The Miss Persian Queen Pageant

1. Time for a New Queen

2. How old is Mordecai?

vs. 6 taken literally- 115 yrs. old

Hadassah was Esther’s Hebrew name:

It means Myrtle

Esther was a Persian Name that means star

Esther’s parents had died

Mordecai had raised her. they were cousins

She was physically beautiful

Ester was chosen to be a part of the harem

Deuteronomy 7:1–4 ““When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.”

Exodus 20:14 ““You shall not commit adultery.”

Esther won favor with Hegai, the chief eunuch

He provided above and beyond for her

Cosmetics

Food

Daniel 1:5 “The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king.”

7 personal maids

Mordecai had instructed her to not divulge her nationality

Mordecai stayed in close proximity to check on Esther

After a year of Beauty school Esther was presented to King Ahasuerus

six months with oil of myrrh

six months with spices and ointments

The talent portion

During the presentation, the women were given great liberties to take whatever they wanted with them from the harem

Esther only took what was advised by Hegai

This was in the year 479 ( 118 years after the Babylonian Deportation)

Between December and January

The king immediately loved Esther more than the other virgins

She was declared queen, replacing Vashti

A great feast was held in her honor