WHAT'S THE POINT?

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Later when King Xerxes’ fury had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed about her. Then the king’s personal attendants proposed, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king. Let the king appoint commissioners in every province of his realm to bring all these beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let beauty treatments be given to them. Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This advice appealed to the king, and he followed it.

Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin king of Judah. Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This young woman, who was also known as Esther, had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died.

When the king’s order and edict had been proclaimed, many young women were brought to the citadel of Susa and put under the care of Hegai. Esther also was taken to the king’s palace and entrusted to Hegai, who had charge of the harem. She pleased him and won his favor. Immediately he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food. He assigned to her seven female attendants selected from the king’s palace and moved her and her attendants into the best place in the harem.

Esther had not revealed her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so. Every day he walked back and forth near the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther was and what was happening to her.

Before a young woman’s turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics. And this is how she would go to the king: Anything she wanted was given her to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. In the evening she would go there and in the morning return to another part of the harem to the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he was pleased with her and summoned her by name.

When the turn came for Esther (the young woman Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail ) to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested. And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her. She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. And the king gave a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his nobles and officials. He proclaimed a holiday throughout the provinces and distributed gifts with royal liberality.

Esther 2:1-18

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As the second chapter of Esther opens, the Persian King Xerxes is in need of a new queen. You’ll recall that his former queen Vashti decided to defy the king after he demanded she appear before him in her royal crown (1:10-12). Her actions led to her dismissal.

And so as chapter two opens, King Xerxes decides to follow the advice of his personal attendants who proposed that a “search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king.” Commissioners would be appointed from “every province of (the king’s) realm to bring (the selected virgins) into the harem at the citadel of Susa” where they would be placed “under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch.” The selected women would be given beauty treatments and whoever pleased the king the most would become the new queen.

And so the search began and we are first introduced to Esther, the heroine this book was named after. We’re told she was a cousin of Mordecai, “a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin” who had been “carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon” at the same time as “Jehoiachin king of Judah.” We learn that Esther was beautiful and had another name she was known by, Hadassah. She was raised by Mordecai as if she was his own daughter because “she had neither father nor mother.” It was obvious they had a special relationship, one that we will come to know more about as we proceed through this book.

Back to the scriptures where we read that Esther was one of the young women taken to the “citadel of Susa and put under the care of Hegai” who had “charge of the harem” after “the king’s order and edict had been proclaimed.” Scripture tells us that Esther pleased Hegai and gained his favor which resulted in her be provided immediate “beauty treatments and special food” as well as “seven female attendants” assigned to her “selected from the king’s palace” and a spot in the “best place in the harem.” No one knew Esther was a Jew because she “had not revealed her nationality and family background” because she had been forbidden to do so by Mordecai who “walked back and forth” every day “near the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther was” doing and “what was happening to her.”

The process for selecting Vashti’s replacement was extensive. We read that “before a young woman’s turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics.” Then “anything she wanted was given her to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace” where the woman would go in the evening. After spending the night with the king, the woman would “return to another part of the harem” in the morning and fall under the care of “Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines.” The only way the woman would ever return to the king again is if he had been “pleased with her and summoned her by name.”

And so each woman went one at a time and eventually it came time for “Esther…to go to the king.” We read where “she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested” and was taken to “King Xerxes in the royal residence in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.”

The end result? Scripture tells us “the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins” and so he set a “royal crown on her head and made her queen.” King Xerxes then “gave a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his nobles and officials” and “proclaimed a holiday throughout the provinces and distributed gifts with royal liberality.”

Esther, a Jew unbeknownst to everyone except Mordecai, was the new queen.

So what’s the point?

On the surface, it would appear that Mordecai, wanting the best for Esther, helped her into a situation where she might have a better life for herself…and succeeded in his efforts as Esther became queen.

But God rarely moves on the surface. His work is typically much deeper…well beyond our human wisdom and understanding.

As we’ll see, this is true in the story of Esther. There is more to this story than an orphaned Jewish girl ascending to be queen. The ascent was just a part of a greater plan God was working.

Maybe you are going through circumstances and wondering to yourself, “What’s the point? Why are things happening the way they are?”

We rarely can see how God is moving in our lives until His mighty plans are carried out to the full. Then as we look back in retrospect, we see the Almighty at work in all His glory, well beyond our limited scope of understanding.

What’s the point? Wait, wait on the Lord…and in His perfect time, He’ll make it all clear.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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