7:1 So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2 And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, “What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. Esther 7:1-3 (ESV)
We are all familiar with this typical complaint: “why do we need the Old Testament in the Bible?” I admit for some that it might be a decent question that deserves answering. Is it really necessary to have the history, law, prophecy, and wisdom of the Jewish people if indeed “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” Galatians 3:28 (ESV)? What possible purpose could all of that old and boring stuff have in our practical walks with the Lord in this day?
As we know, the answer is quite simple. The Old and New Testaments flow in perfect harmony, each referring, anticipating, and expositing the other. Most importantly, all of the Bible, Old or New Testament, point to one Person, the person of Jesus Christ. In short, the Bible is Christocentric, and the gospel of Jesus is found all over the Bible. It just happens that it is more explicitly found in the New Testament than in the Old. The Old, however, is full of references to the gospel. Just take the book of Job for example: its many references to a ‘mediator’ points to the need for a new covenant and the need for someone to arbitrate between a fallen race of men and the holy God. In this particular passage in Esther, we can see one manifestation of the gospel of Christ.
A little context is in order. Esther is the story of a courageous Jew who was able to save her entire race. Esther is, of course, the queen of the land here, elevated to her special position for divine purposes. Many of us are familiar with the courage of Esther: she entered the throne room of the king, risking her very life for her own people. The story is simple. If the king lowered his scepter to Esther, she was allowed to approach the king boldly, but if not, she could be subject to execution.
In this part of the book, things are not so dire. The king and queen have been feasting and are on amiable terms. The king, lovingly desiring to please his queen and show his love for her, asks Esther what her wildest desires were. Esther’s answer has a few important aspects, and I think it is a great model for prayer.
Notice what how she responds: “if I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish…(v3”). This is the attitude with which I believe we should always approach God’s throne. Esther recognizes that the king controls her very life so much that she asks for her life to be spared. We to, in approaching God, seem to sometimes forget the fear and majesty of the Almighty. Just like Esther, a statement like this shows reverence and respect for God’s power and prerogative. At any point, our souls may be demanded by God. Indeed, He is the only One who gives and sustains life. How exactly did Esther and how do we today expect for God to sustain our lives, especially our spiritual lives?
Note first Esther’s phrase “if I have found favor in your sight.” The only way the king would keep Esther alive is if it pleased him. In Esther’s case, it did. What of our own? The only way we can ‘live’ eternally is if we too have found favor in the sight of God. Enter the gospel. As we all know, no man can find favor in the sight of God alone. All are lost, all are sinful, all fall short of His glory, and none can find their way to the Light from inside the darkness. In order for the King to allow us to live, we must find favor in His sight. How then can we find favor in the sight of the King? Quite simply, in a way that pleases Him.
Note Esther’s second key phrase: “if it please the king.” The second qualification Esther must meet for her life to be spared, in a sense at least, is for the king to be pleased by sparing her life. Once again, enter the gospel. In order for us to find favor in the sight of the King, we would need a way to have righteousness applied or imputed into us, since we cannot come up with any on our own. Secondly, this method of application would have to please the King. In reality, there was only one way that would please Him, and that was through the death and resurrection of Christ. Only through His atonement would the Lord find favor in us, and not because we are favorable but because Christ’s righteousness in us pleases the King. Furthermore, God found favor in the plan. Colossians 1:19-20 says “in [Christ] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (ESV)”
Third, note Esther’s plea: “my people for my request.” Here, Esther asks for the king to spare the lives of her fellow Jews, whose existence as a people was threatened by the evil Haman. This too should be our request in His throne room. We should always petition Him for the salvation of our own people and all the peoples of the Earth so that they may not perish but may be directed to true Life.
So in conclusion, we can see in just these three verses that the gospel is written all over the Old Testament. Doctrine, theology, and practical application are all beautifully woven together in a Book that covers the span of thousands of years. Only one King is big enough to accomplish something like that. We would do well to remember that.
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