Esther 2:18 Then the king gave a great banquet to all his officials and ministers—‘Esther’s banquet.’ He also granted a holiday to the provinces, and gave gifts with royal liberality.
This comes in the midst of one of the strangest books in the whole Bible: Esther. Read it sometime. Here's a little Esther trivia: Esther is the only book in the Bible where the name of God does not appear. God does not appear as an active participant in the book of Esther in the same way we read in other books. It's the story of a king who didn't want his queen anymore, so he got rid of her and held a kingdom-wide beauty contest to determine the next queen: Esther won. Esther was a Jew. She kept her religion and background a secret and became queen. This put her in position to save her people later - but she won the beauty contest and became queen.
I just am taken by the image of a king who is so excited about his new queen that he throws a party for the entire kingdom. Now of course, only the officials and ministers get to come to the actual Esther's banquet, but a holiday is declared for all the provinces and gifts are given "with royal liberality." That's the phrase. Royal liberality. I don't know the details of what the king gave, but I know I'd like to have been around. When things are thrown around with royal liberality, you want to be in the vicinity. And here's one point where God is found in this literally God-less book: God gives gifts with royal liberality every day. God gives life and hope and daily bread, with royal liberality. And we're here to see it.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
Remember to invite friends and neighbors to Thanksgiving Eve worship Wednesday at 7, to Thanksgiving dinner Thursday 11-2 and to worship Sunday morning 8:30 and 11.
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