Sermon for Esther, The Hidden Hand of God, Part 2
Esther, The Hidden Hand of God • Sermon • Submitted
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· 673 viewsSeeing God at work when He's never mentioned in the text.
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King Ahasuerus Remembers
King Ahasuerus Remembers
After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus subsided, he remembered Vashti, what she had done, and what had been decreed against her.
As you remember from last week Queen Vashti has been dethroned. We will see several times in this book, that once a Persian law has been established, it can never be undone!
King Ahasuerus is getting restless
Missler: “The king [Ahasuerus] vainly seeks to satisfy his restless soul in a fruitless search for someone to fill the vacuum of his life.”
Dr. Karl Jung, Austrian psychologist: man suffers from the neurosis of emptiness.
“When God goes, the goal goes;
when the goal goes, purpose goes;
when purpose goes, meaning goes
and when meaning goes life goes dead on our hands”
Then the king’s servants who attended him said: “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king; and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to Shushan the citadel, into the women’s quarters, under the custody of Hegai the king’s eunuch, custodian of the women. And let beauty preparations be given them.
As I said last week, This reminds me of the TV show the Bachelor, where a single man has a group of women vying for his attention and hopefully a proposal!
Last week, at the beginning of the book, we learned there are 127 provinces in this Persian Empire. It is likely that a minimum of 127 women would have been brought to the capital for this purpose.
Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.”
This thing pleased the king, and he did so.
Of course, Esther is already living in the capital, so she didn’t have to travel to Shushan (Susa)
You can see how self-centered this king is. To say this pleased him is one of the great UNDERSTATEMENTS in the Bible!
In Shushan the citadel there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. Kish had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been captured with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.
We are introduced to Mordecai = “Little Man…A picture of the humanity of Jesus while acting as our kinsman redeemer”
Mordecai was from the Tribe of Benjamin. The same tribe as King Saul. In fact, something that King Saul refused to do centuries before Mordecai was born, will be dealt with in this book!
Missler: Mordecai, a Jew (“Salvation is of the Jews” John 4:22) = “a little man.” (Humility?)
Mordecai’s Role: Holy Spirit; specific work, to restore man to the fellowship with God, which he had lost.
Did you notice a familiar name in verse 5? “Jair” who was Mordecai’s father, but I can’t help but wonder if Jack and Evelyn Barr got their son Jair’s name from this passage?
Mordecai’s great Grandfather Kish, was part of the group of Israelites that Nebuchadnezzar, had taken to Babylon.
At some point Mordecai himself, or someone in his family had moved from Babylon to Shushan in Persia. Google Maps says that by foot this is about 335 miles. Walking 25 miles a day it would take nearly two weeks to make this journey!
And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.
Hadassah = Esther.
Hadassah, which means “Myrtle.” Esther, means “Hidden,” or it can also mean “Star”
She is Mordecai's cousin, but he adopts her when she is orphaned and she becomes like a daughter to him.
The Bible tells us that we who are born-again followers of Jesus, are also adopted, Romans 8:15.
We will see that Esther is not only physically beautiful, but she has spiritual beauty as well.
So it was, when the king’s command and decree were heard, and when many young women were gathered at Shushan the citadel, under the custody of Hegai, that Esther also was taken to the king’s palace, into the care of Hegai the custodian of the women.
Esther gets included in the group of women who will be in competition to become Queen. Some believers think this is awful that she is being objectified in this way.
Let me say this. If there was a beauty Pageant that the Nazi’s put on to find a wife for Hitler, wouldn’t you be glad a Jewish lady was in the mix who, if it worked out would take down the Nazi’s plan to exterminate the Jewish people? Spoiler alert! That is exactly what is going to happen here with the Persians, not the Nazis.
We are also introduced to Hegai in this verse.
Hegai=Venerable. A speaker. Meditation.
Hegai will become the advisor to Esther now that she is in the citadel. He fulfills the role of the Holy Spirit in Esther’s life, guiding her and advising her, as Mordecai had done before Esther came to the Citadel.
Now the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor; so he readily gave beauty preparations to her, besides her allowance. Then seven choice maidservants were provided for her from the king’s palace, and he moved her and her maidservants to the best place in the house of the women.
The Hidden Hand of God, through the Holy Spirit is showing Hegai, just what kind of person Esther is, and is inspiring Hegai to shower favor (grace) upon Esther.
Apparently, all the women got an allowance. In addition to this Esther gets:
(1) Beauty Preparations
(2) 7 choice maidens
(3) The best place in the women’s quarters (ESV says “harem”)
Are you also seeing God’s Hand in this book?
Esther had not revealed her people or family, for Mordecai had charged her not to reveal it. And every day Mordecai paced in front of the court of the women’s quarters, to learn of Esther’s welfare and what was happening to her.
Esther hides her Jewish ethnicity.
Mordecai has likely learned in the previous empire of the Babylonians and now in the Persian Empire, how to be faithful to God, but in an intelligent way.
Mordecai, is led by God’s hidden hand to teach Esther to not reveal that she is Jewish. So, the meaning of Esther’s name is made real: Hidden!
Each young woman’s turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had completed twelve months’ preparation, according to the regulations for the women, for thus were the days of their preparation apportioned: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women.
A year of beauty treatments!
Six months oiling your skin, should make it as soft as a Baby’s bottom.
I can see the commercial Now. “Ladies, Do you want to feel young? Do you want skin that is irresistible to be touched. Skin that is so very smooth and soft? We have discovered the Oil which the Beautiful Queen Esther anointed herself with, the Oil of Myrrh!”
Thus prepared, each young woman went to the king, and she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the women’s quarters to the king’s palace.
After one year of beauty treatments, each woman was given “WHATEVER SHE DESIRED” to take to the King.
That my friends is a blank check.
I can see it now, the other women using however many maidens hauling in a ransom to impress King Ahasuerus! From what we know further on in the story, I doubt if he was impressed.
This is what happens when we try to control the outcome which God is leading us through. We want everything done our own way! Esther will show us how God wants us to follow His Hidden hand! His Word reveals the way!
In the evening she went, and in the morning she returned to the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who kept the concubines. She would not go in to the king again unless the king delighted in her and called for her by name.
Remember the Gong Show? Whenever the judges didn’t like the entertainment, they would ring the gong.
Shaashgaz was there to help those the king didn’t choose.
Shaashgaz = Who *succored the cut-off. Servant of the beautiful. Beauty’s servant. (Exhaustive Dict. of Bib. Names)
*Succor= One that gives help, relief, aid, etc.
Now when the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised. And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her.
This shows Esther's obedience to Hegai's teaching and her humility in not trusting in what she could bring to this opportunity.
It further reveals God’s Hidden Hand in how He was going to show himself faithful as she trusted those God placed in her life to guide her.
We also learn the name of Esther’s father. Abihail = Father of might; father or cause of strength; father of splendor; my father is strength. [Exhaustive Dict. of the Bible]
Look at the end of verse 15, “Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her.”
Favor = Grace. Note here who did Esther obtain favor from? “All who saw her.”
Now this is obviously God’s hidden hand at work! Can you imagine the kind of envy and scheming going on? Women who are in competition to become Queen of the Empire, who do and say anything to have it turn to their advantage.
None of this is directed at Esther! They ALL FAVOR HER. Esther who got more than others. Esther who got the best place in the house. Only God could pull that one off!
So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
This is four years after the beginning of the story of Esther. See Esther 1:3.
So in all, it took God four years, working in and through the various situations to get Esther to the place where she would do what God wanted her to do.
In verse 17, “The King loved Esther more than all the other women.”
This is no romance like we saw in the Book of Ruth. No, this is a selfish, self-centered King who only wants his own needs and desired met.
In verse 17 we see Esther “obtained grace and favor in his sight.”
Esther obtained GRACE & FAVOR! Here is working of the Hidden Hand of God at His finest!!! Persian law forbid the inter-marriage of a Persian with a Jewish person. But God needs this to happen, and it does, by His grace Alone.
What does God desire to give to every person? Grace!
But, we have to be like Esther and receive it in humility!
QUEEN ESTHER!
J.V. Mc Gee says, “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... 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.”
McGee, J. V. (1997). Thru the Bible commentary (electronic ed., Vol. 2, pp. 554–555). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Then the king made a great feast, the Feast of Esther, for all his officials and servants; and he proclaimed a holiday in the provinces and gave gifts according to the generosity of a king.
McGee says, “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.”1A
1 McGee, J. V. (1997). Thru the Bible commentary (electronic ed., Vol. 2, p. 555). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
When virgins were gathered together a second time, Mordecai sat within the king’s gate. Now Esther had not revealed her family and her people, just as Mordecai had charged her, for Esther obeyed the command of Mordecai as when she was brought up by him.
Mordecai had some influence and power. “He sat within the King’s gate.” Remember when we studied Ruth, the Gate is like where our City Hall would be. However, this is the King’s gate, and is where empire issues are dealt with.
In those days, while Mordecai sat within the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, doorkeepers, became furious and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.
Mordecai discovers, then foils an assassination plot against the King by these two guys:
Bigthan = Gift of fortune; giving meat. A giver of Pastry. In the winepress.
Teresh = Possession; you will possess. Sever; austere; reverence.
So the matter became known to Mordecai, who told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai’s name.
There is no drama about how Esther informed King Ahasuerus about the plot to kill him. We’ll see that drama about Esther approaching the King later in the story. Perhaps when life is at stake, there is flexibility in the rules.
And when an inquiry was made into the matter, it was confirmed, and both were hanged on a gallows; and it was written in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.
Hanged on a gallows, may not mean they were hung by the neck. The Persians were early users of crucifixion, and impaling, either one could be meant here. Gallows in Hebrew is literally Tree or Post
As we conclude chapter 2, aren’t you glad that Jesus, centuries later, was willing to be “Hanged on a tree.”
That phrase, “Hanged on a tree” should sound familiar. There are three places it is found in the New Testament.
The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.
And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree.
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),
Indeed! as this last verse says, Jesus was cursed for you. You and I deserve to be cursed, but Jesus took this judgement and punishment which deserve, and paid the penalty for us.
Then Jesus triumphed over sin, death and the devil, in His glorious resurrection. So that we would know He is God and He loves us more than we could ever know.
We must, like Esther, humbly trust Jesu for our salvation and walk where His hand guides us, all the days of our lives.
If you don’t know Jesus, and need to talk about this more, any of the leaders of the congregation can help you.
Amen!
Now, May the Shalom of God, guard (and guide) you in Messiah Jesus today, and every today that follows.
Amen!!!