More Than Survivors
Esther 4
Video Clip from “Cinderella.”
Don’t you just love the story of Cinderella? A poor, orphaned girl, oppressed and mistreated, who one day becomes queen. It is the stuff of fairy tales.
Or is it?
Turn in your Bibles to the Esther. OOHH, I may have some of you today! “Let’s see, is Esther before or after Psalms?” HMMM. Well, Esther is just before the book of Job, which is just before the book of Psalms. So if you open your Bibles to the middle, chances are it will be just a little to the left. We are going to be looking at the 4th chapter of this book. If you pick up one of the Bibles in the chairs around you, it is found on page 342.
Let me set the scene for you as we look into this real-life fairy tale.
Once upon a time, in the 6th Century BC, to be exact, the Middle East was under the rule of the Persian Empire. At the time of Esther, the empire stretched from India in the East, through modern day Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and all the way to Greece in Europe, and as far south as Ethiopia in Africa. The capitol city of Shushan was just north of the Persian Gulf in what we would today call Iran. A number of Jewish people were living in the capitol, having been taken there years earlier as captives of the Babylonians.
Hadasssah was an orphan. She was a Jewish girl who had been raised by her cousin Mordecai. She was an orphaned girl living as a refugee in a foreign land. She was even given a Persian name, “Ishtar,” which we have modified even more to “Esther.” Her identity as a Jew would have easily been lost had it not been for her cousin, who apparently taught her of the God of Israel and His promise to their people. A girl without a family, a woman without a nation, a person without an identity. A stranger in a strange land.
The emperor, Ashasuerus, decided to throw a party. Now this was no ordinary party. It went on for 180 days! And when the 180 days was done, he threw another party, this one for all the men in the capitol city. It was a comparitively minor party – only 7 days long! Anyone could come in and eat or drink as much or as little as they chose. His queen, Vashti, was throwing a party for the ladies. Toward the end of the the seventh day, after everyone, including the king, had consumed way too much wine, Ashaseuerus summoned his queen to come wearing her royal crown and “show her beauty to the people and the officials.” Apparently the queen was very beautiful, and the king wanted to show her off to the others gathered there. Some have speculated that when it says, “wearing her royal crown,” that she was ONLY to wear the royal crown. Accurate or not, the fact is this was a lude and unreasonable request, and the queen refused. For her refusal to obey the king, Vashti was removed as queen. The decree went out for a royal search for a queen to begin. Ashasuerus wanted the most beautiful girl in the empire to be his bride, so he issued a decree that every city, every territory was to send their most beautiful young girls to Shushan for the purpose of appearing before the king.
Now, listen to this, each girl was taken into the “house of the women,” where for 1 year they were prepared for their apprearance before the king. For 6 months they were given “oil of Olay” treatments. Okay, it was oil of myrrh, but you get the idea, then for 6 months, it was perfumes and preparations (verse 2:12). Then they each got one night with the king, to convince him to choose her. This went on night after night. When the young lady returned, she went to the second house of the women, where she waited to be called back by the king. If he never called her back, she lived the rest of her days as a widow – they were the property of the king, and were not allowed to be with any other man.
Esther was a beautiful young girl, and when the order was decreed, she had to respond. Her cousin Mordecai waited outside the courtyard of the house of the women each day to check on her condition. Imagine what it must have been like for Esther. Orphaned, in a strange land, at the beck and call of a rather egotistical king. It must have been very comforting to know that her cousin, her only family, was close by. And not only that, but God was with her. The book of Esther takes some criticism because it is the only book in the Bible that does not ever mention the name of God. Some have argued that it should not be included with the books of the Bible for that reason. But while His name is not mentioned, God’s hand is evident throughout. We read in verse 2:9, and again in verse 15 that Esther “gained favor in the sight of all who saw her.” That phrase is the same one used to describe the favor Joseph found in the eyes of Potipher, and the Pharoah. It is a Hebrew word that is used regularly in the Bible to describe a character of God. His name may not be written here, but God is present. There is no burning bush, no pillar of smoke, no flames from heaven, but God is near.
Finally it was her time. Look at verse 16 of chapter 2, and you will see that it is now the seventh year of the king’s reign. It has been four years since Vashti was banished – and now Esther goes into the kings presence. He is captivated by her. Verse 17 says, “The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the other virgins, so he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen in stead of Vashti.”
Queen Esther had her cousin Mordecai elevated to some offical position, we read in verse 19 that “Modecai now sat at the king’s gate.” Esther is queen, Mordecai is on the government payroll, with a substantial retirement benefit, no doubt, and all is well. In fact, Mordecai intercepts a plot to assasinate the king, and by his diligence in reporting what he knows to the queen, he saves the king’s life!
“And they lived happily ever after.” The End.
Well, not so fast. The story is not over. For there is a wicked evil man in the story, whose name is Haman. Haman is the chief of the princes of the king. Sort of like the Vice President, and all the other officials of government are to bow and pay homage to Haman when ever he is around. Haman has an ego almost as big as the kings – maybe even bigger. As he walks around the Persian White House, all the servants and officials bow before him, except one. One man who had identified himself as a Jew would not bow down to him, and he did not like it one bit, so, like so many in history have thought to do, he convinced the king to have all the Jews eliminated from the kingdom. It might seem hard to believe that someone could be so irrational, until you remember that just 60 years ago or so in a very civilized nation, the same solution was presented by a high ranking advisor to his Fuhrer. So Haman issued the decree, and it was sent in writing to every corner of the Empire from Greece to India, from Etheopia to Afghanistan, that on the 13 day of the 12th month all the Jews were to be killed, and all their possessions plundered. The date of their extermination was decided by the roll of dice (3:7)
The king allowed the decree, assured that it would fatten his treasury, not knowing that his own wife, queen Esther, was a Jew.
We are now at chapter 4.
When Mordecai got a copy of the decree, he put on rags, and covered himself with ashes, and sat in the city square and cried and mourned for his people. When Queen Esther’s servants heard about Mrodecai, they told the queen, and she sent her most trusted advisor to find out what was going on. Mordecai sent word, and a written copy of the king’s decree. “You have to do something!” He said, but Esther told him that she was not allowed in the king’s presence unless he called her, or she could be killed. Mordecai said, “If you don’t do something, then rest assured, our help will come, but you and your family’s reputation will be destroyed forever. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
“Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
“Esther, maybe this is exactly why you have had to go through all the trouble you have had – the refugee status, the loss of your parents, brought before this king, raised up to be queen. Maybe, just maybe, God is at work here???”
Verse 15. Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And I will go to the king, which is against the law, and if I perish, I perish!”
Up until this point, we really don’t know a lot about the character of Esther, except that she is “winsome.” There is a quality about her that attracts attention far beyond her obvious beauty. She has a spirit, a character that causes others to look upon her with favor. Have you ever been introduced to someone who was, by every outward appearance, beautiful, I mean drop-dead handsome, and then they open their mouth, and you find out that their beauty is only skin deep? Not so with Esther – there is more than outward beauty here. We get a glimpse of it when she goes in with the other virgins, and is noticed by the king’s servants, she rose above the rest by her sweet spirit, her willingness to learn, and her lack of greed. Now we see that she is a woman of faith, asking for the Jewish people in the city to be in prayer for her as she does what she must do, at the risk of her life. And we see more qualities of Esther as the story unfolds.
Watch the wisdom and cunning of this sharp girl as the story continues.
So Esther goes before the king, and she waits to see if he will order her death, for coming in uninvited; or will he extend to her his scepter, allowing her to enter. Chapter 5, verse 1 says that she stood in her royal robes at the far end of the hall, and when the king saw her, he extended the scepter toward her. She came forward and touched the top of the scepter. The king knew that she must need something to be willing to risk coming into his presence uninvited, so he says in verse 3, “What is it you want, anything you wish shall be yours – up to half the kingdom!” Wow!
She says, “I would like to invite you, and Haman, the Vice President, to a dinner that I have prepared for you.”
That sounds good to the king, and so they go to the dinner, and once again the king says, “What is it you want, anything you wish shall be yours – up to half the kingdom!” To which Esther says, “I want you to come to another banquet tomorrow!” These are really my kind of people – 180 day parties, 7 day parties, 2 day banquets!
So Haman leaves the party that first night, and he’s feeling pretty good. After all, Esther has thrown this party for him! It’s obvious, isn’t it? Why else would she invite him along with the king to the banquet – and not just once, but twice! She must really like him, don’t you think? So on the way home Haman is just taken with himself, and then he passes by the city square, and there sits Mordecai, the Jew who want bow to him, whaling and crying and throwing dust in the air. Instantly his joy turned to anger, and he really wanted to get rid of that guy.
So when he got home, he told his wife all about the dinner at Esther’s palace, but then he says, in effect, “then I had to see that old coot Mordecai, and it just ruined the whole night.” His wife, like the supportive mate of any sadistic egomaniac, says, “Why don’t you do this, and you’ll feel much better, have a gallows 75 feet tall built while we sleep, and then in the morning, ask the king to have old Mordecai hanged on it, then go merrily with the king to the banquet.” Haman loves the idea, he gives the order for the servants to build the gallows, and with the lovely sound of the saws and hammers in the background, he falls asleep with a smile on his face.
Meanwhile, back at the castle, the king can’t sleep. Seems some idiot has the servants building a stage or something outside his window, so he calls his servants to come in and read for him the congressional record. Now if you ever have trouble falling asleep, here’s the ticket – read the congressional record. All night they read to him, and just as the sun was rising, one of the servants reads the part about the plot to kill him a few years earlier, and how Mordecai had saved the king’s life. He says, “How did we ever repay Mordecai for saving my life?” “We did nothing, sire.” They reply. So the king says, “Who do we have around the court this morning?”
“Well, sire, Haman just came in.” “Send him to me,” says the king.
When Haman comes in, the king says, “Haman, what should be done for the man the king wants to honor?” Haman is thinking to himself, “Wow, this just gets better and better! I get invited to the queen’s banquet, and now the king is asking how to best reward someone for great service. What a surprise! I’m going to have to get a new tux!” He quickly answers the king, “Um, sire, you should take that man, whomever he may be, and put one of your own royal robes on him, and then place him on one of your own magnificent horses, and then, have the most noble of the princes be at that man’s disposal to honor him, and adorn him with jewels and riches. And then, um, have a parade, with the man as the center of attention and have a sign made that says, ‘This is how the king shows favor to his faithful servants!’ That should about do it.”
The king says, “Yes! That sounds about right.” Haman, you are my most noble prince, therefore you are to be the one . . . . . who will do all that you just said . . . . . for Mordecai!!!”
Can you stand it!! Wouldn’t you just love to have seen his face when that happened? So now Haman has to get the robe, and get the horse, and pamper Mordecai, and set up the parade, for his worst enemy – the one he had built the gallows for. It is choice!
After a tough day at the office, Haman was really looking forward to the dinner at Esthers. At least she was still wanting to honor him for his faithful service.
So after dinner, the king once again asks his queen what she would desire from him, up to half the kingdom. She says, “My king, simply spare my life and the life of my family, for they have all been sold – but not to slavery, to be killed, by treachory.” The king is livid! “Who is responsible for this thing?” He demands.
Can’t you just see Haman’s face? I can just see him, half way through a long drink of wine, his eyes wide as he hears the words of Esther – “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!” He’s got to be thinking, “And I thought this was going to be such a good day!”
So Haman found himself hanged from the very gallows that had had built for his enemy Mordecai. And Esther, Mordecai and all the Jews, survived and thrived in the foreign land.
There are a few lessons that I think we can take home from this story:
1. Don’t every try to tell me that the Bible is full of boring, dry theology! This is a wonderful story of intrigue, humor and suspense, and there are lots more like it.
2. No matter how screwed up the circumstances may seem, God is at work. I can’t imagine a situation seemingly more out of control than that of poor Hadassah. The good things of life seemed to have totally missed her. Both parents dead, raised by her cousin, living under a false identity in a foreign culture. Taken from the only home she knew at age 17 or so - based simply on her beauty - to be at the whim of a king who has shown himself to be a drunken, pornographic hot head. Egotistical enough to try out a different girl for four years before he finds the “right one.” He’s greedy enough to allow a plot that would kill an entire race just to fill his treasury. Now there’s a place any of us would want to be, right?
And yet God is at work. Through each turn of the plot, we see that God’s hand is evident. Even when it seems that the circumstances fly in the face of Godly values. “He is at work in the godless banquet halls of Persia,” Chuck Swindoll writes, “He is not limited to working in the Christian family. He is as much at work in the Oval Office as He is in you pastor’s study. He is as much at work in other countries of the world, like Iran, or China [or Afghanistan], as He is in America. To doubt that is to draw boundaries around His sovereign control. God is at work. He is moving. He is touching lives. He’s shaping kingdoms. He’s never surprised by what humanity may do. Just because actions or motives happen to be secular or worldy doesn’t mean that He’s not present. Those involved may not be glorifying Him, but never doubt it – He’s present. He’s at work.”[1]
No matter how difficult your life
may seem. No matter how screwed up the
circumstance may appear, God is at work in your life. It may seem that no one can possibly fix the broken life, the
damaged frail spirit, or the deteriorating body, but God is always behind the
scenes, at work. We need to recognize
his presence and trust by faith in His sovereignty. Everyone take your right hand, extend your index finger in the
air, and with it turn circles in a clockwise motion. Now, with the finger still turning clockwise, slowly lower your
hand until it is near your lap. Now
look down at your finger. What do you
see? It is turning couterclockwise!
Why? You did not change the
direction of your finger’s rotation. It is because of your perspective. Before,
you were looking at it from the bottom up, now from the top down. Often God is at work in a perspective that
we don’t see, and it feels like He’s doing it all backwards, but it’s not from
His divine perspective.
3. Lastly, the key to being more than a survivor that we learn this week. Don’t go it alone! When you feel like the world is crashing in on you, and you don’t know what to do – you need to do what this young woman Esther did – call on some fellow aliens for support. Back in chapter 4, we find what I believe to be the key verse in this entire book. Esther told Mordecai to get all the other alien Jews to hit their knees on her behalf. There was no way she would dare to enter into the most difficult challenge of her life without praying herself, and without others praying for her. For three days she and her staff, and all the other Jews in the area were fasting and praying for God’s protection and deliverance. To be a survivor, to be more than a survivor, we can not go it alone.
I want to encourage you this week, as you complete your daily journal, to contemplate whom you might seek out as a spiritual ally. Who might God have placed in your life that could be your Mordecai – always faithful, always prayerful, always ready to challenge and encourage? Ask God to direct you to that person, and begin to meet regularly – maybe twice a month, to pray together. As you get to know each other, begin to share areas of challenge, temptation or struggle. Pray together for each other, and pray for each other each day between visits. Always be there to pray in an emergency, and to rejoice in God’s grace. I have long said that there is nothing more powerful than prayer. It is not the least we can do, it is the most we can do. And a church that is praying for each other, and with each other is a church that is populated by more than mere survivors – it will be a church of victors – pressing ahead, and even the gates of hell will not be able to resist its advance.
[1] Charles Swindoll, Esther: A Woman of Strength and Dignity (Nashville: Word Publishing, 1997), 37.