When A Man Crowns His Wife As Queen, She In Turn Crowns Him As King

Indiucky

Ephesians 5:22-29

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.

Open your bibles with me to Esther. The book of Esther is, to me, a book about relationships. What we are about to do is merge this reading from Ephesians with some key verses of example from Esther. Towards the end of my lesson I will present this thought. First we must quickly survey this 10 chapter book in order to set the stage.

Purim is one of the most joyous and fun holidays on the Jewish calendar. It commemorates a time when the Jewish people, living in Persia, were saved from extermination. The story of Purim is told in the Biblical book of Esther.

The Book opens with Queen Vashti's [vash-tee, -tahy] rebellion. King Ahasuerus [A-has-u-e-rus uh-haz-yoo-eer-uhs] (The King of Persia) commanded seven eunuchs who served the King to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown, in order to show her beauty to the people and the officials. She was a beautiful woman. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command. The king was furious.

The King consulted his wise men according to law "What shall we do to Queen Vashti? She did not obey my command brought to her by the eunuchs."

The wise man answered: "Queen Vashti has not only wronged the king, but also all the princes, and all the people who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. For the queen's behavior will become known to all women, so that they will despise their husbands in their eyes, when they report, 'King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in before him, but she did not come.'

Verse18 - 20 This very day the noble ladies of Persia and Media will say to all the king's officials that they have heard of the behavior of the queen. Thus there will be excessive contempt and wrath.

Verse19 If it pleases the king, let a royal decree go out from him, and let it be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it will not be altered, that Vashti shall come no more before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.

Verse 20 When the king's decree which he will make is proclaimed throughout all his empire (for it is great), all wives will honor their husbands, both great and small.

Enter on to the stage our heroin and hero, Esther, a beautiful young Jewish woman living in Persia, and her cousin Mordecai, who raised her as if she were his daughter. Esther was taken to the house of Ahasuerus, King of Persia, to become part of his harem. King Ahasuerus loved Esther more than his other women and made Esther queen, but the king did not know that Esther was a Jew, because Mordecai told her not to reveal her identity.

The villain of the story is Haman, an arrogant, egotistical advisor to the king. Haman hated Mordecai because Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman, so Haman plotted to destroy the Jewish people. In a speech that is all too familiar to Jews, Haman told 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. The king gave the fate of the Jewish people to Haman, to do as he pleased to them. Haman planned to exterminate all of the Jews.

Mordecai persuaded Esther to speak to the king on behalf of the Jewish people. This was a dangerous thing for Esther to do, because anyone who came into the king's presence without being summoned could be put to death, and she had not been summoned. Esther fasted for three days to prepare herself, then went into the king. He welcomed her. Later, she told him of Haman's plot against her people. The Jewish people were saved, and Haman was hanged on the gallows that had been prepared for Mordecai. Thus the Jewish Holiday Purim was established to remember this day when the Jewish people were saved from extermination.

Let's now step back and examine the dialogue between Queen Ester and King Ahasuerus. Turn to Esther 5 beginning in verse 1

1 Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace, across from the king's house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the house.[a] 2 So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter.

3 And the king said to her, "What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you-up to half the kingdom!"

4 So Esther answered, "If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him."

5 Then the king said, "Bring Haman quickly, that he may do as Esther has said." So the king and Haman went to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

6 At the banquet of wine the king said to Esther, "What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!"

7 Then Esther answered and said, "My petition and request is this: 8 If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, then let the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said."

The significance of the thought of merging the reading from Ephesians with these key verses of example from Esther is as follows:

When a man lives first to please God, he treats his woman and his family as he should. Because he treats his family properly, he is crowned with favor that causes him to succeed in his vocation. This is the order of God. In this way the family does not become the man's god, neither does the man's work. When each occupies the rightful place in a man's heart priorities are in order.

A woman is asked to sacrifice a lot in becoming a wife, to the point of yielding her life to a man. Nothing less is expected from the man. He too must sacrifice. A man knows that a wife is his number one priority after his relationship and obedience to God.

Eph 5:25

25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,

In other words, a man is willing to die for his bride's sake. Paul takes it a step further by saying:

Eph 5:28-29

28So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.

Likewise, a man does for his wife as he would for himself. Here are sobering words:

1 Peter 3:7

Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

This is serious. How precious a woman must be in God's eyes if he would hold up a man's prayer request until her treats his wife properly? After all, the woman is God's crowning jewel of creation.

Not only does God instruct man to love his wife, God also instructs the woman to submit to her husband. Perhaps in God's foreknowledge he knew that both of these issues, man to love his wife and the woman to submit to her husband would be the greatest challenges in marriages.

Words mean something. Careful that we do not confuse subjection with submission, the terms are different. Submission and love can occupy the same house together. Subjection and love cannot. Do your own word study, see if you arrive at this exact same thought.

What do woman crave for from a man? Not wealth not trinkets - Love! What do men want from a wife more than anything? Not sex, or food - its honor and respect. When a man is not responding to woman needs for love, the woman will harbor hurt and anger. They feel betrayed by the husband in some way when they don't get the understanding and love they need from their husbands. It is the nature of woman to respond to love - open like flower blossom in response to treatment that makes her feel special. Then she feels like she is priority in his life. This will garner her trust and lets her know that heart and her life are safe in her man's hands.

Go back to Esther and the King. Let's in actual fact examine the relationship between these two. Let's make particular notes on how they both demonstrated kindness, patience, no resentment; no arrogance, no rudeness, no provocation, each putting the other's interest before their own, thinking only of good towards one another.

1 Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace, across from the king's house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the house.[a] 2 So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter.

3 And the king said to her, "What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you-up to half the kingdom!"

What happened here? What was the King doing? He was working. He was doing what Kings do. He was ruling, making sure infrastructure was in place to keep peace. Making sure enemies did not overthrow his kingdom. When his queen came into the room, He stopped working and he put her first. She had priority over everything. She found favor in his sight. Let's read on.

4 So Esther answered, "If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him."

How does Esther approach the king? "If it pleases the King". Does Esther want to please her King? I think so. Does she honor the king? Yes she does. Let's read on.

5 Then the king said, "Bring Haman quickly, that he may do as Esther has said." So the king and Haman went to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

6 At the banquet of wine the king said to Esther, "What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!"

See the urgency King gave to Esther's request. "Bring Haman quickly" Does the King want to provide for his queen? Yes he does - Up to half of his kingdom - it shall be done. Does the King love Esther? Yes, deeply. Did Esther just prepare a meal? No she prepared a banquet for the King and Haman. Let's read on.

7 Then Esther answered and said, "My petition and request is this: 8 If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, then let the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said."

Listen to the Esther speech. "If I have found favor in the sight of the king . . ." ". . . if it pleases the king to grant my petition". Does she honor and respect her man? Yes she does! "I will do as the king has said." Is she submitting - yes she is.

Do Esther and the King treat each other as equals, yes they do. Do Esther and the King have different roles? Yes they do.

So you must be asking yourself by now? Indiucky what is your conclusion? My conclusion is this - It is God's decree that all wives shall honor their husbands. It is God's decree that all men shall love their wives. My closing statement: When a man crowns his wife as queen, she in turn crowns him as king.

The lesson is yours.

Contributors: http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday9.htm; Unknown Author; Indiucky