Esther 2:1-23[1]
As preached at Rolling Hills Church on Sunday, March 27th, 2011
When under-privileged people find career or financial success in life, they are often grateful and have a desire to give back. And these stories of humble beginnings to great success strike a chord with most people. Paul Harvey used to mesmerize us by telling us a tale about some crippled boy who fought rejection at school and from his family only to become the man who invented macaroni and cheese, or something great like that. At the end of the story he would say, "You know him as ________. Now you know the rest of the story." He was so excellent at setting the stage for the climax of the tale, wasn't he? Many people can relate to such stories; but no one should be able to relate to it more than those who know Christ.
Chapter two of Esther is a great 'outside to inside' story that has few rivals in Scripture. Let's read and talk our way through this part of the story of Esther.
Esther 2:1-4
1 After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her.
2 Then the king's young men who attended him said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king.
3 And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the capital, under custody of Hegai, the king's eunuch, who is in charge of the women. Let their cosmetics be given them.
4 And let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti." This pleased the king, and he did so.
Sulking King. This part of the story begins with a sulking king listening to young men (who would, of course, come up with such an idea) about finding a queen; gather the most beautiful young virgins in the empire and choose your favorite. If indeed this Ahasuerus is the Xerxes history speaks of, then he was sulking because he had been to Greece and suffered military defeats in the intervening four years.[2] History records that Xerxes was first slowed by Leonidas and the 300 Spartans in the pass of Thermopylae, and later defeated by a Greek fleet of ships[3]. Thus, a sulking king who recalls the removal of Vashti now longs for a new queen. The stage is set for Providence to bring Esther to the stage. Beauty Pageant. Ladies, you can thankfully not identify with such a plan in our culture, and praise God for that. But the king was all in all, and to be anywhere near him was considered an honor, and to refuse such an honor was to risk your life; it rarely happened. This was a nation-wide "Miss Persia" contest, where the winner became queen and the losers lived out their days in a harem of lonely concubines awaiting a possible whim of the King. Here we meet the other central characters in this chronicle, Mordecai and Esther.
Esther 2:5-10
5 Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite,
6 who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away.
7 He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.
8 So when the king's order and his edict were proclaimed, and when many young women were gathered in Susa the citadel in custody of Hegai, Esther also was taken into the king's palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women.
9 And the young woman pleased him and won his favor. And he quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her portion of food, and with seven chosen young women from the king's palace, and advanced her and her young women to the best place in the harem.
10 Esther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known.
Mordecai was the descendant of Kish, his great-grandfather who was taken captive with king Jeconiah of Judah 100 years before. He was of the tribe of Benjamin, as was Saul, the first king of Israel. Both Mordecai and Esther had been born and raised in Babylon cum Persia, never having seen the Promised Land but never forgetting who they were. Mordecai was kind, and well respected, for as we will see, he had a job in the palace. He had taken in his younger cousin as his own daughter and cared well for her.
Esther was chosen in this queen lottery for obvious reasons: she "had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at". So she was brought into the care of Hegai, the king's eunuch. For those who wonder, a eunuch is a castrated male; thus he would be trusted with the care of the women. Not the sought-after office of the day, I would imagine. But as with Joseph over 1500 years prior to this time, Esther found favor in her reluctant location.
Esther 2:11-18
11 And every day Mordecai walked in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.
12 Now when the turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after being twelve months under the regulations for the women, since this was the regular period of their beautifying, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and ointments for women--
13 when the young woman went in to the king in this way, she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem to the king's palace.
14 In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second harem in custody of Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch, who was in charge of the concubines. She would not go in to the king again, unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.
15 When the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what Hegai the king's eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her.
16 And when Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign,
17 the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
18 Then the king gave a great feast for all his officials and servants; it was Esther's feast. He also granted a remission of taxes to the provinces and gave gifts with royal generosity.
Esther, Queen of Persia. Here is our 'nobody' to 'success' portion of the story. Esther was the descendant of slaves, captives of war, and was raised involuntarily in a foreign nation. From that status she further descended to that of being an orphan, not a good thing for a female Jew in Persia, I would imagine. And yet Mordecai was faithful to care for her as a younger cousin, and he remained faithful to care for her while she was being prepared for the night with the king. Furthermore, God, working behind the scenes, was looking over her. Esther has ascended from lowly position of Jewish orphan in Persia to the exalted place as Queen of Persia.
Question: did Esther compromise her faith in God? She did not mention her heritage, as commanded by Mordecai. She also did not refuse potential marriage to a non-Jewish, non-God-fearing Persian. Some accuse her of such compromise; I see it as a matter she had no choice in. Who rejects the call of the King of Persia? Certainly not some Jewish virgin! God, despite how things looked, had a plan, and it involved many more people than Esther and Mordecai. God used them for His plan, and for His glory.
God works in unique ways. This is just the opposite of how God worked through Moses' life in Exodus. Moses was raised as royalty in the palace of Pharaoh, fully educated, possibly to even follow as Pharaoh one day. And yet Moses laid it all down to be identified with His people, the Jews, and to obey His God[4]. Esther was a Jew who remained quiet about her nationality and was brought into the palace to the glory and favor that Moses had known his entire life. Folks, we should refrain from promoting God's pattern of work in the Old Testament: He did so many things so many ways, and never desired for us to seek such ways! We are rather to seek God, and to obey His Word to us!
So the stage is almost set; Esther is in the palace, Mordecai is in the gate; but this other brief side note must be added to finish this particular chapter of the story. It is a critical note, as we'll see further into this intriguing drama.
19 Now when the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate.
20 Esther had not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him.
21 In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.
22 And this came to the knowledge of Mordecai, and he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai.
23 When the affair was investigated and found to be so, the men were both hanged on the gallows. And it was recorded in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.
Good Eunuchs, bad eunuchs. Mordecai was loyal to the king, regardless how he may or may not have felt about him. Jeremiah had taught the Jews to seek the welfare of the nation to which they would be taken captive, and so Mordecai did. Ahasuerus was saved from this plot. This was recorded. So: Providence, Courage, and Commemoration.
Esther has moved from Jewish orphan to Queen of Persia. When under-privileged people find career or financial success in life, they very often are grateful and have a desire to give back. Who has been more 'nowhere' than wicked sinners like us? Who has more to be grateful for than we who have been spared at the expense of the righteous one? That cross was raised to kill the innocent One whose blood would justify the guilty ones! That's 'outside to inside,' church! Outside the camp to inside the kingdom! Will we give the gracious gospel to others as we have been given this good grace ourselves?
[1] All Scriptures, unless otherwise noted, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (via E-Sword Software) © 2001 Crossway Publishing. All Rights Reserved. I paste them in red for distinction.
[2] Dr. H. A. Ironside in his Notes on the Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther, Published by Loizeaux Brothers, Inc.
[3] General information at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerxes_I_of_Persia
[4] Hebrews 11:24-26
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