To others it's more than a story. It's the Word of God delivered by the hands of holy men who spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. These words were written down for a purpose which runs deeper than entertainment value. They reveal a glimpse of the covenant between Jesus Christ and His spotless bride, the church.
Esther gives us something to celebrate as it chronicles the deliverance of God’s chosen people, the Jews. It is also a great lesson on Biblical submission for both women and the church in general. It inspires believers to trust God's wisdom and timing, and to stand strong in the face of persecution.
“Righteousness” is one of the main themes in the book. This story teaches us that righteousness is imputed to us, and it’s given to us freely through faith in Jesus Christ.
My only sorrow is that of trying to condense these lessons down to one post.
I have put together a Bible study on the book of Esther which goes into great detail. So if you haven't received a copy of that yet, please check out this link.
Marriage is a reflection of the covenant keeping grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Esther's marriage to the King is a prime example of this covenant, which is why it makes for such an interesting study!
Before we go into the many things that Esther did right, let's talk about the one thing that Queen Vashti did wrong.
When We Submit to Our Husband's We Reflect Our Submission to Christ
The King had prepared a great feast and invited many guests to come to the feast which was seven days long. On the seventh day, he sent servants who called his wife to come and join him so that he could display her beauty to the guests.
Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.
It’s interesting to note here that while Queen Vashti was an ancient example of women’s liberation with her refusal to submit to her husband, we are dealing with a much deeper issue which is that of God’s people refusing to submit to Jesus Christ as their King.
And so we learn from scripture that the reason we submit to our husband is because we are reflecting that covenant between Jesus Christ and the church.
Both beauty and sacrifice are merely skin deep, unless they stem from obedience to God through Jesus Christ. When you and I submit to our husbands, we are not only submitting to the commandments found in scripture, we are sending a message out to the kingdom far and wide: that the Queen must submit to the King of all kings!
And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small. ~ Esther 1:20, KJV
When the King sent out a decree that he was looking for a new queen, Esther was sent to the palace by her cousin Mordecai.
Here are some of the lessons we learn from Esther:
Purify Your Soul by Obeying the Word
What we can learn from this story is that the virgins had a time of preparation before they were to meet with the king. It was known as their "purification."
In the same way we have a purification process on earth as we await the return of our King:
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: ~ 1 Peter 1:22, KJV
Cultivate Inner Beauty
In verse 13 we're told that the other women took whatever they desired with them out of the house when they met with the king. More than likely it means that they took fine garments and jewels. However, in verse 15 we see that Esther required nothing but what Hegai had appointed her.
The example we see here is that our purity is reflected through the way that we live. True beauty isn't found in the way that we dress but by what's inside of us--the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.
Indeed she found favor in the King and was chosen among many.
Do the Right Thing Not Necessarily the Easy Thing
In chapter four, Esther was urged by Mordecai to approach the king, because there was impending doom on their people.
Esther's concern was this: anyone who approached the king in the inner court who was not called could be put to death including the queen. Through this story we're reminded how Jesus Christ has made a way for us to approach God the Father. It is through Him by faith that we are granted access to the throne of God.
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. - Hebrews 4:16
Another lesson we can take from this is that of courage. the Holy Spirit guides us toward paths of righteousness. We aren’t called to do the easy thing, we’re called to do the right thing. This goes against the modern mindset which will tell you, “If it feels good, it must be right.”
Put Your Faith into Action
In chapter four, Esther discovers her purpose. She sees that she was sent to the palace for a reason, which was to plead with the king for the deliverance of her people. However, rather than going straight to the king, she put her faith in action. Esther asks that all of the Jews, including herself and her maidens fast for three days and three nights at which time she will approach the king.
She ends her plea by saying, “If I perish, I perish.”
Righteousness Comes by Faith
We're told that after fasting for three days, she put on her royal robe and approached the king. The symbolism here is rich. When we come to the throne of God, we cannot approach Him on our own merit as all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We must be clothed with the righteousness of Christ.
This is also the symbolism behind the beautiful wedding dresses that today's women wear. It represents the bride of Christ who is clothed in the perfect righteousness of her Savior.
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. ~ Isaiah 61:10, KJV
She Desired Life More than Riches
In chapter five the king asks her, "What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed."
Even when the king offered her riches, Esther's desire for salvation remained constant. And in fact he made the offer three times.
The point here isn't that believers can’t have money, a nice house, or a car. What it does mean is that eternal life should be more important to us than anything this world has to offer.
. . .
Finally, I want to close by saying that finding a "few" lessons to share with you was a difficult task. The life of Mordecai alone gives us so many lessons to live by. He was such a humble, wise, and faithful man that it was hard not to make this post all about him.
So if you think I've pulled up short on this post, you are probably right. I just couldn't cover every thing I wanted to in the space of one post.
Again, if you'd like to check out the Bible study on this one, I encourage you to grab a copy. It's free. What we've talked about here only scratches the surface, but I dig deep into the study considering the book verse by verse.
Come back tomorrow as we continue our series on Women of the Bible, and see what lessons we might learn from Hannah.
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I loved what you said about doing the right thing, not necessarily the easy thing. I've always loved the story of Esther!
ReplyDeleteInstead of sitting around worrying about everything, she takes action. She realizes that God has placed her where she is in order to use those "circumstances" to deliver her people and glorify Him.
Thanks for hosting today!
Beautiful correlation,Darlene! I love the book of Esther. I did many papers on it in Bible college. You brought up some points I hadn't seen yet. I have that Bible study of yours,getting around to doing it soon. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for this women of the bible series and thank you for hosting. Happy Tuesday!
ReplyDeleteI've been following for a while now, and have appreciated your blog. So much of the biblical teaching you share here is seen as outdated and irrelevant by society today, yet marriages are falling apart now more than ever for not following it. I agree with the biblical model, which is that wives need to submit to their husbands who love them as Christ loved the church, and as much as possible to those husbands who don't love them in that way. I'm curious, though, if you've ever heard the view that Vashti was actually a woman of virtue for NOT going before the king? As I've usually heard it explained that the king was drunk (never a good thing) and that his request was for her to appear before him and all his men wearing ONLY her royal crown. She refused, as I'm sure we all would have as well, and then we launch into the story of Esther. I also wonder at how much we can really compare this heathen king with our heavenly bridegroom, especially given that Esther would have been breaking the seventh commandment to even get into the runnings to be queen. That said, I love the story of Esther and how it shows that God can use us no matter where we are or how we got there, and that He will work all things together for good. I look forward to continuing with you on this journey toward becoming an even better wife!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth (waitingwalk.wordpress.com)
Elizabeth, I address this in detail in my Bible study, so I'm going to copy and paste a portion of that here:
ReplyDeleteI know that some readers may disagree with
me, saying that the King was drunk (the heart
of the king was merry with wine) and therefore
Vashti had good reason to refuse him.
And yet some others may say, “This was the
seventh day of the feast, and I’m sure that she
was tired from wearing open toed shoes all
week…”
Okay, seriously—what? This is the King we are
talking about. Not a drunken back-yard
mechanic that’s calling you into the garage to
show you off to the guys. It was an honor even
for the queen to be called into the King’s
presence. And besides that, the scripture
doesn't give us any valid reason she didn't. So
making excuses for her would be speculation
at best.
The way I see it, this is a matter of submission
and “righteousness.” Now before I lose you, let
me explain…
Righteousness is conformity to God’s laws. But
you see, since we are all human beings and
therefore fallible, not one of us can be
righteous by our own work. Therefore,
righteousness is imputed (freely given) to us
by God through faith in Jesus Christ.
The Jews refused to accept Jesus as their King,
and continued to live by the works of law in
much the same way as Vashti refused to
submit to the King. Both beauty and sacrifice
are merely skin deep, unless they stem from
obedience to God through Jesus Christ.
It’s a lack of faith on our part when we can’t
trust God’s wisdom over our own. And so
people distort the truth of God’s word
delivered by the hand of His messengers. We
see this happening every minute of every day
as people assume that good deeds and being a
good person somehow makes them righteous.
It doesn’t make us righteous any more than her
beauty did. The truth is that we are all born in
sin, and we all fall into sin, therefore we are in
need of a savior.
To say that she didn’t go because her husband
was drunk wouldn’t make all that much sense
since she was beckoned to come by his servants.
And I'll add this... it's also interesting to note that in the New Testament Jesus was accused of being a "wine bibber." It's one of the reasons the Jews had a hard time accepting the fact that He was God. Their God wouldn't fellowship with sinners? Or so they thought.
I also wanted to add this. Typifying or being an example of God is very different from actually "being Him." For example, marriage is a reflection of the union between Jesus Christ and the church. They are to love their wives as they love the church. With that in mind, we know that there isn't one man who could ever measure up to the infallible perfection of God.
ReplyDeleteWe are created in the image of God, but we aren't God Himself, we are only a glimpse of who God is.
So when I say that the King was a representation of Christ, I'm not referring to His perfection. It's more of a parable based on a real life experience. But orchestrated by God to reveal His glory.