(Esther 1-10)
Hadassah: One Night with the King is a modernized, historical telling of the Biblical story of Esther, a young Jewish orphan raised by her uncle Mordecai after her parents death when she was just a young girl, who saves her people from an annihilation act that the King unknowingly signed into law after being tricked by Haman, an Amalekite who was part of one of ancient Israel's greatest foes.
But before we get into all of that let's start at the beginning when King Saul is sent out on a commandment from God to annihilate/ or wipe out the Amalekite "tribe".
Not long after King Saul's rise to power in Israel he is sent out with a command from God to completely wipe out the Amalekites one of ancient Israel's oldest foes.
Unfortunately, for future kings of Israel because of the lack of listening to/doing what God said they would have to deal with what King Saul couldn't/didn't want to do. That's where Hadassah (Esther) comes in, years later after her family is killed by those by those same Amalekites, and she's taken into her uncle's home. She is taken into the palace "contest" to compete to be the kings next queen. But instead of acting like the other girls, Hadassah (Esther) chose to focus on the King and what he would prefer rather than what she'd prefer.
A few weeks after she arrives at the palace Hadassah (Esther) is promoted by the Kings Chamberlain, Hegai as the chamberlain's favored candidate. She is moved to a larger suite and given seven handmaidens to serve her. As the chamberlain's favored candidate Hadassah (Esther) is to serve as an example to the other candidates in the "contest".
As the time for Hadassah (Esther) to go into the King draws near Hadassah (Esther) resolves to follow Hegai's advice/instruction to the letter, including what she'll wear, how she'll present herself to the King and so on.
When it was Hadassah (Esther)'s turn to go to the King, she presented herself to the King with grace and poise learned from her preparation's with Hegai. At the end of her night with the King, Hadassah (Esther) entered the Harem where the Concubine's lived on the grounds, and five days later was called into the throne room of the palace and crowned the new queen of Persia.
Even after her coronation, Hadassah (Esther) was not as protected as she thought she was, the symbol she had recalled from the horrifying events that had stayed with her since the night her family was murdered stayed with her and had begun to show up around the palace during the queen contest and now the leader of the group that had slaughtered her family when she was but a little girl, was now second-in-command of the kingdom of Persia.
Who is this man? His name is: Haman, part of the Amalekite tribe descended from the Amalekite King, Agag who was captured and killed during Saul's reign as King over Israel. As second-in-command to the throne, Haman now had access to the King and could put his evil plan of destruction towards the Jewish people in the kingdom into action. It was now up to Hadassah (Esther) to fulfill the biggest part of God's destiny in her life: To foil Haman's wicked plan and save her people from being slaughtered.
One morning Hadassah (Esther) is told of her dear papa/uncle Mordecai was wearing sackcloth and ashes and mourning, when she inquires why, he sends a message back to her along with a copy of the decree that all Jewish Men, Women, and Children will perish on the 13th day of Adar, along with a message to the queen requesting she go into the throne room and plead for the lives of their people. Hadassah (Esther) sent a message back saying have you forgotten that if anyone man or woman come unto the palace inner court who is not called by the King will be killed unless the King holds out his golden scepter to the person that they may live, but I've not been called unto the King the past 30 days. (Esther 4:11) and Mordecai's reply was this do not think that you will escape by being in the king's house, more than your people. For if you hold your tongue now deliverance for the Jews will arise from someplace else but you and your father's house will surely perish; and Hadassah (Esther) sent this commandment back to Mordecai "Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me don't eat or drink anything for the next three days, my handmaiden's and I will do the same. Then I will go into the King and if I perish, I perish." After three days Hadassah (Esther) put on her royal apparel and went into the King and when the King held out his scepter to her and she touched the tip of it and when asked by Xerxes what she requested; she requested the King and Haman come to a banquet that night and the next night.
I'm going to go ahead and skip ahead to what happened at the second banquet with the King and Haman because what happens here is an important part of the story.
On the night of the second banquet the King again asked Hadassah (Esther) what her request was, and was told this: "Let my life be given to me at my petition and my people at my request, for we are sold my people and I to be destroyed, had we only been sold I would've held my tongue, but the enemy could not countervail the king's damage. The King shocked asked "Who and where is the person that does this?" And Hadassah (Esther) replied "The enemy is this wicked Haman." Haman being afraid for his life fell on the couch where Hadassah (Esther) was reclining while the King was out to plead for his life. When the King came back in he brought with him several of the chamberlains and soldier's and they covered Haman's face and hung him on the gallows which had been prepared for Mordecai.
After electing Mordecai as the next Master of Audiences the King allowed a decree to be sent out to all the provinces that the Jews would be allowed to protect themselves and others from the evil that was coming on the 13th of Adar from Haman's wicked follower's. The 13-15 days are known as "Purium" in Hebrew it comes from the word "Pur" meaning the casting of the lot. It's a commemoration of the day of the Jewish destruction and rescue by Hadassah (Esther) and Mordecai's quick thinking and Careful planning.
And after all these years after King Saul's failure to destroy the Amalekite clan, Hadassah (Esther) stepped into her role and finally finished what King Saul started and her grief was finally avenged.
So what can we learn from Hadassah's (Esther's) story? We can learn to trust God in everything we do and believe that no matter what is happening God will take care of it in His timing. I hope you'll enjoy this story as much as I did.
God Bless!
No comments:
Post a Comment