Preparation For Presentation

⁸… when the king’s command and decree were heard … that Esther also was taken to the king’s palace … ⁹ Now the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favour … Esther 2:8-9 NKJV.

¹² Each young woman’s turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had completed twelve months’ preparation, according to the regulations for the women, for thus were the days of their preparation apportioned: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women. ¹³ Thus prepared, each young woman went to the king, Esther 2:12-13a NKJV.

The illustration above is Esther kneeing before King Ahasuerus. An elderly woman supports her, and the king lowers his sceptre to her head, as a sign of acceptance and affection. It’s a key moment in the history of the Jewish people.

King Ahasuerus was on the throne of the kingdoms of Persia, Media, and Babylonia. The Jews had been taken captive about three generations ago. Mordecai, a Jew, living in this foreign land, raises his cousin, Esther. King Ahasuerus throws a party, and what a party it was! It went for one hundred and eighty days! He wanted to present his Queen, Queen Vashti, to the guests to show her beauty. (Remember in that culture men and women did not mix at events such as that). But she refuses to come.

So the king gathers from throughout the land, beautiful young women, who are prepared for twelve months, before they are presented to the king. The one who pleases him will become queen in Vashti’s place. By reading the story (Esther 2 – 10), we read how Esther was chosen to become the queen, and the key role she played in the deliverance for the Jews.

There’s much to learn from this account and from the Book of Esther. But I saw something here the other day as I was reading it. These young women spent twelve months in preparation before they were presented to the king.

Each young woman’s turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had completed twelve months’ preparation … six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women. Esther 2:12 NKJV.

Esther went through a process of Preparation for Presentation. So do we! Esther was prepared to be presented to the king. So are we. There’s a preparation for presentation going on in our life.

There are two sides to the work of Christ in us and for us.

1. What has been done and completed for us. It is Finished. Secured. Accomplished. No more can be done or added to it. It is Grace. God has completed it. We’re talking about things like righteousness, justification, redemption, position, identity and sonship.
2. What is being done in us. We are a work in progress. Growth. We are changing, becoming more and more like Christ as we grow into Him. We’re talking about things like character, behaviour, and our reactions and responses to the issues of life.

This is important to understand. People get the above two things confused. They think that because they feel under pressure, due to some situation where their character is being tested, that God must think less of them, or that He doesn’t love them the same. But it’s just not the case.

So the preparation I am referring to here is not the things that are completed, and finished, and cannot be added to. The preparation work of the Holy Spirit in our lives in in the area of what is being done in us.

We are being prepared to be presented to The King – Jesus our Saviour!

For Esther’s presentation before king Ahasuerus, it was six months of oil of myrrh, and six months of perfumes and preparations. This is amazing. Twelve months of preparations to be presented to the King.

This is a bit like life here on earth. It is a time of preparation, of beautifying, of oil being applied. Making us ready to be presented to The King.

I note four things involved for Esther, which can also apply to us.

1. Time –The deeper the change required the deeper and often longer the work of the Holy Spirit to bring about that change.
2. Preparation – There are Bible truths, doctrine, and principles to learn which will guide our life, but it takes time. Some understanding comes by revelation, but not all truth comes to us that easily.
3. Beautifying – Applying the truths of God’s word and doctrine changes us, from the inside out, and we become a better person in every way including, that we even look better!
4. Oil applied – In Esther’s case it was the oil of myrrh. Matthew Poole says that the oils and perfumes were necessary because “The bodies of men and women in those hot countries did of themselves yield very ill scents, if not corrected and qualified by art”. The work of the Holy Spirit is cleansing us so that we don’t have even the smell of the world upon us.

There’s a preparation for presentation going on in our life. It is in the area of growth, it is what God is doing in us. There are aspects of our character, and our growth, and how we conduct ourselves that needs to change before we are presented to the King. Worldliness, carnal thinking, fleshly desires, human values, earthly culture.

These things the Holy Spirit trains out of us, and He works in to us of the activities, thinking, the desires, values, and the culture of the King.

Unlike Esther, we are guaranteed to be accepted by the King, the Lord of Lords and Master of the Universe, King Jesus.

I’m sure like me you’re feeling the gentle and loving, the clear and powerful work of the Holy Spirit in your life, removing the traits and stains of the world, and equipping us for that wonderful day when we will be presented to the King. So let’s resist the devil, but surrender to the Lord and His work in us.

Some of what you’re facing right now, the squeeze on your character, the pricks of your conscience, is a work of the Holy Spirit.

He’s getting you ready to be with Him forever!

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:3 NKJV (Emphasis added).

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