Sermonette: Esther's Preparation

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

The story of Esther is a story about a young Jewish woman who was chosen by King Ahasuerus—king of the most powerful nation at that time, the Kingdom of the Medes and the Persians—to become queen, replacing Queen Vashti. In the story, we know that Haman, a high official in the government who had a grudge against the Jewish man, Mordecai, who happened to be Esther's uncle, had a decree drawn up to have all the Jews in the kingdom killed. Esther intervenes and saves her uncle, and the Jewish people. It is remembered up until this day.

What I would like to focus on within this story is the time just before Esther became queen. This is a beautiful analogy that we will see between Esther and the church today.

It begins with Queen Vashti and how she became a disappointment because she did not meet the requirements of her office. The king had called her before him at a banquet, asked her to come in her royal dress, to present her before everyone at the banquet, but she refused.

Now this action made very many of the high officials very upset because 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 Queen Vashti to ever come before him again because of her open rebelliousness, for her openly rejecting the king before all the people of the country.

Knowing that these actions could filter down within the people of the country, a revolt, an attitude would rise up within the people. And so they cut her off right from the beginning.

We can see this example in the Old Testament church, the church that God made a covenant with, where 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 Vashti was an example to the Persian Empire, the nation of Israel was an example to the entire world showing how a relationship with God could really be an example of faithfulness and honor of Him. But they failed that.

Back to Esther: There were women brought from all 127 provinces, from all walks of life regardless of wealth. Esther was one of these that were chosen, just as we are chosen to enter in a covenant with God.

Please turn to Esther 2, verses 12-13. I want to base my sermonette on these verses.

Esther 2:12-13 Each young woman's turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had completed twelve months' preparation, according to the regulations for the women, for thus were the days of their preparation apportioned: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women. Thus prepared, each young woman went to the king, and she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the women's quarters to the king's palace.

Now the king brought Esther and the other ladies into 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.

If we look at countries like England and others that have a monarchy, their kings 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 from their early childhood—what it takes, and what they need to do to prepare to take the throne. Just as King Ahasuerus 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 from 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 in 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; a leader of the people.

Now if we look, as I read from the New King James Version, the word here is “preparation.” But in the old King James Version, it is “the day of purifications,” and “a time for purifying the women,” and that is the proper interpretation. The word purifying is Strong’s #8562, which means a scourging; a rubbing; a cleansing; a purifying. And for these six months, these women were in this intense preparation.

The verse says the oil of myrrh was used for this cleansing. Oil of myrrh 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 is 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 oil of myrrh has very many uses conducive to 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 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 also spoke about bathings. It was done every day because it takes time. I mean, you have calloused hands and rough hands, you rub oil on them, they are not necessarily done in one day. It takes time. It takes preparation. So we can see that this process did not happen overnight; we cannot make ourselves instantly healthy. We cannot remove all the infirmities out of our body in just one day.

When we are called, we repent of our sins. And when our sins are washed away, 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 used in the Tabernacle to anoint all the utensils, and it was also used to consecrate Aaron and his sons. This was never to be used for common use, or to be duplicated.

And when hands are laid upon us after our baptism, God gives us His Holy Spirit. 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 by changing the way we live and conduct ourselves. We begin to strip away the old man. And God begins to create a new man within us.

As we grow daily, we grow in understanding and knowledge of His truth. We change the way we live our daily lives, and the things that we do, and the practices we keep.

After days and months, we can begin to see just how far off the mark we were because we understand God's truth. At first, we begin to keep God's Sabbath; to 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 inside, away from the outside world. God wants each and every one of us to spiritually remove ourselves from the world outside.

There were eunuchs placed over her to teach her, and to direct her. In the story, we realize 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 palace, and we are given the finest spiritual food to prepare us spiritually through the teachers, the ministers that God has provided for us.

It makes the Bible more than just words on a page; they come alive to us. This can all be done by 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 is only truth that does purify.

In Psalm 19, it states:

Psalm 19:8-9 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

Also, in Psalm 119, it says:

Psalm 119:142 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 am 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 Hosts” (Isaiah 6:5).

We realize that we will never be able to measure up to God, but we must strive to walk as He walks. We must reflect His goodness, we must reflect His kindness, His faithfulness, His truthfulness, His longsuffering 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?

Proverbs 7:1-2 My son, keep my words, and treasure my commands within you. Keep my commands 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 Christ and reign with Him in His Kingdom.

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