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Sermon: Proverbs 31 and the Wife of Christ (Part Three): Esther
#1853
Mark Schindler
Given 03-Jan-26; 68 minutes
2026-01-03
summary: As we reflect on the global and personal turmoil God's saints have been experiencing in recent times, we need to recognize God's sovereign rule. The preparation of believers as the "virtuous wife of Christ" draws primarily from Proverbs 31:10-31, the books of Ruth and Esther, as well as various teachings focusing on the fear of the Lord. True virtue, strength, and worth come only from God and are developed through faith, obedience, humility, and reverent fear—not fear of punishment but instead fear of being unfaithful to God's calling. The book of Esther does not explicitly mention God's name but demonstrates how God works providentially through those who trust Him, honor authority rightly, and wait on Him. God's chosen saints are being shaped through trials into vessels of honor, complementing, complimenting, and glorify Christ, living by faith, trembling at God's word, striving not to tarnish His holiness as they prepare for their future role with Him as His betrothed Bride and devoted Spouse.
transcript:
As noted when I began this series of sermons on Proverbs 31 and the wife of Christ. Just as the first woman Eve was created from the first man Adam and thus shared completely in his life, bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh, the second woman, the wife of Christ, shares completely in the life of Christ as an intrinsic part of God's work. Also in that last sermon we spent a good bit of time reinforcing the fact that right from the beginning God created a type of the wife of Christ and marriage as the last thing that He did. Before he created the Sabbath. The very last thing he did on the sixth day of creation before he created the Sabbath for man's benefit, as Jesus Christ told us in Mark 2:27, was create woman out of the man and marriage. Of the complementary parts in perfect unity. Again, a type of the sacrifice of Christ, creating his wife to be just like him. This is all done by God and His strength to accomplish His purpose. The wife of Christ very certainly has responsibilities that she must do in preparation for this very privileged responsibility. But as we noted within the source of the Hebrew word for virtue, hail. That that appears in Proverbs 31:10, the virtuous wife. The Shail wife, this word also very clearly indicates strength and power that only comes from God Himself also in that first sermon. We noted God has given us a unique opportunity and all the things we need to individually prepare to complement Jesus Christ as His wife. I believe God has given us a plumb line for our own very particular preparation within the description of the perfected wife of Christ as set before us in Proverbs 31:10-31. It is therefore the privileged responsibility of those called into this most intimate relationship with Christ now to spend a lifetime learning to live as Christ lives. As I said in that first sermon, the wife of Christ absolutely must be doing the things that complement. God's plan to create man in His image and likeness. I tried to stress there that there are two words in the English that are spelled exactly the same complement with an e and complement with an i. Both thick but both express. The vital and essential parts of the character and the work of the wife of Christ. Compliment with an E is something that completes or brings to perfection. Compliment with an I is an expression of praise or admiration. Both express the work that we are. We are to be doing now in this lifetime of preparation for the return of Jesus Christ and the responsibilities that go with our privileged opportunity to be the very wife of Christ. This is an incredible privilege which has been given right now if we follow through with what God then clearly expects from each and every one of us individually. This is vital for us to keep in mind, especially as we are going to see today. The most important part of this training process will take place under the most adverse circumstances, some of which Richard talked about in the leading up to the sermon. But through this we become vessels of honor, sanctified and useful to our master, prepared for every good work as it says there in II Timothy 2:21. But just remind us of the primary aspect of virtue that can only be developed through God's care. Please turn with me again. To II Samuel 22. I know we were there just last week, and then before that, but this is a crucial lesson for us to learn that I hope we are going to take away, will help us take away from this sermon today. We will also again review two sets of scriptures that not only show God's strength Kel as the source of our Kel, but it is also the most significant point for us to keep in mind during the virtuous wife's preparation process in this world, a point that I'll, I really want to focus on today. II Samuel 22nd chapter, and we will pick it up there in verse 1. II Samuel 22 1 Then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul, and he said, The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, the God of my strength in whom I will trust, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and refuge, my Savior, you save me from violence. And down in verse 31. As for God, His way is perfect. The word of God is proven. He is a shield to all who trust in Him. For who is God except the Lord, and who is a rock except our God? God is my strength and power, and He makes me my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of deer. He sets me on my high places. At this point I want to make a correction for something that I said in the last two sermons. In II Samuel 22:33, I identified the word strength as the same word kale. But I had made a mistake That I need to correct right now. The word Kel does appear in this verse. But it's with not the word strength, it's translated in the word power. This doesn't change what we had, what I had said before about God being the source of everything, good and the power that only comes from God. The word strength is from the Hebrew word malos. Meaning a refuge, a fortress, a shelter. It is used figuratively of God as a fortress. I mention this because we need to be as precise as possible when speaking the word of God. But also I thought there was something else here which will fit very well later on into this sermon. This is why we began in 2 Samuel, the 1st chapter 22 verse 1. In verse 3, the word strength as translated from in the King in the New King James is not in the King James Version or in the authorized Version, but the translators added it because it carries with it the sense of the rest of the verse. Within the violence around him, David knew only God was his place of refuge and his strength. As I said, this is going to be an important later in the sermon when we examine a type of the wife of Christ who finds herself hidden in plain sight to serve his purpose with Kel. Now again, considering the violent chaos of this world, but all under the sovereign power of God, please turn with me once again back to Habakkuk. Habakkuk. We'll be picking it up and Chapter one verse one. Where Habakkuk said, where it says in Habakkuk, the burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw, O Lord, how long shall I cry, and you shall not hear, even cry out to you, Violence, and you will not save. Why do you show me iniquity and cause me to see so much trouble? For plundering and violence are before me. There is strife and contention rises. Therefore, the law is powerless. The justice never goes forth, for the wicked surround the righteous. Therefore, perverse judgment proceeds. You know, this is really interesting because as Richard just said in President Trump's decisions of unilaterally going into different places. What's the law of this country and how much is it being violated because it looks like it might be a good thing. Habakkuk, this is what Habakku saw. And then down in verse chapter 3 verse 17. We see Habakkuk's reasoned response through all of this. Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit beyond the vines, though the labor of the olive may fail. And the fields yield no food. Though the flock may be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls. Verse 18. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength. He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk on high hills. Again, it is vital that we recognize this is What God has very purposefully done for our good to develop the wife of Christ within the pain and the chaos of a world gone crazy. There are other circumstances under which the virtuous wife of Christ develops into perfect complement to Christ to be just like Him. But as Habakkuk said, the Lord is my strength. Our power is translated in II Samuel 22:33. He is my Kael. He will make my feet like deer's feet, Habakkuk writes, and He will make me walk on my high hills. As noted in the last sermon last week, the only way for each of us individually to wholeheartedly arrive at this same conclusion lies in the oft quoted and ultimate theme of the book of Habakkuk, It was stated in Chapter 2, verse 4. Habakkuk writes, Behold, the proud. His soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by faith. We're going to try to expand on this picture in a few minutes as pictured in the book of Esther. And another type of the virtuous wife within the chaos and violence of evil that we must deal with in this world. Our pain and suffering that goes with it, but first, please turn with me back again to Proverbs. 31 Just looking at the last two verses. Proverbs 31. The last few verses, in verse 29. Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all. Charm is deceitful, and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord. Like Cynthia Collins, she shall be praised. Give her the fruit of her hands and let her own works praise her in the gates. Please note that the ultimate descriptor of the virtuous wife is as the one who fears the Lord. Now please turn with me to the beginning of Proverbs. And chapter one In verse 7. Chapter 1 of Proverbs verse 7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. The Book of Proverbs. The how-to book that God has given us for living His wisdom and avoiding the evil of this world begins and ends. With the key to everything, deep abiding respect for God that shows up at the end in the perfected and virtuous wife of Christ. We need to stop for a bit to consider this key to everything in the fear of God. The very thing that keeps us before our God in a way that pleases Him. Hold your finger there in Proverbs one, because we are going to be coming back here in a bit. But please turn with me again to another vital, a memory scripture. That we should look at And always keep in front of us as the perfected virtuous wife of Christ. Chapter 66 of Isaiah. Isaiah 66. And in verse one Thus says the Lord, Heaven is my throne. The earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you will build for me? And where is the place of my rest? For all these things my hand is made, and all those things exist, says the Lord. But on this one will I look on Him who is poor and of a contrite spirit and who trembles at my word. I do not think that the proper fear of the Lord has been more clearly explained than John Reitenbaugh did in the Philippians 5 Bible study that was on the church website a few Fridays ago. I think it's well worth our time now to consider this rather lengthy section that I have cited from that Bible study. What John had to say, I think, is the very essential truth regarding fearing our great and awesome sovereign God who has called us to a very special privileged responsibility as we work our way through this preparation time with proper fear and trembling. This fear will be perfected in the life of Christ. John said specifically regarding this verse, Proverbs 1:7. In his Bible study, referring to Paul's Philip Paul's Admonishment in Philippians 2:21, where he said that They should do all their work with fear and trembling. John writes about Proverbs 1:7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. John said. In another place it says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. What he is saying here is that fear is a foundation. It is a foundation for wisdom. It is a foundation for knowledge. Now having faith in God is wise, the wise thing to do, but having fear is not something that scares evil out of men and good into him. You cannot make an evil man good because you are scared of him. You make, you may make him more cautious, but you do not make him good because he fears. John continued. Now I have often wondered about this because we are told that this fear is a healthy and abiding respect for God. Now that is correct. It is. Every time I study the word, I cannot help but find that there are elements within it that it also means to be scared. In other words, there is more than just a respect. Now you will notice the apostle Paul said in fear and trembling, where he said in Philippians, Work our salvation with fear and trembling. John continued, Trembling is something that you do when you are afraid. And I think that the apostle Paul, in showing us that there is an element of fright that is involved with this word fear, does it seem logical to you that a loving, compassionate, and merciful God would want us to be afraid of Him? John continued, On the one hand, I would have to say yes, because when men encountered the God in the Old Testament, they shook in their boots. Isaiah said, Woe is me, I am undone. When he saw God, he was about to went to pieces. So there is an element that is there of fear. But on the other hand, if we were afraid of Him, we would be very careful about coming into His presence, and we would be looking over our shoulders all the time, wondering when the next lightning bolt was about to hit us. To have that had our name on it and we would turn into a blackened smoldering pile of flesh. John continues, so I arrived at that conclusion, at least for right now it's always subject to correction. I frankly Think it's the right one. John and but John continues, and that is I just tied it into. What that illustration that I gave you about the family and the young man where his fear of soiling the reputation of the family name held him in line. And I think that what God is talking about here is not so much being afraid of Him as it is of being afraid that we will be unfaithful in carrying out our responsibility. To me, John continues that it's different. We love him so much we do not want to do anything that will cast aspersions on his reputation. And so what we are afraid of is that we will not live up to what he might be, what might be expected of us, brethren. This fits very well into our responsibilities and our preparation as the wife of Christ. John continues, that is where the fear is. We love him. We are not afraid of him, but we admire him so much. He is so attractive to us. His holiness is so great, we want to make sure it is not tarnished in any way. That is what I think it is the fear of being unfaithful to him and somehow making him feel badly about us. Now this fear, I think, and I can illustrate, I'm going to even go through John's illustration here because I think it's really a good one that it gives us Especially all of you folk fellows that are speakers. With Cody sitting here right in front of me after his fine sermon not a few weeks ago. He gives an analogy here. He said, it comes on us, every one of us, whenever we feel that we have a responsibility facing us that is going to stretch us to the limit of our abilities, like giving a sermon at the last with a couple of days' preparation. You men who are in Spokesman's Club, John Stud, this was back in the 1980s when he was still in worldwide, were in speech club here in the Church of the Great God. Or have been in spokesmen's club almost every time you get up to speak you face this fear because you are afraid that in the responsibility of giving a speech you are exposing yourself to ridicule. You are going to show people what's in your mind is like, and in this case you do not want to tarnish the reputation of your name. Of your personality, of your character, of your brains or whatever, and you know you are going to be stretched to the limit of your ability, and you are afraid to get up there and speak. What I am talking about, John continues, is a godly application of that same principle where in this case the fear is not projected so much toward ourselves as it is that somehow or another we are not going to live up to what God expects of us and that we are going to be unfaithful in carrying out that responsibility. I'll tell you this is a powerful motivator, John said, to make us do well. When you men know that you have a speech, when you fellows who are giving sermonettes or sermons, I might add. No, you have a sermon at the sermon. I will tell you, you study like you've never studied before. Because you want to be faithful to the responsibility that you have been given, and you want to uphold the reputation of your name. I'm going to put a I'm going to add something right here because all the men that speak in the Church of the great God have this very same feeling. Certainly we look, do not want to get up, make fools of ourselves, whatever, but John instilled it in all of us that when we come up to speak, we represent the Almighty God, and we certainly do not want to bring tarnish his name and his reputation. And John continues, that is what we are talking about here. In some cases, I have known men who actually did tremble when they got up there. I know one man, John said, who eventually became an evangelist when he gave his first sermon at. He got up on the stage and promptly fainted. He overcame that, John said. What do we need to fight this fear of not upholding the reputation of God's name, this fear of not of being unfaithful to Him? Well, the answer is very easy, John said, to say. It's very difficult to do. It is the most difficult thing any human being will ever be called to do. We have to renounce ourselves now. That is, now that is what we are called upon to do whenever we repent. The thing that keeps the Spirit of God from flowing through us and empowering us to glorify Him and empowering us to overcome and grow is that our self. Keeps getting in the way we keep wanting to hang, hang on to it. The grasp of humanity, and we will not humbly submit to the will of God. Our self keeps rearing the ugly head and intervening itself and quenching the spirit of God. And keeping the gifts of that spirit, the grace of God, from carrying out the will of God in our life, and we will provide ourselves with all kinds of justifications. But John finishes, but really what it is, it is self-will, self-centeredness exalting itself against the spirit of God. Brethren, this is what we are dealing with throughout our whole lives as we are under this preparation process. I'm going to probably make Cody embarrassed here, but I was just looking out and I saw him sitting there, and I was thinking to myself of his father's funeral five years ago. Mike always was a was a character. He was a funny man. He was an intelligent man, he was glib. He had everything going for him. But I remember sitting at his funeral service, and all of the men that had known him from the time they were in college. Got up there and to a man they said, yep, Mike is still the same funny great Mike, but he's no longer that guy who was looking to himself all the time. He could groan so that by the time they had known him for all those years from college. And they saw a man that did exactly what John was talking about here. He kept working on focusing himself away from self-will, self-centeredness, exalting itself against the spirit of God. I apologize to Cody for putting him in this game, but I just stood here and as I saw him sitting there. I just was reminded of that measure of a man. Brethren, I've cited this whole section, including John's analogy, because this is an excellent look at what God is teaching within our preparations as the wife of Christ that is complete as stated at the end of Proverbs with the virtuous wife who has completed, completely made herself ready within the God-given strength and perfect fear of God. At the end of this process, if we use Proverbs 31 as our plumb line of preparation, we will have developed such a love for Jesus Christ that we will want to do everything we have been given to do from our heart with outgoing concern focused on Him. The wife of Christ will perfectly compliment. Him so that he can be he can trust his wife from his heart to do everything it takes to rule with him in perfect unity and holiness of outgoing concern through the millennium. As I hope I made clear last week, I firmly believe that God is using another Jewish tradition that is kept in almost every Jewish community in the Yeshahiel. Last week we began the sermon with a special music lead in. A beautiful piece of the Sabbath prayer from Fiddler on the Roof. Both Richard and myself. Really tried to make it clear that this special music and sermon were preplanned. It was important to me that we did this because week after week. Those of us that speak see God very carefully, carefully weave together messages that He wants delivered, even though most often each speaker doesn't know what the other one's going to say, nor do we typically know the songs of the special music. So as far as I was concerned, it was important for me to let you know that I had planned that special music last week as a tie-in after I asked Richard if it would be OK to do it. However, that being said, As I thought about this sermon in retrospect and the weeks of preparation between part one and part two of this series, I realized God still was putting together what He wanted. If that Sabbath song from Fiddler on the Roof had not been bouncing around in my mind in between those two parts, I never would have done the research that led me to discover that the very real Jewish tradition of unknown origins that was the source of the melody composed specifically for the musical was the Ashatchel. As noted the Eachel woman of valor. Which was the inspiration for the melodic Fiddler on the Roof. Sabbath prayer is an acrostic is the acrostic verses that end the book of Proverbs. In almost every Jewish community, just as the weekly Sabbath begins, as they stand as they stand around the dinner table for the Friday evening. They sing Proverbs 31:10 to 31. As I noted last week when I read Romans 3 verses 1 through 4 from the amplified Bible and specifically the expanse of verse 2 as it relates to God's faithfulness to use them as it said in the amplified to the Jews were entrusted the oracles, the brief communications, the intentions, the utterances of God. In spite of their faithlessness and often misconstrued understanding of Scripture, because they had failed to tremble at His word, he still used them. And as I said, With the faithfulness to his own intentions, he is pointing us to the perfected wife of Christ as pictured in type in Proverbs 31, virtuous wife and her intrinsically essential. Tie in to the tied into the Sabbath, a type of the millennium and the rule of the King of kings. Now although we established last week that Proverbs 31:10-31 is significantly tied to the beginning of the Sabbath in the Jewish tradition and that the Sabbath song from Fiddler on the Roof was most probably an abstract of this actual tradition, I'm going to once again cite the words of that melodic composition. As I said last week, the lyricist composed this as an abstract of Proverbs 31 with Their particular idea of who the woman of valor was. So again, With the Jewish tradition of Proverbs 31 limited to women, Tevye and his wife began the Sabbath singing these words basically to their daughters May the Lord protect and defend you. May He always shield you from shame. May you come to be in Israel a shining name. May you be like Ruth. And like Esther May you be deserving of praise. Strengthen them, O Lord, and keep them from the strangers' ways. May God bless you and grant you long lives. May the Lord fulfill our Sabbath prayer for you. May God make you good mothers and wives. May He send you husbands who will care for you. May the Lord protect and defend you. May the Lord preserve you from pain. Favor them, O Lord, with happiness and peace. Oh, hear our Sabbath prayer. Amen. I read those lyrics because it clearly mentions the two women of valor that the Jews tie into Proverbs 31, and I think we can learn some very valuable principles from both when we tie them into the preparation time God has given us. The ones that he has called to fulfill the responsibility of the wife of Christ at his return. There are a number of women of valor. To be noted throughout the Bible. But there are only 2 books that are named after women. The book of Ruth and the book of Esther both can be and are tied into the Proverbs 31 tortuous woman, but each under very different circumstances that point to vital lessons that we can note in our individual preparation process. That we can apply from both of them in different ways. We will be drawing principles as they tie into Proverbs 31, perfected wife of Christ, that may help us in our weekly self-examination of our own preparation process. We're not going to dig deeply into the details of each book. We have a number of sermons and articles on each of those that you can study in greater detail that will help you consider the principles in more detail, but hopefully this will help us start using Proverbs 31 standard that God has possibly given us as a weekly measuring stick of our individual progress of preparation for this very unique place in God's plan. To begin with, in the Ruth in Ruth and Esther, we see the wife of Valor under very different circumstances. The principles we will pick up in Ruth are within the circumstances of living in within the chosen physical people of God. I need a better situation while the vital principles of preparation we are going to pick up from Esther. Are within the circumstances of living and growing in the chaotic world, the evil and the violent world described by Hebba Habakku, the world that Richard talked about in the commentary that we are living in, where there is plenty of deaths, of sickness, death, and political malfeasance. While Ruth can be more easily seen and linked to the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31 in all she does and ultimately as the wife of Boaz, a type of Christ. It is a bit harder to do the same with Esther within her circumstances in a marriage to a man who is nothing like Jesus Christ. Yet perhaps the single most important lesson for us to behold on to in our own preparation process is in the book of Esther. As most of you very probably know, one of the things that makes this particular canonized section of the Bible different is that God is never mentioned within it. Yet when we look at it, he is the focus of it from the beginning to the end within his sovereign authority over everything that is only recognized by those who can tremble at his word and wait on Him in faith to act as all of us are going through in these times of trial and suffering. We're not going to have time today to get into the important principles we can take away from the book of Ruth and, and, and its tie into the Proverbs 31 virtuous woman in our preparation process to be the perfect complement of Jesus Christ because there is really some really important connections there that we need to get in at a later time. We're going to spend the rest of the sermon. Considering the walk of faith it takes in this world at enmity against God to produce the wife of Christ who has the right fear of God, as John so perfectly described in that part of Philippians, the Philippians Bible study I cited earlier in this sermon. You know, I was thinking, I was talking to Nancy before services and something came up. I was reaching through the Bible this morning and I, I want to just add something that God tells us about proper fear of him. Turn with me with you back to Deuteronomy 5. This was not in my sermon, so I'm trying to pick it out. Deuteronomy 5:23. This is right here at Mount Sinai. After the giving of the commandments. And, and Moses explaining to those getting ready to go into the land what had happened at that point. And he said, so it was when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness while the mountain was burning with fire that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders, and you said, Surely the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man, yet He still lives. Now, therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more. Then we shall die, and we shall die. For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire as we have and lived, you. Go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say and tell us all that the Lord our God says to you, and we will hear and do it. Verse 28. Then the Lord heard the voice of your words. When you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear me and always keep my commandments that it might be well with them and with their children forever. Brethren, this was God Himself saying what he thought about properly fearing Him, obeying His law, learning to live as He lives so that it can be well with us. So we are going to consider this very thing that ties Esther and what she did in faith to the perfect wife of Christ. So please turn with me to the book of Esther. Esther, the first chapter. We're going to be picking up in verse 1 through 5. Esther, the first chapter. And verse one. Now it came to pass in the days of Aasarias. This, this was Aasarias, who reigned over 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia in those days when King Ahaarias sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan, the citadel. That in the 3rd year of his reign he made a feast for all his officials and servants, the powers of Persia and Media. The nobles and the princes of the provinces being before him when he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of His Excellent Majesty for many days, 180 days in all. And when these days were completed, the king made a feast lasting 7 days for all the common people. Who were present in Shushan, the citadel, from the great to the small in the court of the garden of the king's palace. Right from the beginning of this book we see that this is dealing with circumstances of those of God's chosen people who are living within a world and under the Persian government and the largest. Of a fickle king Ezra Esther 1:9. Verse 9 Queen Vashti also made a feast for the women in the royal hapa place. Which belonged to the King Ahazarias on the 7th day when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Me Mehuman Bizafa Arbana. Rigtha, Abagatha, Zahar, and Caucus, seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Aaraz, to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown in order to show her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was beautiful, beautiful to behold. But Queen Bashti refused to come at the king's command, brought by his eunuchs. Therefore, the king was furious, and his anger burned within him. Here were introduced to Queen Bashti, and the commentaries that I have read were divided on what they think of her and what she did. As a matter of fact, Herbert Lockyer's All the Men and Women of the Bible, he writes, while the Book of Esther holds a high place in the sacred literature of the Jews, it has no mention of God or the Holy Land and contains no definite religious teaching. The book contains a genuine strain of human interest, but it is also heavy with the air of divine providence. Although the story of Vashti only covers a few paragraphs in the book, yet in the settling of oriental grandeur we have the elements of imperishable drama. Well, the book, the bulk of the book revolves around Esther from our point of view. This is Lockyer's point of view. The shining character in the story is the queenly Vashti, who was driven out because she refused to display her lovely face and figure before the lustful eyes of the drunken court. By birth Vasti was the Persian princess possessing along with her regal bearing an extraordinary fragile beauty. Her husband was a king who reigned from India and Ethiopia over 10727 provinces. Her self-respect and high character meant more to her than her husband's vast realm. Lockyer continues. Rather than cater to the vanity and sensuality of drunkards, she courageously. Sacrifice to a king sacrifice a kingdom rather than lower the white banner of woman modesty, Vashti accepted disgrace and dismissal. The only true ruler in that drunken court was the woman who refused to exhibit herself even at the king's command. You know, I typically like find Lockyer has quite a bit of insight into the Bible, but here, I think he really missed the boat. It's almost like he was infatuated with Queen Vashti. So much so that he missed the point of how important the lessons that we can learn from this book in principle that are all that are directly tied through Esther. Into their very important last statement regarding the Proverbs 31, perfected virtuous wife of Christ who has made herself ready as stated in Proverbs 30:30, Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord. She shall be praised. It seems that Queen Bhashti charmed Herbert Lockyer right out of his socks. Hopefully we are not going to see, we are going to see in a moment that Esther far outshines Queen Vasti in her faithful and very purposeful fear of God. However, we see in the rest of Chapter One the petulant fury of King Al Hazara's capricious decision to remove Queen Vashti that he finally regretted. When his wrath subsided. Brethren, all around, whether it was with the king, the queen, the members of the court, or the common people, the circumstances of the book of Lester become a vital lesson for of how God's people can grow and literally flourish. Within the chaotic insanity and the evil of the world around us, within the chaos, confusion, the disease, the death, and pain. As we go through chapter 2, we see that the call went out to replace Queen Vashti for another. The call went out far and wide to bring beautiful virgins. One of whom the king would select to replace Vashti. We'll pick it up now in chapter 2 and verse 5. Chapter 2 and verse 5. In Sushan, the citadel, there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jahra, the son of Shimee. Of Kish, a Benjaminite. Kish had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been captured. When Jeaniah, king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried away, and Mordecai had brought with him Hadashi, that is Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had neither father nor mother, the young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. So it was when the king's command and decree were heard and when many young women were gathered at Sushan, the citadel under the custody of Hegai. Hegar That Esther also was taken to the king's palace into the care of Hega, the custodian of the women. You know, I, I want to stop there and add something. This morning's Berean talked about honoring your mother and father, and that those who do not lack great wisdom. We just read that Mordecai treated. Esther as his daughter. And she Learned the wisdom and the strength that she needed by greatly honoring Mordecai, as we will see in a second. Verse 10 Esther had not revealed her papal or family, for Mordecai had charged her not to reveal it. Here's wisdom that came from her. Adopted father And every day Mordecai paced in front of the court of the women's quarters to learn of Esther's welfare and what was happening to her. Each woman young woman's turn came to go to King Alhaaz. After she had completed 12 months' preparation according to the regulations for the women, for thus were the days of the preparation apportioned 6 months with oil of myrrh, 6 months with perfumes and preparations for the beautifying of the women. Down to verse 15. Now when the turn came for Esther, the daughter of Abaha, the uncle of The uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter. Notice how many times it talks about the Father-daughter relationship we have here. To go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Haggai, the king's eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised, and Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her. So Esther was taken to King Aharas and his palace and into the 10th month, which is the month of Tabeth, in the 7th year of his reign. The king loved Esther more than any other woman, and she obtained grace and favor in the sight more than any other virgins. So he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Ashti. Then the king made a great feast, feast of Esther, for all his officials and servants, and he proclaimed of the holiday in the provinces and gave gifts according to the generosity of the king. Donna verse 20. Now Esther had not revealed her family. Or and her people just as Mordecai had charged her, for Esther obeyed the command of Mordecai, as when he brought, when he was brought up by when she was brought up by him. Again, brethren, just consider how much wisdom. Esther had gathered from Mordecai, who was a godly man. And passed it down because she honored him. This really, when I was reading the Ban this morning, I thought, boy, this really tied in well with the sermon. The wisdom that comes from being Lovingly, carefully obedient to a parent just like we need to be with God. And our parents who stand firm. Although God is not mentioned throughout the book of Esther, it becomes obvious that under His sovereign authority all of this was happening for His purposes to be worked out, even if it was to this point. Of Esther and Mordecai had no idea how important their roles were going to be within God's plan and purpose to deliver His people within. What he had come up, what he had determined to do within the difficult circumstances of a violent world around them. Mordecai and Esther were just people. That did not And God's power did all this, but Mordecai and Esther both had responsibilities that God had given them the ability to do that they fulfilled. Toward the end of chapter two we see that Mordecai, who had been sitting at the gates to make sure he knew that Esther was safe, had overheard a plot to assassinate the king. He revealed the plot to Esther, who informed the king in Mordecai's name. So this is his name was, so that Mordecai's name. is recorded in the chronicles of the king as the man who saved the king from assassination. Most of you are quite familiar with this, so we are not going to go into it, but chapter 3 deals with Hamann. Haman was a type of Hitler. He was a descendant of the Amalekites who hated the Jews, probably through the back door politicking and all those things that go on by those striving to put themselves in front of the pack in this world to serve themselves. He got himself appointed chief minister to the king. Read down in chapter 3 and verse 2. And all the king's servants who were within the king's gate bowed and paid homage to Haman. For so the king had commanded concerning him, but Mordecai would not bow or pay homage. Then the king's servants, who were within the king's gate, said to Mordecai, Why do you transgress the king's command? Now it happened when they spoke to him daily, and he would not listen to them, that they told it to Haman. To see whether Mordecai's words would stand, for Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew. When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow or pay him homage, Haman was filled with wrath, but he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. For they had told him of his people, the people of Mordecai, they were Jews. Instead, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahab's rise, the people of Mordecai. In spite of his hatred for Mordecai personally, Haman saw this as an opportunity to wipe out all the Jews, manipulating the capricious king Ahazarias. Chapter 3 and verse 8. Then Haman said to the king Asarri, There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from all other people, and they do not keep the king's laws. Therefore, it is not fitting for the king to let them remain. If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work to bring it into the king's treasuries. The king fell right into the Satan-inspired plot. Now in chapter Chapter 4 In verse one. One of the commentaries posited. Let me read it first chapter 4 verse 1. When Mordecai learned all that had happened, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes and went out into the midst of the city. He cried out with a loud and bitter cry. One of the commentaries posited that Mordecai's distress here was in part that he himself had prompted this genocidal retaliation. But whatever the reason, it got the attention of Queen Esther. And when she sought to find out what was wrong with the messenger, the messenger returned with an explanation and a plea from Malachi to bring this king, his case, the case of the people, before the king. We'll now pick it up in chapter 4 and verse 11. Then Haman told them of his great riches. The multitude of the children, everything which the king had promoted, and how he had himself advanced above the officials and the servants of the kingdom. Moreover, Haman said, besides Queen Esther. Invited no one else but me to come. To the king with the king to a banquet that she had prepared, and tomorrow. I am again invited by her along with the king. Yet all this avails me nothing so long as I see that Mordecai, the Jew sitting at the king's gate. Brethren, you're all familiar with this very Pivotal part. Of God's plan and purpose. But the foundation for the lesson here. As within this violent world that we live in, God is always very much in charge and in control. We skipped ahead through much of what Esther had done in wisdom to manipulate or move Haman into a position that he exposed himself as what he was. In chapter 5 and verse 1. Mordecai said to Esther that she needed to plead for the people. Then Esther spoke in verse 10 of chapter 4. Esther spoke to Hathak and gave him a command for Mordecai. All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court of the king who has not been called, he has but one law put all to death except for the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter. That he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go into the king these 30 days. So they told Mordecai, Esther's response to his plea. And Mordecai told them. To answer Esther Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king's palace any more than any other Jew, for if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place. Again, here is God's sovereignty that Mordecai recognized. But you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have. This is really important because this is the mind of Mordecai. That Esther had learned. Yet who knows whether you have come to this kingdom. For such a time as this. Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, Go gather all the Jews who are present in the in Shushan and fast for me. Neither eat nor drink for 3 days, night or day. My maids and I will do fast likewise, and so I will go to the king, which is against the law. And if I perish, I perish. So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther had commanded him. On verse chapter 5 verse 1. Now it happened on the 3rd day that Esther put out, put on her golden robes as we started to read. And entered the inner court of the king's palace across from the king's house while the king sat on his throne in the royal house facing the entrance of the house. So it was when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went nearer and touched the top, and the king said to her, What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you up to half the kingdom. We then go through from this point through the book end of the book. We see that God turned Haman's curse. Cursed plan against Mordecai and the Jews back on Haman himself through the wisdom that Esther uses in. Patiently waiting on God. In fear and respect for God that she had learned from her father at Mordecai. And then Mordecai himself received the long overdue reward from the king. Chapter 6. I want to read this because it's another. Peace where we see God's hand clearly involved. Chapter 6 verse 1. That night the king could not sleep, so he was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles. And they were read before the king, and it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigha and Terri, two of the king's eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on the king Asarris. Then the king said, What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this? And the king's servants who had attended him said, Nothing has been done for him. So the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. The king's servant said to him, Haman is out there standing in the court. And the king said to him, Let him come in. So Hamon came in, and the king asked him, What shall be done for a man whom the king delights to honor. Now Haman Forgetting about his request to hang Mordecai, thought in his heart, whom would the king delight to honor more than me. And Haman answered the king. For the man whom the king delights to honor, let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden and has a royal crest placed on his head. Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes. That he may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then parade him on horseback through the city square and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king delights to honor. Then the king said to Haman, Hurry, take the robe and the horse as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai. The Jew who sits within the king's gate, leave nothing undone of all that you had spoken. For Mordecai We can go through all the scriptures throughout this book that just will build a more complete case for why Esther is considered Yathiel by the Jews, because it was through her that all the Jews in Persia were saved from Haman's final solution. But it was not her power and might that did it. It was the power and might of God and her use of the wisdom that she had learned at the knee of her stepfather Mordecai. But the bottom line lesson for us is that Esther, like the virtuous wife of Proverbs 31:30, recognized and waited on God to act because she feared the Lord with deep respect, and she feared letting down Mordecai and God's chosen people. Mordecai, as a father to her, led her to greatly fear and respect God because she feared and respected Mordecai. Our main takeaway from this woman of valor that ties into the bottom line character trait, the ending character trait of the perfected wife of the is the fear of God, not to let him down. Again, I'd like to repeat what John Wrightenbaugh said in that Philippians Bible study regarding working out our own salvation with fear and trembling, a section of what he said. As seen in the proverb in the Proverbs 31, woman, charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. This will, this was the real difference between Queen Bashti and Queen Esther. Bashti would not come out. Of vanity, Esther did come before the king uncalled because she waited and feared God rather than men, as John said in that study, as we work towards the perfected character of the virtuous wife, we have come to the point where, quoth John, we love him so much we do not want to do anything that will cast aspersions on his reputation. And so what we are afraid of is that we will not live up to what he might expect of us. That is where the fear is. We love him. We are not afraid of him, but we admire him so much. He is so attractive to us. His holiness is so great. We want to make sure it is not tarnished in any way. That is what I think it is, John said, the fear of being unfaithful to him and somehow making him feel bad about us. This is the lesson we should have gotten from the book of Esther even during this life of living under this great pressure of evil and evil world that Richard spoke about in the commentary, the sicknesses, the deaths, the sorrow, the pain, the trouble, the fickle leadership around us. It disobeys and disenfranchises itself from the the kind of the laws. We must be not afraid to let God down. We must live in this world and learn how to fear God with great respect, as Proverbs 31:10:12 says, the virtuous wife's worth is far above ruby's. The heart of her husband safely trusts her. So he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life. Let's end today's sermon. 2 Timothy, please me, turn with me to two scriptures. First ones will be 2 Timothy. II Timothy in chapter 2. And then verse 20 II Timothy chapter 2 and verse 20. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore, if any one cleanses himself for the latter, he will be from the latter. He will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the master, prepared for every good work. Now turn with me over to Romans. Romans 8 and a very, very familiar and important scripture for all of us. That have been called to this precious gift and privilege that God has given. Proverbs 8, or I'm sorry, Romans 8. And in verse 28. And we know that all things, brethren, all things for us in this world of time of trial, suffering, and death and sorrow, all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. As Esther and Mordecai were, for whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the first born among many brethren. Moreover, whom he predestined, those he called, whom he called, he also justified, and whom he justified, these he also glorified. What shall we say then to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? May we all have a deep and abiding respect for our great God and follow the example of the virtuous woman.
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