Live Free with Josh Howerton - Esther's True Beauty | Ep. 191 | Monday, October 30, 2023

Episode Date: October 30, 2023

Join us as we binge another story from the Old Testament: Esther. King Xerxes of Persia threw a party that lasted for months which ended in the banishment of the queen. Xerxes went on a hunt for a new queen and a beauty pageant was held with girls from all over the kingdom. Esther, a lowly Jewish girl, got swept up into the festivities and won the heart of the king. Tune in as Pastor Mike teaches through the story. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, what's up? Thanks for joining us on the Daily Drive. I know that some of you listen while you're working out, some of you while you're walking, or maybe you're eating breakfast, sitting on the porch, getting ready for bed or driving on the way to work or school. So wherever you may be listening today, so glad we get the hang for just a few minutes. My name is Mike Bro, and we've been doing some binge watching together, not on Apple TV or Prime or Netflix, but from the pages of the Bible. Just some great stories that really do read like a mini-series. And we're just breaking them down. in the five-minute episodes and binge-watching or binge-listening the entire week. And last week we went through the amazing story of a guy named Jonah,

just an incredible story of God's amazing grace. If you missed any of it, you can go back and catch it. And I'd like to start binge-watching another series today. This one is actually an incredibly cool one, one of my favorites. It's the story of a brave woman named Esther, and man, is it riveting drama? one of those when you're watching and the episode ends, you turn to whoever you're watching it with, you say, you got one more in you?

You ever do that like a one o'clock in the morning? Now, you can read the whole story from the Old Testament section of the Bible, even pull up your scripture app or open a Bible to the book of Esther and just follow along as we go, and I hope he'll do that. But man, this one has got it all. Wild parties, beauty pageants, murder conspiracy, social networking, defiance, challenge, risk, courage, egos, plotting, planning, brilliant,

triumph, defeat, twist, and turns. I mean, there is nothing boring about this girl's story. And we're going to try to watch all eight episodes together, and we're going to try to cram in the first two today. They're pretty short. You can binge watch the entire series in about 30 minutes. But here we go, so grab your remote, episode one, the hangover.

The beginning of chapter one tells us that King Xerxes is in power over 127 provinces. He was the ruler in the time of the Persian Empire, the most powerful empire in the world at the time, which would make him, you guessed it, the most powerful man in the world at the time, and he knew it. And being the most powerful man in the world, he knew how to do a lot of things, including throw a party. And episode one begins with King Xerxes throwing a party for all of his officials,

all the nobles, all the military leaders, all the princes, everybody who was anybody was there. I mean, this was the bash of all bashes. And it wasn't like a one-night bender. It says this in verse four. For a full 180 days, he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of His Majesty. And you think you've pulled some all-nighters? This part of the Zerxes threw, in honor of himself, lasted half the year.

And if 180 days wasn't long enough, when it was all over, the king throws another seven-day banquet for everybody in the city of Susa. And by the king's edict, no limits were placed on drinking. Now, usually invited guests could only drink when the king gave them a toast, but not this week. Everybody's invited, open bar, everyone was wasting away again in Margaritaville. And on the last day of the event it says this, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, you think? After 186-day kegher, he sends some of his men to go get the queen, Queen of Vashty, and bring her out wearing the royal crown, and nothing but the royal crown. because, it says, he weren't at the nobles and all the other men to gaze on her beauty, for she was a very beautiful woman.

I mean, how sick is that? May any of you wives be down with that? Well, King Vashti isn't either, so when they go to get her, she refuses to come, and this makes the king furious. So he goes to his advisor to figure out what he ought to do with Queen Vasty for disobeying his order, and they suggest that he have Vastey banished and say, you ought to give her royal position to somebody else, who's better than she is, and you know what they meant by better. And so they propose that a search should be made for all the young, beautiful virgins in every province of Xerxes realm, bring in the best, give them beauty treatments, and then let the girl who pleases the king be the new queen.

Verse four says, this advice appealed to the king, I bet, and he followed it, which brings us to episode two, the bachelor. So we've got all these beautiful young women being rounded up and brought to the citadel of Susa. I can only imagine how many. And check this out, verse 12, chapter 2. Before a girl's turn came to go into King Xerxes, she had to complete 12 months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of mer and six with perfumes and cosmetics. Twelve months is a long time to get ready.

And this wasn't like getting to go on a really great extended spa retreat. There was a lot of pressure on these girls, lots of pretty girls and one, place, all trying to get the same crown, the same rows. I mean, think about the jealousy, the competition, the backstabbing, the comparison going on. I mean, this was made for reality TV. And this guy is not even a bachelor. Well, among this group of young women is a girl named Esther, a Jewish orphan who has been raised by her cousin Mordecai. Now, Mordeca is a Jewish man that was taken captive from Jerusalem under the Babylonian rule of King Nebuchadzezor. He is one of just many displaced Jewish people. They're no longer in captivity, but they're not really at home anywhere either.

They're just scattered all throughout the region. Verse 7 says, when her mother and father died, Mordecai adopted her into his own family and raised her as his daughter. He loves this girl. And verse 11 says that after Esther had been taken to the palace, every day that Mordecai would take a walk through the courtyard of the heron, he tried to find out about Esther and what was happening to her. So you can see Mordecai is a really good dude. And I know that there are some of you listening today that are like him. You stepped in and stepped up as a stepdad or a stepmom. Or as a grandparent, you raised your grandkids.

Are you the kind of aunt or uncle who was just like a parent? Or you teach, are you coach, or you mentor young boys and girls? And I just got to say to you all, what a hero you are to me. Thank you for the sacrificial way you love and give and just try to make a difference in a young life. Mordecaus stepped up when it mattered in Esther's life. So he cares deeply about her and he feels like it's his duty to protect her, and that's why he instructs Esther to keep her family secret of Jewish heritage a secret. And so she does.

Then it says this in verse 15. Of all the young women brought the susan, Esther, just as she was, won the aberration of everyone who saw her. Now I love that phrase, just as she was. She wasn't trying so hard. she just radiated from the inside out. And I don't know, maybe that's a good word for all of us. Esther, just as she was, won the admiration of everyone who saw her, including the king.

Now it's been four years since the night he banished Queen Vashti, and I'm sure there were hundreds, thousands of beautiful young girls he could have chosen in those four years. But it was finally Esther, who wins his favor. And verse 17 says, for he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen, instead of Ashty. At the end of the day, Esther, this Jewish orphan raised by her displaced cousin, maybe the most unlikely,

was the one who was handed the rose, the crown. Now, unlike Cinderella, the story doesn't end there for Esther with a, and they lived happily ever after. No, no, no. The plot thickens for this humble orphan girl turned queen. Come back tomorrow and we will dig in episode three. But today I pray that your inner beauty, your inner handsomeness,

would be on display and give glory to the one who made you. See you back tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you,

would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out? For more information about all digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.compt.combe.