I’ve recently begun a study of the life of Queen Esther found in the Old Testament of the Bible. King Xerxes had a wife, Queen Vashti. During a drunken party King Xerxes called for his Queen to come and show her beauty to the party participants. It was during this late stage of the party that most of the wives had left and instead the concubines joined the party. It’s not said in the Bible exactly why the Queen disobeyed this order, but she didn’t come when summoned and the King was furious and had her banished from the kingdom. Turns out ‘ol King Xerxes missed the company of his Queen (and couldn’t have her come back as what he says is law) so he decided to find another wife. He called for a royal beauty pageant and had girls gathered from all over his kingdom to a 12-month beautifying process in his court. Esther, an orphan being raised by her cousin, was beautiful, and it’s said that she found favor with everyone she encountered during her year-long stay in the palace prepping to be given to the King for her one-night audition to become Queen. During her audition she won the favor and approval of the King more than the other girls and he made her Queen. The Bible doesn’t specifically say if God gave that favor (in fact God is not mentioned during the entire book of Esther), but I think it’s safe to say that God’s hand was in the choosing of Esther for Queen.
The Bible doesn’t tell us Esther’s feelings about her circumstances. Coming from the world of sexual assault advocacy, I can imagine that Esther felt violated by the lifestyle she was being forced to endure. Maybe she even wondered what God’s plan was for her life. Or, on the complete other hand, she might have been thrilled to have the attention of the most powerful man in the empire. She might have thought this was the best thing to ever happen to her. She was now surrounded by riches unimaginable. No matter Esther’s feelings on her new marriage and station in life the reality of the situation was submit or die. She chose submission.
During the first five years of marriage to King Xerxes, Queen Esther was the perfect woman. She complied with all the wishes of her husband, the king, and didn’t ever make waves. Queen Esther was Jewish descent and, having been warned by her cousin Mordecai who raised her after the death of her parents, to keep quiet about that part of herself, her husband was unaware.
Meanwhile, a Jew-hating man by the name of Haman was appointed prime minister of the empire. He and Mordecai had a run in because Mordecai refused to bow to Haman. During his work Mordecai uncovered a plot to assassinate the king and he told Esther about this conspiracy. Esther reported to King Xerxes all that she knew and gave the credit for the discovery to Mordecai. The act was thwarted, and Mordecai’s act of kindness was written down in the chronicles of the king. Following this event, because of his extreme hate for Mordechai and all the Jewish people, Haman convinced the king to issue a decree ordering the extermination of all the Jews. Through the influence of Haman, the king agreed to this plan. Again, Mordecai learned of the plot and shared it with Esther. Mordecai asked Esther to approach the king and tell him of her Jewish descent and ask him to call off the extermination. It was here where he said to her, “Perhaps this is the moment for which you were created.” Esther urged all Jews to fast and pray for deliverance and she made a plan. Approaching the king without being summoned could very well end in the king ordering you to your death, something Esther was aware of during her time at the palace. Esther summoned her courage and after putting on her royal robes approached the king in the court. The king was pleased and held out the gold scepter which said that he would allow her to speak … and to live. Queen Esther then invited the king and Haman to a series of feasts and during these feasts she revealed her Jewish heritage and Haman’s plot to have her and her people killed. The king, fully enraged, ordered Haman to be hung and promoted Mordecai to Haman’s high position and granted Jews protection throughout the land.
For the Jewish people of Persia all’s well that ends well.
There are many commentaries on the Internet of what you can take away from this book of the Bible. Different people see different valuable lessons or themes.
–Believe in yourself and know you have hidden powers – Esther’s hidden power (which is also the meaning of her name in Hebrew – hidden) is that she’s Jewish. After hiding her Jewish heritage at the suggestion of her cousin she pulls it out at just the right time and saves her people.
–Prepare to make sacrifices and be courageous – Esther 4:16 says, “… and if I perish, I perish.” Queen Esther knew that by going to her husband without being summoned she had a pretty good chance of being killed. To save her people and with prayer and fasting she decided to be brave and enter his courts.
The verse that stands out the most to me is Esther 4:14 – “Perhaps this is the moment for which you were created.” I’ve read many people saying this statement was said by Mordecai as part of “Jewish guilt” trying to guilt Esther into going to her husband to save the Jewish people. And, while I don’t disagree with this thought process, I see a bigger meaning. What if this was the moment for which Esther was created? I think about the moments for which I was created and, while I haven’t saved an entire people from annihilation, someone somewhere is thankful I am on planet earth.
My first thought goes to my marriage to Shawn and the birth of my children. The Liptak/Melf families are a unique bunch and I can’t imagine anyone of us being any different. I love each of them uniquely and wholeheartedly. I’ve created many beautiful photographs in my time as a photographer, and I can tell you just about any essential oil to cure you. During my work and life as a victim advocate I thought for sure that’s why I was put on this earth. My childhood/adolescent experiences prepared me well for empathy and compassion toward all the victims/survivors I worked with. Walking alongside someone during the worst moments of their lives and leading them to a path of wholeness was a privilege.
Then, I had a nervous breakdown in 2018 and that caused me to evaluate everything I held dear. So far, after much thought and study, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m created for this moment. The moment that I’m in right now with it’s ever changing ebb and flow of productivity and slothfulness. I’m okay when I’m killing myself working for the greater good and I’m okay sitting on my couch watching Netflix. This is the moment and I’m embracing it!
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