Esther’s Story

The book of Esther is a small book found in the Old Testament of the Bible. The story takes place in the land of Persia during a time the Israelites were under captivity. The Israelites were a people who made a covenant with the great I AM, God himself. In that covenant they vowed to love God, and God promised to bless them. He also promised to curse them if they didn’t keep covenant. Israel at this time was in bondage due to breaking this covenant. Only in their change of heart and cries to him would he restore them.

The book of Esther begins with the king of Persia in search of a new queen and he finds Esther, a Jew. She becomes queen and is challenged with an assignment to save her people. Haman, one of the officials in the palace, manipulated the king to declare a day of doom for the Jewish people. They were allowed to be raided, killed, and destroyed on that day by anyone. Mordecai, Esther’s uncle who raised her, requested her to ask the king about the matter. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that simple. If anyone went to the king unannounced they were to be killed unless the king raised his golden scepter toward them. Mordecai warned her that if she held her peace and did nothing that deliverance would come from elsewhere. He tells her, “Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

After her initial hesitation, she tells Mordecai, “If I perish. I perish.” She sends a decree to all the Jews to fast for three days and pray. That third day she would go to the king. The third day comes and she enters in. Immediately she is killed. Just kidding. He held out his scepter to her and tells her he would give her anything, half the kingdom even. She responds with a request for a banquet with him and Haman. During the second banquet she reveals Haman’s plot. Haman then gets hung on the same gallous he prepared for Mordecai, and Mordecai is then promoted to Haman’s place. Anything decreed by the king could not be revoked but a new decree was made. The Jews had two days to be allowed to kill, plunder, and destroy all the people around them. Those two days the people of the land were terrified of the Jews, and the Jews had a great victory.

The book of Esther is unique in that God is not mentioned in the whole book but his hand is seen throughout it, working in the midst of a lost kingdom who did not know God. Because of Esther’s obedience God’s plan and will for her life came true, and he was glorified. Glorified through the protection of his people, but also through the symbolism of the storyline in the events that took place.

Esther was taken in with many virgins to be cleansed and treated with oils for a year before meeting the king. This is symbolic of believers under the sanctification process. We are preparing ourselves for our bridegroom to be spotless. The oil from Heaven, the Holy Spirit, is washing and cleansing us from all sin.

The power of authority and position is very evident. What the king declared could not be revoked just as what God declares is not revoked. The people were cursed for their sin and they had to cry out to God to obtain mercy. In response, God already had a plan for deliverance. God strategically had Esther and Mordecai in the right position. The position and place of authority God moves you in is what he has entrusted you with.

The original queen was forsaken by the king because she didn’t come to him when he requested for her while Esther was accepted when she came to the king without being requested. This shows how Jesus, the one true king, who also has a golden scepter desires us. If we don’t come to him in obedience we are no longer with him. This also shows when we have a request to make we must ask and have the confidence to come to him in the throne room. Jesus says you have not because you ask not. He wants us to make a move toward him to fulfill the purposes he has for us and ultimately for us to be with him. Make that move!

Esther did not have it easy. She did not have her parents growing up. She was a captive in a different country. She was crowned a queen, but then challenged to risk her life. Esther’s oil was her anointing from Heaven that came through the crushing of life but flowed with the authority and power to bring God’s will and justice on earth. We all have a different anointing that God wants to give to us based on who we are and its shaped by what we’ve gone through, but not everyone receives it. There is a parable Jesus made about ten virgins waiting for the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and didn’t buy oil for their lamps in time. At midnight the bridegroom came and brought in the five and shut the door and told the other five, “Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.” We get to know Jesus by the Holy Spirit. This is the new covenant. Peter on the day of Pentecost, when he got hit with Holy Spirit in that upper room, preached to the people that day and said, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” He wants to move through you. The cost is turning away from sin in repentance and submitting to God. Staying in that heart posture keeps you filled. There is no time to waste. Get your oil. It’s worth every penny.