Welcome to my blog!
Opening up to the book of Esther, I thought I’d be writing about our relationship with the King, as in relating our relationship with her King to us with ours, Jesus. Instead, I found that God wanted to teach me a lesson about respect. As I read the book of Esther, I noticed the theme of respect became more and more noticeable. It began with King Xerxes’ wife, Queen Vashti, disrespecting him. (if a queen disrespects her husband, it will only inspire all the other women to disrespect their husbands) The King’s word was law, so when she disrespected him by not coming to him when he called her, she was banished from his sight. We skip forward a little bit to find that all of the beautiful virgins in the land had been summoned, so that one may be chosen to be the new queen for King Xerxes. Here we meet Esther, who was raised by her Uncle Mordecai, and they were both of Jewish descent. Her obedience and respect for authority led her to be favored by Hegai, who was in charge of preparing the young women to be chosen. He gave her attendants, the best room, beauty treatments, and special food, all because she won his favor by respecting and obeying him completely. As the story goes along, Esther is eventually chosen by the King to be the new queen. However, by order of her Uncle, she doesn’t reveal her background of being a Jew. Directly underneath the King in authority is Haman, and long story short, Mordecai offends him by not bowing down to him, eventually leading to a decree that says that all Jews are to be killed, destroyed, and annihilated. Which, to Haman’s satisfaction, also means that Mordecai is to be killed. The decree is sent out in all different languages in all the regions that King Xerxes rules over. Mordecai also ends up reading the decree, and immediately tears his clothes. Which meant that he was in distress, mourning, anger, etc. With the help of messengers, he and Esther communicate back and forth. Her tells her she must go before the King and request that this decree be repealed. Esther is afraid at first, letting her Uncle know that anyone who comes before the King unannounced and not called upon is killed, unless the King extends his mercy with his golden scepter, saving their life. Mordecai points out, “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Eventually, Esther agrees, and goes before the King. She doesn’t make her request right away, but invites the King and Haman, to a banquet of her own. The King tells her any request, even up to half of the Kingdom, is hers if she asks for it. However, she does not make her request that night. Instead she tells them to come back again the next night, for another baquet. This might seem like a random diversion, but it turns out that through this the King learns about Mordecai, who a bit before had reported two men that he overheard were wanting to assassinate the King. After finding out about what Mordecai had done for him, the King immediately wanted to honor him. The next day, the King asks Haman what he should do to someone who the King delights to honor? Haman, thinking of himself, describes this grand scene, only to be told that he is to that to Mordecai. Later on, when Esther’s second banquet comes around, she makes her request, explaining that someone is coming after her life, and her people’s lives, and that they seek to destroy, kill, and annihilate all of them. Immediately King Xerxes wants to know who would dare do such a thing, and Esther points at Haman. The King is enraged, and Haman’s fate is sealed. To makes things worse, Haman leaning on the Queen as she lie reclined, in order to beg for his life, is mistaken by King Xerxes as Haman trying to force himself on the Queen. Haman then ends being killed in the same way he intended to kill Mordecai, impaled on a seventy five foot pole. What does this all have to do with respect? I left out most of the dialogue, but because Esther obeyed her Uncle and did exactly what he asked when he asked it, she was able to intercede in her Uncle’s place and save her people. Not only that, but because she chose to set such an example of respect, she inspired other women to respect their husbands, and authority in general. This shows the importance of respect, and obedience. Women are called to respect their husbands, and husbands are called to love their wives. I don’t know if you’ve ever sat back and thought about love, it is a crazy, grueling thing to love someone. Choosing someone else and their needs over you every single day, that’s what love is. And that’s crazy, and it sounds hard, and quite honestly I can be lazy sometimes. But if my husband is called to do that for me, then the least I can do is what I’m called to do, and that is respect him fully. Likewise, God pursues us every single moment out of love for us, He chooses us to do things for His glory, but also keeps in mind what is best for us, and does so. Because of that, the least we can do is respect him. (It is also a great joy to love Him back. And from loving Him we learn how to truly love others, and that is the greatest thing of all.)
You are truly, deeply, and wildly LOVED by God! Look for it, He shows His love to you today and everyday!! Thanks!! Melody
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Melody C.God has given me the natural talent as a writer. I felt Him encourage me in the direction of using my natural skill in writing for Him, instead of investing in skills that were basically going to waste. I have been writing my whole life. I love to answer questions, give advice, and share experiences. I hope you enjoy it, and I pray that God speaks through me and to you. If there are ever any typos, please ignore them. They will be fixed as soon as I notice them. Archives
February 2019
|