
“Esther”
Winning a beauty contest positioned her to avert a pogrom to wipe out the Jewish people. God raises up people like Esther in each generation to deliver His people, culminating in the greatest redemption: through Yeshua.
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Caption transcript for Divine Deliverance: “Esther” (11/12)
- 00:01 Kirsten Hart: God handpicked
- 00:04 a young, teenage girl to save and rescue his people.
- 00:06 Learn about this extraordinary woman today on
- 00:09 "Zola Levitt Presents."
- 00:11 ♪♪♪
- 00:17 male announcer: From the beginning, our Creator revealed
- 00:19 his will to the common man.
- 00:22 Individuals listened to his call and responded in obedience, from
- 00:28 the first Hebrew Avraham to the culmination of salvation in
- 00:33 Messiah himself, the Lord faithfully intervenes with his
- 00:38 divine deliverance.
- 00:43 ♪♪♪
- 00:49 David Hart: Shalom, friends, and thank you for joining us
- 00:51 today on "Zola Levitt Presents."
- 00:52 I'm David Hart.
- 00:53 Kirsten: I'm Kirsten Hart. Jeffrey Seif: Jeffrey Seif.
- 00:56 David: It's all about Esther today.
- 00:58 What a great story of Esther.
- 01:01 Kirsten: It is, and I've just gotta say, I'm a woman, I'm a
- 01:03 girl, I think that's obvious.
- 01:05 Jeffrey: No!
- 01:06 Kirsten: Right?
- 01:07 But this is a little bit rough for me.
- 01:09 I know we talk about beauty treatments, but she was a young,
- 01:12 teenage girl, snatched out of her home, taken to a palace,
- 01:16 and she never knew if she'd even go back home.
- 01:17 It was--
- 01:18 Jeffrey: Keep talking, girl.
- 01:20 Like, what do I know about women?
- 01:21 You tell us about this one.
- 01:23 Tell us about her and you drive this one home.
- 01:26 Kirsten: But we think about all the beauty treatments, and
- 01:28 then she went through such wonderful things,
- 01:30 but it was rough.
- 01:31 I mean, if the king didn't pick her, one person out of 400
- 01:35 girls, she'd be in the concubine house for the rest of her life.
- 01:38 But for such a time as this.
- 01:41 Jeffrey: This is an interesting story here.
- 01:42 Yes, for such a time as this.
- 01:44 Kirsten: Let's go to our drama today, our dramatic
- 01:46 reenactment, the story of Esther, followed by teaching
- 01:49 with Dr. Jeffrey Seif.
- 01:53 narrator: Mordecai, Esther's cousin, was among the captive
- 01:56 Jews in Shushan.
- 01:59 When Esther's parents had died, Mordecai had taken her as his
- 02:02 own daughter and raised her, caring for her deeply.
- 02:10 [speaking Hebrew]
- 02:41 narrator: And so it was that Esther was taken before Haggai,
- 02:44 the guardian of the king's harem, and she
- 02:48 was pleasing to him.
- 02:52 It would take 12 months of preparation before Esther would
- 02:54 appear before the king.
- 02:59 Attended to by seven maidens, she would receive six months
- 03:03 treatment with oil of myrrh and then another six months
- 03:07 treatment with perfumes and cosmetics.
- 03:14 Esther had never looked so lovely.
- 03:20 ♪♪♪
- 03:48 ♪♪♪
- 04:14 Jeffrey: Okay, I've heard it and you've heard it, quote,
- 04:18 "The Lord works in mysterious ways."
- 04:23 And ain't that the God's honest truth?
- 04:28 Deliverance comes in different ways on different days.
- 04:33 In this program, deliverance comes through a beauty contest,
- 04:39 and the winner is Esther.
- 04:42 As it says in the text, chapter 2, verse 17 of the book that
- 04:46 bears her name, "Now the king loved Esther more than
- 04:51 all the other women."
- 04:54 And by the way, there were others trying for the job.
- 04:58 "So he placed the royal crown upon her head
- 05:01 and made her queen."
- 05:06 And thus began a very interesting drama, one that
- 05:11 we're gonna explore as we consider deliverance, how it
- 05:14 came through a woman named Esther.
- 05:21 You gotta love it.
- 05:23 The Bible is so interesting.
- 05:27 I think personally preachers that make it boring ought to be
- 05:29 sued for malpractice.
- 05:31 It is a very cool story.
- 05:34 Instead of preachers engineering various sermons, I get that,
- 05:38 I think it's important just to tell the story.
- 05:41 You know, at least get the story out first and then we
- 05:44 can explore what we wanna do with it.
- 05:46 In this case, this story of redemption is played out against
- 05:50 the backdrop of a drunken king who embarrassed his main queen
- 05:58 and then felt disrespected by her, prompting him then to look
- 06:03 for a replacement.
- 06:05 So, word goes out.
- 06:07 And there's a woman named Hadassah, and her guardian,
- 06:10 Mordecai, puts her up to it and says, "Look, you know, you ought
- 06:14 to try out for this I think.
- 06:16 You know, something tells me you're in for something good."
- 06:18 He prompts her to do it, so she does, and she goes through the
- 06:25 whole warm up process.
- 06:27 All these girls come that are applying for the job.
- 06:29 There's a season of beautification and then they
- 06:32 have an opportunity to present to the king with whatever
- 06:33 they want.
- 06:35 It all comes on loan.
- 06:37 You know, you want a nice Rolex?
- 06:38 Why not.
- 06:40 Yes, we have some diamonds from Neiman Marcus.
- 06:41 You're gonna love 'em.
- 06:42 Everybody dressed up right to the hilt.
- 06:44 This woman, Hadassah, however, when it came turn for her,
- 06:48 rather than deck out in all the regalia, she stood out because
- 06:52 of her kinda simplicity, and thus a beauty was able to shine
- 06:56 that wasn't obfuscated by diamonds, and pearls, and gold.
- 07:02 Not that I'm amiss to all that.
- 07:04 I like to say I like to keep my wife in diamonds and furs.
- 07:07 But the point is, here with this woman it's a little different.
- 07:10 We read in chapter 2, verse 15, the following.
- 07:15 When the turn came for Esther, the daughter, to go in, we're
- 07:19 told she did not ask for anything except for what the
- 07:22 guardian, we're told, said, "Here, listen,
- 07:24 let's just go minimal."
- 07:26 And that's the way she did it.
- 07:29 The net result in verse 17 we're told, and it's the verse that
- 07:32 I just read, I'll say it again, "Now the king loved Esther more
- 07:36 than all other women, and she won his grace and favor more
- 07:42 than all the other maidens."
- 07:44 The concept of chosen people doesn't mean better than.
- 07:48 I don't know that this woman herself necessarily is better
- 07:52 than other women, but she's chosen in the sense she gets
- 07:55 the attention of the principal.
- 07:57 And he gives her grace and extends favor, subsequent to
- 08:02 which he placed the royal crown upon her head.
- 08:07 It's a great story.
- 08:09 It's an old story, one that we're gonna explore as we look
- 08:11 more at deliverance in the book of Esther.
- 08:19 ♪♪♪
- 08:29 [speaking Hebrew]
- 10:50 Jeffrey: It's a classic story, replete with a heroine.
- 10:54 And of course it wouldn't be a story if it didn't have
- 10:57 a villain.
- 10:59 His name is Haman. Did that shock you?
- 11:04 Well, by the way, every time his name is mentioned in the
- 11:06 synagogue, we get this.
- 11:08 Everyone goes, "Boo!"
- 11:10 and turns these groggers around.
- 11:12 In fact, once a year, we read the book.
- 11:15 There's an expression that's used among Jewish people,
- 11:17 "The whole megillah," the whole story.
- 11:19 People don't realize the word "gillah" is the word for
- 11:22 "scroll," and the "megillot," the scrolls.
- 11:25 And the book of Esther is brought out in the synagogue and
- 11:28 it's read.
- 11:30 And every time we hear the villain Haman, "Boo!"
- 11:33 We get this every time we hear of the heroine, Esther, "Yay!"
- 11:40 and Mordecai, "Yay!"
- 11:42 It's a very interesting story.
- 11:43 And by the way, it's the Jewish version of Halloween in the
- 11:47 sense everybody dresses up.
- 11:49 Not just the children, even the parents dress up and everybody
- 11:55 acts foolish.
- 11:57 Not only do the children party, and you know how kids can be
- 11:59 kids, they're outdone by their parents who act absolutely
- 12:03 obnoxious every time we hear the name Haman and so forth.
- 12:09 It really is a festive atmosphere.
- 12:11 And why is that?
- 12:13 There's a story here where Jews found themselves between the
- 12:17 literal rock and a hard place.
- 12:19 Haman used his influence to set in motion that which would
- 12:23 result in the destruction of all the Jews in the empire.
- 12:27 And that's an age old story, by the way.
- 12:30 People have been wanting to wipe out Jews for a long time.
- 12:33 I think it's spiritual more than material, and I say that
- 12:36 because, pound for pound, look, you know, we have our
- 12:39 scoundrels, but the Jews, we're really not a bad lot.
- 12:41 And if someone's guilty, they get arrested like everyone else
- 12:44 and have to answer for their crimes, but Jews really do tend
- 12:48 to be decent.
- 12:50 Despite all that, l'dor va'dor, from generation to generation,
- 12:54 people try and kill us.
- 12:56 And so it is Jews celebrate this story, not because it's good
- 13:01 news for the Jews, but it's a reminder that God raises up
- 13:05 a deliverer.
- 13:07 And I say that because unbeknownst to Haman, the new
- 13:11 queen, the woman in charge, she was a Hebrew.
- 13:16 Mordecai sends words and said, "Hun, listen, you know, maybe
- 13:21 just maybe you've got to step up and weigh in on this to turn
- 13:26 this around."
- 13:28 And this is where you get in the story, you know, maybe this
- 13:30 woman was chosen for such a time as this.
- 13:34 At first she was reluctant, but then she stepped up.
- 13:37 And though she wasn't supposed to go to the king lest she was
- 13:40 invited, she said, "Look, I'm going to do it."
- 13:43 And in chapter 4, verse 16, she says, "Listen, I'm gonna go to
- 13:47 the king, even though it's not according to the law.
- 13:50 And if I perish, I perish.
- 13:52 I mean, if he wipes me out because I violated a principle,
- 13:55 so be it, but I'm gonna step into the gap."
- 13:59 Thank God.
- 14:01 God raises up redeemers in generation, from generation to
- 14:05 generation, and I'm certainly pleased that he used Esther for
- 14:09 such a time as this.
- 14:15 female announcer: Our resource this week, the series,
- 14:17 "Esther: For Such a Time as This," on DVD.
- 14:21 This eight-part series presents the biblical account of the
- 14:25 young, beautiful, Jewish woman who becomes the queen of Persia.
- 14:30 When Esther is confronted with murderous racial hatred, she
- 14:33 allows herself to be used by God and saves the Jewish people
- 14:37 from genocide.
- 14:38 Contact us for the DVD series, "Esther: For Such
- 14:42 a Time as This."
- 14:45 male: Hi, thanks for watching "Zola Levitt Presents."
- 14:48 You know, besides our television program, you can also reach us
- 14:51 at levitt.com, as well as following us on Facebook
- 14:55 or Twitter.
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- 14:59 And as always, you can call us.
- 15:01 We'd love to hear your voice at 1-800-WONDERS.
- 15:04 And don't forget, your donations are what enable us
- 15:08 to keep going.
- 15:09 Thank you so much.
- 15:13 ♪♪♪
- 15:16 David: We have more dramatic reenactments that we want to
- 15:18 bring you, Bible stories that come to life.
- 15:21 We can't do that without your financial support.
- 15:24 We're here today to say thank you.
- 15:26 Right now, let's go back to our story, our dramatic reenactment
- 15:29 with Esther.
- 15:33 ♪♪♪
- 15:36 narrator: Pur, a simple cube-like object.
- 15:40 Pur had been used to determine the date of death for every Jew
- 15:44 in the Persian empire.
- 15:46 Now one year later, Mordecai considers a brighter day.
- 15:53 [speaking Hebrew]
- 16:50 ♪♪♪
- 17:12 Jeffrey: In English, we speak of rolling the dice.
- 17:14 It speaks of just taking a risk and throwing it out there.
- 17:18 Well, it happened in antiquity as well.
- 17:20 In fact, the word "pur" as in Purim comes from
- 17:23 a word for "lot."
- 17:25 They had a way of determining when to do things by throwing
- 17:27 the dice and seeing when it landed.
- 17:29 Well, they threw the dice to see when it landed.
- 17:32 They looked to determine when to kill all the Jews.
- 17:34 Happily, however, God had a plan to turn that around.
- 17:37 The turnaround came from a woman, and it wasn't just her
- 17:41 decree that saved them.
- 17:43 It was her decree that gave them permission to fight for
- 17:47 themselves, to make a spirited defense.
- 17:50 Once the king issued a decree for a war, well then it had to
- 17:54 live out, but here the Jews were allowed to push back, and indeed
- 17:57 they did.
- 17:58 We're explicit in the text, by the way.
- 18:00 The author gives voice in no uncertain terms that they
- 18:03 offered a spirited defense and held it all back.
- 18:06 By the way, that which was permitted in antiquity needs to
- 18:10 similarly be permitted in modernity.
- 18:14 And I mention that because you can read the biblical story.
- 18:17 In chapter 9, we're told the Jews assembled and they were
- 18:21 able then to lay hands on those bent on their demise.
- 18:25 I'm paraphrasing it, but it's there in 9:2.
- 18:29 I'm not inventing it.
- 18:30 The reason why I mention that is there is a wicked invention
- 18:33 today, and that is that Jews don't have a right to defend
- 18:35 themselves in the land.
- 18:37 We should just be sheep and let the world roll over us like a
- 18:40 freight train.
- 18:41 Well, after 2,000 years, Jews are back in the land
- 18:43 providentially and we're not minded to give it up so easily.
- 18:48 And my hope and prayer is that women and men who are informed
- 18:51 by biblical virtue will stand behind the Jewish right to be in
- 18:57 the land and the Jewish right to make a spirited defense for
- 19:01 themselves while being there.
- 19:04 We're told here in chapter 9, verse 2 that those bent on their
- 19:07 demise enjoyed no good success.
- 19:10 We're told, an I'm explicit now, not just inferential, "No one
- 19:13 was able to stand against them, for fear of them had fallen on
- 19:18 all the peoples," roundabout.
- 19:21 And you know what, same today as yesterday because history tends
- 19:26 to repeat itself.
- 19:28 When we look at deliverance, we see that God raises up a person.
- 19:33 You wouldn't expect that person to be the person, but the fact
- 19:37 that they exist, it means everything.
- 19:39 Not everyone understands it.
- 19:43 For some, Jesus was just some Jewish Palestinian who died
- 19:47 2,000 years ago and some myth circulated about his
- 19:51 resurrection subsequent to that.
- 19:53 He doesn't mean something to them, but Jesus, the Jewish
- 19:57 personality, means something to me and I hope he means something
- 20:01 to you.
- 20:03 The gospel's not some insignificant story, it's a
- 20:06 turnaround story and Yeshua came to facilitate a great
- 20:10 redemption, not so much political, but definitely
- 20:14 spiritual and personal for people like me and you.
- 20:23 Kirsten: A lot of people downplay teenagers and say,
- 20:26 "Oh, that generation."
- 20:28 Esther was a beautiful teenager, but boy, she was smart and she
- 20:33 took a lot of risks.
- 20:35 Remember the phrase, "For such a time as this," but she took a
- 20:39 lot of risk in doing what she did to save the people
- 20:42 of Israel.
- 20:44 Jeffrey: Yeah, she wasn't altogether sure which way it was
- 20:45 gonna turn, and she did put herself in harm's way.
- 20:48 Most people avoid that in life.
- 20:50 Kirsten: Right, because it is too risky and what she
- 20:52 could--what could've happened to her, she could've been killed.
- 20:56 If she approached the king and he didn't want to hear her, you
- 20:58 know, onto the next concubine, onto the next girl.
- 21:02 Jeffrey: It takes a little courage to kinda press into the
- 21:04 darkness, yes, David?
- 21:06 David: Right, and you know what?
- 21:07 I'm thinking about our wives right now, that they have a
- 21:11 strong influence in our world today.
- 21:14 Your wife, my wife.
- 21:15 She speaks all around the country, just like Esther did.
- 21:18 Jeffrey: And to that point, I just think it takes a lot of
- 21:21 courage just to become a wife.
- 21:22 And I'm not saying that because women are watching, I'm saying
- 21:25 that because I honestly believe it.
- 21:27 Kirsten: Right, I was 20--I was 24 when I married you.
- 21:29 I was already a woman.
- 21:32 Here's Esther, a young teenage girl.
- 21:35 You know, I mean, there's so many questions about
- 21:37 a teenager girl.
- 21:38 What do I wanna be when I grow up?
- 21:39 What is my future?
- 21:41 And Esther didn't have any of that choice anymore, but she did
- 21:44 have a choice how she was gonna handle what she did for the
- 21:47 Hebrew people.
- 21:49 Jeffrey: That's true.
- 21:50 She was in good shape herself there in the palace, just kinda
- 21:53 chilling with all the perfumes with her rich husband.
- 21:55 She could've just avoided the whole mess.
- 21:59 Good point.
- 22:01 Kirsten: And then along comes Mordecai in saying, "For--"
- 22:04 and that's the famous phrase there, that verse,
- 22:06 "For such a time as this."
- 22:08 But who knows that you came into this place?
- 22:12 And I just wanna personally speak to every woman that's
- 22:15 watching this program today.
- 22:17 Who knows, for such a time as right now, wherever you are
- 22:20 sitting and watching this program, that God doesn't desire
- 22:24 to use you in this time in your life to do great things for him
- 22:29 and for his kingdom.
- 22:31 One teenage girl can change the future.
- 22:33 David: That's right.
- 22:35 More on this story. We'll be right back.
- 22:38 male announcer: Our resource this week, the series, "Divine
- 22:40 Deliverance," on DVD.
- 22:42 These 12 programs examine how the Lord offered a message of
- 22:45 salvation through significant Bible characters, beginning with
- 22:49 faithful Abraham and ending with the Messiah himself.
- 22:53 Each program includes location teaching, discussions of
- 22:57 applications, plus the music of Zola Levitt.
- 23:01 Contact us for the DVD series, "Divine Deliverance."
- 23:07 announcer: For insightful perspectives on Israel and Bible
- 23:10 prophecy, ask for our free monthly newsletter,
- 23:13 "The Levitt Letter."
- 23:15 At levitt.com, you can read the newsletter, watch the TV
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- 23:26 Come with us on a tour of Israel or Petra, or a cruise to Greece
- 23:30 and Ephesus.
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- 23:37 Kirsten: We've alluded to Esther and her beauty
- 23:38 treatments.
- 23:40 There is a beauty treatment in the holy land that is
- 23:43 like none other.
- 23:45 It is called Dead Sea mud.
- 23:47 That's something that we get to experience on a Zola tour.
- 23:51 It's one of my favorite places in the whole world.
- 23:54 We get in the water.
- 23:55 We don't swim in the water, but we get to apply this beauty
- 23:58 treatment all over our skin, and it's something you won't wanna
- 24:01 miss.
- 24:03 Come on a Zola tour.
- 24:04 Experience God's best beauty treatment in his land.
- 24:08 Now, here is a song from Esther.
- 24:12 ♪♪♪
- 24:15 [singing in Hebrew]
- 26:14 Jeffrey: You don't have to understand
- 26:16 the meaning of those Hebrew words to know that that
- 26:20 song is beautiful.
- 26:22 So fitting.
- 26:24 Esther was beautiful, was she not?
- 26:26 Kirsten: She was, and she was very smart, and wise, and open
- 26:30 to what God wanted to do with her life.
- 26:32 Jeffrey: Yes.
- 26:33 David: She was called, but also born for that position.
- 26:36 Jeffrey: Yes she was, and she utilized her influence
- 26:39 in that position.
- 26:41 I tell my wife, Barri, that she's just beautiful inside
- 26:45 and out.
- 26:47 And great gal, Esther.
- 26:49 Kirsten: Right, and I--my personal takeaway is don't
- 26:51 underestimate what God can do with your life.
- 26:55 She, through her decisions and what she did, saved his people,
- 27:01 just like the Savior that came and saved his people.
- 27:04 Jeffrey: Amen to that.
- 27:05 And salvation, deliverance comes from different places.
- 27:09 And here, we're talking about it on "Zola Levitt Presents."
- 27:12 And as you go now, sha'alu shalom Yerushalayim.
- 27:17 Kirsten: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
- 27:22 announcer: Our monthly newsletter, "The Levitt Letter,"
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