Yet Another Call

Can two walk together without an agreement? God is not man to be served on our terms and conditions. No matter how great and mighty the promises are they will all be recieved through a process. No amount of manipulation or cajoling will make Him okay us without the process He had laid down. Thus, no matter what we go through which the Bible calls ‘light afflictions’, once we remain in Him these blessings and more will come to pass in our lives. Esther 1:1-end gives a vivid description of the relationship some children of God have with the Lord. Verse 7 of that Scripture describes the might, wealth and generosity of the King’s heart. With all this wealth, his greatest joy and treasure is the Queen! So are we in the Heart of the Most High God. Despite the display and the glory of the sun and the starry hosts in Psalm 19:1-6, Psalm 8:3-9 shows that man is the crowning glory of all that the Lord God created. No wonder He gave man the utmost gift, to dominate all that He had created. But what do men do instead? Verse 9 describes it clearly: “Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women of King Ahasuerus’ palace.” Despite the fact that everyone was invited, she chose to run with her own agenda (Isaiah 29:15-16). What agenda are you running that goes contrary to the Lord’s concerning your job, ideas, marriage, finances, plans and ambitions? So many hide under the notion that since man is a ‘free-spirit being’, they could do whatever seemed right to them! Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift – not from works, so that no one can boast.” As children of God, we don’t belong to ourselves neither can we draw up contrary plans to the plans God has in store for us. We need to access and hang on every instruction He gives to us if we claim to be in His presence. Ephesians 2:10 puts it more aptly: “For we are His creation – created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.” There is a work prepared ahead of time for us to do and it is a GOOD WORK! When the King requested the presence of the Queen to display her beauty and glory for all to see, her true self (stubborn and opinionated) showed which belied her beauty and glory. She forgot that it was not her beauty that neither brought nor kept her in the palace in the first place but the grace of the king and the pleasure he derives from her. Suddenly, she was no longer available to her king but available for other things. What instruction has the Lord impressed upon your heart that you are trying to wriggle out from because it is not convenient? Remember, as we abide in His presence, our lives carry the essence of His divine aroma that the world smells: “But thanks be to God, who always puts us on display in Christ, and spreads through us in every place the scent of knowing Him.” (2Corithians 2:14). We lose the fragrance when we refuse to come to Him daily. Just like Queen Vashti, once we refuse to come into His presence we lose relevance. Friend, dust the files of your heart and carry out ALL the instructions that He had given to you. Your whole existence as a child of God is to declare the praises of He that had called you out of darkness into His marvelous Light. God bless you.

Comments

  1. Vashti gets a bad rap. Many people use her example to encourage wives to submit to sin, foolishness, or destructive behavior. They place all of the responsibility to submit on the wife's shoulders. Yet, they place little to no responsibility on the husband to submit to God and love his wife like Christ loved the church and died for it.

    The idea of a wife submitting to her husband was not a new one. It had been taught from Genesis throughout the Bible. When Paul taught about a wife’s duty to submit to her husband, he was merely recapping an age old teaching. However, he had to spell it out for husbands. (Ephesians 5:25-32) This was a revolutionary concept for husbands. It had never been taught like that before. Some might say “love your neighbor as yourself” had been taught before (Luke 10:27). But that was the problem. Husbands were expressing love for their neighbors outside of the home, while regarding their wives as mere maids and sex objects.

    The king did this to Vashti. She refused to submit to his foolish and drunken request.
    Jewish tradition says that he instructed her to appear nude.(Research Purim to confirm the nudity issue). She valued modesty and would not promote lustfulness. She believed that a wife’s beauty should be reserved for her husband only. The king’s friends were angered by her refusal and encouraged the king to exile Vashti, and he did.

    This is a prime example of how many husbands use their position of power to abuse defenseless wives. It’s also an example of how many husbands express love for their neighbors and friends outside the home, while treating their wives with utter cruelty. This is a perfect example of why Paul needed to spell out (Ephesians 5:25-32) for husbands.

    Bathsheba - another woman who had been the victim of a king's abuse of power - gave Solomon this wise advice:

    It is not for kings, O Lemuel, to guzzle wine. Rulers should not crave alcohol. For if they drink, they may forget the law
    and not give justice to the oppressed.
    Pro 31:4-5

    That's exactly what happened between Vashti and the King. He got drunk and forgot his duty to love, honor, and protect his oppressed wife.

    Like David, Ashasuerus did have some redemptive qualities. That's why God used him and gave him a second chance. He was remorseful for the way he had treated Vashti. He learned from his mistakes and treated Esther better than he treated Vashti. He also made a decree with Haman to kill the Jews. When he realized how egregious that decree was, he rectified it. He did in that situation what he had failed to do concerning Vashti. People who learn from their past mistakes are an inspiration.

    God is our King (Ps 145:1). However, I do not believe that King Ashasuerus is an analogy or metaphor for God/Christ as King.

    Ashasuerus was a man given to alcoholism and lewdness - asking his wife to flaunt her beauty in front of other drunken men potentially causing them to lust. God never demands such things from us. That would go against everything else the Bible teaches about modesty and the dangers of being drunk on wine.

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    1. Very true!!! We have been priviledged to be used to teach exactly that you wrote about. When the Lord impressed this topic in our hearts, one of the scriptures He used, in fact the main text was the Esther chapter 1 story. The beauty about God's Word is that it is fresh ALL THE TIME. The same message on marriage, he can use to teach holiness in service to Him. The Holy Spirit gives the interpretation at all times. We MUST approach the Word of God daily devoid of former ideas so we could be filled afresh. For example, the way He taught you faith yesterday maybe totally different today. All geared towards maturing the man in the things of God. Did not mean the earlier teachings on faith was wrong!!! One thing we have come to realise is ALL SCRIPTURE IS INSPIRED BY GOD AND IS PROFITABLE FOR TEACHING, FOR REBUKING, FOR CORRECTING, TOR TRAINING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, SO THAT THE MAN OF GOD MAY BE COMPLETE EQUIPPED FOR EVERY GOOD WORK - 2Timothy 3:16-17. If our hearts do not open to the teachings of the Holy spirit we might miss the message altogether. For example, God told Job's friends they were foolish in all they spoke about Him does not mean the Holy Spirit does not refer to the Book of Job when speaking to us. The essence of the teaching on 'Yet Another Call' is for children of God to stand up from their lethargy and lackadaisical attitude towards the things of God and walk in dilligent and devoted step with the Master and not in their own agenda. God bless you.

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