The book starts out by setting the scene of the story, a prologue almost. King Ahashuerus, also referred to as Xerxes, is having a royal feast for all his people. His wife, Queen Vashti, was also holding a banquet for the women in the palace. In the midst of the celebration, the King became inebriated and ordered his wife to come before the male subjects so he could show off her great beauty, but she refused to come. This made the King extremely irate for she directly disobeyed the King’s command. The royal counselors convened in order to discuss what should be done in this matter. The queen sets an example for all

At this time Xerxes promoted a man, Haman, to a very high position, higher than all nobles. All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down to him, but Mordecai didn’t. Haman would not tolerate this behavior, so not only did he set out to kill Mordecai, but he wanted to extricate his entire race, the Jews, from the kingdom by killing them. So Haman went to the king and asked him if he could kill off a certain people that who’s customs were different from those of all other people and who disobeyed the king’s laws, and the Xerxes granted his request. When Mordecai heard of this he pleaded with Esther to go to the king and ask him to reverse his decree. She was hesitant at first, for anyone who goes to the king’s court without invitation is sentenced to death unless otherwise said by the king himself, but she was brave and realized that her people needed her, took the risk, and went to the king’s court. When Xerxes saw her he was pleased and told her that she could have anything she wanted even if it was half the kingdom. There she requested that the king along with Haman come to a banquet she prepare. Xerxes agreed. So they attended the banquet, but when Haman passed Mordecai he again did not stand, which again angered him. Haman had enough of this behavior and ordered the construction of a 75 ft. gallows for Mordecai to be hanged

Some topics in this essay:
Esther King, Queen Vashti, King Xerxes, Persian Empire, Queen Esther, Esther Esther, Christians Jews, King Ahashuerus, Megillas Esther, , king xerxes, king haman, night king, disobeyed king’s, king’s court, esther king, told esther, attended banquet, mordecai heard,