Gardens: Evergreen Faith in a Trustworthy Godનમૂનો

Trusting Christ’s Kingship

Women in the Bible are often cast as villains, vixens, or princesses. To be sure, some female biblical figures were downright evil. But the women who were valiant and devoted to their faith are often described in a warped way. Our interpretations about women in the Bible reveal a lot about our capacity to dignify women in the text and in our lives.

Take Esther. I used to picture her as a Disney princess, which goes to show how little of the book of Esther I had really studied. Although God is never directly mentioned in the book of Esther, he’s implied throughout the whole scroll as the sovereign God of the universe who’s mindful of his commitment to the Jewish people and powerful enough to save them.

This book is filled with themes like divine sovereignty, human responsibility, civil disobedience, feasting and fasting, and female agency—and it takes place against the backdrop of the Garden of Ahasuerus, king of Persia, when the Israelites were living there as exiles. After finally reaching the Promised Land, God’s people hadn’t honored the Lord. They’d stopped listening to God—and the consequences had been exile from the Promised Land and captivity by a foreign power. Again.

God wants us to read the book of Esther in light of all the other Old Testament books, the exile from the Garden of Eden, and the rescue of God’s people through the Exodus. God also wants us to notice that the King of the Garden of Eden is nothing like the king of the garden in the book of Esther. In fact, King Ahasuerus is more like the serpent from the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Ahasuerus is an anti-garden in Scripture—the antithesis of connection to God. It was never supposed to be this way. The author of Esther makes it clear: The idyllic dream of Eden had turned into a nightmare, one where men and women are pitted against each other.

The fallen Garden of Ahasuerus shows us what has happened to our relationships because humans have turned away from trusting God. Even still, in showing us that, the Garden of Ahasuerus also reveals that the battle of the sexes we see in Esther is not what God intended. Instead, healthy, mutually respectful, honoring relationships between men and women are part of what God intends for our flourishing.

Prayer: Dear God, Your vision for your people—men and women alike—is one of flourishing, health, and mutually encouraging relationships. Thank you for being a God who does not give up on his vision for humanity, no matter how far we fall. Help me to live in accordance with the truth of your desires. In Jesus’ name, Amen.