We have got to no. 3 in our “great women of the Bible” series…and today, it is Esther’s turn…If you didn’t start the series with us, please take time out to read the first two posts on Deborah and Ruth…I would love to read your comments afterwards…
Reference; the book of Esther…
In the opening chapter of the book of Esther, we see how Vashti, the then reigning queen, was deposed from her throne, after rudely declining to honour her husband, the King’s call…
There are a few quick lessons to be learnt from Vashti’s behaviour…
- Pride goes before a fall; obey constituted authority…the husband is God’s representative in the home; respect and honour him…if Vashti had honoured her husband, she would not have lost her possession…
- Anointing flows from the head to the followers; be careful what example you set for those who look up to you, to follow (Est 1: 17,18)…
- If you don’t perform your role well, God will give it to another person who will do so, faithfully (Est 1: 19)…
Now, let’s get back to Esther, the main reason for this post…
In chapter 2, a group of maidens were brought to the Palace, for the King to select Vashti’s replacement from…Esther, was one of those maidens…
Lessons to be learnt from Esther’s story…
- When God is with you, even people you don’t know, will run around to favour you; in Est 2:9, “Hegai liked Esther, and she won his favor. He lost no time in beginning her beauty treatment of massage and special diet. He gave her the best place in the harem and assigned seven young women specially chosen from the royal palace to serve her”.
- God will grant you favour before kings; Est 2:16-18 says, “So in Xerxes’ seventh year as king, in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, Esther was brought to King Xerxes in the royal palace. The king liked her more than any of the other women, and more than any of the others she won his favor and affection. He placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. Then the king gave a great banquet in Esther’s honor and invited all his officials and administrators. He proclaimed a holiday for the whole empire and distributed gifts worthy of a king”…and in Est 5:2,3; “When the king saw Queen Esther standing outside, she won his favor, and he held out to her the gold scepter. She then came up and touched the tip of it. “What is it, Queen Esther?” the king asked. “Tell me what you want, and you shall have it—even if it is half my empire”.”
- When God exults you to a position, it is not meant for you alone, but to benefit every one around you; in Est 4: 13, Mordecai sent Esther the following message “Don’t imagine that you are safer than any other Jew just because you are in the royal palace. If you keep quiet at a time like this, help will come from heaven to the Jews, and they will be saved, but you will die and your father’s family will come to an end. Yet who knows—maybe it was for a time like this that you were made queen!”
- When you trust God for the fulfilment of a task, go forth in His strength, believing that He’ll see you through, but be determined that even if He doesn’t, His will, would still be done; in Est 4:16, Esther says to Mordecai “Go and get all the Jews in Susa together; hold a fast and pray for me. Don’t eat or drink anything for three days and nights. My servant women and I will be doing the same. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. If I must die for doing it, I will die.”
Have you got any other thing to say about Esther? Are there any other lessons you have learnt from this great woman? Please share with us…
Cheers,
Justdoyin
Anoda interesting post. Like u said in a previous post we shd be able to priortize our work btw urgent and important as some urgent things are seldom important vice versa. Borrowing frm the words of Pst Funke Adejumo, Vashiti must hv bn doing the right stuff at the wrong time. Maybe she busied herself with women fellowship rather than making hersef available to her husband 4getting dat the man brought her to the position she now occupied and this cost her priced position.
Unto Esther despise not the days of little beginnings, Esther was notably a lady of humility, meek and most of all she had a teacheable spirit. No wonder God chose to favour her b4 men. If we must reach the heights of our calling we make firm decisions to be humble and of teacheable spirit. You neva know wer ur blessing is coming from.
Yes Teegirl…I simply love Pastor Funke’s teachings…always a rev/2…thanks for sharing, I’m blessed, and ur observations about Esther r so spot on…we do need a teachable spirit to be able to ascend in life…thx.
when I think Esther, I realize that even if God has chosen you for a position, you still need the preparation before u attain that position. Esther had to do it for a year- no shortcuts in life!
You know what? We discussed Ruth in church last Sunday.
But on to Esther, I do agree that when God is with you, everyone will favor you because he is blessing you for real. And the one about others benefiting from my position of power is so true, most times we attain such positions and then become selfish.
I like these inspirational posts on yours.
Hi!
First time here… I know I’m supposed to comment on Esther but I just thought to say thanks for visiting mine…
There! So now, let me go read!
@ Bumight; very right…preparation is key…a Pastor of mine usually says “shortcuts will cut one short”…thx…
@ Original M; some co-incidence? or maybe it’s just the Spirit of God being one? I’d hope it’s the later…thx 4 liking…n contributing…
@ Naughty eyes; u r welcome on board…thx 4 coming ard…cheers
ohhh, i am thrilled that this is in series
Another interesting thing about Esther’s story is that in addition to Esther’s beauty, she was subjected to a year worth of beauty treatment before she met the King.
Despite her exaulted position, Esther still had respect for Mordecai. Some people may have ruled her out or even commented “poor Esther, she lost her parents, she’s poor etc”, but God was not finished with her. Nice, nice, niiiice
Doyin,
I must really commend you for these series, you are really doing some work here, bible teaching………God bless and replenish you
I am learning again, being reminded of things about Esther
I am also challenged that she used her blessing s to bring praise to God, she walked by faith and made a difference, went ahead in courage even in the midst of fear.
Thanks for this
@ Naijagirl; thanks for contributing to this…and u know, it was also good of Esther to have remained respectful n obedient to Mordecai, inspite of her new found prestige; she could easily have denied/detached herself from him…u r right, God was not finished with her.
@ Olufunke; Amen! n thank you too…good point u make here; she made a difference…hmmm…
[...] Deborah, Ruth, and Queen Esther, the Proverbs 31 woman does not refer to just one woman…Every christian woman has the [...]
Thanks for sharing this.
I will use this to share with my cell group!
God bless!
U are welcome Victoria…I hope the group finds it useful…cheers
hmmmmmm, doyin , ousted queen vashti can be likened to a woman in the present times that goes around claiming ‘equality’ with men , she loves to call herself a ‘feminist’, she is proud and sees herself too big for any man to command her. that’s where she missed it , a woman’s worth is jugded by her ability to readily submit to her man and then God will honour her.
I v been blesd by ths post
Wow! This topic has changed my life. We must not see ourselves as failure in life because god is the only one that knows our future and he has the final say.