Wednesday Worship

I promised Esther, and so here it is. Better late than never. :)

Most of you know Esther's story, but if you don't, here it is briefly.

Esther, a young Jewish girl, is summoned to take part in a search for a new Queen for King Xerxes.  He liked her and chose her as his queen. Haman, his second in command, hated Mordecai, Esther's uncle and also a Jew. In order to get rid of (kill) Mordecai, Haman came up with a plan to rid the land of all of the Jews. He had the misfortune of not knowing that Esther was a Jew.

Mordecai asked Esther to intervene. She didn't want to, but he convinced her. After three days of prayer and fasting, Esther approached the king without him calling for her. (What oourage!) He could have had her killed right then, but he did not.

She invited him and Haman to dinner, twice. On the second day, she told the king of Haman's plan. He stalked off and Haman, finding himself in a difficult position, fell at her feet to beg for his life. Unfortunately for him, the king returned at just that moment and was enraged to find Haman accosting the Queen. Haman was hanged.

But the problem of the fate of the Jews still hung in the balance. Esther again went before the king without him calling for her. (Shew - to do it once took courage, but to do it a second time? Wow.) She begged for the lives of her people. The king shrugged his shoulders (basically-a little writer's exaggeration there) and told her there was nothing he could do to stop it. Mordecai, who had been promoted after Haman's death, had an idea. Together they worked out a way to save the Jews and get rid of a few thousand people that hated them.

Most of this is familiar, but did you know Esther was the king's wife for more than four years before she approached him?

I did a little research and historians and theologians cannot agree who Esther was really married to, nor do they know if she ever had any children. Apparently there were several Xerxes in that time. Some think she wasn't even married to one of them, but someone else altogether. I say the Bible is not wrong, they may just have the wrong time frame.

Also from Esther the celebration of Purim was instituted. The Jews feasted and celebrated after their triumph over their enemies.

What a courageous woman.

Blessings,
Ginger

Ruth

As I said last week, my word for this year is courage. In that vein I asked God to show me courageous people in the Bible.

God led me to Ruth. It's a pretty short book, only four chapters.

Chapter 1: Naomi decides it's time to go home, back to Bethlehem. From the way it reads, it seems both of her daughters-in-law started the journey with her, or at least planned to. But only Ruth refused to leave Naomi and return to her homeland. Do you think it was easy to decide to leave the only land she knew, Moab, and travel to a land where she knew no one and would probably be looked down upon?

Chapter 2: They were two widowed women with no means of supporting themselves. Ruth took a bold step and asked for permission to glean Boaz's fields. According to one commentary I read, the overseer of the fields rarely had the authority to grant such a request without the permission of the owner, but this one did. Somewhere in the backstory, the part we don't get to see, Boaz found out about Ruth's sacrifice for Naomi.

Chapter 3: So now she has caught Boaz's eye, but he's apparently many years her senior and would not approach her for consideration of marriage. It seems he has also caught her eye, at least to me. Again in the backstory, Ruth must discuss this with Naomi. Naomi gives her a plan. Go, keep an eye on Boaz, and when he lays down to rest on the threshing floor, lay at his feet. Again according to a commentary I read, this is basically a way of informing Boaz that she is agreeable to marriage.

Chapter 4: Boaz must be happy about her "proposal" because he did what was necessary to be able to make her his wife.

Where is the courage? I see so much throughout this small portion of Ruth's life. She had the courage to follow her MIL to Bethlehem. She had the courage to ask permission to provide for herself and Naomi. She had the courage to approach Boaz, who could have easily rejected her offer.

She took several steps of faith - faith not only in Naomi, but also in God.

What other people in the Bible do you know that were courageous?

Blessings,
Ginger