Lessons Learned: Esther “For such a time as this”

The book of Esther is a unique book because it does not mention God throughout the entire book.  Yet, we see God working throughout the story behind the scenes to save His people.  I have always been impressed with the quote “for such a time as this”.  In these troubling times God needs to raise up people who are in a special place to help many in need.  Are you one of those people?  I do not know if I am, but God has given me another story to write and this one is about Esther.

Passages from the New Living Translation (NLT) are written in italics.  The story is written as fiction, but it comes right from the Bible.

Esther’s Story

The king is having another banquet!  I am told it will last 180 days and only nobles, officials, and military leaders will attend.  I feel sorry for all the servants who must work extra hard.  But, oh the merchants are going to get rich supplying food and drink for the banquet.  We have been told there will be another banquet for common people after that for seven days.  This king sure does like to party!

The end of the 187 days has come to the end.  I heard Queen Vashti has denied King Xerxes his request to go visit him.  How dare she?  No one denies the king.  The king has consulted his wise men as to what to do about Queen Vashti.  Their response was amazing!  They said if nothing is done women all over the kingdom would despise their husbands and not obey them.  We cannot have that can we?  They recommended Queen Vashti be replaced. 

I have been told the king will appoint commissioners to seek out beautiful virgins for the king to choose a new queen.  The women are to be placed at the citadel of Susa under the care of Hegai the king’s eunuch.  There they would receive beauty treatments before being presented to the king.  I am one of these women. 

Let me stop here and tell you a little about myself.  I was orphaned at the age of eight and was raised by my older cousin Mordecai.  He taught me many things about our people and our history.  You see, I am a Jew and a foreigner in this country.  My parents and Mordecai were among the thousands of Jews captured and taken away from our homeland years ago.  Mordecai said never to tell anyone I was a Jew because many do not like us.  We are set apart to worship the one true God.  We do not bow down and pay honor to rulers and nobles like everyone else does. 

Now that I am at the citadel, I am receiving beauty treatments and baths every day.  We are all waiting our turn to meet with the king in hopes we please him, and he makes us his queen.  My cousin Mordecai comes to the courtyard often to make sure I am okay.  The eunuch Hegai likes me and treats me very well.  I am blessed to be in this position even though I do not see why I was chosen.  Everyone likes me though and thinks I am beautiful.

My turn to go and meet with the king.  I am a bit nervous and hope I will please the king.  I made sure I took what Hegai told me to ask for nothing and just go with nothing.  The king was nice, and we had a nice meal.  We talked about things and I was impressed how much knowledge he had. I was very careful not to talk about my heritage nor to boast about myself. 

Guess what?  The king liked me so much he made me his queen!  Me!  It is such an honor!  I still do not know why he choose me, but he did.  I am given a special part of citadel and to be ready for when the king sends for me.  He sends for me often.

One day, Mordecai was at the king’s gate and he overheard two men talking.  They were angry at the king and were plotting to kill the king.  Mordecai told me what had happened and told me the two guys names.  That night the king summoned me to spend the night with him and I told him all about it and who told me.  I was careful not to reveal why Mordecai told me specifically so the king would not find out I was a Jew.  The next day the king investigated the plot to kill him and found out it was true.  He had those two men hanged where everyone could see them. 

The king declared Haman the most noble in the kingdom.  Not sure why Haman should receive such honor.  I guess he may have been a descendent of a king of Amalek.  Anyways, Haman is a boastful man and is rude to anyone beneath him.  He is nice to me, but he must because the king would kill him if he isn’t.  Yet, everyone else he is rude to and makes them bow down to him.  No one really likes him, but he is a different person around the king. 

Mordecai will not honor Haman and that really upsets him.  Every time Haman goes by the gate to the king’s palace Mordecai just stands there while others are bowing to Haman.  I am glad I do not have to be around Haman much.

What?  I heard Mordecai was in sackcloth and pouring ashes on himself.  He will not come inside the gate, so I sent Hathach, the eunuch in charge of my care, to find out why.  Hathach came back and told me all Haman had done.  Here is the story.  Haman dislikes Mordecai so much he went to the king and asked if all the Jews could be put to death.  He did not tell the king what people he wanted dead but that they were different and did not pay honor to the nobles.  Haman also said he would put ten thousand pieces of silver into the treasury to make it happen.  The king gave Haman his signet ring to make it a law and it was published all over the kingdom.  Fortunately, the law stated a whole year must pass before the killing began.  Still Mordecai asked me to go to the king and beg for mercy for our people.

I told Hathach to tell Mordecai I have not been summoned to the king in thirty days and to go into the throne room without being summoned would mean death unless the king holds out his gold scepter to the person.  Mordecai answered

“Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

These words were not lost on me!  Maybe this is why I became queen?  I made a decision.  Tell Mordecai to gather all the Jews together who are in Susa and to fast three days for me.  I and my maids will also fast for three days.  When the three days are over, I will go to the king.  If I die, I die!

After three days I put on my best clothes and went to the throne room entrance.  I was shaking inside but I knew I must have courage and do this.  I was so relieved when the king saw me and immediately pointed his gold scepter towards me.  What do you want he asked telling me I could have up to half of his kingdom.  I told him I wanted Haman and him to come to dinner at my quarters tonight.  The king sent for Haman right away.  They came to dinner and enjoyed themselves.  The king asked again what I wanted.  I asked if the two of them would come to dinner tomorrow night and I would tell the king what I wanted.

I have been told Haman went home through the king’s gate where he saw Mordecai sitting.  This made him mad, but he did not do anything about it.  I am also told Haman went home and bragged about how he was just at my quarters eating dinner with me and the king.  Haman said to his wife how much he despised seeing Mordecai at the king’s gate.  His wife suggested to build a gallows 75 feet high and to go ask the king in the morning to hang Mordecai on it.  I heard Haman was happy and could not wait to ask the king.

A strange thing happened.  The king was having trouble getting to sleep that night.  I suggested he go read for awhile to see if that helped him sleep.  The king had the chronicles of his reign brought to him and he read about how Mordecai saved his life a few years back by reporting the two men who plotted to kill the king.  The king asked if Mordecai was honored for this and was told no, he was not.

The next morning Haman went to the king and the king asked Haman what should be done to honor someone.  Haman must have thought he was going to be honored so he said the king should give this person a set of the kings clothes and have them ride through the city on one of the kings personal horses so everyone will see them and honor him.

Then the king ordered Haman to do that for Mordecai.  I cannot even imagine what Haman was thinking.  Afterwards Haman went home.  I imagine he knew he was doomed.  As soon as he got home and told his wife what had happened the eunuchs arrived to take him to my banquet.  At the dinner the king asked me again to tell him what I wanted.  I answered

“If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request, I ask that my life and the lives of my people will be spared. 4For my people and I have been sold to those who would kill, slaughter, and annihilate us. If we had merely been sold as slaves, I could remain quiet, for that would be too trivial a matter to warrant disturbing the king.”

The king demanded who wanted to kill my people and I answered the vile Haman.  Suddenly, the king went out to the balcony.  I was just laying there on my couch and Haman came over and threw himself on me and begged me for his life.  At that moment the king came back into the room and saw Haman.  The king shouted, “Will he even assault the queen right here in the palace, before my very eyes?”  At once the guards came in and covered Haman’s head to signal Haman was doomed to die.  Then one of the king’s eunuch’s said Haman has a gallows 75 feet high to hang Mordecai on in his own yard.  The king told the guards to hang Haman on his own gallows.

I once again asked the king to put an end to the order Haman had sent out to have the Jews killed.  He said once a law is in place it cannot be rescinded.  So, I asked if instead if the Jews would be allowed to defend themselves against anyone who tried to kill them.  The king granted my request.

Lessons Learned from Esther

Esther must have been very smart and brave to do what she did.  Even though it does not come out and say it I am sure Esther spent much of the three days praying while she was fasting.  I believe she trusted God to keep her and her people safe.  The other night my church had aa special prayer service for Ukraine. My Pastor mentioned this story from the Bible. While Esther was one woman we can be like Esther in helping the Ukraine people. We can pray, donate to others who are helping the Ukraine people or if you are able go help them yourself. Who knows maybe God wants to use you for such a time as this.

My church has friends and missionaries we support and are in contact with at this time when possible. To find out what my church is doing click here https://bethanyschofield.org/

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Exploring Esther: Serving The Unseen God
By Colin D. Jones / Dayone

The study of the providence of God is both exciting and profitable: it thrills our hearts as we see the wisdom and power of our Heavenly Father; it strengthens our resolve as we marvel at the sufficiency of his grace; and it brings comfort when we do not understand what is happening to us or around us. Esther is all about that marvellous providence. Studying it can deepen our trust, enrich our worship, and intensify our love for our great God. It will reassure us that though we may not always see him, he never looses sight of us. The history of Esther is one of the clearest examples of Paul’s great assertion in Romans 8:28: ‘We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.’