March - Women's History Month Biblical Leaders in the Old Testament

The Book of Esther, book of the Hebrew Bible, and the Christian Old Testament. It belongs to the third section of the Judaic canon, known as the Ketuvim, or “Writings.” In the Jewish Bible, Esther follows Ecclesiastes and Lamentations and is read on the festival of Purim, which commemorates the rescue of the Jews from Haman’s plottings. The Book of Esther is one of the Megillot, five scrolls read on stated Jewish religious holidays. In the Protestant canon, Esther appears between Nehemiah and Job. In the Roman Catholic canon, Esther appears between Judith and Job and includes six chapters that are considered apocryphal in the Jewish and Protestant traditions. The dethroning of Queen Vashti allowed God to bring Queen Esther into a position of authority and power to help save her people. “What shall we do to Queen Vashti, according to law, because she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerus brought to her by the eunuchs?”  And Memucan answered before the king and the princes: “Queen Vashti has not only wronged the king, but also all the princes, and all the people who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. The queen’s behavior will become known to all women, so that they will despise their husbands in their eyes, when they report, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in before him, but she did not come.’ This very day the noble ladies of Persia and Media will say to all the king’s officials that they have heard of the behavior of the queen. Thus there will be excessive contempt and wrath. If it pleases the king, let a royal [h]decree go out from him, and let it be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it will not be altered, that Vashti shall come no more before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she. When the king’s decree which he will make is proclaimed throughout all his empire (for it is great), all wives will honor their husbands, both great and small” Esther 1:15-20 (NKJV).

The Book of Esther describes how Esther, originally named Hadassah, becomes queen after winning a beauty contest. Esther is a biblical figure and the main protagonist of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). She was a Jewish queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) in the 5th century BCE. Esther is one of the most inspirational women in the bible. Esther’s birth name was Hadassah. She was of the tribe of Benjamin and lived during the time Israel was exiled. Tragically, Hadassah was orphaned at an early age. After her parents died, she was adopted by her cousin, a man named Mordecai. Her life held such significance that an entire book in the Bible was dedicated to her. Esther was just a normal girl who was chosen by God to serve His purpose. The name "Esther" is of Persian origin and is derived from the Old Persian word "stāra," which means "star." The name is not only found in the biblical context but has also been used in various cultures and languages.  In the Bible, Esther is the Jewish queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I), known for her courage and role in saving the Jewish people from a plot to annihilate them. The meaning of the name “Esther” is often associated with beauty, grace, and, symbolically, the shining qualities of a star. “After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus subsided, he remembered Vashti, what she had done, and what had been decreed against her. Then the king’s servants who attended him said: “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king; and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to Shushan the citadel, into the women’s quarters, under the custody of Hegai the king’s eunuch, custodian of the women. And let beauty preparations be given them. Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti” Esther 2:1-4 (NKJV).

She was a young Jewish woman who rose to the thrones of power as a Queen with God’s favor. Queen Esther had sufficient influence to bring about the destruction of the house of Haman, along with 75,000 enemies of the Jews. Esther’s character paved the way for her, and she became queen. She saved a nation through her bravery, a leader who allowed herself to be an intercessor for her entire nation. A whole book of the Bible tells the story of this fearless leader. Esther risked her own life to save the lives of the Jewish people. And each year at Purim, Jews everywhere still reflect on Esther’s story. Esther kept her heritage a secret, as instructed by Mordecai. Soon, Esther had the opportunity to stop trouble. Overhearing two of the king’s officers angrily plotting to assassinate the king, Mordecai tells Esther who then reports it to the king, crediting Mordecai. The truth is confirmed, and the troublemakers are impaled. “When virgins were gathered together a second time, Mordecai sat within the king’s gate. 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. In those days, while Mordecai sat within the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, doorkeepers, became furious and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. So the matter became known to Mordecai, who told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai’s name. And when an inquiry was made into the matter, it was confirmed, and both were hanged on a gallows; and it was written in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king” Esther 2:19-23 (NKJV).

Queen Esther was unaware of the plot against the Jews, but she found out when her maids and eunuchs told her that Mordecai was in distress. Esther sent a messenger to Mordecai to find out what was wrong. Mordecai sent his cousin a copy of the edict and asked her “to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people” (Esther 4:8). Now, there was a law against entering the king’s presence uninvited, and Esther had not been invited by the king for the past thirty days. Through her intermediary, Esther reported to Mordecai her seeming inability to help. He responded (Esther 4:13–14). In a great display of faith, Esther agreed. She asked the Jews to fast for her for three days while she and her maids also fasted (Esther 4:16). When Esther approached the king, she was literally risking her life. But Xerxes “was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand,” a sign that he accepted her presence. “Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a command for Mordecai: “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days.” So they told Mordecai Esther’s words. And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!” So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him” Esther 4:10-17 (NKJV).

Esther’s bravery and faith in God are a testament to the trust this young woman had in the living God. Her life is a lesson in God’s sovereignty over His creation. God maneuvers every aspect of life to position people, governments, and situations for His plan and purpose. We may not know what God is doing at a particular moment, but a time might come when we realize why we have gone through certain experiences or met certain people or lived in certain areas or shopped in certain stores or taken certain trips. The time may come when everything comes together, and we look back and see that we, too, were in the right place at the right time, just as Esther was. She was in the harem “for such a time as this.” She was made queen “for such a time as this.” She was strengthened and prepared to intercede for her people “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14). And she was faithful to obey. Esther trusted in God and humbly served, no matter what it might cost. Esther is truly a reminder of God’s promise, as written in Romans 8:28: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” The story of Esther is often considered a narrative of deliverance, as she played a crucial role in saving the Jewish people from a plot to annihilate them. Esther is painfully aware of her circumstances. Although she’s the queen, it’s against the law to approach the king without being summoned. Her cousin Mordecai uncovers a plot by Haman, a high-ranking official, to destroy the Jewish people. Esther, risking her own life, reveals her Jewish identity to the king and intervenes on behalf of her people. The king reverses Haman's plot, and the Jewish people are saved. God’s deliverance will come through His servant, Esther as she courageously put on her royal robes and stood in the place where she might die. But instead of death, the king granted her favor, asking her what she wanted. With her first request, she began a masterful plan that only God could have given her. Due to God’s deliverance, Haman was executed, Mordecai was honored, and the Jews were empowered to defend themselves. For the Jews, it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor. In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. “On that day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. So the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman. Now Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet, and implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman the Agagite, and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews. And the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king, and said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. For how can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen?”  Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “Indeed, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he tried to lay his hand on the Jews. You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, as you please, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring; for whatever is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring no one can revoke” Esther 8:1-8 (NKJV).