Esther 2

CHAPTER 2THEME: The beauty contest to choose the real queen

Esther 2:1

This verse begins, “After these things.” After what things? Well, the things that had taken place in the first chapter, and the campaign to Greece where Xerxes was soundly defeated. After his defeat he returned in deep dejection to his palace. Added to his misery was the absence of his queen and the fact that the law of the Medes and Persians could not be alteredeven by the king himself. Vashti could never again be his queen. We must turn to secular history for the campaign of Xerxes against the Greeks, since the Bible gives us no record of this campaign. He led a great army against the Greeks. The secret of the strength of the Persians was in numbers, but the individual Persian soldier was not as well trained as the individual Greek soldier. The Greeks emphasized the individual, and as a result one Greek soldier could have taken care of ten Persians. So at the battle at Thermopylae, only a few men could get in the narrow pass. As a result the Greeks won a signal victory over the Persian army. It was an unfortunate defeat for Xerxes, but God was overruling. The power was about to pass from Persia to Greece. After his defeat and in his loneliness he paces up and down in the palace every day. He is thinking of Vashti, but the law that he has made concerning the queen cannot be changed. He has set aside this beautiful woman, and he can never have her again. The servants know his state of mind, and they are watching him. They know that something must be done.

Esther 2:2

Members of the king’s cabinet, occupying high positions, notice how moody and lonely the king is. They made a suggestion that there be conducted a beauty contest and that the entire kingdom be searched for women who were beautiful. They were to be brought in from near and far. I am sure that the number of women chosen was in the hundreds.

Esther 2:4

The king was to be the judge, the sole judge, of this contest.

Esther 2:5

The story in the Book of Esther to this point has just been the window dressingthe stage props. We have had a glimpse into a heathen court. We have been introduced to the happenings there for a very definite purpose. It explains the beauty contest and how Esther came to the throne. Because she became queen, she was able to intervene and intercede in behalf of her people. An entire people would have been exterminated at that time had she not been in that position on the throne. We will begin to see the hand of God moving up in the palace. Up to this point there has been nothing spiritual in the palace. It was as godless as anything could possibly be. Drunken orgies were often held, but God is going to overrule. We are going to see His providence. He is arranging the events so that at the proper time He will have someone to intervene in behalf of His people, the Jews. Somebody is going to raise the question about this beauty contest and say, “It looks as if God approves of beauty contests.” No, I don’t think He does. But, my friend, when a child of God gets out of God’s will, He permits many things to happen of which He does not approve. And He will overrule through these events. God’s overruling power is one of the important lessons in this little Book of Esther. Many Christians today are living on the fringe of God’s will. They are not really being directed by the will of God. They are not what we call in the will of God. Yet God directs them by His providence. Esther is an illustration of this. Actually our story begins with “a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai.” He was of the tribe of Benjamin. The question that immediately arises is: What is he doing here? He belonged to the royal family of Israel. He was from the family of Saul.

Esther 2:6

God had permitted His people to return to their own land, as He had prophesied through Isaiah. Cyrus had given a decree to permit them to return, and those who were in the will of God did return to Palestine. However, very few returned to their homeland. The greater number of them had made a place for themselves in the land of their captivitythey had learned shopkeeping from the Gentilesand elected to remain. They liked it. When they were free to go, they did not want to return to their homeland. Many of them, out of the will of God, chose to remain, and Mordecai happened to be one of them. He should have been back in the land of Israel butof all placesnotice where he is: in the palace. He has a political job. You may remember that Joseph also had a political job in Egypt; yet he was in the will of God directly. Daniel in the court of Babylon was also in the will of God. But Mordecai is not in the direct will of God. You will see that the Book of Esther is the book of the providence of God. As I have said, a popular definition of providence is this: Providence is how God coaches the man on second base. And this man Mordecai is going to be brought “home,” although he is out of the will of God, and although he is not looking to God for help. Even at a time when you would think he and his people would turn to God, they do not. There is no mention of God or of prayer in this book at all because these people are out of the will of God. Both Mordecai and Esther appear on the pages of Scripture in a poor light, although they are very high-type individuals, as we shall see later on in the story. Mordecai was taken captive, probably at a young age, in the second deportation of captives that left Jerusalem. That was during the reign of Jeconiah (better known as Jehoiachin). The first deportation that left Jerusalem was made up of the princes, the nobility, the upper classDaniel was with that group. The second captivity took out those, shall we say, of the upper middle class. This man Mordecai was in that group. After the third deportation, when Jerusalem was finally destroyed, only the poorest class was left in the land. Mordecai had a young cousin whose parents may have been slain when Nebuchadnezzar took the city, for multitudes were slain.

Esther 2:7

Esther’s Hebrew name was Hadassah, which means “star.” She certainly was a star and a very beautiful woman, according to Scripture. Mordecai adopted her as his own daughter. Her one great asset was beauty. When the announcement was made that there was to be a choice of another queen for Ahasuerus, immediately Mordecai became interested. His position in the palace no doubt gave him the opportunity to see the different girls that were brought from all over the kingdom to enter the contest. I am sure he compared them with Esther and decided that none of them were as beautiful as his adopted daughter.

Esther 2:8

You can see the providence of God moving into this situation. Mordecai took his young cousin Esther and entered her in the beauty contest. I must say that at this particular juncture I do not have much respect for this man. Before the story is over, I am going to change my mind, and I will eat my words, but right now I despise him for what he is doing. To begin with, he is disobeying God. God had told His people not to intermarry with the heathen.

He is definitely breaking the Mosaic Law by entering this girl in the beauty contest on the chance that she might become the next queen. The girls who did not win the contest would automatically enter the harem of the king. If Esther lost, she would be forced to become a concubine. She would be exposed to an awful life, but Mordecai is willing to take that risk. We can see God taking command of the situation. Esther was brought to the king’s house. She pleased Hegai, the keeper of the women. She obtained kindness from him, and he gave her everything she needed to help make her even more beautiful.

Esther 2:10

Remember that the Jews were a captive people and anti-Semitism always had been a curse in the nations of the world. And it had been in this nation. You cannot read the account of Nebuchadnezar’s destruction of Jerusalem without realizing his hatred for these people. It was he who brought them to Babylon, but he is no longer on the scene, and a new nation has charge of them. Yet the anti-Semitic feeling remains. Mordecai, being very sensitive to that, warns Esther not to reveal her nationality.

This silence is tantamount to a denial of her religion, because religion is the thing that has identified these peole down through the years. The moment Mordecai and Esther denied their nationality, they also denied their religion. By remaining in the land of captivity they were out of the will of God. It is of interest to note that today, when men and women are out of the will of God, they have very little to say about their faith in Christ.

Esther 2:11

When you are in the will of God, you can rest in the fact that God is causing all things to work together for good. Mordecai is not resting in God, because he is out of God’s will. He is pacing up and down, nervously biting his fingernails, wondering how things will turn out. He wonders if he has not made a terrible blunder and mistake by entering Esther in this beauty contest. He is absolutely frightened at what he has done. He is worried sick. He cannot sleep at night. This is Mordecai’s condition. When you are out of God’s will, you are not apt to rest on your laurels and say everything will be all right. At this point he has not, nor can he, put it into God’s hands. I am not sure that he knew anything about the providence of God. However, God is overruling in this. May I remind you of my definition of providence? Providence is the way God leads the man who will not be led. We see God beginning to move at this particular point. It is no accident that Esther is given the most prominent place and that she is shown every favor and given every consideration. There are no accidents with God. Notice the type of beautification that went on.

Esther 2:12

May I say to you that if your wife takes a few hours in a beauty salon, you ought not to complainthese girls spent a whole year there! The first six months they went to the spa for reducing and oil treatments. Then the next six months they went to the perfumers. I suppose they even swam in cologne in that day in order to be prepared to go into the presence of the king. You can see the tremendous emphasis that was placed on the physical, and this is typical of a pagan culture. The farther away America gets from God the more counters we have in our department stores for beauty aids.

Have you noticed that? And with the multiplicity of beautifying treatments, it is rather disappointing that we don’t have more beauty than we do. But these girls went through an entire year of beauty-conditioning for the contest. Women have not changed much over the years. A great deal of makeup was used to make the women in this contest beautiful. A lot of makeup is used today. I hope no one is going to take issue with me about the use of makeup or about whether Esther should have entered this contest. Very candidly, I don’t think she should have entered the contest, and we are going to find out that she did not need makeup. There are many extremists on the subject of makeup.

A dear lady once came to me when I was pastor in downtown Los Angeles, California. She thought that some of the girls were using too much makeup. She did not think a Christian ought to use it, and she put me out on a limb when she asked me what I thought about the subject. I said, “Well, it depends on the woman. Some women would be greatly improved if they used a little makeup, and I think we should all do the best we can with what God has given us.” She took that personally, and I want to add that she had reason to. I felt like saying to her, “A little makeup, lady, would improve you a great deal.” In Esther’s case God permitted all of this by His providence. Her entrance into the contest and her acceptance by the man in charge of the contestants were all ordered by God. Hegai, keeper of the women, thought Esther looked like a winner, so he put her up front. It was a step forward in God’s program. It was not an accident. God’s providence was overruling in her life.

Esther 2:13

After one year of preparation, the time came for each maiden to go to the king’s chambers. For her visit she could have anything she wanted in the line of clothes or jewelry. Soon it would be Esther’s turn to go to the king. She was taking an awful chance. If she did not win, she would become one of the concubines of the king of Persia, which certainly would have been a horrible thing for this Jewish maiden. This is the reason Mordecai is biting his fingernails. He knows they are out of the will of God, and he knows the terrific chance this girl, whom he raised, is taking. But God is going to overrule.

Esther 2:15

When it was Esther’s turn to go to the king, it was decided that she was a natural beauty. It would have been like gilding a lily to send her to the beauty parlor. She was already beautiful and lovely. Everyone who saw her said, “There is the winner!” She stood out above everybody else. Is the hand of God moving? Yes! He is moving by His providence. He is going to put her on the throne next to the king, because, if she is not there, the whole nation of Israel is going to be destroyed. If that happens, God will be violating His Word, and God never does that.

Esther 2:16

When the king saw Esther, he did not have to look any further for a queen. The contest was over as far as he was concerned. He had found the one to take Vashti’s place, and Esther was made queen. How did she become the winner? Was it by accident or chance? I don’t think so. Her selection was by the providence of Almighty God. We will see in the next chapter that it was essential for God to go before and make arrangements to protect His people. He did this by making Esther queen. For this reason we were introduced to the pagan palace, the banquet, and the drunken orgy that took place. God wants us to see His overruling in the affairs of men and Satan. This should be a comfort to God’s children in this hour in which we live. We are told that the king loved Esther. I must confess that I am not impressed by it at all. Those of you who have read my book on Ruth know the emphasis put upon the romance of Boaz and Ruth, the loveliest love story, I think, that has ever been told. It is a picture of Christ’s love for His church. But I have to say that I do not find that quality in the story of Ahasuerus and Esther. This is an old, disappointed king who almost had reached the end of the road.

I am reminded of the story of a foreigner who came to this country. He asked, “What is this, these three R’s that I keep hearing about in this country?” Some wiseacre gave him this answer, “At twenty it is Romance; at thirty it is Rent; and at fifty it is Rheumatism.” Well, it was rheumatism with the king. This is an old king marrying a lovely young girl. He is an old pagan with no knowledge at all of what real love in God might mean to a couple. I must say that I cannot see anything here to wax eloquent about or to say that this is a pictureas some have doneof Christ and His church. However, the event is of utmost importance. It is thrilling to see this girl, belonging to a captive people, suddenly become queen over one of the greatest gentile empires the world has ever seen. The wave of anti-Semitism that was imminent would have blotted out these people, and God’s entire purpose with Israel would have been frustrated; but when danger strikes, Esther is in a unique position. God moved her into that place.

Esther 2:18

You will remember that this book opened with a feast. Now we have another feast, Esther’s feast. Since the king has a lovely queen to take Vashti’s place, he suspends taxes for one year. If such a thing were done in our day, it would rock the world! It is interesting to see that the king did have the authority to suspend taxes for a year. We all would rejoice if they would conduct some kind of contest in Washington, D.C., that would help reduce taxes!

Esther 2:19

Mordecai has a new positionnot a job, a position. He is sitting in the king’s gate. This means that he is a judge, for the courthouse of the ancient world was the gate of the city. Most of the cities were walled, and out through the gate all the citizens would pass sooner or later. Court convened at the city gate, not at the courthouse in the town square. You may recall that the city gate was the place Boaz went to have a legal matter settled. Also, it is said of Lot that he sat in the gate, which meant that he had gotten into politics in Sodom and had a judgeship. Look at Mordecai. Isn’t it interesting that when Esther becomes queen the next thing you know Mordecai is a judge, sitting in the gate? That is nepotism, or getting your kinfolk into office. I do not know whether Mordecai was made judge because of his ability or because Esther whispered in the ear of the king, “This man Mordecai has been just like a father to me. He is a man of remarkable ability, and I think you ought to give him a good position.” And the king may have said, “Well, that is interesting. We’ve just had an opening for a judge here at the east gate, and I’ll give him that position.” This is a very human book, you see, and politics haven’t changed one bit, have they?

Esther 2:20

This girl is a rather remarkable person. Even married to the king, she still takes instructions from the man who reared her. And I will say that I believe Mordecai is one of the outstanding men in Scripture to whom we have paid very little attention. He apparently was a man of remarkable ability. At this point something takes place that seems extraneous, and yet it is upon this incident that the whole book hinges. As someone has said, “God swings big doors on little hinges.” Again we see the providence of God; He is moving behind the scene here.

Esther 2:21

This is an interesting incident. Mordecai was sitting at the gate. Crowds were coming and going through the gate. He heard two men talking, and he heard them mention the name of the king. He cupped his ears so he could hear what they were talking about and discovered they were plotting to kill the king. So Mordecai immediately got word to Esther about the plot. This is a very familiar picture: an oriental potentate and fellows with long mustachios, hiding behind pillars, plotting against the king. Actually, intrigue in an oriental court was common; there always seemed to be someone who was after the king’s job. Mordecai’s new position gained him a vantage point so that he was able to overhear the plot. After Mordecai told Esther about the plan to kill the king, Esther told her husband. I suppose she said to the king, “You remember that I recommended Mordecai as a judge, and you can see that he is already doing an excellent job. He has discovered a plot against your life.” The FBI investigated and found it to be true. These fellows were then arrested. They didn’t have a long, drawn out trial that spent taxpayers’ money. The king ordered them to be put to death, and they were executed by hanging.

This was to discourage others who might attempt to plot against the king. Of course, they were very uncivilized in that day, but they did not go in for lawlessness and pampering criminals. This entire incident was written down in the chronicles of the king, in the minutes, if you please, of the kingdom of Persia. It is interesting to see that something was omitted here. Mordecai was not rewarded or recognized for his service. I suppose he brooded over it many times, wondering why in the world he had been ignored. He wasn’t even given a Boy Scout badge or a lifesaver button for saving the king’s life. Certainly he deserved that much. Why was this incident passed by? God is overruling. By His providence, God is directing this entire affair.