During the Babylonian exile, a young Jewish
girl by the name of Esther was chosen
for her outstanding beauty to marry King Xerxes of Persia. This was a girl who
chose to walk the path of courage, not for herself, but for the good of the
whole…..something that is missing in our ‘me, myself and I’ world today.
Marrying outside the covenant was a big no
no for the Jews but Esther was in captivity and subject to the King of Persia
so in all likelihood she didn’t have a say in the matter. It was especially
precarious for men to marry outside of the covenant because men that did so
followed the religious convictions of their wives. It was a sure way to end up
knee deep in idolatry if you married outside of the covenant in ancient Israel.
(see the story of Judah in Ezra 10)
In Esther's case, however, the roles were mercifully reversed. She
was a God-fearing woman and the man in her situation was the heathen. Esther
did not seem to be at risk of abandoning her faith. She kept her religion and
continued to worship the God of heaven. She did not adopt her husband's
religious practices.
When God gave a commandment in the beginning that a man should
leave his mother and father and 'cleave unto his wife' (Genesis 2:24) I believe
that somehow this became a very literal mandate for men, with women being given
the advantage and privilege of influence.....as was proven by Esther who saved
her entire nation from annihilation (Esther 8).
And now here is a great lesson for us women....Esther did not rely
on her beauty and her womanly wiles to convince King Xerxes not to kill her
people. She could have done that. The King was clearly smitten by her to the
point that he would have granted her every wish and given her even half of his
kingdom (Esther 5:3,6; 7:2).
Instead of relying on her womanhood, Esther employed God's
assistance in her influence over the king. She designated a three day fast for
all the Jews in the kingdom and offered two banquets to the King and his right-hand
man Haman who was intent on the Jewish annihilation. The 24 hours in between
those two banquets was crucial because during that time the King had a sudden
desire to read the records which threw a light on the situation at hand. This
desire was obviously inspired from above (see Esther 6). The King gained a
greater understanding of the situation and the disaster was averted.
The fasting of Esther and her people brought the Lord into the
situation. It's a rather lengthy story but a highly entertaining one. The whole
event is celebrated even today among the Jews through the Feast of Purim all
because of the courage of a righteous woman who didn’t hesitate to put her life
at risk when she approached the unapproachable King with these memorable and
courageous words:
“If I perish, I perish” (Esther
4:16)
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
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