CF Woman of the Month for March..QUEEN ESTHER

[kayte]

Posting studies reflections on the book of Esther ..


At the end of the week posting also questions of reflection
at ANY time please post comments or ideas or questions or inspirations



The book of Esther is an unusual book in that it seems to stand
alone. It is not connected to historical chronology of the Hebrews.


This is a beautiful story of how a young Jewish girl saves her people.
It is unknown who penned the book of Esther. Many scholars do not like
to include the book of Esther in the Bible, because it does not
directly mention the name of God. In this book, however, we see the
hand of God at work to save his people in a foreign land. The setting
for this is Persia.

It happens during the years of captivity of the
Israelites. One of the lessons to be learned in this is
"you reap what you sow". This is a very spiritual book. It causes us to see God, even though it does not call His name.

 

[kayte]

Esther 1:8

"And the drinking [was] according to the law; none did
compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his
house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure."

It was usually understood that the officers must all drink. This
generally led to many getting drunk.The the edict of the king, here,
allowed each person to decide forhimself whether he would drink, or not.
It appears, the king wanted to treat all of these people as guests,
and not as his subjects.

Esther 1:9 "Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women [in]
the royal house which [belonged] to king Ahasuerus."

This shows that the men and women had separate feasts. We
mentioned before, that the feast was like a diplomatic dinner. Vashti
was the wife of the king. She was queen, because she was married to
the king. It was in his royal house that Vashti held the feast for the
women. "Vashti" means beautiful. This was, probably, a name the king
gave her, after they were married. Many believe her real name was
Amestris.

 

[Almaz]

Even though G-d is not mentioned he is behind the scenes. Getting ready to celebrate Purim now. March 9-11. The tomb of Easter and Mordechai is in near Hamedan, Iran. Lots of fun. when we read that Torah portion.

 

[HeChangedMyName]

How'd I miss Esther.

I'll be back

 

[kayte]

Even though G-d is not mentioned he is behind the scenes

this was stated in the opening post.
note the following bolded below

Many scholars do not like
to include the book of Esther in the Bible, because it does not
directly mention the name of God. In this book, however, we see the
hand of God at work to save his people in a foreign land. The setting
for this is Persia.

This is a very spiritual book. It causes us to see God, even though it does not call His name.

 

[kayte]

How'd I miss Esther.

I'll be back

no worries! She's featured the entire month

 

[kayte]

let’s recap just the highlights of the plot:

The Jews had been in exile for many years in the land of Babylon. When power changed to the hands of the Persians, they were still there. At the beginning of the story of Esther, the King of Persia is displeased with his queen, and removes her from her royal position. Advisors suggest that all the fairest young maidens in the land be brought to the King over a period of time that he might choose a new queen from among them.


The young Jewess Hadassah, whose Persian name is Esther, is among the young maidens brought to the palace. At the insistence of her guardian, Uncle Mordecai, she conceals her national identity. After winning the favor of the King, she becomes Queen.

Meanwhile, Uncle Mordecai runs afoul of the evil courtier Haman, who decides in revenge to trick the King into declaring a sentence of death on all Jews in the kingdom, to be carried out at a future date to be decided by lot. (The word “purim” in Hebrew means “lots”, thus the name of the festival of Purim.)

Mordecai learns of the plot, and alerts Esther. She, at great personal risk, decides to accept the role of confronting the King about the plot and begging for mercy for her people. She is successful in this matter. Through a series of fortuitous events (no doubt orchestrated by God) and her wise handling of the circumstances, Haman is shown before the King to be the villain that he really is. In the end, Haman is hung on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. And the Jews of the kingdom are saved from extinction

 

[kayte]

Lesson

God has sometimes used armies and sometimes flashy miracles in order to rescue His People. But He is not limited to those strategies. He can just as easily use one obscure person - male, such as Joseph, or female, such as Esther - and manipulate the circumstances around them to allow them to be the agent of His salvation.


Serving God and fulfilling the role He called you to is possible even in an environment where almost everyone around you is a heathen. And it can be done without attempting to change everyone around you. Joseph, Esther and Daniel all served totally pagan kings and won favor with them by their exemplary conduct and example. And they were thereby able to accomplish great deeds.

God can use young women, like Esther, just as easily as young warriors, like David, to accomplish His plans for His people.

 

[kayte]

Lesson

It is comforting to know that God can redeem people with unpleasant pasts and use them to advance His plans for His people - witness Rahab the harlot and Paul, the persecutor of Christians.

But in some cases His plans particularly call for those who have kept themselves undefiled physically and/or spiritually. Certainly in the case of Esther, it would have been impossible for her to fulfill God’s plan if she had not been a chaste young woman.

This brings to mind another chaste young woman, no doubt as young as Esther when she began her role in an even greater plan of salvation - Mary, the mother of Jesus. Just as noted above about Esther, what incredible qualities Mary must have exhibited even as a young woman barely out of girlhood, to be considered mature enough for the responsibility of raising the Messiah!

Thoughts? Does this correlate to your own life and in what way(s)

 

[HeChangedMyName]

I'm back. I would like to expound upon Esther's Hebrew name. We all know that God gave people names for reasons that may not be revealed until you read along further in the Bible.

Esther's Hebrew name was Hadassah. This name comes from the name given to the Myrtle tree, hadas. So I guess we could call her Myrtle as a nickname .


Anywhoo, reading Isaiah 55:13

Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.


It seems that God already knew that Esther would be the link that kept Israel from perishing. She was her own name sake, she kept Israel from being cut off at the hand of the enemy.

Zechariah 1:8 speaks of an angel of the Lord being among the myrtle trees.

I saw at night, and behold, a man was riding on a red horse, and he was standing among the myrtle trees which were in the ravine, with red, sorrel and white horses behind him.

I don't doubt that Esther had an angel of the Lord with her when she boldly went to her King to save her people. After all, the law of the land that wives should respect their husbands. When Esther went in to interrupt her King, she was actually breaking the law, because she had not been summoned by him.


****side note, I find it interesting to see that Esther wasn't out looking for a husband. She fit the requirements and was chosen. Just like Ruth, she had to be beautified in preparation. This preparation took a year. However, It wasn't until Xerxes 7th year as King that Esther got her shot. Note that Vashti was dethroned in halfway into Xerxes third year as king and it was a while after that when the search for a new queen started.***I'm sure this will speak to some of my fellow single ladies on the board and lurking. Patience.