Favor
When I was a teenager decades ago, I read the 66 books of the Bible – the Old and the New Testaments. It was a great spiritual experience for me; I loved reading them. The Bible became more interesting to read when I found out that there were two books that have women's names as titles: the books of Ruth and Esther. The latter was a story about a young woman who lived in ancient Persia. You are probably aware of how teenagers develop crushes. My crush was on a Jewish Persian Queen who lived more than 2000 years ago. I imagined meeting a beautiful young queen who risked her life to save God's people.
I felt sad when I read the background of Esther's life, but at the end of the story, I was stunned to see how amazing God’s plan was, for her and through her. She came from a Hebrew family. She was named 'Hadassah', which means 'myrtle.' Her parents died when she was a little child. As an orphan, she was adopted and raised by her older cousin, Mordecai. What an unfortunate girl Hadassah was. She was 'nobody,' but turned out to be 'somebody' because of God's FAVOR in her life at the end of the day. I was attracted to her in my imagination because she was beautiful, devout, and resourceful. It caused me to be addicted to reading her book, and eager to know how this humble woman became a queen.
The story of Esther took place during the reign of King Xerxes I of Persia, primarily in the King's palace in Susa, the capital of the Persian Empire. Vashti, the queen, was a beautiful and charming lady. The King was proud of her, and pleased that she was his queen. One day the King threw a lavish party. He was eager to display his wife's beauty to his guests. On the final day of the festivities, he called for his queen to come into the ballroom. Unexpectedly, the queen refused to appear before the King and his guests. Upon hearing this, the King’s heart was filled with anger. He deposed Vashti and removed her from the palace forever. What to do next? He needed somebody to replace Vasthi in the royal seat. Xerxes hosted a royal beauty pageant to find a new queen. Esther, a simple but beautiful descendant of Hebrews, was chosen for the throne.
"I imagined Esther must be surprised when the King stretched out his scepter to her - signaling his choice upon her. She could not believe her eyes to see the reality; she thought it was kind of impossible that the great King chose her, a foreigner, to be the queen of the great empire. Esther received a FAVOR from the King to make her his queen, but not only that, she received a FAVOR from God as well. I imagine Esther could not sleep that night because of the excitement of being chosen as a queen and thinking how amazing God is to give her a FAVOR that not many women had such the opportunity.
I found two overriding subjects in the book of Esther: 1). The FAVOR of God is at work in the lives of His people, in this case in Esther's life. He uses His sovereignty to execute His plans and purposes through Esther. Therefore, we can trust the Lord's sovereign care over every facet of our lives; 2). In His FAVOR, God raised Esther to be a means of deliverance for His people from destruction. This shows that God can deliver and save His children all He wants.
Ellen White wrote, "God's true people have learned by experience as well as by the word of inspiration that prosperity and learning and worldly honor are no evidence of the FAVOR of God. The life of Christ, the Captain of our salvation, teaches the lesson that on earth the true church cannot enjoy the FAVOR of a wicked world." Signs of the Times, August 9, 1883, par. 8.
Like Esther, we can surely obtain God's FAVOR as long as we dedicate our lives to Him.
Hiskia Missah
Editor
