Esther 2: A worthy queen.

 "Let them seek attractive young virgins for the king.  Let the king appoint chief officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, and let them gather every attractive young virgin to the harem in the citadel of Susa under the care of Hegai, the king's eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let him give them their beauty treatment.  And let the young woman who is pleasing in the king's eyes become queen in place of Vashti."  Esther 2:2-4

Adam fell and was expelled from the Garden.  From that time on, God's redemptive purpose was acted out by His choosing, His sovereign election, of a person and choosing to cut a covenant with them.  To bind Himself to them.  To Seth.  To Noah.  To Abraham.  To Isaac.  To Jacob.  To Joseph.  To Judah.  To Perez.  To Moses.  To David.  To those whom the king finds lovely in his sight.  They are His by right.  King Ahasuerus could take any woman he pleased because he was king.  Even more so, God can take any man or woman he pleases because He is God.  He takes them, treats them like royalty, though subjects, he beautifies them, glorifies them, sanctifies them, yet each one was found wanting.  None was worthy to be queen.  No not one.  No matter whom God has chosen and blessed over the millennia, they have all fallen short of the glory of God.  None is worthy to redeem us.  None can save us.  None could ever give up their bodies for us to save us from our slavery to death.  

"There was a Jew in the citadel of Susa..."  Est 2:5

"...who are Israelites, to whom belong the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple service, and the promises, to whom belong the patriarchs, and from whom is the Christ, according to human descent, who is God over all, blessed forever.  Amen."  Romans 9:4,5

"And it happened, at the proclaiming of the edict of the king and his law, when many young women were being gathered to the citadel of Susa under Hegai's care, Esther was taken to the king's palace under the care of Hegai who was in charge of the women.  The young woman pleased him and she won favor in his presence, and he quickly provided for her beauty treatment and her portion of food, with seven chosen maids to give to her from the king's palace, and he advanced her and her maids to the best part of the harem."

"And Jesus was advancing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and with people."  Luke 2:52

Side note, can we think of the king's eunuchs as representative of the angels?  The way we are cared for and watched over by these invisible ministers of our God?  Those who do His bidding directly.

"When the turn came near..."  Est 2:15

"But when the fullness of time came..." Gal 4:4

"Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, to his palace...And the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won his favor and loyalty more than all the virgins..." Est 2:16,17

"Sixty queens there are, eighty concubines,
    and maidens beyond number.
My dove, she is the one;
    my perfect, she is the only one;
        she is the favorite of her mother who bore her.
Maidens see her and consider her fortunate;
    queens and concubines praise her:
"Who is this that looks down like the dawn,
beautiful as the moon,
    bright as the sun,
        overwhelming as an army with banners?"  Song of Songs 6:8-10

"And behold, there was a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."  Matt 3:17

"...so he put a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.  And the king gave a great banquet, Esther's banquet, for all his officials and servants.  And he granted tax amnesty to the provinces and he gave gifts with royal liberality."  Est 2:17,18

Two things happen when Christ comes, our debts are forgiven!  The debt we owe the King.  The debt of allegiance that we never gave.  The debt of holiness we could never pay.  The king's ransom was paid by Christ himself, the second, better and truer Adam, the acceptable sacrifice.  And the King gives gifts!  "Now to each one of us was give this grace, according to the measure of Christ's gift.  Therefore it says, "Ascending on high he led captivity captive; he gave gifts to men."  Pentecost!  The Spirit that dwelt and rested on Christ is given now to all who call on and are called by His worthy Name.  

Esther 1: Call and Rejection

 "And when those days were completed, the king gave for all the people that were present in the citadel of Susa, both great and small, a banquet in the courtyard of the king's palace garden that lasted seven days... Esther 1:5

Maybe it was all the time i spent pondering the "two women" of Proverbs but this time i came to the book of Esther, i saw in it something i have never seen before.  An allegory.  A precursor.  A story that doesn't just tell of a time when the Jews were in dire peril and needed rescuing but, and this should really not surprise me at all by this point in my education, but a book that points directly to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Duh.  All the Bible tells that story!  Why wouldn't Esther?  

It began not with the two women though, but the thought, which comes from the Holy Spirit who whispers to us when we are fully engaged in studying His testimony, that this celebration of a king points to the banquet we all wait for... the Wedding Celebration of the Lamb.  The lavish descriptions of it's opulence, the incredulous length of time and preparation and supply it would have required, the regal generousness of it, the wealth, the liberal length of time for the feasting, the copious amounts of alcohol for merriment.  The openness of its guest list.  It's extravagant to the point of hyperbole!  Which can only point to the true feast which will have no end, to its time, to its food, to its libation, to its joy!  The feast which we lack the imagination to describe!

When that image struck me, it gave me a whole new lens to read the rest by.  

"On the seventh day, (a symbol of completeness, perfection, "at the fullness of time," "when the time was right,")

when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he said to [his] seven eunuchs attending King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown...Esther 1:10,11

The wife of God, the King.  The One who married Himself to His people.  He called His people.  He has always called.  One and not another, His and not another man's wife, the one to whom He bestowed the His own crown of glory.  Seth and not Cain.  Isaac and not Ishmael.  Jacob and not Esau.  His sovereign election.  "For what great nation has for it a god near to it as YHWH our God, when ever we call upon him?  And what other great nation has for it just rules and regulations just like this whole law that I am setting before you today?"  Deut 4:7,8

"However, take care for yourself and watch your inner self closely, so that you do not forget the things that your eyes have seen..." Deut 4:9

"But Queen Vashti refused to come at the word of the king...And the king became very angry, and his anger burned in him." Esther 1:12

The Queen, the wife of the king, refuses him.  Now much has been made in modern times to excuse her behavior, to validate Vashti and paint King Ahasuerus as the villain and who knows but some of it may be true but i doubt it, not because i don't doubt that the king was a sinner and could have had less than noble purposes for his wife, but because the reason the story is recorded for us is to tell the story of God.  And God's queen rejects him for the same reason every time, pride.  She knows what's best for her, not Him.  It's not enough for her to be queen, she must be king!  But what happens when the one chosen by God to be His rejects Him?  The world is watching.  It does not happen in a vacuum but is witnessed by the nations.  The kingdom of priests, consecrated to be ambassadors for the One True God and His salvation through His Son, corrupt their message and teach the nations a lie.  The two women of Proverbs comes back to me: Wisdom and the Harlot- the mother of all whores, the one "with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who live on the earth became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality."  Rev 17:2  One points us always, ever to God and His truth, the other, ever always away from Him.

"Not only has Queen Vashti done wrong to the king, but to all the officials and all of the people who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.  For this deed of the queen will be known to all the women, causing them to look with contempt on their husbands, as they will say, "King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him but she did not come!"  vs 16,17

The disobedience and faithlessness of God's people not only endangers themselves, but all the nations!  For if those to whom the special revelation came teach that God is to be treated with contempt, then who can be saved!  This is one reason why God had to so closely guard His holiness before the Ark when he killed Nadab and Abihu, when He broke out against Uzza, and when He cut down Ananias and Sapphira.  This is why apostasy cannot be treated lightly by God, it endangers His whole plan to save His people.  So God also rejects His queen when she rejects Him...

"If it pleases the king, let a royal edict go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of Persia and Media so that it will not be altered, that Vashti cannot come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to her neighbor who is better than she." v19

When the descendants of Abraham whom God called out of Egypt turned on Him at Kadesh and would not enter into the Land He had prepared for them, "As I swore in my anger, "They will never enter into my rest."" Heb 3:11  He gave them over to die in the desert and took in their children.  When Saul would not obey and in his foolishness and fear and persistent unbelief turned on Him, YHWH rejected him as king over Israel and gave his throne to David.  And when the "builders" rejected the "stone placed in Zion" they too were rejected and God called others, "And the king was angry and sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.  Then he said to his slaves, "The wedding celebration is ready, but those who had been invited were not worthy.  Therefore, go out to the places where the roads exit the city and invite to the wedding celebration as many people as you find."  And those slaves went out into the roads and gathered everyone whom they found, both evil and good, and the wedding celebration was filled with dinner guests."  Matt 22:7-10

"Then you will say, "Branches were broken off in order that I could be grafted in."  Well said!  They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand firm because of faith."  Rom 11:19,20

Proverbs 31: a bride adorned for her husband

 Proverbs 31

"A woman of excellence, who will find?

For her worth is far more than precious jewels."

i won't claim to know what it's like for godly women who read this chapter and only measure themselves against it. But i would imagine it is similar to how any of us who loves God and loves His law feels when we read the Beatitudes and realize what Christ's standards really are: "Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect." Or as James expounds upon it, "For whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles in one point only has become guilty of all of it." If we see Proverbs as only pithy sayings of how we should be, then we are the same as those who think their salvation is secured by keeping the law of God and proving ourselves acceptable. We are in short damned and we know it when we read these verses, because no matter how good we think we are, we know we are not perfect.

But this chapter is a bookend. Proverbs begins and ends with the description of a woman. An ideal woman. A symbolic woman. i have maintained all throughout that Wisdom is Jesus. And we could surmise that this too, here in chapter 31 is description of Jesus, His faithfulness, His goodness, His diligence, His provision, His work ethic, His loyalty, His generosity, His righteousness, His care for those He loves and for those in need and it is...

but that is because His Bride will be like Him. "You will be holy because I AM holy." Lev 19:2 "because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He should be the firstborn among many brothers." Rom 8:29 The church is the bride of Christ and when she is at her best, walking in His Spirit, abiding in Him, she will look like him, she will act like him, she will do His work here upon the earth. She will witness to him by everything she says and does, from suffering for His name sake, to her generosity with the prosperity He provides her. When we, who are the church, do this together, our Husband will be known at the gates in his seat among the elders of the land and he will praise us, "many daughters have done excellence, but you surpass all of them."

"Charm is deceit and beauty is vain,

(hypocrisy, doing good so people will praise us, so God will be in our debt)

but a (church) who fears (loves with all our mind, body and soul) YHWH shall be praised."

Proverbs 23: yeah, i didn't do all of them... maybe someday.

 Proverbs 23

Of the many unifying themes i see running through it, one that stood out to me today was, self control. Which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Whom the Father gives to those who believe in the Son. Which is wisdom. "Now if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask for it from God, who gives to all without reservation and not reproaching, and it will be given to him."

Proverbs 16: with a heavy dose of the rest of the Script(ture)

 Proverbs 16:6 By loyalty and faithfulness, iniquity will be covered over,

and by fear of YHWH one turns from evil.

Proverbs 9:10 The start of wisdom is fear of YHWH,

and knowledge of the Holy One, insight.

Matt 11:19, 25-30 But wisdom is vindicated by her children.

"I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, (Proverbs 16:2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but YHWH weights the spirit.) and have revealed them to young children. (Mark 10:15 For whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a young child will never enter into it.) Yes, Father, for to do so was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wants to reveal him. (John 14:6 I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.) Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, (Psalm 38:4 For my iniquities have passed over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. Matt 23:4 And they (pharisees and teachers of the law) tie up heavy burdens and put them on people's shoulders, but they are not willing with their finger to move them.) and I will give you rest. (Hebrews 4:3 For we who have believed enter into rest...) Take my yoke on you and learn from me, for I AM gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to carry and my burden is light."

Proverbs 16: 20 He who heeds the word wisely will find good,

and whoever trusts in YHWH, happy is he.

Proverbs 14 and 15: Works vs Grace

(So here our story takes a little turn.  As you may remember, or not, this foray into the Proverbs began with an invitation from my uncle on Facebook, open to the whole family to share in reading one chapter a day for all of January (Wouldn't be a bad idea in any month with thirty-one days, jes sayin')and then to share out thoughts on the Clan Facebook page.  But after my last post for chapter ten i think, my uncle and i got into a bit of a conversation about the meaning of the proverbs which was really about the meaning of the gospel.  How are we saved?  Do we need saving?  Or do we just need help?  You may notice my commentary becoming more  pointed from here on out.)  

14

"Fools mock the guilt offering,

but among the upright, it is favorable." 9

"There is a way that seems upright to a man,

but its end is the way of death." 12

"He who saves souls is a witness of truth,

but he who utters lies is a betrayer.

In the fear of YHWH, there is confidence of strength,

and for his children, there will be refuge.

The fear of YHWH is a fountain of life,

in order to turn from the snares of death." 25-27

15

"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination of YHWH,

but the prayer of the upright is His delight." 9

"From the light of the eyes, the heart will rejoice,

and good news will enliven the bones." 30

"Fear of YHWH is the instruction of the wise,

and before honor comes humility." 33

Are our deeds and righteousness the means of our salvation? The price we pay to enter heaven? The way we earn the favor of the Holy, Holy, Holy God? The thing we point to and say, here, here is my worth before You; You required perfection and i have brought it.

Or are they the result? Are they the gratitude and love naturally flowing from the heart of a slave set free? A lost soul given hope? A prisoner of sin, unable to stop himself, unable to help himself, now made a son of God by adoption through Jesus Christ's sacrifice on his or her behalf? Clothed in the beautiful robes, not of their own filthy rags of "righteousness" but of Jesus'! The only one who met God's standards.

more about mouths

 12 Hope that is deferred makes the heart sick,

but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

13 He who despises a word will bring destruction on himself,

but he who respects a commandment will be rewarded.

2 From the fruit of the mouth of a man, he shall eat what is good,

but the desire of the treacherous, wrongdoing.

So much of these shorter aphorisms focus on honesty and speech that i can't help but see and hear Jesus..."For from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person from his good treasury brings out good things, and the evil person from his evil treasury brings out evil things." Matt 12

So our words, the fruit of our lips, show even us, what is in our hearts. The treasury of our hearts. And where is our treasure? What is our desire? If it is for worldly things, even good things, then it will be filled with anxiety and envy and all kinds of strife because even good things are passing away and can be taken from us and cannot satisfy.

But if our eye is on the Light, then we are filled with light and truth and righteousness. If what we desire is to be wise, then we will listen to wisdom: respect a commandment, take advice, guard reproof, then we will "know", be one with, drink deep from the fountain of Life: Wisdom, and He has promised to fill us abundantly! The Tree of Life. These are not disconnected sayings...they are facets of our pearl of great price. And our mouth is testifying to us whether or not we know Him. If we do, we will sound like Him. If we do not...well, as the proverb my mom used to quote goes, garbage in, garbage out.

Proverbs ten: Out of the heart, the mouth speaks...

 "The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom,

    but a tongue of perversity will be cut off."  Proverbs 10:31

So very much of Proverbs deals with what we say.  How we speak.  Honesty is at the heart of all we do.  We who know the Truth, know wisdom, and to know is to be one with.  If we are one with He who is the Truth, then we speak truth.  Always.  No exceptions.  We who know Love, are one with Love, will speak in love.  The two are not exclusive.  Truth in love.  Always for the good of the other.  A truth that does not help, does not build up, does not exhort to greater love, we will hold.  For the wise knows when to be silent and when to speak.  

All of these proverbs i read back in January at the invitation of my uncle.  When i read this, the capitol riot was still fresh in my ears.  The rhetoric we have heard so much of was still fresh in my mind.  And i cannot help but wonder if we have no reaped what we have sown.