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Esther
Beautiful Savior
Lesson 43
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The Bible is the most
amazing book on Earth and it takes time and
effort to get acquainted with its treasures. Pure
gold and precious gems do not lie on the surface
of the ground and neither do the riches of
Gods grace lie on the surface of the pages
in the Bible. Patient and persistent effort must
come first, before the precious nuggets of truth
are discovered.
In this chapter, I would
like to share another dramatic Bible story that
has important end time parallels for your
consideration. It is the story of how God used
two beautiful women, Vashti and Ester, to rescue
His people. God included this story in the Bible
for several reasons, and I would like to share
some insights about their story that fascinate
me. This story begins in 483 B.C., during the
third year of King Xerxes. I have modified the
biblical narrative in the Book of Esther in
several places for clarity and brevity. Comments
in [brackets or italics] are my insertions.
Part I Vashti Says
No [Biblical Narrative]
[King] Xerxes ruled over
127 provinces stretching from India to Cush
[Egypt]. [He] reigned from the royal throne in
the citadel of Susa, and in the third year of his
reign he gave a banquet for all his nobles and
officials. The military leaders of Persia and
Media, the princes, the nobles of the provinces
were present. For a full 180 days he displayed
the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor
and glory of his majesty. When these days were
over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven
days
for all the people from the least to
the greatest, who were in the citadel of
Susa
Wine was served in goblets of gold,
each one different from the other, and the royal
wine was abundant, in keeping with the
kings liberality
.
[Simultaneously] Queen
Vashti hosted a banquet for the [women of Susa]
in the royal palace of King Xerxes. On the
seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits
from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who
served him
to bring Queen Vashti, wearing
her royal crown, in order to display her beauty
to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to
look upon. But when the attendants delivered the
kings command, Queen Vashti refused to
come. Then the king became furious and burned
with anger. Since it was customary for the king
to consult experts in matters of law and justice,
he spoke with the wise men who understood the
[protocols and laws of the
day]
According to law, what must be
done to queen Vashti? he asked. She
has not obeyed the command of King Xerxes that
the eunuchs have taken to her. Then [one of the
wise men] Memucan replied in the presence of the
king and the nobles, Queen Vashti has done
wrong, not only against the king but also against
the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces
of King Xerxes. For the queens conduct will
become known to all the women [throughout the
kingdom because many women are with her at the
feast next door], and they will despise their
husbands and say, King Xerxes commanded
Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she
would not come. This very day the Persian
and Median women of the nobility who have heard
about the queens conduct will respond to
all the kings nobles in the same way. There
will be no end to the disrespect and discord
[toward men]. Therefore, if it pleases the king,
let him issue a royal decree and let it be
written in the laws of Persian and Media, which
cannot be repealed, that Vashti is never again to
enter the presence of King Xerxes. Also, let the
king give her royal position to someone else who
is better than she. Then the kings edict is
proclaimed throughout all his vast realm, all the
women will respect their husbands, from the least
to the greatest. The king and his [less
than sober] nobles were pleased with the advice,
so the king did as Memucan proposed. He sent
dispatches to all parts of the kingdom, to each
province in its own script and to each people in
its own language, proclaiming in each
peoples tongue that every man should be
ruler over his own household. (Taken from
Easter 1)
Comments
When Vashti was summoned
to the banquet room, she knew the king and all
his friends were drunk because they had been
partying for seven days. She instinctively knew
that to parade before a bunch of drunken men was
a recipe for trouble. Vashti was well aware of
her beauty and the influence it had on men.
Evidently the king wanted a sensual display of
beauty. She knew that if one drunken fool made a
suggestive remark about her in the kings
presence, the hilarity and high spirit of this
grand occasion would suddenly turn into an ugly
brawl of rage and violence. She was trapped
in a difficult situation because the women of the
kingdom looked to her as an example of what they
should do. She rightly chose to refuse the
invitation of the king, even though she knew it
would cost her dearly. Contrast the different
parties: The king was drinking, feasting, and
having a jolly good time. The queen, on the other
hand, was in her chamber on the verge of tears.
It would be an
understatement to say that6 King Xerxes was
highly embarrassed by his wifes refusal.
Each time I read this part of the story I laugh
out loud. I can picture a befuddled king
consulting with his befuddled advisors all
of them trying to figure out what to do with a
woman who just said No. Judging by
the conversation, their biggest fear was that
Vashtis example would encourage all of the
women in the kingdom to say No, to
their husbands demands. How ironic that
these mighty men of valor are fearful that there
will be no end to trouble from women. So, they
concoct a plan that is supposed to keep all women
in submission. Their advice, inflamed by
drunkenness, prompted the king to make a great
proclamation in many different languages. In
short, the decree said: Women must obey
their husbands. What is so amusing about
this situation is that the drunken king issues a
decree to 127 provinces than even he cannot
fulfill. Xerxes ruled over much of the known
world. He had power over life and death, but he
could not control his wife. (I do not think there
is a end time parallel in this part of the story
I am still smiling.) Even though Vashti
wisely refused her husbands command, she
was not physically harmed. Perhaps the Lord
protected her from the usual punishment issued
for defiance. However, Vashtis refusal did
not set a sequence of events in motion that
eventually propelled a beautiful Jewish girl to
Xerxes side as Queen of the Medes and
Persians! Actually, the hand of God caused this
episode of musical chairs. It was Gods
purpose to move Vashti off the throne and let
Easter replace her on the throne because a
sinister event was about to unfold.
Part II Easter
Made Queen [Biblical Narrative]
[About three years] later
when the anger of King Xerxes had subsided, he
remembered Vashti and what she had done and what
he had decreed about her. Then the kings
personal attendants proposed, Let a search
be made for beautiful young virgins for the king.
Let the king appoint commissioners in every
province of his realm to bring all these
beautiful girls into the harem at the citadel of
Susa.
Now there was in the citadel of
Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named
Mordecai son of Jair
Mordecai had a [young
female] cousin named Hadassah, whom he had
brought up because she had neither father nor
mother. This girl, who was also known as Esther,
was lovely in form and features, and Mordecai had
taken her as his own daughter when her father and
mother died. When the kings order and edict
had been proclaimed, many girls [including
Esther] were brought to the citadel of Suza and
put under the care of Hegai
who had charge
of the harem. [Esther] pleased him and won his
favor. Immediately he provided her with beauty
treatments and special food. He assigned to her
seven maids selected from the kings palace
and moved her and her maids into the best place
in the harem. Ester had not revealed her
nationality and family background, because
Mordecai had forbidden her to do so
. Esther
was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence
in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the
seventh year of his reign. Now the king was
attracted to Esther more than to any 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.
And the king gave a great banquet, Esthers
banquet, for all his nobles and officials. He
proclaimed a holiday throughout the provinces and
distributed gifts with royal liberality. (Taken
from Esther 2)
Part III Haman
Loathes Mordecai [Biblical Narrative]
[A few weeks after
Esthers banquet, Uncle] Mordecai was
sitting at the kings gate [when], Bigthana
and Teresh, two of the kings officers who
guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired
to assassinate King Xerxes. But Mordecai found
out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in
turn reported it to the king, giving credit to
Mordecai. When the report was investigated and
found to be true, the two officials were hanged
on a gallows. All this was recorded in the book
of the annals in the presence of the king
[Months later] King
Xerxes decided to honor [his best friend, a very
wealthy man named] Haman
. elevating him and
giving him a seat of honor higher that that of
all the other nobles. All the royal officials at
the kings gate knelt down and paid honor to
Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning
him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him
honor. Then the royal officials at the
kings gate asked Mordecai, Why do you
disobey the kings command? Day after
day they spoke to him but he refused to comply.
Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether
Mordecais behavior would be tolerated, for
he had told them he was a Jew. When Haman saw
that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him
honor, he was enraged. Yet having learned who
Mordecai people were, he scorned the idea of
killing only Mordecai [for Haman and all of the
nobles hated the Jews]. Instead, Haman looked for
a way to destroy all Mordecais people, the
Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of
Xerxes. (Taken from Esther 2 ands 3)
Part IV A
Universal Death Decree Approved [Biblical
Narrative]
[About five years after
Esther became queen] In the twelfth year of
King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of
Nissan, they cast the pur (that is, the lot
see note on the following page) in the
presence of Haman to select a day and month [to
kill all of the Jews]. And the lot fell on the
twelfth month, the month of Adar. Then Haman said
to King Xerxes [cleverly, without mentioning the
Jew], There are a certain
people dispersed and scattered among the peoples
in all the provinces of your kingdom whose
customs are different from those of all other
people and who do not obey the kings laws;
it is not in the kings best interest to
tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let a
decree be issued to destroy them, and I will put
ten thousand talents of silver [about 375 tons!]
into the royal treasury for the men who carry out
this business. So the king took his signet
ring from his finger and gave it to
Haman
the enemy of the Jews. Keep the
money, the king said to Haman and do
with these people as you please
Then
on the thirteenth day of the first month the
royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out
in the script of each province and in the
language of each people all Hamans
orders
and sealed it with [the kings]
own ring. Dispatches were sent by couriers
to all the kings provinces with the order
to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews
young and old, women and little children
on a single day, the thirteenth day of the
twelfth month, the month of Adar
[February/March], and to plunder their goods. A
copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as
law in every province and made known to the
people of every nationality so they would be
ready for the day. Spurred on by the kings
command, the couriers went out, and the edict was
issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman
sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was
bewildered. (Taken from Esther 3)
Note: The casting of the
pur (or lots) was an ancient method for
determining the will of God. The casting of the
pur was more than a casual or random decision.
For example, we toss the coin at the beginning of
a football game to determine who will possess the
football. The casting of the pur was considered
more serious. Gentiles (like Haman and the
sailors that cast Jonah overboard Jonah
1:7), as well as the Jews, used the pur because
they believed it revealed the will of God. For
example, on the Day of Atonement, the pur was
cast in the presence of the Lord to determine
which goat would be the Lords goat.
(Leviticus 16:8) When Israel entered the Promised
Land, the pur was cast in the presence of the
Lord to determine how the land would be divided
among seven of the twelve tribes. (Joshua
18:1-10) Even the Romans cast the pur to divide
up the clothing of Jesus. (Matthew 27:35) The
interesting point here is that the casting of
the pur set the thirteenth day of the twelfth
month. Because each month begins with a new
moon in gods calendar, it is possible for
the thirteenth day of the month to be a full
moon. (due to elliptical orbit of the moon, a
full moon can occur as early as the thirteenth
day and seeing that late as the fifteenth day of
the moth.) Having the light of a full moon to
finish off the Jews must have been a definite
plus in Hamans wicked mind when he saw the
results. As it turns out, the Jews were able to
use the light of the full moon to finish off
their enemies. As you will see, there is more to
the date and timing of the universal death decree
issued on Gods people and it was more than
just a random event.
Part V
Esthers Test [Biblical Narrative]
When Mordecai learned of
all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put
on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the
city, wailing loudly and bitterly. But he went
only as far as the kings gate, because no
one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter
it
Then Esther summoned Hathach, one of the
kings eunuchs assigned to attend her, and
ordered him to find out what was troubling
Mordecai and why. So Hathach went out to Mordecai
in the open square of the city in front of the
kings gate. Mordecai told him everything
that had happened to him, including the exact
amount of money Haman had promised to pay into
the royal treasury for the destruction of the
Jews. He also gave him a copy of the text of the
edict for their annihilation, which had been
published in Susa, to show to Esther and to
explain it to her, and told [Hathach] to urge her
to go into the kings presence to beg for
mercy and plead with him for her people.
Hathach went back and
reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. Then
she instructed him to say to Mordecai, All
the kings officials and the people of the
royal provinces know that for any man or woman
who approaches the king in the inner court
without being summoned the king has but one law:
that he be put to death. The only exception to
this is for the king to extend the gold scepter
to him to spare his life. But thirty days have
passed since I was called to go to the
king. When Esthers words were
reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer:
Do not think that because you are in the
kings house you alone of all the Jews will
escape. For if you remain silent at this time,
relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise
from another place, but you and your
fathers family will perish. And who knows
but that you have come to royal position for such
a time as this? Then Esther sent this reply
to Mordecai: 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. My maids
and I 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.(Taken
from Esther 4)
Commentary
Queen Esther, like Queen
Vashti before her, found herself in a very
distressing situation. Even though she was the
queen, the king had young concubines constantly
clamoring for his attention. His emotional
attachment to Esther was not like that of a
typical husband and wife. She had not seen the
king for a month when Mordecai implored her to go
before him and plead for their lives! Esther
knew that if she imposed herself upon the king by
violating court protocol, she would likely die or
faces the same banishment, as Vashti. She also
knew that the law of the Medes and Persians, once
made, could not be changed. As a female, she also
knew that if she appeared too aggressive, the
king might be repulsed. Esther had not forgotten
Vashtis experience. These facts motivated
her reluctant response to her uncle.
Mordecai responded to
Esther with some very sobering words: Do
not think that because you are in the kings
house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For
if you remain silent at this time, relief and
deliverance for the Jews will arise from another
place, but you and your fathers family will
perish. And who knows but that you have come to
royal position for such a time as this?
This statement shows how great Mordecais
faith in god really was. He knew that if Esther
refused, she too would perish because the law of
the Medes and Persians showed no favoritism.
Still, Mordecai encouraged her by saying that
relief and deliverance for the Jews would arise
from another place. Mordecai knew how God had
promised Abraham that Messiah would come through
his offspring and since Messiah had not appeared,
Mordecai was 100% sure that God would deliver His
people. The decree sent by Haman, bearing the
name of King Xerxes, was actually a universal
death decree. It left no way out every Jew
was to be killed. Period.
Part VI
Esthers Banquet #1 [Biblical Narrative]
On the third day
[of fasting] Esther put on her royal robes and
stood in the inner court of the palace, in front
of the kings hall. The king was sitting on
his royal throne in the hall, facing the
entrance. When he saw queen Esther standing in
the court, he was pleased with her and held out
to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So
Esther approached and touched the tip of scepter.
Then the king asked, What is it, Queen
Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the
kingdom, it will be given you. If it
pleases the king, replied Esther,
let the king, together with Haman, come
today to a banquet I have prepared for him.
Bring Haman at once, the king said,
so that we may do what Esther asks.
So the king and Haman went to the banquet Esther
had prepared. As they were drinking wine, the
king again asked Esther, Now what is your
petition? It will be given you. And what is your
request? Even to the half of the kingdom, it will
be granted. Esther replied, My
petition and my request is this: If the king
regards me with favor and if it pleases the king
to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let
the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet I
will prepare for them. Then I will answer the
kings questions. (Taken from Esther
5)
Commentary
The timing of these
matters is beyond coincidence. For the sake of
discussion, let us suppose the first banquet
takes place on Monday evening. The king and Haman
are present for very different reasons. The king
is full of curiosity, and Haman, his best friend,
is full of ego. The king knows something is up
with his lovely Esther because no one would dare
to approach him as Esther did unless there was a
serious problem troubling her. Esther is timid
and nervous and to get her to divulge what is on
her heart, the king generously offers her
anything she wants up to half his kingdom!
Evidently, Esther sensed
the mood that evening was not right for her
request. So, she stalled by asking for another
banquet the following night. If this
stalling technique was planned from the
beginning, it surely worked. The king left the
banquet more puzzled than before, and of course,
Haman was only too pleased to attend another
banquet. What greater honor could he hope for
than to be seen dining with the king and queen
once again?
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