Day 9/10 – Esther’s Submission

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Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter A Henrichsen (“Walt”)
Esther’s Submission
Day Two Hundred Fifty-three

“The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.” Esther 2:17

Mordecai the Jew remained in Babylon after the faithful people of God returned to the Promised Land under Nehemiah and Ezra. We cannot know for sure, but his remaining behind calls into question the depth of his commitment to the promises of God to the Jews. Mordecai, foster father to Esther, his uncle’s daughter, entered her into a beauty contest as a non-Jew. Esther prepared for a one-night affair with king Ahasuerus, and if he did not delight in her, she had to spend the remainder of her life in his harem, possibly never seeing him again.

Esther’s response teaches that God honors a submissive, teachable spirit rather than rebellion and self-promotion. In this respect Esther and Vashti are a study in contrasts. Vashti, the original queen, was willful and refused to submit to the wishes of her husband, bringing about her demise.

No matter how noble your cause, God does not condone rebellion. This does not mean that you must be passive in the face of evil. But this is different from rebellion and independence, a difference found in the attitude. You are hard¬ pressed to justify biblically Mordecai’s behavior, but if the book of Esther teaches anything, it tells us that God honors the spirit and behavior of Esther.

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Proverbs 8-9 2 Corinthians 3 (New King James Version)

Proverbs 8-9
The Excellence of Wisdom
8
Does not wisdom cry out,
And understanding lift up her voice?
2
She takes her stand on the top of the [a]high hill,
Beside the way, where the paths meet.
3
She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city,
At the entrance of the doors:
4
“To you, O men, I call,
And my voice is to the sons of men.
5
O you [b]simple ones, understand prudence,
And you fools, be of an understanding heart.
6
Listen, for I will speak of excellent things,
And from the opening of my lips will come right things;
7
For my mouth will speak truth;
Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
8
All the words of my mouth are with righteousness;
Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.
9
They are all plain to him who understands,
And right to those who find knowledge.
10
Receive my instruction, and not silver,
And knowledge rather than choice gold;
11
For wisdom is better than rubies,
And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.
12
“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
And find out knowledge and discretion.
13
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And the perverse mouth I hate.
14
Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom;
I am understanding, I have strength.
15
By me kings reign,
And rulers decree justice.
16
By me princes rule, and nobles,
All the judges of [c]the earth.
17
I love those who love me,
And those who seek me diligently will find me.
18
Riches and honor are with me,
Enduring riches and righteousness.
19
My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold,
And my revenue than choice silver.
20
I [d]traverse the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
21
That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth,
That I may fill their treasuries.
22
“The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
23
I have been established from everlasting,
From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
24
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
25
Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was brought forth;
26
While as yet He had not made the earth or the [e]fields,
Or the [f]primal dust of the world.
27
When He prepared the heavens, I was there,
When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,
28
When He established the clouds above,
When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
29
When He assigned to the sea its limit,
So that the waters would not transgress His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth,
30
Then I was beside Him as [g]a master craftsman;
And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,
31
Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
And my delight was with the sons of men.
32
“Now therefore, listen to me, my children,
For blessed are those who keep my ways.
33
Hear instruction and be wise,
And do not disdain it.
34
Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
35
For whoever finds me finds life,
And obtains favor from the Lord;
36
But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul;
All those who hate me love death.”
The Way of Wisdom
9
Wisdom has built her house,
She has hewn out her seven pillars;
2
She has slaughtered her meat,
She has mixed her wine,
She has also [h]furnished her table.
3
She has sent out her maidens,
She cries out from the highest places of the city,
4
“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,
5
“Come, eat of my bread
And drink of the wine I have mixed.
6
Forsake foolishness and live,
And go in the way of understanding.
7
“He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself,
And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself.
8
Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you;
Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
9
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.
10
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
11
For by me your days will be multiplied,
And years of life will be added to you.
12
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself,
And if you scoff, you will bear it alone.”
The Way of Folly
13
A foolish woman is [i]clamorous;
She is simple, and knows nothing.
14
For she sits at the door of her house,
On a seat by the highest places of the city,
15
To call to those who pass by,
Who go straight on their way:
16
“Whoever is [j]simple, let him turn in here”;
And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,
17
“Stolen water is sweet,
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
18
But he does not know that the dead are there,
That her guests are in the depths of [k]hell.
Footnotes:
• Proverbs 8:2 Lit. heights
• Proverbs 8:5 naive
• Proverbs 8:16 MT, Syr., Tg., Vg. righteousness; LXX, Bg., some mss. and editions earth
• Proverbs 8:20 walk about on
• Proverbs 8:26 outer places
• Proverbs 8:26 Lit. beginning of the dust
• Proverbs 8:30 A Jewish tradition one brought up
• Proverbs 9:2 arranged
• Proverbs 9:13 boisterous
• Proverbs 9:16 naive
• Proverbs 9:18 Or Sheol

2 Corinthians 3
Christ’s Epistle
3 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? 2 You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.
The Spirit, Not the Letter
4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the [a]Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Glory of the New Covenant
7 But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. 10 For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. 11 For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.
12 Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— 13 unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. 15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as [b]by the Spirit of the Lord.
Footnotes:
• 2 Corinthians 3:6 Or spirit
• 2 Corinthians 3:18 Or from the Lord, the Spirit