Hello Beautiful People!
Time for Day Five! Please remember to hashtag #EstherChallenge when you tweet about it. In addition, email estherchallenge@outlook.com with your notes for each chapter, or a summary and I will put it up on this blog page.
DAY FIVE- CHAPTER FIVE
Main People in this Chapter:
- Queen Esther
- Mordecai
- King Aha
- Haman (aka Hitler)
- Zeresh (Haman’s wife)
CHEEKY SUMMARY by Kanayo: After 3 days of prayer and fasting Esther goes to the King who welcomed her with his gold sceptre. The King offered Esther half of his kingdom without her even asking, no need for Prenuptial back then! ! *Touch your neighbour and say FAVOUR*. Esther invited the King to her banquet and requested that Haman attends. The King sent for Haman who was excited about the Queen’s invitation. At the banquet, the King insisted in knowing what Esther’s request was, she said that she would tell Him at dinner tomorrow with Haman as a special guest. Haman was still in high spirits about the banquet but on the way to boast to his wife and friends he saw Mordecai wailing at the King’s gates and Mordecai still did not bow down to Him. This vexed Hitler…Haman so His wife and friends suggested that Mordecai be hanged on on 75 feet gallows!
WHAT I LEARNED FROM THIS CHAPTER:
- ESTHER WAS STILL FAVOURED. Look at how the King was ready to give her half of his kingdom and she didn’t have to say anything! FAVOUR. (Verse 3)
- ESTHER SPOKE WITH RESPECT TO A MAN WHO DESERVED VERY LITTLE RESPECT. “If it pleases the king,” replied Esther (verse 4)
- ESTHER WAS TACTFUL, SHE DIDN’T RUSH THINGS. Esther could have made her request there and then, but I guess she didn’t want to rush. She was tactful and probably wanted to gauge the attitudes of both men before presenting her request. Smart thinking. Too often we rush into things, there is no harm in taking ones time!
- A BAD WIFE IS LIKE CANCER TO THE BONES. Zeresh is an example of Proverbs 12:4, what sort of wife encourages such evil? Please all the ladies reading this, let us add glory to our husbands, let us be wise and pure in heart. Do not condone or encourage evil!
WHAT EVERYONE DOING THE ESTHER CHALLENGE THINKS:
Favour immeasurable!! Not once, but TWICE did the King offer to give Esther up to HALF of his kingdom. Amazing!!!! As you also pointed out, Zeresh is an example of how we shouldn’t use our power of influence for evil.
-@retrobeats
So now, we see that Esther is prayed up and ready to go and again is she is favoured by the king. But see how not everyone can stand in the king’s inner court or presence? We too need to be careful with who we allow into our inner court. “Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits.” (1 Corinthians 15:33 NKJV) We need to be guarded and wise in who we let into close proximity to us. Even Christ Himself only had three disciples in His inner court; Peter, James and John! Im glad we are free to go to the throne room of our King – no restrictions! We’re free to worship and commune with Him!!
We know that Esther could have done what she wanted right there and then, but she decided to test the waters first. Take note of her patience… at the same time remember that her fast was not even complete. She probably ended it at the banquet she set for the King and Haman. She didn’t need to give Haman any reason to be suspicious, and quite frankly, she didn’t. If anything she completely ‘gassed’ him and gave him such a false sense of importance. It’s quite funny to be honest because I’m thinking; “DUDE! If only you knew what was coming, yeah?!”
Haman is out of hand to be frank. He is seemingly walking in favour and wealth and because ONE man refuses to obey him, he allows himself to be agitated and unhappy. He needs to check his contentment issues and let his prideful nature go.. He’s helping me understand that pride will prevent you from being content and just make you unnecessarily bitter. Haman’s wife is a PROBLEM. Her influence on her husband is a negative one. Ladies! We must desire to be excellent influences on our husbands. Proverbs 12:14 comes to mind; “An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.” (ESV) – @GenieBaybee
Esther’s approach to King Aha was by grace, most of us would probably allow our emotions to control us and come barging in twisting our necks demanding all sorts, but Esther presented her self well, she put on her royal robes and approached the king, instead of her being punished for her intrusion she was welcomed instead. I can’t imagine the fear, anger and frustration that could have been swirling around in Esther’s head, but this was a God fearing women, she knew how to approach King Aha and she did it with peace.
Bible says “whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”, Proverbs 16:32 ESV
Our emotions can sometimes lead us to destruction, and as women it can be difficult to set them aside and do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. But understand that the fruit of the spirit is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;..” Galatians 5:22-23 ESV. My prayer point is to always walk in the spirit and not of the flesh. And for me I can see Esther did it so well in this chapter.
We can truly see the wickedness of Haman, he is in a position most people would crave for instead of being humble he boasts in what he has and he’s invitation with the King and Esther, even after all that pride still has his heart because that is still not enough for him as long as Mordecai is at the king’s gate, he remained displeased till his wife Zeresh and friends suggested to bring out a pole 50 cubits high for Mordecai’s head. We can see how haman’s heart is wicked, bible says “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;Who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9 If we allow our flesh to take control and starve our spirit man it can lead us to sin e.g pride. – @LamiSimpson
I'm really loving this EstherChallenge. So far, it's taught me that being obedient and submissive does not mean you are weak!! Chapter 5 shows us Esther's strength and intelligence in Action. I adore the LOVE the king has for Esther. So much so that he is willing to give her half of his kingdom. I relate it to Gods Love for us since He is willing to give us his entire kingdom for eternity as long as we are obedient to his word! (Can you imagine God loving us the way the King loves Esther?) Chai!! Being PATIENT, is not something that we can do these days; let alone being patient with an 'enemy'. Even though Haman has being a cockroach from day one, Esther still managed to entertain him. Not once but twice; not because she is weak but because she is being DILIGENT with her plans. She knows exactly what she wants and how to get it! (In the face of trouble, be slow to act) Who remembers the story of John the Baptist, when King Harods wife ordered his head? Esther could have easily done that, but she didn't; she is KIND. Can we just take a moment to pray for the kind of FAVOR Esther has!! (Father, favor me please. Amen!) We've seen the presence of favor in all 5 chapters concerning Esther. I mean from God, from the King, from Mordecai, from Hegai....'who God has blessed, no man can curse'. O tan! Finally, PRIDE and JEALOUSY are two of the seven deadly sins! Haman, posses these two (we'll see in further chapters how these affects him). I find it quite hilarious how Haman is so proud of his achievements yet gets so jealous by Mordecai and affected by his lack of respect to him! He even listened to the advise of his wicked family by plotting to have Mordecai killed!!! It's not that serious abeg!! When we think about Jesus, the Jews were jealous of his miracles + the amount of attention he was attracting and out of jealousy, they crucified him....till this day, they suffer the consequences of actions! In relation to Haman, (as we will see in chapter 6) I reckon that if you act out of jealousy, you will be hurting yourself more than the other person!! Be blessed Chinaza @NwataMiss
Chapter 5 shows us that there is no limit to God's favour here we see the King offering to grant Esther anything that she wants. Once again she is being blessed and admired by the King, if we want a man that does this to us we should be obedient and submissive like Esther. - @TolaniMarie
Summary of events, Esther prays and takes her request to the king(Jesus), Haman on the other hand ask for guidance from his friends(the world view) and lets his selfish pride and emotions get in the way of him and the king. I think the way Esther approaches the king is a perfect example of how we as individuals and the church should approach our King when we go to Him in prayer. She went to the king with boldness but humble, she knew she could be killed, but she trusted God and went in the king’s court!
Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace… She was able to do this after 3 days of fasting and prayer, cleansed after confessions of sin, and prayers of thanks and for strength I believe is what she would have been praying for.
She went to him boldly. Hebrews 4:16 says~16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Esther went to king’s throne room boldly knowing that she might be killed. The king was pleased by this, he was pleased to see his queen, like our King Jesus would be pleased to see us (the church, His bride, His queen or as individuals) come to Him boldly before his presence.
She was humble. Luke 11:9-10 says~ 9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks will receive, and he who seeks will find, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Mark 11:24 says~24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
7 Then Esther answered and said, “My petition and request is this: 8 If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request. That would be the same as us praying if it be Your will Lord answer my prayers.
Haman was invited to dine with the king, but let his pride be a stumbling block, which prevented him from staying in the presence of the king and ended with him paying for his actions with death. So sad that we as people allow our pride, greed, or whatever it may be to get between us and our King Jesus, hopefully we can learn the right way to take our needs and prayers to Jesus the way Esther does and not fall into the trap that Haman did. Esther is the perfect example of what a modern day Christian should be. – @Jcmalacy
Courage and faith,these are qualities Esther possessed, moving back to chapter 4…we see that Esther declared. A prayer and fasting session she acknowledged the fact that the God she served was alive and would save her people and her!! Now that’s FAITH!!..she steadfastly obeyed him by seeking his face in prayer…she needed his consent on how to go about the matter,she was a queen but she was humble enough to realize that it was for God’s purpose ,so many of us including me are very fast-forward..we want to be independent even in the presence of God…our earthly decisions makes us vulnerable and fearful but with a Go-ahead from god we are bound to achieve the unachievable.
However,esther with God on her side graced into the presence of the king without being summoned but was still favoured and listened to..it was all God!!!!!…
Hadassah knew she had to trust and obey her maker. her request was made and the king couldn’t decline..she was covered by the glory of the Almighty…Esther got the ball rolling
You don’t expect God to help you if you refuse to be humble..you must receive foolishness as a title and acknowledge him as the wisest in his presence always…..Proverbs1:7(message translation) “Start. With God-the first step in learning is bowing down to God,only fools thumb their noses at such Wisdom and learning
…Esther saw herself as nothing in God’s eyes but God made her one of the greatest Queens that ever lived and is still spoken off till this present day….@saved_nicolee
Favour immeasurable!! Not once, but TWICE did the King offer to give Esther up to HALF of his kingdom. Amazing!!!! As you also pointed out, Zeresh is an example of how we shouldn’t use our power of influence for evil.
-@retrobeats