The Plans of God; Esther 2:1-18

Introduction

Series - Esther

King Ahasuerus or Xerxes throws a fest for himself

after months of drinking and celebrating he calls for his queen to parade herself in front of all the men at his banquet

she declines

he removes her from her position as queen

Up to this point in the story we have not even met the title character

we will see bad decisions get worse

we will see people hurt and treated horribly

God’s plan… Does he fail? Is the evil, we are seeing in the world really God’s plan?

Esther 2:1–18 (CSB)

1 Some time later, when King Ahasuerus’s rage had cooled down, he remembered Vashti, what she had done, and what was decided against her.

2 The king’s personal attendants suggested, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king.

3 Let the king appoint commissioners in each province of his kingdom, so that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem at the fortress of Susa. Put them under the supervision of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, keeper of the women, and give them the required beauty treatments.

4 Then the young woman who pleases the king will become queen instead of Vashti.” This suggestion pleased the king, and he did accordingly.

5 In the fortress of Susa, there was a Jewish man named Mordecai son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite.

6 Kish had been taken into exile from Jerusalem with the other captives when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took King Jeconiah of Judah into exile.

7 Mordecai was the legal guardian of his cousin Hadassah (that is, Esther), because she had no father or mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was extremely good-looking. When her father and mother died, Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter.

8 When the king’s command and edict became public knowledge and when many young women were gathered at the fortress of Susa under Hegai’s supervision, Esther was taken to the palace, into the supervision of Hegai, keeper of the women.

9 The young woman pleased him and gained his favor so that he accelerated the process of the beauty treatments and the special diet that she received. He assigned seven hand-picked female servants to her from the palace and transferred her and her servants to the harem’s best quarters.

10 Esther did not reveal her ethnicity or her family background, because Mordecai had ordered her not to make them known.

11 Every day Mordecai took a walk in front of the harem’s courtyard to learn how Esther was doing and to see what was happening to her.

12 During the year before each young woman’s turn to go to King Ahasuerus, the harem regulation required her to receive beauty treatments with oil of myrrh for six months and then with perfumes and cosmetics for another six months.

13 When the young woman would go to the king, she was given whatever she requested to take with her from the harem to the palace.

14 She would go in the evening, and in the morning she would return to a second harem under the supervision of the king’s eunuch Shaashgaz, keeper of the concubines. She never went to the king again, unless he desired her and summoned her by name.

15 Esther was the daughter of Abihail, the uncle of Mordecai who had adopted her as his own daughter. When her turn came to go to the king, she did not ask for anything except what Hegai, the king’s eunuch, keeper of the women, suggested. Esther gained favor in the eyes of everyone who saw her.

16 She was taken to King Ahasuerus in the palace in the tenth month, the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

17 The king loved Esther more than all the other women. She won more favor and approval from him than did any of the other virgins. He placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.

18 The king held a great banquet for all his officials and staff. It was Esther’s banquet. He freed his provinces from tax payments and gave gifts worthy of the king’s bounty.

There is evilness in the world, we will not be secluded from it, or avoid the consequences of its actions, but God is still working all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

The Evils of Man

We do not have to look far to see the evil of men

speak about the attack on Israel

speak about the value of human life

we should be saddened by the loss of life

even those we consider evil

because we know their fate

when we think of the story of Esther we might think of a young girl becoming a queen

we may think of the pageantry because of the princess stories that we have seen in movies and books

this is not a happy princess story

Esther 2:1–4 (CSB)

1 Some time later, when King Ahasuerus’s rage had cooled down, he remembered Vashti, what she had done, and what was decided against her.

2 The king’s personal attendants suggested, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king.

3 Let the king appoint commissioners in each province of his kingdom, so that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem at the fortress of Susa. Put them under the supervision of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, keeper of the women, and give them the required beauty treatments.

4 Then the young woman who pleases the king will become queen instead of Vashti.” This suggestion pleased the king, and he did accordingly.

The servants that come up with the idea

not the advisors that had suggested that he get rid of Vashti

they would have been noble men

the nobles were the ones the queen was supposed to be chosen from

this suggestion would have been a break from protocol or tradition

now, anyone could become king

the chances their daughter would replace and become queen just went down

there were about seven noble families that the royalty would be chosen from

assumably the king is upset and would take it out on his servants

this is not just dealing with a grumpy guy, the wrong thing happens and it costs your life

they would want to figure this out right away

The plan

hire 127 men to go to each province and get all the beautiful young virgins and bring them to Susa to the king

quick math - 8 girls from each province would be over 1000 girls

we do not know how many, but I am sure that it was not just a few

the wording does not suggest volunteer

this is kidnapping for nothing more than the sexual gratification of the king

requirements for the girls

beautiful - the king would want them to be attractive

young - most of the marriages took place when the ladies were in their young teens

most believe these girls would have been 12-14 years old

virgins - not having been with a man, not married

This is an evil plan

Esther 2:8–14 (CSB)

8 When the king’s command and edict became public knowledge and when many young women were gathered at the fortress of Susa under Hegai’s supervision, Esther was taken to the palace, into the supervision of Hegai, keeper of the women.

9 The young woman pleased him and gained his favor so that he accelerated the process of the beauty treatments and the special diet that she received. He assigned seven hand-picked female servants to her from the palace and transferred her and her servants to the harem’s best quarters.

10 Esther did not reveal her ethnicity or her family background, because Mordecai had ordered her not to make them known.

11 Every day Mordecai took a walk in front of the harem’s courtyard to learn how Esther was doing and to see what was happening to her.

12 During the year before each young woman’s turn to go to King Ahasuerus, the harem regulation required her to receive beauty treatments with oil of myrrh for six months and then with perfumes and cosmetics for another six months.

13 When the young woman would go to the king, she was given whatever she requested to take with her from the harem to the palace.

14 She would go in the evening, and in the morning she would return to a second harem under the supervision of the king’s eunuch Shaashgaz, keeper of the concubines. She never went to the king again, unless he desired her and summoned her by name.

the girls that were sent to the king would prepare for a year for one night

the bible makes this sound a little nicer with its language

these young girls would be prepared then go to the king so that he could have his way with them

after being with them sexually, he would send them on their way

no longer apart of the harem they were in previously because that was just for virgins

now they belong to the group of concubines

only to see the king again if he desired to be with that specific girl

The world is evil

we still see this kind of evil in the world

sex trafficking his a huge money maker in this world

children both boys and girls are being kidnapped and handed over to people all around the world for the same reason as the king did it here

sexual gratification

we may live in a place where we see less of this, but this does not mean it is not here. As God’s people it does not mean that we are free from the consequences of sin.

The Consequences of Sin

We have heard the saying that actions have consequences

we teach this to the kids as they grow up

when they do something wrong there is a consequence, a price that must be paid

a punishment that they get because of a wrong they have committed

why do we do that

is it for behavior modification, possibly

but also to teach them that when we do the wrong things there is a price to be paid

there are times that you may not have been in the wrong, but you still facing the consequences

as a coach, I have made the entire team run or face a punishment of some sort because of some, not the entire team

Esther 2:5–8 (CSB)

5 In the fortress of Susa, there was a Jewish man named Mordecai son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite.

6 Kish had been taken into exile from Jerusalem with the other captives when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took King Jeconiah of Judah into exile.

7 Mordecai was the legal guardian of his cousin Hadassah (that is, Esther), because she had no father or mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was extremely good-looking. When her father and mother died, Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter.

8 When the king’s command and edict became public knowledge and when many young women were gathered at the fortress of Susa under Hegai’s supervision, Esther was taken to the palace, into the supervision of Hegai, keeper of the women.

Esther was taken to the palace

there are things that we do not know

we do not know who she was taken by

we assume it was not Mordecai, but maybe he felt he had no choice

we assume it was not voluntary, who would want to go through that

we do not know if she was hunted down

what we do know is the reader of this book is now told that there were jewish people living in Susa

how did they get there - the exile

the better question is why were they still there

God had provided a way for the Jewish people to go back to the promise land

the rebuilding process of the temple had begun

earlier in the family tree of Mordecai and Esther their family decided not to go back

we do not know why and can only speculate, but we see the consequences of this decision decades later

Esther was taken to the palace, and now has to spend the night with the king

Esther 2:15–18 (CSB)

15 Esther was the daughter of Abihail, the uncle of Mordecai who had adopted her as his own daughter. When her turn came to go to the king, she did not ask for anything except what Hegai, the king’s eunuch, keeper of the women, suggested. Esther gained favor in the eyes of everyone who saw her.

16 She was taken to King Ahasuerus in the palace in the tenth month, the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

allowed to take anything, allowed to adorn herself and make herself appear like royalty she went in modesty

was it her modesty that the king was attracted to,

we do not know

but it must have made her stand out to be be noted like this in the story

was it that the leader of the harem gave her a hand up, we do not know

17 The king loved Esther more than all the other women. She won more favor and approval from him than did any of the other virgins. He placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.

18 The king held a great banquet for all his officials and staff. It was Esther’s banquet. He freed his provinces from tax payments and gave gifts worthy of the king’s bounty.

The world is evil, and we must face the consequences of the sin of others and ourselves, but that does not mean that God is not in control

The Providence of God

We see terrible things happen and hear or ask the question, “How could this be God’s plan?”

the question implies a couple of things

God intended this to happen

God did not create evil or cause evil things to happen

these are things that are consequences of sin and the evil choices that humanity has been making since the garden in Genesis 3.

if it is not his plan, then he is not in control

this implies that we are should be able to live without consequences

or not be able to choose and not have the ability to live free lives

God is providentially in control of all things

this means that he works all things together for his plans

you are not so powerful that your sins have stopped the plans of God

the good and the evil in the world

I get excited when I study scripture and find new things and there was something that I did not know when reading through the book of Esther

Esther is the Gentile name, we do not know why both Mordecai and Esther went by Gentile names

we do not know why Mordecai told her to hide her identity

the Persians did not hate the Jews, not that they loved them

but her Hebrew name was Hadassah, which means myrtle, like the wood

Isaiah 55:13 (CSB)

13 Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will come up, and instead of the brier, a myrtle will come up; this will stand as a monument for the Lord, an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed.

God, being omniscient, knowing all things, hundreds of years before Esther, said that a myrtle tree would rise up and be a monument for the Lord

an everlasting sign that God had not forgotten his people

that God was fulfilling his promises

The same is true of today

We see evil everywhere we look

we are not immune to the consequences of it

when bad things happen we do not lose hope, because God has given us a promise

Romans 8:28 (CSB)

28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

God takes the evilness of man, the evil plans of Satan and works them out for the good of those who know God

for those who love him

for those who are called according to his purpose

We will see how God uses Esther to save the Jewish people

but greater than that, read Ezra 6, Artaxerxes, the son of Xerxes and his advisors give a lot of resources, gold and silver for Ezra to finish rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem

Draw near to him

Isaiah 55:6 (CSB)

6 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call to him while he is near.

Discussion Questions

Exalting Jesus in Esther (Reflect and Discuss)

1. Why do we often go around difficult biblical texts instead of through them? What is the danger of doing so? What are some of the more difficult aspects of Esther 2?

2. Why is making a decision in anger or haste a bad idea? How can we minimize how often we do so?

3. How is remorse different from repentance? Why do we need more than just remorse?

4. Describe a time when you found yourself in a difficult situation or circumstance because of someone else’s sin. How can we be faithful even in such difficult situations?

5. Describe a time when you believed the Lord disciplined you, but you also saw evidence of his sustaining you through it.

6. We do not know Esther’s or Mordecai’s motivations, but we do know that neither’s resistance is recorded in chapter 2. Perhaps they were threatened with loss of life, and they chose to compromise with the world. Why do you and I tend to compromise for far less serious threats?

7. In what ways are you currently trying to hold on to your biblical convictions but feel tempted to compromise with the world? How can we faithfully navigate such tension?

8. Esther and Mordecai were imperfect and perhaps even disobedient, but the Lord still used them instead of discarding them. How do you feel about this? Is it any less true for us?

9. What is your response to the idea that Ahasuerus took the purity of women and left them with shame but that Jesus takes our shame and leaves us pure?

10. Ahasuerus sought a beautiful bride, but Jesus has made us into one. How should this fuel your worship and obedience?

Memory Verse - Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.