Tom Jones sang..."Well she's all you'd ever want, She's the kind I'd like to flaunt and take to dinner. Well she always knows her place. She's got style, she's got grace, She's a winner. She's a Lady. Whoa whoa whoa, She's a Lady. Talkin' about that little lady, and the lady is mine..."
https://youtu.be/V43fGInXiLE
Esther. The origin Cinderella story. Song 7:8 sings "I will climb the palm tree and take hold of its fruit." May your breasts be like clusters of grapes, and the fragrance of your breath like apricots." So great was her willingness to lay down her life for her people that to this day there is a celebration in her honor called Purim. From Esther 9:22 "as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor."
A long time ago in a land not so far away a story played out of how the story of celebration of Purim came to be in the book of Esther. It celebrates Esther, an orphaned but oh so beautiful Jewess and her cousin, Mordecai, who raised her as his daughter. Esther was taken to King Xerxes to become part of his harem to replace the now disposed independent thinking Queen Vashti. Upon meeting Esther, King Xerxes knew that he loved her more than all others and made her his queen unknowing that his new bride carried a deep secret in her heart and that her beloved Mordecai had forbid her to reveal her true identity. She was indeed a hated and detested Jewess. Out of concern, Mordecai stood watch over her from the gates of the city each day.
As every good story has to have a villain, in comes Haman, an arrogant, egotistical advisor to the king who hated the Jewish people and forbid them to enter the city of the King. Haman hated Mordecai's refusal to bow and honor him from the gates and retaliated with a plea to the king "There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your realm. Their laws are different from those of every other people's, and they do not observe the king's laws; therefore it is not befitting the king to tolerate them." Esther 3:8. King Xerxes bestowed their fate to Haman, to exterminate them at his pleasure.
Alarmed, Mordecai persuaded Esther, "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?" Esther 4:13-14, to speak to the king to stop this upcoming massacre knowing that it was dangerous for her or anyone to approach the king without being summoned.
She agreed and fasted for three days to prepare herself. And relief! He welcomed her petition and agreed to attend the banquet in his honor. Whew! And according to Esther 7:1 "So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet, 2 and as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.” Awww... true love!
As she asked her husband to grant favor that she and her people would be spared of Haman's plot to kill all Jews for money, her beloved King, said "But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.” Esther 8:8 and Haman and his ten sons were subsequently executed in the manner they had set aside for Mordecai and yay! the Jews were saved.
As was custom, "That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her." Esther 8:1. Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held is high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews. Esther 10:3.
And to this day, Purim, a Jewish holiday, commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman and celebrates the bravery of Esther. And this is called 'Good Things Come in Threes. The glass slipper represents Esther herself and is filled with the wine of celebration. A gift filled basket is given out freely to friends and charities as well as representing the demise of Haman and his ten sons. It is enhanced by the blue for the robe given to Mordecai, first in an attempt at humiliation and finally in honor. Add in the apricots to sweeten your day as the symbol of encouragement as providing encouragement is our role as Christians. In the Bible, “encouragement” means to inspire with courage or hope, to give help, to lift a person’s confidence, or to strengthen their purpose. And oh what a purpose Esther and Mordecai had and carried out!
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