Image credit: http://biblebootcamp1.blogspot.com/2010/07/nehemiah-12-esther-job-5-queen-of.html By: Chris V Most people, even non-Christians, have heard of Esther and her story. Esther was a young Jewish woman in the Old Testament of the Bible who became queen of Persia. But that's not the end of the story! During Esther's time as queen, the king's chief advisor, Haman, plotted against the Jews to have them all killed. (He hated a man named Moredcai, Esther's uncle, who was a Jew, because he had refused to bow down to him.) Because Esther was queen, she was in a position to stop the plot Haman had concocted. Esther had to stick her neck out many times, and in the end, the Jews (who are a part of Jesus's lineage, as seen in the genealogies in Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38) were saved from the genocide. (You can read the full story in the book of Esther, which is in the Old Testament of the Bible.) Throughout the book of Esther, there are three key lessons that stick out to me: Lesson 1: Trusting God Throughout the book of Esther, we see Esther repeatedly trusting God:
"Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” ~ Esther 4:13-14 ~ Lesson 2: Saying "Yes Lord" and CONTINUING to trust in Him Not only did Esther trust in God's providence in her life and say "Yes God, I will do this and continue to trust in you" once or twice, but throughout the whole book! In Esther 5-7, Esther continues to invite the king and Haman to banquets in order to expose Haman's plot, and she does! Afterward, Esther begs the king to stop the genocide of the Jews, and Xerxes does, causing a celebration among the Jews. Because Esther continued to say "Yes Lord" and trust in Him and His sovereign plan, the Jews were saved. "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. For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?” King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have impaled him on the pole he set up. Now write another decree in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal it with the king’s signet ring—for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.” ~ Esther 8:5-8 ~ Lesson 3: Praise God Through Everything Even though Esther and Mordecai went through a lot of uncertainty in the book of Esther, they still continued to not only trust in Him but also praise Him. We see Esther and Mordecai praise God along with the rest of the Jews for His provision through the Feast of Purim. (This is near the end of the book of Esther in Esther 9:20-32. During this feast, the Jews' "...sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor" (Esther 9:22). The main focus of the Jews' celebration was to remember the death God had saved them from, and the joy they felt from the release of condemnation. This kind of illustrates what the Christian feels when they are saved from sin and death through the death of Christ on the cross because of God's grace and mercy towards us! Like Esther, as Christians, we should praise God for His good will and providence, and the salvation He has given us through His Son, Jesus. "And Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, obliging them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same, year by year, as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday..." ~ Esther 9:20-22 ~ Esther: A Woman of the Faith Esther's story- which is a true story- is absolutely incredible! Her trust in God throughout all the trials she went though is jaw-dropping, and we should want to copy that faith! One way to do that is take these lessons learned from Esther and apply it to our lives. We should pray, asking for more faith and trust in Christ, saying "Yes, Lord" to what He asks us to do when He asks, no matter how hard or terrifying it may be! (Side note: God is still with you through everything, no matter how hard or scary it is! See Joshua 1:9 and Isaiah 41:10.) When we pray and continue to trust in God and do His will in our lives, He uses those circumstances to sanctify His children and make us more Christlike in our lives and faith. "The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him." ~ Psalm 28:7~ To learn/study more about the book of Esther, check out the book of Esther and Nancy Demoss Wolgemuth's study Esther: Trusting God's Plan! (Note: I nor A Message for Christian Girls recives profit from this recommendation.)
I'd love to here from you! What's your favorite lesson from the book of Esther? Tell me in the comments below!
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