Hello from Karen Whiting. March 16-17 are the days to celebrate Purim this year. That’s when people remember the courage of Queen Esther to save her people from extinction. It’s in the last chapters of the book of Esther. Use the coded puzzle to learn the story and then act it out as a play.

Coded Purim Story 

When someone made  evil plans to kill God’s people there wasn’t much time to waste. A young woman scrambled fast to save them. Jewish people celebrate this event in March. You can read the whole story in the Bible, in the book of Esther. Read the story here as you figure out the coded words.Decode words by writing the letter that comes next in the alphabet for each coded letter. Z=A.

A Jewish girl named __ __ __ __ __ __ won a beauty contest. Her prize was 

 D   R   S   G    D   Q

to be the new __ __ __ __ __for King Ahasuerus. An __ __ __ __ man named 

                           P   T    D  D  M                                                  D   U   H  K  

Haman planned to __ __ __ __ all the Jews. Esther’s Uncle Mordecai begged her 

                                     J     H    K  K

to __ __ __ __ her people.

      R   Z   U   D

         Esther __ __ __ __ __ __. Then she went to see the king uninvited. Oops! 

                          O  Q    Z   X   D  C

Anyone doing that could have his or her head chopped off.  But the king let Esther speak. She invited the king and

Haman to __ __ __ __ __ __ two nights in a row. 

                          C   H   M  M  D   Q 

         The king asked Esther what she needed and she asked him to save her

 __ __ __ __ __ __. He wanted to know who planned to harm them and she cried, 

  O   D   N   O    K  D

“This wicked __ __ __ __ __.” 

                           G   Z    L   Z   M

         King Ashauerus had Haman hung. The king and Queen Esther 

__ __ __ __ __ the people and had a big celebration called Purim.

R    Z   U   D   C

Additional lessons include

• We must be willing to rise up when God places us in a position of influence and use every opportunity to promote God and protect His people. He has a plan for our lives.
• We should not remain silent when anyone threatens the safety of other people, especially God’s people.
• God uses people who are not believers, like King Xerces, to carry out His will.
• Fasting and prayer is important.
• Be courageous and willing to sacrifice your life to help others.
• Trust God’s timing.
• Do not seek recognition. Let God choose how to honor you and whenTrust and obey God in spite of any circumstances.

Favorite Verses from Esther

Esther had not revealed her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so. 2:10

Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.2:17

But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai. 2:22

Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.  3:13 (this verse contains all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet)

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” 4:14

“Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” 4:16

So Haman got the robe and the horse. He robed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city streets, proclaiming before him, “This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!” 6:11

“If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces. 8:5

The king’s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children, and to plunder the property of their enemies. 8:11

These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never fail to be celebrated by the Jews—nor should the memory of these days die out among their descendants. 9:28

Please follow this blog for more fun for kids!

Answer  key: Words in order found in the story: Esther, queen, evil, kill, save, prayed, dinner, people, Haman, saved

 #christianchildrensauthors #christianbooks #christianauthors #christianwriters #christianteachers #christianbooksforkids #christianchildrensbook #christianchildrensbooks #christianhomeschool

Blessings,
Karen