Rhema

Over 100 years earlier, Nebuchadnezzar (the king of Babylon) had attacked Jerusalem. He overcame the  Jews and he took many  Jews to Babylon. Almost 70 years after that, the king of Persia defeated the armies of Babylon in battle. Then the people in Persia allowed the  Jews to return to their own country, but not many  Jews did return. When the story of Esther happened, most Jews were still living in the country called Persia. Persian Queen Esther was a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin who grew up as an exile in Persia (492 B.C. – 460 B.C.) Esther was her Persian name. Her Jewish name was Hadassah. (meaning a Myrtle, is a branch that signifies peace and thanksgiving.) The myrtle tree was native to Babylonia, but Jewish exiles who returned to Jerusalem took the tree with them, and it became a symbol of the nation of Israel. The name Esther itself means star and happiness. Esther was the daughter of Abihail, of the tribe of Benjamin.     ...