Myrtle and Protection

We talk about Queen Esther and her beauty treatments of myrrh (in the handouts Ancient Beauty Secrets and Oils of the Bible) but what else can we glean from this brave woman who saved the Jewish people from annihilation? 

Here's her story: 
Hebraic Names had special and often prophetic meanings. (This is evidenced and explained in detail in the Oils of the Bible Online Course Video #2 “Text and Context”). 

A Jewess named Hadassah whose Hebrew name means “myrtle” had her name changed to “Esther” when she became Queen of Persia to the non-Hebrew King Xerxes. 

The Myrtle tree represents PROTECTION. There are numerous occurrences of this and are mentioned in video #9, “Additional Aromatics”. (Myrtle Oil can even be used as an insect repellant, protecting us from bugs!) But here, we can see one of those prophetic instances.... we see how a plant—in this case, the NAME of a plant--prophetically reveals a future event: 

When Haman, an Amalakite and chief minister to the King, saw that Mordecai, (a righteous Jew who raised Esther) would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. He wanted him dead, except not only Mordecai, but all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, who lived throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes. Haman’s goal was the genocide of the Jews. As a side note, God told King Saul to destroy the Amalekites centuries earlier (1 Samuel 15:3), but Saul failed to obey the command. His disobedience led to the loss of his kingdom and, eventually the threat of annihilation for all Jews.

Queen Esther’s famous plea to the King protected the Jewish people from genocide. Had it not been for Queen Esther, the Jews would have been destroyed at the hands of a jealous Haman. The story is recounted in the Old Testament Book of Esther. 

Did you see it? This woman, whose birth name was Hadassah, which means “myrtle,” and represents “protection” was used by God to protect the entire Jewish population from total extinction. 

“A good name is more desirable than great riches...” 
–Proverbs 22:1

No word, no instance, no circumstance in the Bible is there by accident. Our God is orderly, systematic and purposeful. Isn’t it encouraging that whatever we might be facing today—that it doesn’t catch our Lord by surprise? Rest in Him friend, your God—your defender and protector.

Find more in the Oils of the Bible Online Course: 
--> https://oilsofthebibleonline.com/oils