Esther and Mordecai (Esther 2:1-18)

Wayne Anderson

Esther • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

Esther 2:1–18

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Notes

Transcript

Introduction

Story format

Character development

Problem developed

Events leading up to the Climax

Climax of the story

Resolution of the problem

Happy Ending

Character Development

King Ahasuerus (Esther 1)

Esther and Mordecai (Esther 2)

Haman (Esther 3:1-6)

“VASHTI REFUSED TO come to King Xerxes in the third year of his reign, 483 B.C. Esther was made queen in the seventh year of his reign, 479 B.C. (2:16–17). During the intervening years Xerxes was off fighting a disastrous war with Greece. His humiliating defeat depleted the treasuries of the Persian empire and discredited him in the eyes of his subjects. Shortly after his return from Greece, Esther was chosen as his new consort.” (Jobes, Karen H. Esther. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999. Print. The NIV Application Commentary.)

King’s Plan (1-4)

Esther 2:1–4 (ESV)

1 After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her. 2 Then the king’s young men who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king. 3 And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the citadel, under custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women. Let their cosmetics be given them. 4 And let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This pleased the king, and he did so.

Anger abated and works out the plan to replace Queen Vashti.

Young Men (2) (Same as group in 1:13-14)

Replace Vashti as Queen.

Bring in the Young Beautiful virgins to the Harem in Susa.

Harem - n., living quarters reserved for wives and concubines (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

Taken care of by a Eunuch - palace official n., someone who holds or is invested with an office in the palace or royal court; (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

Hegai - Eunuch in charge of the Harem and the beautification of the women brought in.

Women’s Preparation (12-14)

Esther 2:12–14 (ESV)

12 Now when the turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after being twelve months under the regulations for the women, since this was the regular period of their beautifying, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and ointments for women— 13 when the young woman went in to the king in this way, she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. 14 In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second harem in custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch, who was in charge of the concubines. She would not go in to the king again, unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.

12 Months of Beautification

6 Months - Oils of Myrrh

6 Months - spices and ointments

Being with the King

She could bring whatever she desired. (13) - impress the King.

Evening they were brought to the King (14a)

Morning brought to 2nd Harem under Shaashgaz (14b)

She was to remain there unless called by the King (14c)

Mordecai’s Wisdom (5-11)

Life for Jews in Captivity

Jeremiah 29:4–7 (ESV)

4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

Mordecai and Esther lived out this advise from the Lord as they lived obediently in the Persian Empire.

Mordecai’s History (5-6)

Esther 2:5–6 (ESV)

5 Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite, 6 who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away.

Depending on the commentator, there is differing views on the interpretation of this text.

“A new character is signalled by the inversion of the usual word order. As the text goes on to say, Mordecai was of the tribe of Benjamin; the name Judah had by this time become generalized to mean ‘Jew’ as well as conveying tribal significance. The names in Mordecai’s genealogy are probably those well known from the family of King Saul: Kish, his ancestor (1 Sa. 9:1; 14:51; 1 Ch. 8:33), and Shimei, his relative, who out of fierce loyalty for Saul cursed David (2 Sa. 16:5). If so, such ancestors prove Mordecai to have a claim to royal blood; but be that as it may, he is a member of God’s chosen people, who inherited the promises (e.g. Is. 62:1–2). For that reason some special fulfilment of the promises is expected. Who had been carried away. It is not clear to which name the ‘who’ refers; grammatically Mordecai is indicated, but this would make both him and Esther too old by 480 BC. There are other examples in Scripture of a telescoping of generations, in keeping with an awareness of family solidarity (cf. Gn. 46:27; Heb. 7:10).” (Baldwin, Joyce G. Esther: An Introduction and Commentary. Vol. 12. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1984. Print. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries.)

“He had tried to hide the fact that he and his cousin were Jews (vv. 10, 20). Verse 6 may mean that Mordecai was deported by Nebuchadnezzar along with Jehoiachin (597 B.C.). But this would mean that Mordecai would have been about 115 years old by the time of Xerxes’ third year and Esther would have been 80. It is better to understand that Kish, Mordecai’s great-grandfather, was the one who was carried away in the 597 deportation.” (Martin, John A. “Esther.” The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck. Vol. 1. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985. 703. Print.)

Mordecai seems to be from a prestigious family line that was taken captive during the conquest under King Nebuchadnezzar. His family was taken into captivity with the King Jehoiachin, which suggest a higher ranking family.

As I understand the text, I see the names listed as Mordecai’s closely related genealogy. In which Kish could have been the family member of Mordecai taken in captivity with King Jeconiah. It makes more sense to believe the text to talk about Mordecai’s family being taken into captivity and not Mordecai himself.

Mordecai’s Relationship (7)

Esther 2:7 (ESV)

7 He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

Mordecai took care of Esther when His uncle and aunt passed away.

Mordecai was a person with an understanding a loyalty to family and heritage. He took responsibility for Esther.

He took care of her like his own daughter.

Mordecai’s Wisdom (10-11)

Esther 2:10–11 (ESV)

10 Esther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known. 11 And every day Mordecai walked in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.

Hide Nationality (10)

“Whether explanatory, secondary or a literary device to create suspense, these verses contain information that is important to the development of the story (so important that it is repeated in v. 20).T he main plot of the story (Haman’s intent to destroy the Jews) relies on Esther’s Jewish identity being secret. There is no attempt to explain why Mordecai did not want Esther to disclose her relationship to him or to the Jewish people. We may surmise that Mordecai was concerned about prejudice against Esther, based on either her family or her nationality, or both. What is clear is that Mordecai remains influential in Esther’s life and she respects his wishes.” (Reid, Debra. Esther: An Introduction and Commentary. Vol. 13. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008. Print. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries.)

Jews were in captivity in Persia.

He watched out for Esther (11)

Daily he would check up on Esther to see how she was doing.

Esther’s Submission (15-18)

Esther submission (10,15)

Submission

to submit to the orders or directives of someone—‘to obey, to submit to, obedience, submission.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 467. Print.)

Submission to the authority of others in our culture is seen as a bad thing. It shows weakness and our individualistic culture sees self as authoritative. In a Communal / Shame and Honor culture, the betterment of the community is more important than the individual. therefore submission to the authority and society is very important.

In the Bible, Submission is seen as a good thing.

Jesus submission to the Father. (Matt 26:39 “39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.””)

Submission to authorities. (Rom 13:1 “1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”)

Submission to God. (Jam 4:7 “7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”)

Submission to one another. (Eph 5:21 “21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”)

to Mordecai

Esther 2:10 (ESV)

10 Esther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known.

Esther submitted to Mordecai’s request and did not make it known she was a Jew. She must have lived in a way that would not have made known the distinctions of being a Jew known. (Daniel rejecting the King’s food.)

“did not disclose her people To keep her national identity secret, Esther would have eaten unclean food, as Esther 2:9 may be implying (Lev 11:46–47) and broken a number of other ceremonial regulations (compare Dan 1:8 and Deut 7:1–6).” (Barry, John D. et al. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016. Print.)

to Hegai (15)

Esther 2:15 (ESV)

15 When the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what Hegai the king’s eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her.

When it was her time to go to the King she submitted to Hegai advise.

“Esther is once again depicted as carefully following the recommendations of Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the harem of virgins, just as she had carefully followed Mordecai’s instructions (compare v. 10). This seems to imply that she followed Hegai’s instructions on how to dress and adorn herself.” (Barry, John D. et al. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016. Print.)

Esther Favor (8-9, 16-18)

Favor

“v., carry; lift, lift up; raise; bring, take or take away; raise high; exalt; maintain; have a longing for. 657× (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

She is seen by others as a person exalted in their eyes. They really like her and her personality. She is a person that you would want to be around.

Esther 2:15 (ESV)

by Hegai

Esther 2:8–9 (ESV)

8 So when the king’s order and his edict were proclaimed, and when many young women were gathered in Susa the citadel in custody of Hegai, Esther also was taken into the king’s palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women. 9 And the young woman pleased him and won his favor. And he quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her portion of food, and with seven chosen young women from the king’s palace, and advanced her and her young women to the best place in the harem.

Hegai really liked Esther and 7 young women and provided for them the best of the Harem.

Provided cosmetics and portions of food.

Best place in Harem

by the King (16-18)

Esther 2:16–18 (ESV)

16 And when 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, 17 the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. 18 Then the king gave a great feast for all his officials and servants; it was Esther’s feast. He also granted a remission of taxes to the provinces and gave gifts with royal generosity.

7th year of his reign

Incident with Queen Vashti was in the 3rd year of his reign.

4 years before Esther made Queen.

King loved Esther more than all others (17)

King made Esther Queen (17b)

Great feast (Esther’s feast (18))

Feast in celebration of Esther becoming new Queen.

God at Work

God can work in the heart of people to see others in a favorable light.

Daniel 1:8–9 (ESV)

8 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. 9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs,

God worked through the event and decisions of King Ahasuerus to bring Esther into position to become his new queen.

I come to believe that Esther had the personality and character that caused others to see her with favor. God worked through the situation to lead Esther to be where she needed to be.

Lessons from Mordecai and Esther

Mordecai

Taking care of and responsibility for those in our care. Taking care of our families and friends should be of high priority in our lives.

Mordecai took care of Esther and watched out for her even when she was in the harem.

Seek to be wise in the circumstances we are in.

Mordecai was wise in how to live in captivity and sought to instruct Esther in how to live in this culture.

We need to seek God’s wisdom in how to live godly lives in our world. (read the wisdom literature of the Scriptures)

Esther

Live a godly life will attract others to see you with favor.

Loving, kind, honest, humble, etc.

Galatians 5:22–23 (ESV)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.