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BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 13, Day 2: Esther 1:1-9

November 17, 2025October 31, 2025 by atozmom, posted in BSF Exile & Return: A Time to Build 2025/2026

Summary of Esther 1:1-9

King Xerxes gave a banquet for his nobles and officials in the 3rd year of his reign. Then he gave a feast for the citizens. Each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions. Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for all the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.

BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 13, Day 2: Esther 1:1-9

3) Xerxes ruled the kingdom of Persia. He ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush (the upper Nile region of Egypt).

4a) Lavish to say the least. For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. The king gave a banquet, lasting seven days, in the enclosed garden of the king’s palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest who were in the citadel of Susa.The garden had hangings of white and blue linen, fastened with cords of white linen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and other costly stones.Wine was served in goblets of gold, each one different from the other, and the royal wine was abundant, in keeping with the king’s liberality.By the king’s command each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions, for the king instructed all the wine stewards to serve each man what he wished.

b) To display his wealth and power for all to see so that no one would challenge him. Xerxes’ 180-day feast was likely a strategic war council, not just a party. He gathered leaders to plan his invasion of Greece, securing their loyalty and resources. It was also a massive propaganda display—showing his immense wealth and power to intimidate rivals and satisfy his own ego.

5a) Many define success as having wealth. Many like to display this wealth for all to see. However, others don’t. Many define success by their family. Our culture often defines success by financial wealth, career status, and material possessions. This success is then externally validated through public recognition, fame, and social media influence, which are often equated with personal worth and achievement.

b) I think we are all tempted at some point because it is so predominant in our culture. However, God is my lynch pin.

c) Doing His will. Helping others. Putting others first. Raising my family. Spreading His light unto the world.

Conclusions BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 13, Day 2: Esther 1:1-9

It must have been insane to have seen such parties back in the day!

End Notes BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 13, Day 2: Esther 1:1-9

Esther is a historical book of the Bible. It features King Xerxes of Persia, who was the son of Darius I of Persia around 483 BC. Xerxes was planning to invade Greece (which would fail). It takes place in the middle of the book of Ezra, between chapters 6 and 7. This takes place before the second wave of exiles return to Jerusalem under King Artaxerxes, who may have been her son or step-son.

Persia was the largest empire that most people had seen, covering most of the Middle East and into Egypt and Asia. The Jewish people were dispersed all throughout the Persian Empire, but they maintained their separation, culture, and identity with God. Hence, they were persecuted and discriminated against, which is why Esther concealed her identity to the King. She rose to power so God could use her to save His people. God is always in control!

There are 3 feasts here:

One for his government officials and servants that lasted 180 days. The reason for this was to show off the glory and riches of his kingdom.
The 2nd feast was for the citizens of the capital city of Susa. The reason for this was most likely pride and to show off his wealth and prestige, as well as his generosity
The 3rd feast was for the women of the royal palace, hosted by Queen Vashti.

END NOTES SUMMARIZED

Esther 1:1-9 sets the stage by establishing the immense power, wealth, and extravagance of the Persian Empire under King Ahasuerus (Xerxes). The narrative emphasizes the vastness of his kingdom (127 provinces) and, most notably, the opulent, 180-day feast thrown purely to display his “glorious kingdom” and “splendor.” This is followed by another lavish, seven-day banquet for all the people in the capital.

The detailed descriptions of luxurious decorations, free-flowing wine, and separate feasts (including Queen Vashti’s for the women) paint a picture of a court defined by excess, self-indulgence, and a focus on outward appearances.

Conclusion

This opening passage meticulously establishes a world dominated by seemingly absolute human power and worldly splendor. It portrays a culture of excess and arbitrary rule, creating the perfect backdrop for the story that follows. This seemingly secure pagan court, governed by the whims of a prideful king, is the unlikely setting where the hidden, sovereign hand of God will work to protect His people.

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BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 6, Day 5: Daniel 8:15-27

October 2, 2025September 9, 2025 by atozmom, posted in BSF Exile & Return: A Time to Build 2025/2026

Summary of Daniel 8:15-27

Gabriel, an angel and a frequent messenger in the Bible, was instructed by Jesus to explain the vision. He explains the vision is about the End Times.

The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king. The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power.

Another king will arise. He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy those who are mighty, the holy people. He will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power.

Daniel was worn out and exhausted from what he saw. Then he went about the king’s business.

BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 6, Day 5: Daniel 8:15-27

12a) Media and Persia and Greece

b) Earthly kingdoms will fade away.

c) God will destroy the kingdoms forever. This gives me hope that despite all the evil surrounding us that God will prevail.

13) God is trustworthy. God is sovereign. God is in control. God uses today’s evil systems to work His plan and His good.

14) I pray that God has got them. That they have peace in God and in their troubles. That they have the strength to persevere in their faith for him. That they use Daniel’s example of how to cope with persecution. That they survive.

Conclusions BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 6, Day 5: Daniel 8:15-27

I love how God leads us and doesn’t totally leave us in the dark. This helps us to better follow Him when we have some understanding of what He is saying.

End Notes BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 6, Day 5: Daniel 8:15-27

Ulai is a river in Persia. Here is a map of Susa and the Ulai Canal.

Courtesy of https://crossroadsbible.net/2019/10/23/daniel-in-the-city-of-susa/

Though this prophecy was fulfilled with the Medo-Persian and Greek empires, this also refers to the End Times and the Antichrist.

Sealing of the vision refers to the fact that this is prophecy and would take place far in the future.

Daniel was most likely overwhelmed because he just couldn’t understand how God could allow such a travesty and evil to happen. Yet, he still had a job to do, and he did it.

Note the term “son of man” here refers to Daniel, a literal son of a man. You see this in Ezekiel, too (Ezekiel 2:1, 3; 3:1, 10; 4:16; 6:2; 7:2; 11:2)

END NOTES SUMMARIZED

Daniel 8:15-27 is the angel Gabriel’s direct interpretation of the preceding vision, revealing a specific and terrifying period of future persecution against God’s people.

The interpretation of its key elements is as follows:

The Empires Identified: Gabriel explicitly confirms the identities of the beasts. The two-horned ram is the Medo-Persian Empire, and the goat is the Greek Empire. The goat’s first great horn is its first king, Alexander the Great, whose empire is then divided into four kingdoms.
A Profile of the Antagonist: The interpretation focuses on the “little horn,” identifying him as a cunning, cruel, and blasphemous king (historically Antiochus IV Epiphanes) who will rise from one of the Greek kingdoms. He will persecute the “holy people” and halt the daily sacrifices in the Temple.
A Supernatural Conflict: The interpretation frames this as a spiritual battle. The king becomes powerful “not by his own power” and is ultimately destroyed “but not by human power.” This reveals that the conflict is a direct confrontation between a supernaturally empowered tyrant and the “Prince of princes” (God).
A Sobering Prophecy: The vision is so disturbing in its detail of future suffering that Daniel is left physically ill. It is a sobering look at a coming tribulation for the faithful, but it carries the ultimate hope that the persecutor’s reign is limited and his destruction is guaranteed by God Himself.

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BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 6, Day 4: Daniel 8:1-14

October 1, 2025September 9, 2025 by atozmom, posted in BSF Exile & Return: A Time to Build 2025/2026

Summary of Daniel 8:1-14

Daniel describes another vision he has. He saw a ram with two long horns. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later. The ram charged toward the west, north, and south. No animal could stand against it, and none could rescue from its power. It did as it pleased and became great.

Then a goat with a horn between its eyes appeared. It charged the ram, attacked it, and shattered its horns. The ram was powerless to stand against it; the goat knocked it to the ground and trampled on it, and none could rescue the ram from its power. The goat became very great, but at the height of its power, the large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven.

Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew in power. It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them. It set itself up to be as great as the commander of the army of the Lord; it took away the daily sacrifice from the Lord, and his sanctuary was thrown down.Because of rebellion, the Lord’s people and the daily sacrifice were given to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground.

A holy one asked how long till the vision is fulfilled. It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated.

BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 6, Day 4: Daniel 8:1-14

9) Here, Daniel describes another vision he has. He saw a ram with two long horns. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later. The ram charged toward the west, north, and south. No animal could stand against it, and none could rescue from its power. It did as it pleased and became great. Then a goat with a horn between its eyes appeared. It charged the ram, attacked it, and shattered its horns. The ram was powerless to stand against it; the goat knocked it to the ground and trampled on it, and none could rescue the ram from its power. The goat became very great, but at the height of its power, the large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven.

In Daniel 7, he saw:

Daniel had a dream/vision of beasts that came up from the sea.

The first beast was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. Its wings were torn off, and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it.
The second beast looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’
The third beast looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.
The fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.

Another horn appeared and uprooted other horns. The horn had eyes and a mouth that spoke.

Daniel then saw God (the Ancient of Days) on his throne. A river flowed before him he was attended by thousands.

The beast was then slain. The other beasts were stripped of authority.

Then Daniel saw Jesus (the Son of Man). He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom will never be destroyed.

The difference:

The vision in Daniel 7 is a broad overview of four monstrous gentile empires (including Babylon and Rome) rising from the chaotic sea, spanning all of history until the Son of Man’s final judgment.

Daniel 8 is more focused. It uses specific sacrificial animals (a ram and a goat) to detail only the Medo-Persian and Greek empires. Its climax is not the end of the world, but the specific persecution of Israel and the desecration of the Jerusalem Temple.

10) These verses depict a shift from earthly chaos to the ultimate authority of the heavenly court. The “Ancient of Days” (God the Father) takes His seat as the eternal and righteous Judge. The symbols of fire, the white throne, and the opened books signify that a time of final, divine judgment has come. The most arrogant and blasphemous earthly power (the fourth beast) is judged and utterly destroyed, demonstrating God’s absolute sovereignty over all human history.

11) Suffering is temporary and temporal while we are here on Earth. God is in control, and one day, we won’t suffer at all.

This truth raises profound and difficult questions. Hearts might cry out, “If God is good and in control, why must His people suffer at all?” Minds might grapple with the purpose, asking, “Why allow this pain if the end is already determined?” This leads to the most pressing question for those in the midst of trial: “How can I endure until the promised limit is reached?” It forces a struggle between trusting God’s sovereignty and the painful reality of suffering.

Conclusions BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 6, Day 4: Daniel 8:1-14

Amazing how Daniel had visions and shared them with all Christians to come, to give us hope that suffering is not forever, and God does win in the end.

End Notes BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 6, Day 4: Daniel 8:1-14

Map of Susa:

The ram represents the Meso-Persian Empire, which is the empire that conquered Babylon. A ram was a symbol of Persia.

The different sizes of the horns represent the different empires. Persia was larger than the Medes and emerged after the Medes.

The male goat is Greece (Daniel 8:21-22).

The Greeks rose from the west suddenly under Alexander the Great. Their enemy was the Persians, whom they often fought and eventually defeated. Alexander died, and his kingdom was divided 4 ways.

Because of Alexander the Great, who spread Greek culture and language everywhere he went, the New Testament was written in Greek.

The little horn was Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who ruled over Syria and Israel’s land under the Seleucid dynasty.

Horns symbolize military power.

We see “the Glorious Land” used for Israel in the Bible Ezekiel 20:6 , Ezekiel 25:9, Daniel 11:16 and 11:41, and in Psalm 48:2.

Antiochus Epiphanes fulfills exactly what these Scriptures say about him.

The host and stars are symbols used in the Old Testament for angels, kings, and leaders, or God’s people (Genesis 15:5, 22:17, 26:4), (Exodus 12:41)

The holy one speaking could be Jesus.

The 2,300 is most likely days. This is prophecy fulfilled as it conclusively happened.

END NOTES SUMMARIZED

Daniel 8:1-14 presents a symbolic vision detailing the transition of power from the Medo-Persian Empire to the Greek Empire, and the subsequent rise of a tyrannical king who persecutes God’s people.

The interpretation of its key elements is as follows:

The Ram and the Goat: The powerful two-horned ram represents the Medo-Persian Empire. It is violently conquered by a swift, one-horned goat from the west, which symbolizes the Greek Empire under the meteoric conquests of its first king, Alexander the Great (the “prominent horn”).
The Broken Horn and the Four Horns: The prominent horn breaking off at the height of its power represents Alexander the Great’s sudden death. The four horns that rise in its place symbolize the four successor kingdoms that his generals carved out of his vast empire.
The “Little Horn”: A small but arrogant horn emerges from one of the four kingdoms. This figure represents the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes. His defining actions are blasphemous arrogance against heaven and a direct assault on the Jewish religion, specifically by stopping the daily sacrifices in the Jerusalem Temple and desecrating the sanctuary.
The Promise of Restoration: The vision concludes by revealing that this period of desecration is limited. A heavenly voice declares that after 2,300 “evenings and mornings” (a set period of time), the sanctuary will be reconsecrated, offering a firm promise of hope and eventual restoration beyond the intense suffering.

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BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 13, Day 2: Esther 1:1-9

Summary of Esther 1:1-9

BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 13, Day 2: Esther 1:1-9

Conclusions BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 13, Day 2: Esther 1:1-9