sermonette: Esther's Preparation

Preparation of Esther to be Queen, and our Preparation to be King
Ted E. Bowling
Given 29-Nov-03; Sermon #640s; 14 minutes

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The story of Esther's is a story about a young Jewish woman. Who was chosen by King. A Hashu Us. Uh, king of the most powerful nation at that time, the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians, and she was chosen to become queen, replacing Queen Queen Vesti. In the story, we know that Haman, a high official in the government who did have a grudge against one of the Jewish men, which is Mordecai, which happened to be Esther's uncle had a, a decree drawn up to have all the Jews in the kingdom killed and Esther intervenes and saves her uncle and the Jewish people and it is remembered up up until this day. Now what I would like to focus on within this story. is the time just before Estra became queen. This is a beautiful analogy that we will see between Esther and the church today. It begins with Queen Vesti and how she became a disappointment because she did not meet the requirements of her office. The king had called her before him in a banquet, asked her to come in her royal dress to present her before everyone at the banquet, but she refused. Now this action Uh, made very, very many, many of the high officials very upset. And her actions were a very poor example. They were a poor example of attitudes and actions on the part of a woman with such a high position. And she knew the position that she had. She knew the laws of the land. She knew that the king had the right to ask her to come in his presence, but she did not. So the king issued an edict forbidding King Vassar to ever come before him again. Because of her open rebelliousness for her openly rejecting the king. Before all the people of the country. And knowing that these actions could filter down within the, the people of the country and um a, a revolt, the attitude would rise up within the people. And so they, they cut her off right from the beginning. And we can see this example. In the Old Testament church, the church that God made a covenant with. Where they went into account that they would obey him and obey his laws. But over time they became rebellious. They broke the marriage covenant that he had made with them. And so God had them put away. Just as Queen Vesi was an example to the Persian Empire. The nation of Israel was an example to all the rest of the world that showed how a relationship with God, with God could really be to their faithfulness, faithfulness and their honor of him. But they did fail that. So Back to Esther, there were women brought from all 127 provinces from all walks of life. Uh, regardless of wealth, and Esther was one of these that was chosen. Just as we are chosen to enter in a covenant with God. Please turn to Esther 2 in verse 12 and 13. And I want to base my Bible, my sermon on these verses. Esther 2212 and 13. Each young woman's turn came to go before King Ihauirus after she had completed 12 months of preparation according to the regulations for the women. For thus were the days of their preparation appointed, 6 months with oilur and 6 months with the perfumes and preparations for beautifying women. Thus prepared, each woman went to the king, and she was given whatever she desired to take with her for the women's quarters to the king's palace. Now the king brought Esther and the other ladies into her his palace for this preparation. Just as God has called us into the church to begin our preparation to become the bride of Christ. Esther was not born into royalty. She had had no prior preparation for this position. And if we look at Countries like England and others that have a monarchy that They're kings, they, they begin from the day they were born on how to hold these positions that they have. They are taught how to deal with people, how to conduct themselves. And they learn from their early childhood. How, what it takes and what they need to do to prepare to take the throne. Just as Kings, King Ezra. As as a risk he was probably prepared from the day he was born to become king. And we do all realize that Jesus Christ has been prepared to be king, probably for the foundation of this world. So these women began an intense and rigorous preparation over 12 months. This was the time of their physical preparation, a time of training of their responsibilities to become queen. Their relationship with the king, their relationship with their staff in the courts. Her responsibilities within the kingdom. How to walk and how to talk, and how to be a proper wife to the king. And a leader of the people. Now if we look, as I read from the New King's version, New King James version. The word here was preparation. But in the old King James version, it is the day of purifications and a time for purifying the woman, women, and that is the proper interpretation. The word purifying is strong as 8562, which means a, a scourging a, a rubbing. Uh, a cleansing, a purification purifying. And for these 6 months, These, these women were in this intense preparation. And the is in the verse that says the oil of myrrh was used for this cleansing. Wilmer has many aspects to it. It is not just used for cleansing, but it is also a perfume as it states there in the verse, it's even used for embalming. These oils were for both cleansing the outside of the body and the inside of the body. Through my study, I found that the Omer has very many uses conducive to medic medications like for aches and pains, for relieving stress, arthritis, bronchitis colds, cracked and chapped skin parasites, weepy skin. Sores, wrinkles, and many, many more. So they had 12 months not only to soften their skin and become radiant. But they also had time to purify the um The impurities out of the body. And this is not a process that could occur in just one day, but this was a matter of time. This, it spoke about the bathings. It was done every day because it takes time. I mean, you have calloused hands and rough hands, they, you rub oil on them, they are not necessarily gone in one day. It takes time, it takes preparation. So we can see that this process, it did not happen overnight, and we cannot make ourselves instantly healthy. We cannot remove all the uh. The affirmities out of our body in just one day. And when we are called, we repent of our sins, and when our sins are washed away, and we are baptized, and we are anointed with the oil of God's Holy Spirit. The first mention of oil in the Bible is in Exodus 30:23 as a principal ingredient. In the holy anointing oil. It was the holy holy anoint used in the tabernacle to anoint all the utensils, and it was also used to consecrate Aaron and his sons. And this way was never to be used for common use or to be duplicated. And when our hands are laid upon us after our baptism, God gives us His Holy Spirit. And we are consecrated and set aside for a Special purpose, but we are not instantly purified. We are not instantly prepared to take the position with Christ, and this is not a process that can be done overnight. This is a cleansing process that is just only beginning. We cannot just accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and be saved. We cannot just remove our habits that we do every day instantly. But we learn day by day of changing the way we live and conducting ourselves. We begin to strip away the old man. And God begins to create a new man within us. And as we grow daily, we grow in understanding and a knowledge of his truth. And we changed the way we live our daily lives and, and the things that we do and the practices we keep. And um after days and months, we can begin to see just how far off the mark we are because we understand God's truth. At first we begin to keep God's Sabbath, keep the holy days, we Learn the health laws, and as we progress, God's character begins to grow in us. Esther had a place in the palace where she was set apart. For this cleansing Outside away from or inside away from the outside world. And God wants each and every one of us to spiritually remove ourselves from the world outside. And there were eunuchs that were placed over her. To teach her and to direct her. In a story, we realized that she yielded herself to them and listened to the instructions that they gave her and took it all in. And it was to her benefit. Just as God wants us to yield to Jesus Christ through our actions, through our prayers, through our Bible study. And our meditation She was given the finest food within the the palace, and we are given the finest spiritual food to prepare us spiritually through the teachers, the ministers that God has provided for us. And it makes the Bible more than just words on a page, but they come alive to us. And this can all be done to God's Holy Spirit that is active in our lives. It is the truth of God's word that begins to purify us because it's only truth that does purify. In Psalms 19 verses 8 and 9, it states, the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart, the commandment of the Lord is pure, in lighting the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true. And righteous altogether altogether. And also in Psalms 1194142, it says, your righteousness is an everlasting righteous your, your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your law is truth. So if we want to be pure, we must look to God's law and mirror the way that God lives. It is impossible to be holy as God is holy. Because as long as we live in these mortal bodies, we do sin and come short. Even the prophet Isaiah, a man that was converted and used by God, and God relied upon him, said, woe is me, I am undone because I'm a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of host. So we realized that when we, we will never be able to measure up to God, but we must strive. We must strive to walk as he walks. We must reflect His goodness, we must reflect his kindness, his faithfulness, his truth, truthfulness, his long suffering and his patience, his love and his mercy in all aspects of our life. The king loved Esther more than any other woman that was chosen. And that is the way that God loves us. The Bible says that we are the apple of His eye. And what should be the apple of our eye? Well, Proverbs 7:1-2 says, my son, keep my words and treasures. And treasure my commandments within you. Keep my commandments and live and my law as the apple of your eye. So if we will keep his words, if we will keep and treasure his commandments and laws, we will be a part. Of the bride of Jesus Christ and reign with Him in His kingdom.