The
Church is Like Queen Vashti
There once was a
queen, named Vashti.
She was beautiful.
She was a queen
over a huge empire.
She had great
favor with the King. He loved her and
was so happy with her.
Then one day…
The King called
for her, but she wouldn’t come to him.
He just wanted to
show how beautiful she was to his friends and guests.
She refused. She disobeyed the king’s command.
In this kingdom,
the King is Lord. You don’t refuse to
come to the King.
The King was very
upset and asked his closest advisors what should be done.
Let her place be
taken away and given to another more worthy.
All of this is in the first chapter of the
Book of Esther.
As I read this the
other day, something about the phrase “Let her place be taken away and given to
another more worthy” really bothered me.
There was something about that.
Sometimes, when reading God’s Word, He puts a thought in your head. I didn’t know what it was, but it sounded
like something else from the Bible.
Matthew 21:42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never
read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the
chief cornerstone. This was the LORD'S doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?
43 "Therefore I say to you, the
kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits
of it.
44 "And whoever falls on this stone will
be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder." 45 Now
when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He
was speaking of them.
Those words of
Yeshua were fitting, but there was still something else.
I remembered a
section in Acts where Paul said something similar. Then I found this:
Acts 13:44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city
came together to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes,
they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the
things spoken by Paul. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, "It
was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since
you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we
turn to the Gentiles. 47 "For so the Lord has commanded us: 'I have
set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the
ends of the earth.'" 48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad
and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to
eternal life believed.
These words of
Paul and Barnabas were interesting also.
Clearly this is what God had them do.
Still, I felt that
there was more to this Queen Vashti metaphor.
Earlier today,
while listening to a strong message from David Wilkerson, this thought went
through my mind:
The Church is like Vashti.
When I say that, I
am thinking of the Protestant, evangelical churches of the West (mainly America
where I live). I include Pentecostals,
Baptists, Reformed, or any of the other “evangelical” denominations. The dead churches are done. They don’t even come into the equation of
this discussion. They left the Word of
God long ago and are devoid of any Truth.
But the active,
modern, trendy, popular, seeker-friendly, mega churches and others are like
this queen.
They appear to be
beautiful – very attractive – drawing thousands to them.
At one time, many
of them had favor with the King, Messiah Yeshua.
But then, at one
moment in history, the King called them.
Not to be raptured up to him. He
called them to turn back to the Ancient Paths to the Ways of His Father.
The Church could
not be bothered. “We’re too busy having
church”, some might say.
Her music was too
loud. Her singing was too loud. She was doing “queen-ly” things.
When the King
called, she refused to come. She refused
to listen. He even sent messengers to
her, but she wouldn’t hear them either.
The King knew
trouble was coming for the queen. He
wanted her to avoid that. He wanted her
to come back to Him – where it is safe – always.
As a whole, the
Church has refused God (I know, sounds strange.)
HE is calling His
people back to His Torah – the Law – found in the Books of Moses.
He knows the
Church has forgotten this. He wants her
to remember.
He has called to
her. His messengers have taken the call
to her.
She doesn’t want
it. She is happy with what she has.
That old LAW is
done away – as far as she’s concerned.
I do not claim to
speak for Yehovah. He did not instruct
me to come say this.
What I am saying,
is that based on what I’ve learned from the Bible and what God has done in the
past, we need to be very afraid. God
doesn’t owe us anything.
If we don’t want
to follow Him and His Ways, then why wouldn’t we expect Him to find people who
will?
As I sit here, I
think of the Christians in China. From
the many reports I’ve heard and read, they put Western Christians to shame.
They have been
horribly persecuted, tortured and killed for the faith. They are meek, humble people who truly love
the God of the Bible and His Son, Yeshua.
If He hasn’t
already, I predict God will open their eyes to the Truth of His Torah.
They will embrace
it. They will take Him at His Word and
run with it!
We need to realize
our sin before our Holy God.
We need to see
that WE have broken almost all of His commandments.
We flaunt that we
don’t care about the Law because WE believe it is done away!
My God,
people.
Humble yourselves
before it is too late!
If not, Yehovah is
well able to HUMBLE you himself, but you won’t like it – if you survive.
Love. Humility.
And Obedience.
Those are the
traits God wants in His people.
American
Christians used to have those traits.
That was a long time ago.
Now what are the
traits today?
Pride.
Arrogance. Entitlement (God owes us).
In reality, we are
blind, naked and wretched.
Revelation 3:14 "And to the angel of the church of
the Laodiceans write, 'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True
Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God:
15 "I know your works, that you are
neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.
16 "So then, because you are lukewarm,
and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
17 "Because you say, 'I am rich, have
become wealthy, and have need of nothing' --and do not know that you are
wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—
19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and
chasten. Therefore, be zealous and repent.
20 "Behold, I stand at the door and
knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and
dine with him, and he with Me.
21 "To him who overcomes I will grant to
sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His
throne.
22 "He who has an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit says to the churches."'"
If you are
listening and your ears are open, you are wondering what shall we do?
Confess today that
you have violated God’s commandments and refused to keep His Ways.
You have been
stubborn and turned your back on Yehovah.
Ask Him to
forgive you by the blood of the Lamb,
Yeshua.
If you are
sincere, He will forgive you.
Then you must start
reading and learning what His Ways are!
Begin reading the Torah in a Bible you have now. Read from Genesis 1 through the end of
Deuteronomy. Take the time to read it
and absorb it. Don’t rush. God isn’t going anywhere.
Ask Him to guide
you by His Holy Spirit so that you may
understand and obey His Words.
Malachi 4:4 "Remember the Law of Moses, my
servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the
statutes and judgments.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole
matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. 14 For God will bring every work into
judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.”
Revelation 22:12 "And behold, I am coming quickly, and
My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 "I am
the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the
Last." 14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the
right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city.
Compiled by G.E. Walker March 2019
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