonna be my moment. Mordecai commanded those servants to get this message to Esther because he knew it could not wait. He knew it's what she needed to hear. And then he says this, Esther, think not with yourself that you will escape in the king's house more than all the other Jews, just because you are in the palace. Do not forget about where you came from. Just because you are safe doesn't mean that you get the luxury of forgetting about the people that you grew up with. And I think sometimes we forget that these are the people that she grew up with. These were not a group of people called the Jews to Queen Esther. This was the person who was her librarian growing up and her teacher and her friends that she played on the playground with. These were her people. And he said, do not forget about where you came from. Do not forget your people. For if thou altogether hold us your peace at this time, if you are only worried about you, then there will be. Then shall there. Then shall their enlargement and deliverance arise from the Jews from another place. I am obsessed with the fact that Mordecai believed so big that he said, if you forget, I am not going to say that we won't be delivered another way. He knew saving was coming, but you and your father's house will be destroyed. And then he says this, the most famous line of all time. Everyone loves it. And who knows whether you are Thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this. What if all of this was leading up to now, Esther? What if God has been in your story since the very beginning, since verse one, chapter one, God has been the author of your story for this, this exact moment. What if he has been preparing you your entire life, Esther, for what you were called to do right now? What if this is your moment? What if now is the time for you to act? And then Esther hears this from her servants. She gets the whole message from the servants, from Mordecai, and she says this, you go tell Mordecai My answer and I love. Maybe she doubted, maybe she wondered, maybe she paused, maybe she's hesitated. But the Scriptures don't say she did, so I won't either. Immediately she says, you go tell Mordecai my answer. And she says, go gather together all the Jews that are present, and you fast for me, and don't eat and don't drink for three days, night or day, and me and my maidens will fast likewise, and then I will go to the king and ask for the miracle. And I love more than anything else in the entire world that Esther knew she could do it, but she knew she couldn't do it on her own. And that is not something like There is a quiet confidence in Esther that I think we overlook with the word courage. And I think that courage is only possible because there is a girl who believes in herself. There is a girl that got a pep talk from Mordecai who understood who she was and who God believed her to be, and said, I can do this, but I cannot do this alone. And she told all the people who were going to need saving to gather and fast and to pray and to stand with her. But she also chose her maidens, and she knew she was not going to go in there alone. And she there is a million things that you can learn from all of that. But I think that I would start and I would go Back to Esther 4, 3. And I would say, when have you believed in a time that it seemed impossible that is God in your life. When were you willing to fast in the midst of mourning and grief and sorrow, that is God showing up in your life. And when have you been encouraged by someone that is God showing up in your life? When were you the answer? Or like the spokesperson or received the answer? That is God in your life. That's him showing up. And I would also say that one of the biggest ways that God showed up in her story is with her maidens, the ones that were with her from the very beginning, before she was even queen, before she was anyone, she had her friends. And then you look. And I love that they were the ones that sent the message to her. I love that her friends were the first ones to stand up and say, something's not right here. They had her back and they pointed out the problem so that she was not unaware of things. And then they fasted with her. And I would answer that same question. Who are the people who have showed up for you? Who are the people who have been with you for the very beginning? Who are the people who are helping you to make sure that you are aware of the problems that might come up? Who are the people that are willing to believe with you, to fast with you, to pray with you? Make a list of their names. Every name you write down that is God showing up in your story. Yeah.
- [37:27]
A
And it's interesting to think about because, you know that question that he asks her, who knows whether you were born to the kingdom for such a time as this, it feels really grand to say that to a person who's about to, like, save the whole kingdom.
- [37:44]
B
Yeah.
- [37:44]
A
Or who's about to, you know, do some big grand act or whatever. And I think it's important to. To come back to how much God values each and every person. Right. So I just don't want to. For anyone to feel left out of those encouraging words that Mordecai said, that each of us play a part in someone else's story. Like Esther's going to get painted as the true hero of this entire story. But what about Mordecai? What about the maidens who don't. We don't even have their names in this one. Who encouraged, who fasted, who were there, you know, for her? And I just feel like whenever I'm thinking, I'm trying to figure out how to word this, I just keep coming back to sitting in a ward council at one time and talking about somebody who had kind of stopped coming to church. And a suggestion that somebody gave was, well, someone should tell them that they're needed. And I stopped the conversation and said, well, are they? Because don't say that to somebody if it's a lie. Don't say that to someone just to make them feel better about themselves. Don't go and knock on their door and say, who knows whether you're born to the kingdom for such a time as this? And for them to say, to do what? And for you to. And to not have an answer for that. And the reality is, something I learned at that time was, was God values his children individually so incredibly that the greatest rescue stories that happen happen on front porches and sitting on swings next to each other, or through text messages, or just in the simplest ways. God uses us to do great rescues because people matter to Him. So anything and everything we do to encourage, to lift, to strengthen another person is a great and grand rescue story. And I don't want anyone to feel like those lines of Mordecai to Esther, like, you've got this great thing to do ahead of you, to feel like that great thing is not Literally sitting right in front of you or right next to you.
- [40:35]
B
Well, so when I was. The reason I love the story of Esther so much is because for some random family home evening when I was probably in seventh grade, my mom and thought it was, like, gonna be cute if she, like, wrote us all a note of someone in the scriptures that, like, she was reminded of because of us. And we all got our own little letter. And to be honest, it was like, not a letter. Let me explain. It was like a sticky note. Okay? It was not that serious. Like, probably none of my siblings even remember that this even existed. Except for all my other siblings are, like, named after scripture people. And now that I'm saying this out loud, I'm sure they just got their name, person, and why they were named after them. But I'm Grace, okay? So, like, what was she gonna give me? Like, the story of the Atonement? Like, that's, like, not fun if you're in seventh grade, okay? Like, that's not gonna work out. So now I'm just realizing that she probably was like, oh, I better give her, like, a girl. Like, I was like, it needs to be someone. And so she gave me Esther. And she was like, I want you to study these, and I want you to learn their stories. And for some reason, even when I was a kid, like, I was. I tried to read all the Book of Ezra, and I was so confused. I remember getting Googling it, and I was like, summarize the book of Esther. And it really did not mean that much to me. But for some reason, I could not get that story out of my head. And years and years would go by, and anytime someone asked me my favorite scripture story, I would just say, Esther. Like, I was just like, oh, it's like, Esther. Like, I just, like, it was like, in me. Like, my mom spoke that into my soul, and it stayed with me. Like, that's how I knew that it was from God, is because it really just stayed with me. And my whole life, I've just loved that story. And I love that verse. I love that line, who knows whether you've been born or whether you were in the kingdom for such a time as this? And I, like, say that to myself all the time. And it was this last, like, October, and I was. Me and my then boyfriend were kind of talking about us, and he was trying to decide if he was gonna take a job in New York. And we were trying to figure it all out. And all of it just seemed really scary and really overwhelming to me. And that Feels like a lot of pressure to have to be who you have to marry. And that was giving me anxiety. And it felt like a lot of pressure, especially because I was choosing someone to marry. And then he was trying to decide if he was gonna take a job that would move him and then vicariously me across the whole entire country to New York City. And I've never even lived outside of Utah other than my mission. And so, like, that was also really overwhelming. And I have to quit my job that I had loved so much. And there was so much weighing on it. And randomly, my friend, in the middle of all that decision making, randomly, my friend got a free trip to New York City. And she invited me on it. And I was lucky. And so I went and we were biking around the city. We, like, rented like, little E bikes and we were biking around the city. So I was just in my own thoughts. And as we were biking, I just was praying so hard about all of those things. And I was like, I don't think that I'm brave enough. I don't think I can do it. God, those are really big choices. And I don't know if I have it in me to make that choice and understand the consequences and move across, across the whole city, whole country to a big city. I don't know if I'm strong enough. I don't know if I can do that. That feels like a lot for just a little tiny girl like me. Like, I am just. That's a lot to think about. And so clearly the spirit said, I've been preparing you your entire life for what you will do in New York City. And I need you to understand that I am not going to change New York City. I'm not going to be like, I understand that about me. Like, I am just a girl. But. But what I realized when God said that is that he wasn't saying that I was gonna be the mayor of New York City and that I was gonna rescue a whole bunch of people. That's not what God was saying. What God was saying is that, grace, I know who is in charge of your life, and it is me. And you don't need to be afraid anymore. You don't need to wonder if you are good enough. You don't need to doubt. You don't need to be insecure anymore. You can trust that I have written your story from the. The very beginning. And now when I read that line, and who knows whether you are come to the kingdom for such a time as this. It's not about saving A group of people anymore. It's about understanding that God has been writing my story from the very beginning. And I don't need to be insecure or self conscious or doubt who I am or what I'm made for, because I can remember that whatever shows up in my story, I get to be courageous. Because God has been writing it from the beginning.
- [44:48]
A
And it's cool to think I don't know what it is, and maybe no one else will know what it is either, but that God's going to perform a rescue through you.
- [45:00]
B
And it's not the scale of the rescue. Right.
- [45:02]
A
Because if it's a person involved, it's huge. God's story is God's rescues are always about people, and people live everywhere. And there's wonderful, amazing things that you're going to do for people in New York at this season of your life. And it's interesting to think whatever season it is, single, married, divorced, kids, young kids, grandparents, whatever season and whatever place that you're currently in, that verse is true, that God knew you'd be in that spot and there is something for you to do for the kingdom, for other people at this particular time. And I think that's just so amazing. So in this story, in the next act, Esther goes in, in chapter five to the king, she dresses in all of her royal apparel. In verse one, we should have let you do that part, Grace, because the dress up part of it that you love. And she is going to go into
- [46:04]
B
and honestly, word that she's like, I need to be confident. Let me get my best outfit on. I'm like, girl, I'm like, you get it.
- [46:13]
A
You just gave permission to people to buy whatever they want.
- [46:17]
B
Dress up a little.
- [46:18]
A
Dress up a little. And she goes in to the king. And you know, you just, if you were to watch a little video clip of this, she's walking down that corridor toward the king, thinking this could be it. Like, we have to really dig into and understand the culture of the time. But like, she's putting her life on the line to do this and you weren't allowed to do it. And she walks in and the courage that that takes. And even though if you watched a video clip of it, you would watch her walking down that corridor by herself, she is most definitely not walking down that corridor by herself. The promise of God over and over and over in scripture is, wherever you go, whatever the situation is, I will be with you. And walks in and the king puts down the golden scepter onto her to give her permission to Speak. And she does. And she says, I have a banquet that I want to invite you to. And Haman, I want him. That's a bad guy. I want him to come also. And. And Haman is so excited about this banquet, by the way, because he thinks he's about to get so honored. And this little crazy story happens in the middle, okay, Because Esther hasn't quite told the king that she is a Jew and she's coming to petition for their lives yet. But she. In the beginning of chapter six, it says, on that night the king couldn't sleep. And he wakes up and he says, could somebody bring, like, the royal record to me? And I just think it's so wild that this happens. Why does he get woken up in the middle of the night? And why does he decide, of all the things to go snag the records? And while he's reading the records, he finds a story of when Mordecai saved his life, when he uncovered this plot that was back in chapter two. We forgot to tell that part of the story that back in chapter two, Mordecai uncovered an assassination plot of the king and saved his life. And he kind of forgot about it. And then God reminded him. And I just think it's worth just saying for a second that God does use our memories as a way to show up in our lives again. That something will. Those nights you couldn't sleep, or some persistent thought that just keeps coming to your mind. And it happens for this king. And this is such a great part that he goes to Haman and he says, what should I do to, like, my favorite servant? What? Like, what's the best way to really honor someone? And. And Haman's like, you. You get an elephant and a parade and. And llamas and. And streamers, and you go to town for that person and you just. You put the best. Your best coat on him and you just dull them up in a Macy's Day parade and thinking that it's all for him. And the next day he sends Haman, he's like, okay, awesome, go do all that for Mordecai, because he saved my life. Remember, Haman hates Mordecai. So it's actually such an awesome part of the story that Haman has to throw this gigantic parade and party for Mordecai. And is this when. Oh, no, you're. Then the next part is when she's gonna. She's gonna tell. But something starts to happen too, that. We'll come back in just a second. But now all of A sudden, like, the story is starting to shift. And the guy who once was covered in sackcloth and ashes is now covered in the. The king's robes. And you're starting to see what God can do with somebody's life and story.
- [50:16]
B
And what happens is Haman and the king sit down at the feast, and Esther begins her speech. And she says, if I found favor in your sight, King, then, like, I need you to. I need you to save my people. That is like, I can't. Like, if you do that, it's all my people that are going to die. And then she comes out with this bar, and it's crazy. It's chapter seven, verse six. And Ezra said, the adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. And Haman's sitting at the seat, and he's like. He's like, what do you mean? And then he gets so afraid and the king gets so mad, and he sentences Haman to death. And what is so interesting is in. We didn't tell this part to you guys, there's so much. You have to read it. Okay? And what happens is before Mordecai remembers. Before the king remembers that about Mordecai, Haman actually is so mad about Mordecai that he, like, arranges gallows to, like, hang Mordecai. And he's like, this is gonna be where he dies. He hated him so, so much. And then what happens in the end is that they end up hanging Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. And I am just so intrigued by the fact that what should have been the end for Mordecai was actually the end of the enemy. And that is still the story of the Gospel. That when the end was supposed to be true, when Jesus died and hope was supposed to be all lost, was actually when he conquered sin and death and the enemy once and for all.
- [51:50]
A
Yeah, it's wild to think that the cross was intended to crucify Jesus. And instead, what died was death itself, and sin died and the serpent was. Was crushed. And that's what's so cool about the whole end of this story. If you look in chapter eight, look at verse five and highlight the word reverse. And then again in verse eight, reverse, that everything that was bad about their lives was reversed. And that's how the whole end of this story, just like all the things that you can see, this orphan girl who becomes Queen Mordecai, who was the servant and who wore the sackcloth and ashes, is now riding on the king's Horse wearing the king's robes. The people who were had their death decree written are now having a celebration and a party. And there is this just chapter 9 is the description of that party. That's. That's going to happen. Okay, so. So it's 15. And Mordecai went out in the royal apparel of blue and white and the crown of gold. And everyone in the city rejoiced and was glad. And the Jews had light and they had gladness, and they had joy, and they had honor. And in every province and in every city whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. The day that the other decree was hung up was the worst day of their life. And in that same spot where that decree once hung, a new one hangs. And it's now a day of light and a day of gladness and a day of joy and a day of. Of honor and a good day. And that's the promise of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That's the promise of redemption, the promise of reversal. That whatever your story looks like right now, the worst day of your life, it's it. It can be changed, it can be switched. All the fears will be washed away, all the tears will be wiped from every face. Like this is the promise of the Gospel. The story of Esther is the story of redemption. And I love in the middle of that, chapter eight, it says in verse 12, upon one day, in all the promise, in all the promise provinces, this happened. And it doesn't matter how many days before were bad days, on one day, upon one day, everything is going to change. That is the promise for every single one of us. Whatever it looks like right now, it might be a day of wailing, it might be a day of sackcloth and ashes right now. But upon one day, in all the provinces, in every corner of this world that belongs to the king of kings, it's going to be changed, and it's going to be different. And it's going to be light and it's going to be gladness, it's going to be joy and honor, and it's going to be a good day. And that's why I love this story so much, because it's the story. It's. It's our story. It's a story of our redemption. Esther stands as a type and shadow of Jesus. One person's courage saved the world. In the book of Esther and in the book of life, the same is true. One person's courage saved all of us, and it changed every single one of our stories. This chapter 8, 16, and 17 is something that each and every one of us can look forward to. And the beautiful thing is, is that God will be there on the celebration day, but he's going to be there on every other day until it finally happens. He's not done until verse 17. Every province and every city is having joy and gladness and a good day. Like, until that happens, it's not over. The story is. Is still. Is still going on. So this is such an awesome story. It's such a great. So good. So good. And, you know, isn't that interesting? Like, it sort of is like this fairy tale kind of vibe. And I think there is a reason that we're so drawn to stories like that. We're so drawn to, like, the hero defeating the dragon and the beast changing back into the prince and the kingdom being saved. And we're so drawn to it because I think we're. Our soul sense, that is our story, right? That we do have a hero, that there is a change coming, and, And. And. And we look forward to it, and we can put all of our hope and trust into it because this story is. Is not a fairy tale. This. This one. The. The one. It really will happen and change. So yay.
- [57:24]
B
Okay, we love story time. We love story time tonight.
- [57:27]
A
All right, you guys, we're so excited to see you next week. Have a good week. If you want to follow along in everything we're doing, you can find us on Instagram at Don't miss this study, at this week's Grace and at mrdavebutler.
- [57:38]
B
And if you want to subscribe to the app or get our weekly newsletter, all of the information can be found@don'tmissthisstudy.com
- [57:44]
A
See you next week.