Washington Chapter No. 7 OES

Heroines of Our Order

Adah           

Jephthah's Daughter - The First Star Point (Blue Ray)

No where in the Bible do we find the name of Jephthah's daughter. She is only referred to as  "Jephthah's daughter." Today, we attach the name of Adah, and this is how she is known to the members of the Order of the Eastern Star.

The vow that Jephthah made unto the Lord is considered by some writers as an extremely unfortunate . He doubtless wanted to have every assurance of success and thus vowed a vow unto the Lord, which cost him the life of his daughter. He may have been rash in making such a covenant yet when once made and success had crowned his efforts, he could not well turn back. His daughter was perfectly willing that her life should be sacrificed and thus fulfill her father's obligation unto Jehovah. And after all, if Jephthah's vow was to be fulfilled by a human sacrifice, whom other than his own daughter would you suggest for its fulfillment?  May God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Ruth          

Ruth - The Gleaner - The Second Star Point (Yellow Ray)

Elimelich, his wife Naomi, and their two sons, Maholon and Chilton, immigrated into Moab from Bethlehem. They were well received by Eglon, the King of Moab, yet they did not prosper. The two sons married daughters of Moab. Mahlon, the eldest son, married Ruth, and Chilton married Orphah. Both women appear to have been model wives. Within ten years, however, Elimelech and his two sons died childless, and were buried in the land of Moab. Noami was left in destitute circumstances. Naomi yearned for her old home and the home friends and resolved to return to Bethlehem again.

This story is the classic example of true and tried friendship between two women.  It is the passionate love of a girl for her mother-in-law.

Esther         

Queen Ester - The Third Star Point (White Ray)

During the reign of Ahasuerus (Xerxes, B.C. 485-465) King of Persia including over 127 provinces, extending from India to Ethiopia. Ester, a humble Jewish exile, catches the eye of the King. We recall that Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, had carried away from Jerusalem, Jeconiah King of Judah, together with a number of Jewish captives and are now found throughout the Persian empire.

The heroine is Esther, one of the Jewish exiles, who rises from the most humble walks of life to become queen of Persia, and thereby ultimately able to rescue her people from wholesale destruction, as planned by Haman, a powerful member of King Ahasuerus Xerxes' Court.

Martha        

 

Martha - The Sister - The Fourth Star Point (Green Ray)

Martha is the patron saint of all good housewives, careful mothers, and skilful and efficient nurses of the present generation. Her character makes a strong appeal to energetic women and especially to comfort-loving men.

Dr. Rob Morris in The Rosary of the Eastern Star, written in 1865, sets forth the Christian application of the fourth point of the emblematic star in the following words:

"The tender and affectionate Martha, equally devoted to her Divine Friend, whether as the grateful guest of the life-giving God, whether she was "Cumbered with such serving" for his entertainment, or kneeling before him in the abandonment of sorrow or walking with him weeping, to the sepulcher of her brother, is best represented under the guise of the meek and uncomplaining Lamb. "God has provided" her "a Lamb" for our delighted study. She is a Lamb "without blemish" in her display of womanly, social and Christian virtues, and she is one those who are described in the latter books of Divine law as being "made white in the blood of the Lamb," and "written in the Lamb's book of life."

 

Electa           

Electra - The Elect Lady - The Fifth Star Point (Red Ray)

Our information concerning Electa is based, for the most part on Masonic tradition. She was born and brought up in Asia Minor and, naturally, reared under the principles of paganism. It is quite apparent that she was converted to the Christian faith under the preaching of St. Paul. She seems to have been well advanced in years when the edict of the Roman Government was issued against the followers of Christ. All Christians were bound to renounce their belief under penalty of death.  All those suspected of holding the Christian faith were commanded to trample upon the cross that was handed to them as a testimony of their renunciation.

Electa absolutely refused to comply with the edict. She spurned the test and said that she would never renounce her religion. She and her family were forthwith cast into a dungeon for twelve months and then offered her another opportunity to recant from Christianity, and again she refused. They were then taken to the nearest hill where she and her family, one by one, were nailed to the cross. She was the last of the family to be crucified, and thus witnessed the tragic death of her husband and children.

She professed her faith to the whole world, although she knew what reproaches, persecutions and ultimately death, that she must undergo for the stand that she took. It meant the loss of good name, wealth, of means of doing good, of liberty, of husband and children, and of life itself. Yet she was willing to undergo all these things for the love of Christ and for the Christian religion in which she showed the most implicit faith.