Vashti And Esther
Purim is a great Biblical event and an excellent time in which we can explore
again the various characters in the Book of Esther. Our boundaries
are challenged as we examine whom we like or dislike, and who we are
or have become.
As I read through the book of Esther this Purim, I first
encountered Queen Vashti. Shockingly she was almost like the bride
of Christ today. She was beautiful but proud and headstrong. She
loved partying and not having rest even on the seventh day. She was
summoned before the king’s presence but she refused to obey his
order. She did her own thing, not submitting to her husband and
king. Her disobedience caused her to lose her queen status and
crown, incurring the king’s wrath and banishment from the king’s
presence.
Similarly, the church today is into show business and entertainment
– partying and enjoying ourselves. Too self-conscious and not
God-conscious! When our King calls us into His court, we do not
bother about His request and we disobey Him. We simply stay in the
outer courts, playing our own religious games and having our own
programs and agendas. We do not rest even on the seventh day – a day
God called us to seek His face and find rest in Him. We forget that
Jesus is the King and we are His bride!
Ephesians 5:22-24
For wives, this means submit to your
husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as
Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of His body, the
church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit
to your husbands in everything.
Then I encountered Queen Esther or Hadassah. She was almost the
exact opposite of Queen Vashti. Vashti was arrogant and wilful and
insubmissive to her husband but Esther was humble, obedient and
submissive to her husband. When Mordecai, her cousin and foster
father, told her not to reveal her true identity, she did
accordingly. She requested nothing when placed under the care of
Hegai the king’s eunuch, the custodian of the women. She accepted
whatever Hegai chose to give her. She submitted herself to whatever
authority placed above her. In doing so, she pleased Hegai, and
obtained his favour. He in turn readily gave beauty preparations to
her, besides her allowance. Then seven choice maidservants were
provided for her from the king’s palace, and he moved her and her
maidservants to the best place in the house of the women.
Esther also willingly went through and completed twelve months’
preparation prior to her appearance before the king. According to
the regulations for the women, it meant six months with oil of
myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying
women. She submitted herself to be purified and changed.
Even after she was crowned as queen, Esther continued to obey the
commands of Mordecai as she had done before under his care. It was
no wonder that King Ahasuerus chose and loved Esther. She was the model
of a great queen and an obedient wife, an exact antidote to Queen
Vashti.
Esther understood her role as a Persian queen. When Mordecai asked
her to appear before the king and plead on behalf of the Jews,
Esther told him that coming before the king without being summoned
was against the law and might incur a death penalty. She knew that
even Queen Vashti could come before the king if only the king had
called for her.
Now Esther was in a crisis. Her people faced possible annihilation
and it was her responsibility to plead for her nation at this
critical hour. However that might also mean death for her if the
king did not wish to see her! In fact, Esther had not been called to
go in to the king for the past thirty days. Had the king forgotten
about her or had the king have enough of her?
Queen Vashti was summoned before the king but she refused to do so.
Queen Esther was not summoned to come before the king but she had to
do so even if that meant death sentence for her! Queen Vashti
continued to party away for seven days but Queen Esther requested
all the Jews to fast with her and her maids for three days and
nights before she made her appearance before the king.
Because she waited on the LORD, her heart became strong as God gave
her wisdom and strategy. She was courageous to throw two parties on
two consecutive days to Haman, an evil man and the most powerful
official in the king’s palace who plotted to kill all the Jews
throughout the Persian Empire! She knew what to do and was able to
carry them out. She didn’t turn back on her mission and purpose! She
was born for such a time like this! She had already surrendered
herself and her life to God. If I perish, I perish!
Ephesians 5:25-27
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ
also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might
sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word, that
He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot
or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and
without blemish.
Esther represents the church that our Lord Jesus Christ loved and
gave Himself for her. She will be sanctified and cleansed by the
LORD with the washing of water by the Word. She will be presented
before Him as a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any
such thing, She will be holy and without blemish.
I believe the true church of Christ is now entering a period of
purification and cleansing. The Holy Spirit is hovering and
searching the hearts and souls of men and women. The Refiner's Fire
is on! Anything that is not of Him will be stripped away and
removed. Anything that remains will be pure and holy.
It is time for the Vashtis to be removed and the Esthers to arise in
our churches! It is time to come before the King’s presence. It is
time to be holy and ascend into His courts. It is time to seek His
face and do His will. It is time to put away anything that causes us
to fall, and also every weight that slows us down, especially the
sins that so easily ensnare us. It is time to run with patience and
endurance the race God has set before us. It is time to keep our
eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith! It is time not
to become weary of doing good and give up. It is time to fast and
pray and intercede on behalf of the nations that are hurting and
suffering. It is time for self to decrease and Christ to increase in
our lives. It is time to become less self-conscious and more
God-conscious! It is time to submit to God, resist the devil and he
will flee from us. It is time to trust and obey Him!
This is the finest hour of the true church of Christ!
Written on 11 March 2012