Transcript

Back in the 14th century, there was a king who was sad and depressed, and nothing could cheer him up. Eventually, the royal advisor hired a new joker to entertain the king.

The clown was very funny, and most of the court laughed and thought he was a hoot, but the king just sat there, never cracked a smile, and sighed. He then turned towards his advisor and told him, “I don’t think this worked, but I appreciate the jester.”

As we come to chapter 2 of the Book of Esther, we find that King Ahasuerus is down and depressed. This led to him choosing a new queen, one that God had prepared “behind the seen,” for the saving of His people, the Jews.

In Esther chapter 1, we are introduced to King Ahasuerus and Queen Vashti and how Vashti lost her crown. In Esther chapter 2, we are introduced to Mordecai and Esther and how she gained the crown.

Esther 2:1-4: “After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her. Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

“And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hege the king’s chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given them:

“And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.”

Chapter 2 begins by stating, “After these things,” and there is a lot packed into these words. “After these things,” involve the events of the previous chapter, which included the two great banquets and Vashti’s removal as queen, but it is also broader than that.

Esther 1:3 tells us that the six-month-long feast took place “in the third year of his reign.” Ahasuerus began his reign in 486 B.C., so that great banquet was held in 483 B.C.

Here in chapter 2, in verse 16 we are told that Esther was taken to the king “in the seventh year of his reign.” This would have been 479 B.C.

But according to verse 12 of this chapter, Esther went to the king after one year of preparation. So after considering all these dates, as we begin in Esther 2:1, a period of 3 years has elapsed, and we are in the sixth year of Ahasuerus’s reign in the year 480 B.C.

During the 3 years between chapters 1 and 2, Ahasuerus amassed a massive land and naval force and set out to conquer Greece.

But at the battle of Thermopylae, the Persian forces were held off for seven days by approximately 7000 Greek soldiers at the pass of Thermopylae, before the Grecian rear-guard was annihilated in one of history’s most famous last stands. At the same time, the Persian navy was blocked by the Greeks at the Straits of Artemisium.

Following this battle, the Greek fleet attacked and defeated the invading Persian armada at the Battle of Salamis. Ahasuerus then withdrew with much of his army to Asia, and he personally returned home humbled, broken, and defeated.

The following year, the Greek army decisively defeated the Persians at the Battle of Plataea and ended the Persian invasion.

At this time, after his bitter defeat by the Greeks, Ahasuerus “remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her.”

Longing for someone might offer him words of comfort and understanding, and with his anger having subsided long ago, the king remembered Vashti. And it seems clear that he was remembering her with affection.

He remembered “what she had done” in refusing to come to his banquet when he commanded it. And despite any regret he might have had, because the laws of the Persians and Medes could not be altered or reversed, the king also remembered and knew he could do nothing to undo “what had been decreed against her,”

And what had been decreed against her was that Vashti be forbidden from ever again coming into the presence of the king, and that she be removed as queen and her position to be given to another.

It’s an interesting detail to consider that if the Persian decree could have been reversed, the king may have re-crowned Vashti.

And then the events of the rest of chapter 2 would not have transpired, and Esther, a Jew, would not have been exalted to a position of prominence and influence as queen. The unalterable decree was a good thing here but a difficult thing to overcome later.

The king apparently shared his thoughts about all this with the “servants that ministered unto him.” Because these attendants then speak up and advise the king.

Ahasuerus relied heavily on his officials and advisors, as we have seen in Chapter 1 and will continue to see throughout the book.

His advisors suggested that Vashti’s decree be carried out to its completion, which ended with “let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she.”

They propose that “fair young virgins,” or beautiful young unmarried women, be sought and brought to Shushan so that the king might choose another wife.

Verses 3 and 4 detail the plans for assembling the young women. The extensive amount of women who would be brought according to this plan ensured the safety of these advisors and that a queen better than Vashti would be located according to the decree.

Officials were to be appointed in all 127 provinces of the Persian empire to locate and then bring the chosen women to the palace and the “house of the women” or of the harem.

They were then to be placed under the care of Hege, the king’s “chamberlain,” or eunuch, who was the “keeper of the women,” or who was in charge and responsible for overseeing the king’s harem.

The plan was also for “things for purification be given them,” or beauty preparations be given to them. Later we see in verse 12 that this included a year’s worth of washings and treatments with perfumes, ointments, and cosmetics to enhance their physical beauty.

After their beauty treatments were completed and they were presented to the king, the advisors told Ahasuerus that “the maiden which pleaseth the king” and that he chose would be made queen in Vashti’s place.

The proposal of his advisors appealed to the king and pleased him, so it was ordered that the search and gathering of the women for the Miss Persia beauty pageant begin immediately.

Esther 2:5-11: “Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;

“Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.

“And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.

“So it came to pass, when the king’s commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also unto the king’s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.

“And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her, out of the king’s house: and he preferred her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the women.

“Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew it. And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women’s house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.”

We are introduced to Mordecai in verse 5. Mordecai’s name is a Babylonian name derived from their principal false god, Marduk. Mordecai was a Jew who was of the tribe of Benjamin. He was a resident of Shushan, the capital city of Persia, where the king lived.

Mordecai’s address was in Shushan, but his family’s homeland was the land of Israel.

We are given Mordecai’s family line in verse 5. Mordecai’s father’s name was Jair, his grandfather was Shimei, and his great-grandfather was Kish.

Verse 6 tells us that Mordecai’s great-grandfather Kish was taken captive from Jerusalem when King “Jeconiah,” or Jehoiachin, the second-to-last king of Judah, was carried away to Babylon during the second phase of the captivity in 597 B.C., when the Babylonians took the middle class, craftsmen, and the remainder of the upper-class captive.

But we see God at work behind what was seen here, that Mordecai’s great-grandfather, Kish, was taken into exile to the city of Babylon, and then years later, his great-grandson, Mordecai, ends up in Shushan, the capital city of Persia, 120 miles east of Babylon, the very site of the major events of the Book of Esther. This was no sheer coincidence.

Verse 7 tells us that Mordecai had taken his orphaned cousin, Hadassah, and adopted her and brought her up as his own daughter.

“Hadassah” is a Hebrew name that means myrtle, after a beautiful fragrant tree. The name “Esther” is Persian, meaning “star.” It’s been stated that “This is an appropriate name for a woman whose beauty and courage shines brightly in the biblical record.”

Her two names, Hebrew and Persian, are a reminder of the tension Esther had of living daily as a part of two worlds. She was a Hebrew living in a foreign land, having the traditions and teachings of her Jewish heritage but living in a pagan culture.

Esther was an orphan. In verse 15, we learn that her father’s name was Abihail. We don’t know her mother’s name and we are not told how old Esther was when her parents died. We do know that she grew up in Persia, as did her older cousin Mordecai.

And we know that when her parents died, Mordecai adopted and raised her as if she were his own daughter, which tells us about this man’s kindness, honor, and integrity.

Verse 7 describes Esther’s outer appearance as: “fair and beautiful,” but as we’ll see she was also graced with great inner beauty and strength of character as well.

In verse 8, we are told that after the king’s decree was made known, officials began searching and gathering many young women from all over the vast Persian empire to find a new queen for the king.

As Ahasuerus’s officials were doing so, Esther had her life changed forever one fateful day in Shushan when she was chosen and brought also into the king’s house. Esther did not have a choice of whether or not to go.

Young women from thousands of miles away in the empire were brought to Shushan, but Esther lived right in that city and didn’t have far to go.

Esther was part of their large number, and she, with the rest, was placed in the care and custody of Hegai, the chamberlain, the overseer of the king’s harem.

For a young woman, it was likely difficult for Esther to be taken away from Mordecai who had lovingly cared for her, and probably scary to be taken into the palace to one day be presented before the most powerful man in the world.

In verse 9, we see that, like Joseph, who obtained favor in a foreign land, once in the harem, Esther made the best of the situation, and very quickly, she pleased Hegai, the keeper of the harem, and impressed him. Hegai saw something in her and discerned that she had the qualities that would please the king.

And we see God’s providential hand here in obtaining the favor of Hegai, one who had pull and influence in the palace. And Hegai showed Esther preferential treatment and gave her additional attention above the other women.

He moved her along quickly to begin the required 12 months of preparation and “speedily” began to provide her with the beauty treatments.

He gave her “such things as belonged to her,” which speaks of giving her special food, giving her better portions of food.

Hegai’s partiality towards Esther was shown also in that he assigned seven personal attendants to take care of her and wait upon her, seven maids “which were meet to be given her,” or choice maids, the best of the maids, that served in the king’s palace.

Then finally, Hegai “preferred,” or transferred Esther and her seven attendants out of the ordinary rooms to “the best place of the house of the women,” or the best quarters in the harem house.

We are told in verse 10 that, in trying to protect Esther out of his love for her, Mordecai had instructed her not to reveal her Jewish nationality.

Her Persian name enabled Esther to keep her foreign identity secret. Esther dutifully obeyed Mordecai, not telling Hegai, her maids, or anyone else that she was a Jew.

Ezra 4:6 tells of a hostile letter written to King Ahasuerus at the beginning of his reign, falsely accusing the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem of causing trouble.

So the Jews may have been looked down on for this. And there seems to have been an anti-Jewish sentiment among some in Persia at that time, as we will see with Haman.

The reason we are told this here could be because had Hegai known this, she might not have been treated with such favor.

We see Mordecai’s fatherly love and sweet care for Esther also in verse 11, as he tried to stay in close contact and constant communication with her.

Every day Mordecai paced “before” or near the courtyard of the harem house to check in on her to see if she was okay, trying to talk to her or gain information about her, which he was probably able to do through her maids.

Mordecai was wanting to “know how Esther did, and what should become of her,” which means “to learn of Esther’s welfare, and what was happening to her.”

Esther 2:12-18: “Now when every maid’s turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women;)

“Then thus came every maiden unto the king; whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king’s house.

“In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s chamberlain, which kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by name.

“Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king’s chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her.

“So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

“And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti. Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther’s feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king.”

In verse 12, we are given more information about the beauty preparations for each candidate, which were extensive. The women had access to the world’s finest skin care products, cosmetics, ointments, and clothing.

Their purification required 12 months. For 6 months, it was application and anointing with oil of myrrh, and for the next 6 months, it was constant bathing in and application of perfumes and ointments.

Along with this were “other things for the purifying of the women,” or other preparations for beautifying, speaking specifically of cosmetics.

When their turn finally came after the year was up, verse 13 says the woman could take whatever they desired with them from the harem to the king’s house in order to impress the king, things such as jewels, clothing, necklaces, earrings, and so on.

Verse 14 describes the normal course of events: In the evening they went in and spent one night with the king. The next morning, she would go to the “second house of the women,” a different house than she had been living in.

And she would become part of another harem, the harem of the concubines, under the superintendence of Shaashgaz, the king’s chamberlain in charge of the concubines.

The first harem was preparation for a night with the king. The second harem was where each young lady would wait until, or if, she was summoned by name by the king.

They never returned to the king unless he summoned her by name. Otherwise, these women just lived in the harem as a concubine for the rest of their days.

In verse 15, it was Esther’s time to “go in unto the king.” She went solely on Hegai’s recommendation for how she should appear and what, if anything, she should take with her. Wisely, she trusted one who wanted to see her succeed and one who would know what would please the king.

And verse 15 says that “she obtained favor in the sight of all them that looked upon her.” Hegai’s recommendations were good recommendations and impressed all who saw her.

So in the seventh year of Ahasuerus’s reign, or 479 B.C, in the Babylonian month Tebeth, which corresponds to our December/January, Esther went into the king (v. 16).

And Esther “obtained grace and favor” in the king’s sight. The king was struck by her and fell for her. He “loved Esther above all the women.”

After meeting Esther, the search for a queen was over. Esther just had something about her that caused everyone to favor her.

Without hesitation, Ahasuerus elevated her to the throne and “set the royal crown upon her head” and Esther was made queen, instead of Vashti.

Esther’s elevation to the throne and coronation occasioned a great feast, and the feast was named in her honor: “Esther’s feast.”

Verse 18 says that the king “made a release to the provinces,” which literally means he declared a royal holiday, a release from work for the entire empire, and in celebration, he gave away many gifts “according to the state [or generosity] of the king.”

Esther 2:19-23: “And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat in the king’s gate.

“Esther had not yet shewed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.

“In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king’s gate, two of the king’s chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.

“And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen; and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai’s name. And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.”

In verse 19, we are given a time frame for a later date as “when the virgins were gathered together the second time.” Unfortunately, it seems that the king added to his harem with another gathering of virgins at a later date after Esther was made queen.

Polygamy was a prevailing practice among kings at that time. We only need to think of King Solomon, who had 700 wives, and 300 concubines.

Verse 19 tells us that Mordecai “sat in the king’s gate,” which at that time was where elders, judges, and magistrates sat.

This indicates to us that, probably through the appointment or instrumentality of Esther, Mordecai now held an official position as a magistrate or judge in Persia’s judicial system. This too, was according to the providence and working of God.

Verse 20 tells us that Esther still had not made known that she was a Jew and was still obedient to Mordecai’s instruction to keep it a secret.

This verse also tells us that from the time that she first came under his care after her parents died, Esther had always been obedient to Mordecai. And this continued even after she was made queen. She continued to listen to him because she trusted him implicitly.

As Mordecai was in the king’s gate, he either overheard or was informed about a plot to kill King Ahasuerus, by two of the king’s chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh. These men “kept the door,” or who were royal guards in the palace.

For whatever reason, these men were “wroth” or furious with the king and sought to “lay hand on the king,” or to kill him.

Mordecai became aware of their plan to assassinate the king and immediately reported this to Queen Esther. Esther then informed the king, giving Mordecai the credit for uncovering the scheme and reporting the assassination plot (v. 22).

An inquiry or investigation then followed, after which “it was found out” that what Mordecai has said, was indeed true, and “it was found out” that Bigthan and Teresh were indeed guilty of plotting to kill the king.

And these two royal guards were then taken and hanged on a tree, or literally impaled on a sharpened piece of wood, and executed.

This plan to assassinate the king was foiled by a faithful Jew, and Mordecai’s name and actions were then recorded before the king in “the Book of the Chronicles” or the official court records, where it was put away and began gathering dust.

But as the King James Bible Commentary states, “This seemingly insignificant statement (‘and it was written in the Book of the Chronicles before the king’) which concludes the second chapter, is actually a crucial event that later has great bearing on the story.”

We see through this again, through such a minor thing, as you go forward in the story and then look back that God’s unseen hand is clearly seen. He was working quietly behind the scenes, working to ensure His people’s deliverance.

God works through the seemingly minor things in our lives too. And Romans 8:28 reminds us that as we look back, we will see and “know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”