Sermon(Esther 4:15, 16): Esther, a beautiful and heartwarming woman

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025252756

 

 

 

Scripture reading: Esther 4:15, 16

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>> 15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16 "Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish." <<

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Esther is a short history novel. Esther is a biblical book that shows how God carefully takes care of his people who were taken captive into a heathen nation. God is very faithful and loving. Because of the sins of Israel, God allowed them to be taken captive to other nations for a while, but he who neither dozed nor slept could not look on as a spectator of the extermination of his people. Brethren, Do you believe that God is your Father? Then you are truly children of God and you really have no reason to fear the world. Really you don't have to fear! Fear of the world is a flaming arrow that the Devil shoots at you when your faith in God's sincerity is weakened. When your shield of faith is broken, you are engulfed in the flames of fear. But when your shield of faith is perfect, you are full of confidence in your future life.

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The history of ancient Israel was closely related to that of surrounding great powers. In the course of the world history Assyria - Babylonia - Persia - Greece - Rome, North Israel was destroyed and taken away by Assyria, and Judah by Babylonia. Cyrus of Persia released the Israelites who had been taken prisoner and let them return to their homeland to rebuild the temple of God. Some of the Israelites (Jews) returned home and rebuilt the temple then. Esther's background is the age of the Persian king Ahasuerus. In king's palace in Susa the capital, there were some officials who were recruited from various conquered peoples.

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We need to look into the personality of each key figure in Esther. First, let's think about Haman. This is a descendant of the Amalekites, who has been taken captive there as Jews (Esther and Mordecai). The Amalekites and the Jews were enemies each other. This man Haman won the confidence of the king and held the highest post second only to the king. This man sought to kill Mordecai, a Jew who didn't bow to him politely, but now plans to kill the entire Jews, knowing that he is a Jew. He is given permission to kill all the Jews by giving the king a lot of money. But his plan was thwarted by Esther's struggle, and he was hanged on the pillar on which he would hang Mordecai, and all of his family were killed. My brethren, do not hurt others to save your face. Life is a precious gift that God has given man. Anyone who intentionally seeks to destroy this life is one who challenges the authority of God, and God (even the God of love) will surely punish and remove him. Particularly, you should know that a man and his family will receive a deadly injury if he intends to hurt another man and his family and to kill them. on the other hand, you must believe that, if you value highly the life of a man responsible for family support and his family and help them live without pain or poverty, God will protect your and your family's life.

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Next, queen Vashti. This woman refused to obey her husband, the king, when he wanted to boast of the beauty of his wife before people, so asked her to be dressed up and adorned and to come out. Then the king became angry, and deposed Vashti from the status of queen. Would the husband have asked her to come out had he not thought she was pretty? If the husband wanted to boast of his wife, shouldn't she adorn herself better than usual and come to him so that his dignity might be kept? (She might dislike being judged in appearance publicly, but, considering that her husband was proud of her, it seems right for her to overcome some shame and to keep her husband's dignity.) Some beautiful women have thorns as roses. They poke even their husbands with the thorns, husbands who love them. What is the result? They will be deserted by their husbands. Man looks for a mild woman who is like a lily having no thorns. Christians must not do like that each other. But unfortunately, many Christian couples are living together unwillingly since they can not divorce because of their children. Mostly because of personality differences. Get rid of your violent temper, wives! Obey and respect your husband! Then you will receive his love as a gift. Isn't it miserable for a woman to die of old age without so much as being loved sincerely by a man once? Isn't it shameful for a woman to be deserted by her husband as a result of her stubbornness? Be a wise woman. Vashti the queen was in a high position, but did not act properly as a queen, so was deposed. Wives, if your husband is the man whom you really wanted to meet when you were unmarried, please be a good wife to him without losing your first mind. I hope this remark which I told some young people in church before will be a good advice to you: “Woman lives on man's love, man on woman's self-esteem.” A wife delights in the love done devotedly by her husband in a difficult situations, and the husband delights in the obedience and respect shown by her when she really wants to keep her pride but disregards it. Here the pride refers to an unsound pride. A sound pride is one that a woman has as she thinks her husband's pride is hers. This is a highly recommendable pride.

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Ahasuerus is a wicked king who listened to another's proposal, and in a fit of anger deposed the queen, and took a bribe from his close subordinate, and in return for that allowed him to kill his own people cruelly. He was a king but not a respected king. A good king is he who keeps the justice and the lives of his people, and protects his country from enemies. Nero and Hitler were tyrants who did not rule their hearts. When a man of feeble mind becomes a king, he tends to rule the people in response to popularity and adulation to conceal his inner complex. Sometimes such a man massacres people brutally to show off his power. Be a moral man first, then establish your home and govern your nation well, then you can lead the world! A leader must meditate upon this golden saying of a sage, Confucius.

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Let's consider Mordecai. When his uncle and aunt died, Mordecai raised their daughter, that is his cousin, Esther, like his own daughter with all his heart and soul (Esther 2:7). It was very considerate of him to take care of the bereaved family devotedly when misfortune befell his relatives. There could be a little embarrassing imagination that Mordecai could have done sexual violence to his cousin for she was very beautiful. But Mordecai raised her in his home with a clean heart, which shows us what kind of man he is. Some (mad) men rape their own daughters and stepdaughters. They are not human beings. A man, if he is of lofty character like Mordecai, reveals the glory of God. Mordecai did not bow down to Haman, an Agagite from Amalek, because it was in conflict with his faith in God to bow down to a heathen who worshiped idols. Eventually, Haman tried to destroy not only Mordecai but also the whole Jewish people, his consanguinity, but Mordecai did not succumb to Haman even then. >For a believer of God to yield to the sin< is like >for a woman betrothed to a man of reputable family to sell herself to another man for a meal when hungry<. If we believe in God's help and never succumb to the evil for God's glory, he will give us strength to overcome the evil and open the way to victory for us. In the end, Mordecai overcomes all adversities and occupies the highest post next to the king instead of Haman.

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Now let's think about Esther, a beautiful and heartwarming woman.

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Esther kept her beauty well. Esther kept and developed her beauty and became a queen. In my opinion, it is one of the several duties of a woman to keep her beauty and to develop her beauty. A man, on the other hand, lies under obligation to be a capable man and to support his family. I'm terribly sorry to say that women who are obese due to their idleness in controling their appetite should repent in tears. Obesity is not genetic at all. Look at USA with a large population of obesity and North Korea with a small population of obesity. Do you still think that obesity is genetic? It is a sin of a woman to eat everything she wants to eat, smoke cigarettes, take drugs, drink alcohol and so make herself look bad. The same is true of a man. However, it is not desirable to become a beautiful artificial human being by an excessive plastic surgery.

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Esther was very obedient. It is a glory to God that a woman is obedient. A beautiful creature reveals the glory of God. We know Esther's good obedience from the fact that she obeyed Mordecai well. Esther's docile nature and good obedience were shown in her face, which gave the king a very different beauty from Vashti's. The king made Esther his queen instead of Vashti, probably because he sought a woman of the opposite nature to that of Vashti. As the king also was a man, he was wondering if the queen Esther really loved him as husband. So he did not call Esther for about a month. ‘If the ex-queen Vashti were in this situation, she would conceal her feelings and show no reaction for fear that her self-esteem should be hurt. Would Esther react so, too?’ But one day Esther stood in the inner court of the king's palace, in neater shape than ever before. Esther is standing there to meet him despite the law that anyone who, without being called by the king, stands there should be put to death irrespective of rank if the king does not hold out his scepter to him. ‘Oh, my dear wife Esther! As I did expect, you long for my love!’ The king holds out his scepter to her and lets her come near. “My beloved queen Esther, what is your wish and what is your request? Tell me. I am willing to give you even half of my kingdom.” Of course, Esther did not go there to regain king's love, but from his point of view, she was definitely a queen who longed for the love of the king then. The king deprived Vashti of her queenship, but to Esther, who obeys gladly and longs for king's love in docile attitude, the king says that he would give her even half of his kingdom. What a treasure it is for a woman to be so obedient and meek-hearted! What an encouraging and pleasant thing it is to a husband if his wife longs for his love humbly! God said to Eve, "Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. (Gen 3:16)" Peace and happiness of a family can be kept when the relationship of husband and wife is such. (Why should a husband love and protect a woman (his wife in law) who really dislikes him mentally and physically? It is unfair. Why should a man live, seeing the angry face of his wife, every day? A woman who dislikes her husband is not worthy of love, protection and support from him.) As king Ahasuerus wanted to know Esther's heart by not calling her for a while, sometimes God, keeping silent to us, wants to know if we long for his love earnestly. Do not be discouraged when God is silent for a while, but be brave as Esther was, and seek his love and support. Ascertaining your heart, God will say to you, "John (your name), what is your wish and request? Just tell me. I'll give you even half of the kingdom of heaven!" Esther did not become a queen without reason. Of course, Esther was pretty, but the king saw her meek and obedient heart reflected in her face and made her queen. And in fact, Esther's pride was hurt because the king had not called her for a month. So she more hated to go to him presumptuously without being called to him than to die. But she went to the king in order to obey Mordecai. To conclude, Esther found favor in the eyes of the king decisively thanks to this 'obedience', and she was not deposed, but received honor and lived well to the end. If a woman always obeys gladly, she will have many chances to get many good things and honorable positions. (Please be a wise woman!)

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Esther staked her all on rescuing her people. As Haman continues the plan to annihilate his people (the Jews), Mordecai says to Esther. “Perhaps, it is for this occasion that you have been crowned queen, so you yourself have to settle the matter.” Esther accepts the situation in which she must first show her face to the king even though he has not called her for a month. She subdued her pride equal to her life in order to protect her people. If the king had disliked Esther and stayed away from her, she could have been killed when she went to the king's courtyard without a prior permission. Esther risked her life for her kinsmen. “If I die, I die!” Of course, Esther risked also her queenship then. She could keep her queenship more easily if she turned a blind eye to the massacre of her people, but she thought she could give up her queenship, the best honor of a woman, to save them. When a woman of beautiful face and good mind would sacrifice her precious things for what is right, how can people not be moved, and how can God not be impressed! After Esther had risked her all for her people, strangely all things worked favorably to the Jews so that all enemies of the Jews were killed but the Jews were alive. No wonder, because God exists. Esther and Mordecai received honor and respect from the Jews for the rest of their lives.

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May you be a beneficiary of God's mercy by having mercy on others. May you be loved by God and respected by others by using your precious things for the kingdom of God and for righteousness.

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Chong Tack Kim

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                                 - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -