WEEKEND Edition, 16/17January, 2021 “Esther”

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Good weekend to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends.

I’m sure you have noticed the number of women who have been prominent in the news over this past tumultuous year. Many women hold very influential positions in our world. A few of these amazing women are Britain’s Queen Elizabeth; German Chancellor Angela Murkel; Hong Kong’s Carrie Lam; and of course in America this past year, the appointment of Justice Amy Coney Barrett; the flamboyant Congressional leader Nancy Pelosi; and finally the new Vice President elect Kamala Harris.

Women in significant leadership roles in our world is not new of course. History recounts for us many remarkable stories, and over the next few days I invite you to join me as we step into one of those stories in the history of Israel. I’m sure you understand the Bible does not follow an exact chronology of time, and I’ve been trying to help us walk that journey over these past several months, as we’ve looked at leadership in the Bible, and gleaned many important lessons for our time. Yesterday we watched as the people of Jerusalem dedicated their second great Temple and celebrated a grand Passover in the year 515bc. You noticed perhaps there was no Jewish king or queen mentioned, for Jerusalem was at that time in the vast territory of the Persian empire. In fact that empire was so vast chapter 1 of the book of Esther says “…emperor Xerxes reigned over 127 provinces which stretched from India to Ethiopia…” We know it also stretched to the west all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, thus including Jerusalem, and to the north into what is today Turkey. It was a huge empire.

Now why would I have quoted from Esther chapter one? Because her remarkable story is the next major event in Biblical history, following the dedication of the new Jerusalem Temple in Ezra chapter 6! King Xerxes reigned over the huge Persian empire from 486-465bc. His wealth and power were almost indescribable. As you will see in Esther 1, Xerxes hosted an extravagant, outlandish celebration for his leaders which lasted 180 days! Think of that, six months! Notice verse 8 “By edict of the king NO LIMITS were placed on the amount of wine consumed by anyone… at the same time Queen Vashti gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.”

I doubt any of us has ever seen anything so lavish, so outrageous, and it went on and on for weeks. Then suddenly overindulgence led King Xerxes to make a very unwise, prideful decision which shook his empire to the very core. I have a question: Have you noticed my friends, what the contributing factors are to foolish, outlandish, out of control statements or choices which have drastic, even dreadful consequences?

It’s very important for the people of God to know themselves well enough that we can always PROTECT our hearts and minds, and we can DETECT when we are crossing the line into dangerous territory, doing or saying those things which we will long regret. That is especially important now, as our world is in such chaos, especially leadership chaos. Our world needs God’s people to be the high standard bearers, the moral pace setters wherever you live, all around our world.

If you know the story of Esther you know this is the watershed moment for King Xerxes: “When Xerxes was in high spirits because of the wine, he instructed the 7 eunuchs who attended him to bring Queen Vashti to him with the royal crown on her head. He wanted all the nobles and other leaders to gaze on her beauty. But when they conveyed the king’s order to Queen Vashti, she refused. This made the king furious.” (Esther 1:10-12) While no one knew it at the time, a cataclysmic change was taking place which would mark history forever! The Queen’s refusal forced the king and his advisers to consider the cultural impact. What might happen if women, all across the Persian empire, heard of the queen’s refusal and especially if the king backed down and accepted her rebuff of him?

Listen to this advice given to the king by his trusted leaders: “Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king but also every noble and citizen throughout your empire. Women everywhere will begin to despise their husbands when they learn that Queen Vashti has refused to appear before the king. Before this day is out, the wives of all the king’s nobles throughout Persia will hear what the queen did and start treating their husbands in the same way. There will be no end to their contempt…” (Esther 1:13-18) They likely paused right there to let the significance of their prediction sink in. And then, taking advantage of the moment, they concluded their advice with this remarkable recommendation: “…we suggest the king issue a decree, a law of the Medes and Persians which cannot be revoked. It should order that Queen Vashti be forever banished from the presence of the King Xerxez, and that the king should choose another queen more worthy than she. When this decree is published…husbands everywhere, throughout the empire, will receive the proper respect from their wives!” (Esther 1:16-20)

I’m sure you’ve noticed, in almost every part of the world, the debate has raged with increasing intensity over the past three generations: What should the role of women be in a healthy society? During the second world war, millions of women were mobilized to work in factories making war munitions, while the men went off to fight. When the war ended, our world faced a great challenge. Many of these women had proven themselves to have a very high work ethic and great leadership skills, in some cases superior to many of the men in their city!

In the case of Queen Vashti it was neither her work ethic nor her leadership skills which King Xerxes wanted to flaunt before his nobles. But unknown to the most powerful men in the world at that time, God was working. God was working His very special plan to elevate an unknown woman named Hadassah. You may know her as Esther. She was chosen, by God, to become queen of the entire Persian empire, for a very strategic purpose at a strategic moment in history. A globally and historically significant leadership purpose… the prevention of a holocaust which was being planned deep in the heart of an angry man. A plan to annihilate every Jewish person on planet earth!

We’re going to dig into this remarkable story over the next few days. In closing today, consider this powerful statement from Psalm 11:3,4,5 “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous people do? The LORD is in His holy temple, the LORD is on His heavenly throne. The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, God hates with a passion… For the LORD is righteous, He loves justice…” All around us, my friends, the foundations of our societies are being shaken, in some cases crumbling in the chaos stemming from a wide variety of attitudes and actions. God is watching, and His standards of right and wrong, order and disorder, truth and lies have not changed.

God is calling His people… men and women, young and old, every ethnicity and language living in every part of our world, to rise up and BE a God honoring people of God …in our personal lives, our marriages, our families, our businesses, our schools, our entertainment, our politics, our civil law and order …every aspect of every society. I urge you to invite the Holy Spirit of God to guide you today to SEE yourself and your world as God sees, while He is examining humanity today. Then invite the Holy Spirit to GUIDE you in every attitude, every word, every choice, every action… to live a God honoring, God glorifying life! Then watch to see the difference God is making through YOU in your part of the world today! These are precious, precarious days, and God is ready to lead His people to be a big help in chaotic times.

This song will help us gain God’s perspective today, and it comes to me by recommendation of a good friend of many years ago, who has just discovered and joined with us on our “Walking with Jesus” journey. Thank you Jeff!

Today’s Scripture is Esther 1.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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