Learning from Esther 7 – Grant Me My Life

Esther 7:3-4 – “Then Queen Esther answered, ‘If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, grant me my life—this is my petition.  And spare my people—this is my request.  For I and my people have been sold for destruction and slaughter and annihilation.  If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.’ ”

This passage records Esther’s third request of the King.  Here, Esther finally explains to the King what she really needs.  She asks the king to save her life.  We see in her request a prayer for salvation.

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Learning from Esther 6 – The King’s Sleepless Night

Esther 6:1-3 – That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him.  It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. “What honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this?” the king asked.

“Nothing has been done for him,” his attendants answered.

This passage is about a remarkable answer to prayer.  Esther and all the Jewish people had been fasting and praying for a deliverance from the genocide that their enemies were planning against them.  Esther had already received one blessing because of her fasting, when the King gladly welcomed her into his court even when she came uninvited.  From her perspective, that was the very thing for which she had prayed, and she received the very blessing she sought.

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Learning from Esther 4 – For Such A Time As This

Esther 4:14 – “…And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?”

Esther is a prophetic illustration or type of the faithful church, the Bride of Christ. Through her story, God shows how the faithful church should be. As members of the faithful church, we can also apply her lessons in our own lives.

One such lesson is that God put Esther in a special situation through a remarkable series of events. The timing was perfect for Esther to use her position of influence to help deliver God’s people in a moment of crisis. God put Esther in the queen’s position “for such a time as this” – a moment when the people of God needed a real victory.

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Learning from Esther 1 – The Seven Eunuchs of Xerxes

Esther 1:10-11 - “On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas- to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at…”

The book of Esther is a prophetic illustration of the triumph of the faithful church, the Bride of Christ. The King represents Jesus, the King of Kings, Bridegroom of the faithful church. The first chapter lists seven eunuchs of King Ahasuerus (or Xerxes), mentioned in the verses above, as well as seven wise men (see Esther 1:14). This lesson focuses on the first group of seven.

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