Faithful Bloggers Prompt: Why I’ll Always Answer with Esther
Have you checked this out yet? Courtney at Faithful Blogging has great prompts going on and the prompt I’m using today is this:
What is your favorite book of the Bible and why?
My answer hasn’t changed since the first time someone asked me in the mid ’90’s.
Esther.
I’ve been mocked for choosing a book that doesn’t even mention God’s name. Somehow by answering this way I’m less holy or I lose favor in some popular Christian club I don’t want to belong to. Whatever others think, my answer remains.
Esther is a book filled with symbolism, courage, wisdom, grace, forgiveness and miracles. It’s so action packed that yes, her story has been made into a movie. I’ve been reading the Bible for years and I’m still learning from Esther. I believe this will be true until my dying day. Just last week I learned that when Esther was prepared with the beauty treatments it was not a spa experience like I imagined. The fragrances were literally rubbed into her skin until the anointing was a part of her. Told you it was full of symbolism.
Do you know Esther’s story?
In my contemporary nutshell she was a virginal orphan raised by her uncle Mordecai, a man devoted to God. The King, Xerxes, had a wife named Vashti and he summonsed her and well, Vashti said no. That was a huge no no so she was deposed. A call was made for a new queen and Esther, known as Hadassah, was taken to the palace with other virgins to basically apply for the job. There was quite a process before candidates were brought to the king and Esther went through everything. She found favor with many, including King Xerxes. He chose her as the new queen.
King Xerxes had a right hand man named Haman who thought he was way more important than he really was. He had an enemy though, Mordecai, Esther’s uncle. Mordecai saw right through Haman and knew he was an evil man and didn’t bow down to Haman’s demands once. Haman was obsessed with getting revenge on Mordecai so he decided to persuade the king to create an edict that would wipe out the entire Jewish race (think Hitler). The king created the edict and Haman rejoiced. Mordecai would be eliminated.
But the edict meant Queen Esther would have to be destroyed as well. Mordecai approached her in sackcloth and ashes, mourning attire. When he told her the news she went right to action. She went on a fast and asked her servants to do the same. They sought God’s will and timing on how to save God’s people, the Israelites. She was scared knowing Vashti’s story didn’t end well when she broke protocol, but to stop the massacre about to happen, Esther would have to step up and approach her king. Mordecai encouraged her by letting her know her role as queen had purpose. She was born…for such a time as this.
What happened? Well…I’m not telling. I love this story too much to give up the ending. But I’d love you to read the real deal. You can find it in the Old Testament in Esther. If you are new to reading the Bible there are different versions and some will work better for you than others. I suggest for new Bible readers they read a version called The Message or New International Version. You can find a Bible right online. Trust me, it’s worth finding and reading over and over again. When you are done with Esther, why not try a chapter of John, in the New Testament, a chapter a day for a month? It’s a life changing experience.
I also am not afraid to say I got a great grasp on the Bible through Veggie Tales. I’m not legalistic so I’m ok knowing that the characters in the Bible were not really singing vegetables. Yes there is some dramatic license but the essence of their stories aren’t just true, they are memorable. Their take on Esther: The Girl who Became Queen is a good one. It’s available on Netflix as well.
Another dramatic look at Esther is through the movie, One Night with the King. Here is a glimpse of it:
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