Esther chapter 2 - Esther made Queen

Esther Chapter 2.

Esther Made Queen.

2 Later when King Xerxes’ fury had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed about her.

When someone is very angry, he may often react harshly and hastily, and later regrets the reaction. King X, erxes was furious and offended when his Queen refused to come out from inside the palace to the garden when there was a feast for the princes, generals, nobles and officials. King felt "lose face" and took upon the advice of this Advisor to mete out punishment on the Queen. When his fury had subsided, he probably missed his Queen and somewhat regretted over the harsh punishment.

Lesson learnt, when we are angry, we should NOT REACT so hastily. Keep calm. Decide on the Action when the anger has subsided. When we decide the Action or Reaction when we are hot in anger, the decision may be unwise, something that we may regret later, we may end up with Over-Reaction.

² Then the king’s personal attendants proposed, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king. ³ 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. ⁴ Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This advice appealed to the king, and he followed it.

Beautiful young girls of various nationalities and ethnics were sourced from all the provinces within the empire.
Sounds somewhat similar to King Solomon.  Solomon loved many foreign women, and these foreign women somewhat caused him to draw him further away from God, and somewhat "followed" other gods.
Marrying women of various nationalities from the various provinces was also a strategy to  keep the unity and harmony within the empire. Marriage is often an important strategy for political alliances.
What is special in this case is that the sourcing is for young beautiful virgins, not focusing on the family background of the girl. Marriage for beneficial political alliances is focused on the girl's family first.

⁵ 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, ⁶ who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin^[a] king of Judah. ⁷ 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.

Esther's original name was Hadassah.
Esther was an orphan, a captive exiled into Babylon. She probably had a low social standing, yet she rose to be the Queen.
Beauty can be an instrument to God. Because she was beautiful and obedient, she was an instrument used by God to deliver the captive Jews from their enemies.

The Book of Esther reminded me an old friend during my university days. Her name is Esther Koh. When she became a Christian, she adopted the name of Esther.  Probably, because Esther is a very beautiful woman in the Bible.

⁸ 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. ⁹ 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.

As an instrument used by God, Esther found favour and please the the Officer in charge. When we make ourselves ready as instruments for God, He will make a way for us. He will make open doors. He will make all things possible. He will make us find favour with the Decision Maker.

As Ether pleased the Officer-in-charge, he expedited everything for her. He immediately started her with beauty treatments and fine food. He assigned the best living quarter for her. He gave Esther well-experienced maids/assistants. He gave us the best, in short.

¹⁰ Esther had not revealed her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so.

Esther had obeyed his guardian-cum-cousin, and followed his instruction. Obedience to wise instruction is important for success.
At times, not telling all is the wise thing to do. Not revealing all is not the same as lying. We have to be realistic in telling the truth. It may not be wise to always tell the total and absolute truth.
Should we tell a white lie if it is beneficial for the specific circumstance?

Conventional wisdom will tell us when to tell a small, white lie. Example: boy invites girl for a date. She doesn't want to go, so she tells him a white lie....e.g. I need to grandma's place, I have a saloon appointment.
In real life, in this real world, we need to be realistic.

In Esther's case, she purposely did not talk about her nationality (Jew) and family background (orphan, brought by cousin Mordecai). She did not lie. She just did not want to talk about the entire truth.

¹¹ 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.

Mordecai cared about Esther. Not sure whether it was parental love, or some other types of love.
Mordecai probably wanted to catch a sight of Esther. He probably missed her. He cared.
Mordecai was monitoring and following up on Esther's progress and status.

¹² 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. ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ 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.

The practice seems to be somewhat similar to China's Ching dynasty...what we wee in TV programs and movies.
The girl will be trained and beauty-treated, and wait to be summon to the King's bed. After she sleeps with the King, she is up one rank becoming the Concubine.

Sleeping with the King is a privilege well-sought after. When it is the girl's turn to sleep with the King, she gets to choose whatever she wants to bring along (jewellery, etc.).
She wouldn't have a second chance to sleep with the King unless the King is pleased with her and calls for her.

Imagine the extent of preparedness and eagerness of sleeping with the King....for each of these beautiful young virgins...prepared to be Concubines of the King.

¹⁵ 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.

Esther followed the advice of the Expert. Hegai knew what the King liked. As Esther found favour with Hegai, he gave her his best advice and suggestions.
Esther, being an obedient instrument of God, found favour of everyone who saw her. God can bless us if we are willing instruments of God. God can open doors even when the doors are normally closed and locked. God can make a way even when there seems to be no way.

¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ 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.

FALL IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT is a possibility. In the Bible, in the book of Esther, King Xerxes fell in love with Esther.

King Xerxes was so attracted and in love with Esther, that he promoted her from Concubine to Queen. For four years, the King was without a Queen. He was probably sleeping with a different girl every night. None of the girls pleased him well enough for him to fall in love with her.
Yet, the King fell in love with Esther. Was it her obedience? Was it her good looks? Was it her excellent service? We do not know. What we know is the end result that the King is so attracted with Esther, that he appointed her the Queen.

King Xerxes was very happy with this new Queen that he had a large-scale Banquet for this Queen.  This high level Banquet had the attendance of high level people...princes, generals, nobles, officials.
He even made this a public holiday in conjunction with this glorious event. This shows how much he treasures this new Queen of his.

Mordecai Uncovers a Conspiracy.

²⁰ But Esther had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai had told her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai’s instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up.

Even after Esther had become Queen, she did not tell about her nationality and family background. She had continued to obey Mordecai's instruction. She has the virtue of obedience.

²¹ During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. ²² But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai. ²³ And when the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were impaled on poles. All this was recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king.

Mordecai did a good service to the King by discovering and reporting a plot to kill the King.
This good service is recorded in the King's records....and could always be recalled.
By this reporting, Mordecai becomes known to the some of the King's officials.


Thursday, Dec 26, 2013.
Michael Yeap.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Esther%202&version=NIV