Living in a Corrupt World - Esther 1-2

Copyright January 6, 2025, by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

During the month of January, we are going to look at the book of Esther, which you find in your Bible between Nehemiah and Job. The book tells the story of Esther and her cousin Mordecai. The book is one of the few in the Old Testament that does not mention the name of God. Yet, you will see God prominently in the book.

The book is set in the Persian Empire around 483-473 BC. The Persian Empire (which was first the Medo-Persian Empire before becoming the Persian Empire under King Cyrus) defeated the Babylonian Empire and was later taken conquered by Alexander the Great beginning the Greek Empire. The end of the book of Daniel tells us about the night the Babylonian Empire ended, and the Persian Empire began.

When Cyrus defeated the Babylonians, he issued a decree (as predicted in the book of Isaiah) that the Jewish people to be allowed to return to their homeland and many of them did just that. Some Jews however remained because they had lived in the Babylonian and later Persian empire for most or all their lives. A second group of Jews returned to restore Jerusalem later. The book of Esther takes place between these two groups of exiles returning to their homeland. Esther is about the Jews that remained in the Empire.

The Persian King in the book of Esther has various names. There is the name Ahasuerus (Max Lucado says this name reminds us of someone who sneezes). This is the Greek translation of the Persian name “Khshayararsha.” The more popular Greek translation is Xerxes. This is the name used most often in the New Living Translation for obvious reasons.

Xerxes ruled in Susa, which was the base of operations in the Iran/Iraq area. Scholars say at this time Susa served as the winter palace for the King. He also ruled from three other locations including Babylon.

“Why all this detail about names?” It’s because we need to see that the author is anchoring the book to history. In other words, this is not just a fable or an allegory, it is a historical account of the things as they happened.

We are going to look at chapters 1 and 2 today. These chapters set-up what will come in the next three weeks. I must warn you that some of what we will read today is “tough sledding.”

The King’s Party

The story starts with a party.

These events happened in the days of King Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. 2 At that time Xerxes ruled his empire from his royal throne at the fortress of Susa. 3 In the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet for all his nobles and officials. He invited all the military officers of Persia and Media as well as the princes and nobles of the provinces. 4 The celebration lasted 180 days—a tremendous display of the opulent wealth of his empire and the pomp and splendor of his majesty.

5 When it was all over, the king gave a banquet for all the people, from the greatest to the least, who were in the fortress of Susa. It lasted for seven days and was held in the courtyard of the palace garden. 6 The courtyard was beautifully decorated with white cotton curtains and blue hangings, which were fastened with white linen cords and purple ribbons to silver rings embedded in marble pillars. Gold and silver couches stood on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and other costly stones.

7 Drinks were served in gold goblets of many designs, and there was an abundance of royal wine, reflecting the king’s generosity. 8 By edict of the king, no limits were placed on the drinking, for the king had instructed all his palace officials to serve each man as much as he wanted.

9 At the same time, Queen Vashti gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.

This celebration that lasted 180 days may have been for two different purposes. First, it may have been to celebrate the consolidation of Xerxes kingdom, or it may have been to prepare for war against some of the Greek cities (Xerxes was ambitious). Apparently, it was common for rulers, like Xerxes, to strengthen ties with the “men of significance”, by inviting them to a blow-out celebration. (In 481 he went to war with Greece. After an initial victory, he was defeated at Salamis in 480.) The celebration was the King’s way of demonstrating that he had the resources necessary to go to war.

We are told the King used this time to show off his riches. The Persian empire was known for its opulence. Everything was over the top!

It is unlikely that anyone (except perhaps for the King) was at the party for the entire six-month period. This was likely a celebration where various leaders came and made an appearance. At the end of the six month “celebration” there was a banquet to which everyone in Susa was invited.

The banquet lasted for seven days. They had an open bar, and the people took advantage of the free drinks. We are told Queen Vashti gave a companion feast for the wives and other women.

At the end of the feast the King, who was by now quite liquored up, sent a team to bring the Queen to come and display her beauty before all the drunk men at the party. The text says, “wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at.” It is of course an act which objectified Vashti. The Queen refused to lower herself to that level. And we, in our contemporary society, applaud Vashti’s courage.

However, the Queen’s refusal to prance around as the King’s possession angered and likely embarrassed the King who was used to getting whatever he wanted. “According to custom” he consulted with the leaders (it would be like consulting a legal team) who were most aware of laws and customs about what should be done about Vashti’s lack of obedience to the King? The King felt the Queen made him look bad and he wanted to punish her. Let’s read the words these men spoke,

“Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes. 17 For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.’ 18 This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility who have heard about the queen’s conduct will respond to all the king’s nobles in the same way. There will be no end of disrespect and discord.

The concern of these advisors is that if Vashti gets away with the act of disobedience, all the other wives are going to think they can make their own decisions too! (What would come next? They might want to vote or run for office or get a job of their own outside the home!!!). Such a thing would upset the status quo and the authoritative position men held over their wives. These male leaders were concerned that if Vashti was not stripped of her privilege as Queen, other women were going to develop a backbone, and the men would be in trouble.

So, the Queen was deposed and could no longer go into the presence of the King. The law is passed that women must respect their husbands. This is put into law and one of the unique things about the laws of the Medes and the Persians (or just the Persians) is that the law cannot be repealed. This fact will be important again later in the story.

The Beauty Contest

As we get into chapter two another situation develops.

Later when the anger of King Xerxes had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed about her. 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 girls 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 girl who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This advice appealed to the king, and he followed it. (2:1-4)

After the King cooled down (and sobered up) he started top miss Vashti (if you know what I mean)! So, the attendants of the King (who were probably getting the brunt of the King’s frustration) said “Let’s look throughout the Empire for all the beautiful young virgins. We’ll give them beauty treatments and then they can spend a night with the King, and he can choose a fitting replacement.

It appears that this was not like your typical beauty pageant where contestants enter hoping to win. It appears the Persian government “drafted” various women to be part of this “search.”

8 When the king’s order and edict had been proclaimed, many girls 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 The girl pleased him and won his favor. Immediately he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food. He assigned to her seven maids selected from the king’s palace and moved her and her maids into the best place in the harem. (Esther 2:8-9)

And this is where we meet Esther. Esther is not brought to Susa until three years after the contest starts, which may mean either she had just some age or Mordecai was trying to protect her. Eventually, she was taken (Lit. means “seized”). When she was taken, Mordecai told her not to disclose her nationality.

Esther was a young woman (late teens or early 20’s). She was a beautiful woman. Her parents had both died and she was being raised by her cousin named Mordecai. Much like in the story at the beginning of the book of Daniel, Esther became a favorite of Hegai, who oversaw the Harem. We are told that these girls had to complete 12 months of beauty treatments. (Here is that opulence again). After the treatments, they had their “interview” with the King.

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. (2:13-14)

Unless I understand this incorrectly, the King “auditioned” each of these women. They would “spend the night” with hi,m then may never see him again. They would become damaged women simply because the King was impulsive and couldn’t hold his booze.

When Esther went to visit the King, he was pleased with her. The contest that was going on for four years was finally over. Esther was the new queen and Xerxes decided to celebrate his new queen with . . .You guessed it, a holiday and a party! (Isn’t this how it all started?)

Meanwhile it appears Mordecai was concerned about his cousin. He stayed near the home of the King, and it seems he even became part of the governing authorities.

21 One day, as Mordecai was on duty at the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthana and Teresh—who were guards at the door of the king’s private quarters—became angry at King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him. 22 But Mordecai heard about the plot and gave the information to Queen Esther. (2:21-22)

We are told Mordecai was “on duty at the King’s gate.” This is generally the place where people governed. So, it appears Mordecai served in some capacity in the Susa city government. One day when he was at work, he heard some of the Kings guards talking about a plot to kill him. Mordecai told Esther, Esther told the King, and credited Mordecai. It was noted. We will hear more about this later in the book.

What are We to Do with This Information?

These are painful chapter to read. We find it hard to stomach the way people were treated. We do have questions: “Why would God allow Esther (or these women) to be treated in this way?

One of the things we have seen as we read through the Bible is that God does not cause difficult circumstances, sin does. God allows some people to go through these painful times to set up times of rescue and redemption.

· Joseph was sold, set-up, and sent to prison to make it possible for Him to save Israel

· Moses was taken from his family so he would have access to Pharoah.

· David was chased by Saul all around Israel so that David could develop character and some leadership traits.

· Jonah spent time in a whale, Elijah was targeted by Jezebel

· Jesus went to the cross to save us

· Paul spent time in jail and others were martyred

All of these were tools God used to reach people with the message of the gospel. If Esther had never become part of the women auditioning for the job of Queen, she could not have saved all the Jews.

So what specifically can we learn from this sordid mess? First, the longer sin is endured, the more normal it seems. We listen to these words from the book of Esther, and we can’t believe people put up with this nonsense. But that is what was going on in their society. The massive parties, the royal opulence, the degradation of women, it was just the way things were and people simply accepted it.

I am sure people from other generations would wonder why we tolerate sex apart from marriage, rampant and explicit sex and violence on television, physician-assisted suicide, trying to alter the gender of children, vulgarity, and the disregard for the holiness of God’s name, violence, pervasive selfishness, and superficial godliness. We do so because we have become used to it. It has become part of the norm, and we treat it as normal without giving it much thought. We even say, “That is how the world is today.” Many of these things have become normal in the church as well as in the world.

The only answer is a sincere repentance for sin and a resolve to move toward what God has called us to embrace.

Second, sometimes all we can do is be the best people we can be in the situation we find ourselves in. Esther may have had no choice in the contest she was thrust into. Mordecai couldn’t stop them from taking Esther, but he could stay close to her. Life is not always pretty. Sometimes, you need to be faithful in a bad situation. For example, sometimes we are victims of a crime, or have physical problems or addictions that are tough to endure. Sometimes, life is not all you thought it was going to be.

For you it may be a difficult person at work, a bully at school, a difficult financial situation, a terrifying prognosis, a spouse that wants things only on their terms, pain that refuses to let up, a job where there is always more being asked of you, a reputation you cannot seem to escape even with the passage of time.

In each of these situations the challenges are great but so are the opportunities. We will constantly be on the precipice of a breakdown it we don’t trust that God is at work. If we can learn how to be faithful in these situations, we will be faithful in other settings as well. God calls us to trust Him even in these less-than-ideal situations. This is the “testing of our faith.” If we fall apart every time something hard comes into our lives, then neither our faith nor our character will grow and develop.

Third, we cannot build trust by flexing our muscles or putting others down. I don’t know why people don’t seem to understand this. No one is going to respect us because we kept them from moving forward. No one will be respected because they shouted someone down or because they won an argument. And no one is going to follow us simply because we tell them to follow. The idea that a women needed to respect their husbands by having no thoughts, talents, dreams, or freedom of their own, is pure nonsense. Respect is given to people who see, honor, and listen to others. Respect is earned no legislated.

Fourth, we must not overlook the little things in life because those little things may turn into the big things God wants to do in and through us. This story is filled with little things that add up to something big in the end. Was Mordecai serving in the government a little thing or a big thing? Was it significant that Esther was taken in by her cousin? Was it significant that Mordecai reported the assassination instead of “minding his own business?” Was it significant that Esther asked for the advice of the person in charge of the harem or that she obeyed Mordecai and didn’t reveal her nationality? This account is filled with little decisions that led to the big things that happened.

Life is like that. We must work to be faithful in every situation. Because, if we are faithful in these circumstances, good things will come from them. This is our social media posts, our responses to people who annoy us, the way we behave in public with our friends and what you say and do when you are angry are such big things even though we don’t think they are.

Sometimes the most important character trait, and the biggest evidence of trust in God, is patience. Throughout the story of Esther there is this underlying patience. We don’t see panic at critical moments. Instead, we see an attempt to be faithful in every moment in the confidence that God was going to work in His way and in His timing. The book of Esther does not mention the name of God, but it does show us what it means to live our lives as one who believes God is working even when we don’t see Him doing so.