Esther
(2006 version, Tiffany Dupont)
Are you surprised it isn't Eve? I'm not going in chronological order. I just find people don't pay the story of Esther much attention or don't look for the lessons it teaches us as human beings. The Book of Esther consists of a mere 10 chapters and takes place during Persian rule under King Ahasuerus (who Esther later marries).
For those not well versed in Biblical/Jewish history, the Israelites were brought into captivity of the Persian empire (Daniel ring a bell?). King Cyrus eventually came to the throne and realized God was great and he had to let the Jews go back to rebuild Jerusalem. Now since the Jews were now free, many went back to rebuild the temple and city. But a number of Jews stayed behind. Ezra, Nehemiah, etc. all cover the journey of Jews to Jerusalem. But Esther is the descendant of one of the Jews that stay in Persia.
Even if King Cyrus liked the Jews and their God, many Persians did not. After King Cyrus passed, kings came and went until Ahsuerus/Xeres comes to the throne. The Book of Esther begins with a feast. Xeres and his chamberlains/advisors are drunk, completely smashed. In his drunken state he orders for his beautiful wife, Queen Vashti, to wear the royal crown and appear before the men. Knowing that he was not in his right mind she doesn't obey. Angry and embarrassed she did not obey, Xeres becomes angry and his advisors tell him that word will get out that Vashti refused to obey him and now women all over the empire would start disobeying their husbands. Mind you, this was more than just a couple hundred years ago so don't get your feminist panties in a bunch. It's cultural.
So Vashti is no longer queen and they try to find another, selecting young beautiful virgins to live in the palace and hope the king likes on of them enough. Trying to protect her, Mordecai (Esther's relative) tells her not to tell anyone she is Jewish since they aren't liked. Esther is not a Jewish name, it's Persian or what they called back then 'pagan'. Her original name was Haddassh which means Myrtle in English. But she goes by the name Esther once she enters the palace.
Whether it was a love story or not, the king finds favor with Esther. She is crowned queen and everyone is happy. Until Haman, the king's right hand man, who has an incredible hatred toward Jews (I can explain why if people would like to know) tricks the king into signing a decree allowing people to kill Jews and take their possessions. Mordecai finds out and notifies Esther (no one knows she is Jewish) and comes the famous verse.
"Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
Again comes the faith, believing that God put Esther there to save the Jewish people. Whether you believe it or not it was a pretty good position to be in. So Esther tells Mordecai to tell the Jews to fast and pray for three days and she will go to the king UN-SUMMONED (punishable by death) and "If I perish, I perish."
And here comes the fascination with Esther. She's an ordinary girl but gets whisked away to live with the king and eventually becomes queen. But what breaks my heart is that she doesn't go to the king right away when hearing the news, she prays and fasts. Esther's human. Even back then, they had the same emotions, same fears and Esther needed to gather her courage.
It's her bravery and her courage that capture my heart and renews my faith not just in God but in people.
Spoilers: The king lets her come in the court, she admits that she is a Jew, Haman the evil man is hanged and now all the Jews celebrate Purim to commemorate the bravery of Esther. A woman.
MOVIES THAT DO THE BOOK JUSTICE:
One Night with the King (2006): Beautiful soundtrack, great casting, more Hollywood though in terms of drama but sticks with the written work
Esther (1999): It is much more accurate than the 2006 version, I definitely find this much more appropriate to watch on Sabbath or during youth group.
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