Lesson 2: The Book of Esther - Obedience

Hello Ladies,

I hope you enjoyed last week's lesson.  Sometimes it is difficult to swallow the hard messages, like submitting to authority.  Nevertheless, I received a lot of positive feedback from readers. 

I am such a rule follower by nature that I assume that I am always following authority.  However, my ego is subject to the "I think I know better thought" just like everyone else.  Therefore, I was glad when God revealed that lesson to me because it allowed me to review myself and the authority that God has placed over me.   In addition I could assess myself in the positions of authority that I hold.  Honest self-assessment, aligned with biblical principle, is always beneficial and necessary.

Introducing Queen Esther!!!!  She is one of the most renowned Queens of the bible.  She is our Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Victoria, etc.  Not in deeds and possibly appearance, but definitely in popularity.  She is revered as one of the most beautiful women of her time. However, we are going to focus on her silence and obedience (Psalm 46:10).

 Keeping Silent

Source
7 And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, 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. 8 So it was, when the king’s command and decree were heard, and when many young women were gathered at Shushan the citadel, under the custody of Hegai, that Esther also was taken to the king’s palace, into the care of Hegai the custodian of the women.  9 Now the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor; so he 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. 10 Esther had not revealed her people or family, for Mordecai had charged her not to reveal it....
15 Now when the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised. And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her.  16So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.  17The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.  18 Then the king made a great feast, the Feast of Esther, for all his officials and servants; and he proclaimed a holiday in the provinces and gave gifts according to the generosity of a king. 19 When virgins were gathered together a second time, Mordecai sat within the king’s gate.  20 Now Esther had not revealed her family and her people, just as Mordecai had charged her, for Esther obeyed the command of Mordecai as when she was brought up by him.

Lesson
Here we see the fruit of Queen Vashti's disobedience and inability to come under the authority that God had placed over her.  While this was unfortunate for Queen Vashti, it posed ample opportunity for Esther to fulfill her Godly purpose.

The order in which God allows the author of Esther to record these two events is of grave importance to us.  God begins with the visual display of the results of negative behavior, Queen Vashti, and then immediately follows it with an example of the rewards of positive behavior, enters Queen Esther. 

We must take note of Esther's prompt conduct of obedience.  She did not stand around and ask questions.  It is not written that she expressed contention or conflict towards her uncle Mordecai. She kept silent. Esther submitted to Mordecai's authority, kept silent, and was obedient. 

 It is heavily discussed throughout Christian leadership, culture, and commentaries that Esther and Mordecai were deceiving King Ahasuerus by not revealing the nature of their decedents.  However, they were operating in the divine order of God.  But let us consider the wise and merciful providence of God, carrying on his deep and holy designs in the midst of all (Nelson 1997).  Who are we to question His divine order?  Additionally, everything is revealed according to God's divine timing. 

When the outcome seems more prevalent to us we are more likely to practice obedience without question.  Today, we revel at the obedience of Abraham travelling up the mount to slay his God given son, only because we know that God provides the sacrificial lamb in the end (Genesis 22:4-19).  Abraham told no one that he intended to sacrifice his only son and he practiced obedience without any knowledge of the outcome.  He submitted to God's authority regardless of the possibility of losing his only son.

But what if you were Esther or Abraham, or anyone else in the bible required to do something that seemed unorthodox to onlookers in order to practice silence and obedience?

God has called us to be a peculiar people required to do miraculous things in His name (1 Peter 2:9).  We are to operate in the will of the Lord regardless of our own personal opinions, wants, and reservations. And let no change in our condition be a pretext for forgetting our duties (Nelson 1997).

When we combine the context of last week's lesson with the subject matter of this week, we acquire characteristics that are pleasing to God and also allow us to become more like Him.  We are required, through His divine purpose for us, to submit to authority, have moments of silence, and practice obedience.

Contrary to what we believe or what we have convinced ourselves of, we are always operating in some sort of obedience.  Whether it is obedience to God's will or obedience to the ways of sin, we are practicing some type of obedience (Romans 6:16). Choose to be silent for and obedient to God.

 Application

Now that we have an understanding of the importance of submitting to authority, through last week's lesson and application, we must acquire the skills to keep silent and obey.  There are over 100 verses in the bible concerning the importance of obedience (Nelson 1997).  It seems that God is trying to make a point.

So this week, we will practice keeping silent and exhibiting obedience.  We do not have to say everything that pops in our heads, we do not have to always have the answer, and we are not always right.  Silence is our friend, silence is our strength, and silence is our way of growing deep, discovering maturity, and our way of exercising the kind of influence God has created us to have on others (Shirer 2011). Our silence has a greater impact and screams louder than our noise.

Practicing silence in our everyday life will allow us the opportunity to achieve our ultimate goal which is to be closer to our Savior.  How can we hear from Him if we are too busy talking?  The most productive task you have is to silently sit before God (Ortlund 1984).

You can do it!  Resist the urge to add any unnecessary commentary to any conversation this week.  Do not participate in any unproductive banter.   Practice obedience and silence.

 Have a blessed week!

 Be blessed,

 T. Carter

References

All scriptures are extracted from The Bible - New King James Version.  YouVersion (2013).

Nelson, Thomas (1997).  Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible.  Thomas Nelson Publishing.  Nashville, Tennessee.

Nelson, Thomas (1997).  The New Strong's Concise Concordance.  Thomas Nelson Publishing. Nashville, Tennessee.

Ortlund, Anne (1984).   Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman.  W Publishing Group. Nashville, Tennessee

Shirer, Priscilla (2011).  The Resolution for Women. B&H Publishing. Nashville, Tennessee