May 08 2016 40 mins 1
Esther details God's providential plan to rescue the Jews from near extermination through the courageous obedience of a young Jewish woman named Esther. The book opens in Chapter 1 with a drunken dinner party thrown by King Xerxes of Persia for his military leaders, nobles, and officials. When he calls for his wife, Queen Vashti, to entertain his drunken guests by parading herself as a sexual object, she refuses. It will cost her the throne. She will be deposed (and perhaps even killed, although the Bible doesn't say so) for refusing the king. Why was she so willing to lose everything-her status, her fame, her fortune, her crown, and perhaps even her life? Answer-to protect her dignity. Join Pastor Gary in this Mother's Day intro to the book of Esther entitled, "The Dignity of Women."
