Esther 2:12  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;)
13  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.
14  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.
15  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.
16  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.
17  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.
18  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.

I read a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. this week. Of course this is in connection with the remembrance of this man. He was not a saved man. He was recognized by many as a leader in fighting for equality among certain different people groups. Being a lost man, he did not understand that “racism” is an evolutionary term that has no true meaning. Evolution is a destructive idea that is designed to create artificial divisions that have led to much violence and hatred.

Martin Luther King Jr stated – “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

I am not a supporter of Mr. King. He made an interesting statement here. As we look at the book of Esther, we see that God chose to give us details on two individuals who were supposed to know the true God, but who chose to keep whatever they did know about God close to their chests. They kept it secret. God protected His people, the Jews, but according to His record in the book of Esther, His name was never mentioned there. He was working behind the scenes and His name should have been proclaimed loud and clear, but this was a lost opportunity to publicly acknowledge the work of the true God in a pagan land.
What we see in this chapter is a denigrating of women. These young virgins were all being treated as property for the king to either accept or reject. It was a haram and that is not a good thing. The women were given no option to refuse this process. If the men that king Ahasuerus sent out looking for women, found a young virgin they thought might please the king, they just took her. The parents could have resisted, but it might have cost them their lives or they might have ended up in prison. We do not read of any resistance put up to this plot.
We see in verse 12 that this was a lengthy process of preparation to meet the king. Verses 13-14 help us to understand the process. The young woman would spend a night with the king and then be sent to a second house, to the custody of another chamberlain, which kept the concubines. Thus these women were not free to leave. They became the property of the king. Even if the king did not approve of them, they were still considered his property. This was quite an abusive practice that the king and his people were involved in.
Mordecai had allowed his niece to become a part of this process. Esther was defenceless and she was being taught that this was a normal process. There was nothing normal about this. The cost of silence is very high. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego spent some time in a fiery furnace because they would not bow to a wicked king. God protected them there. Even if they would have died there, they would have been delivered out of the hand of a wicked king. Daniel spent a night in a lion’s den. He could have died there, but God protected him and king Darius learned an important lesson through that.
Esther was being left to fend for herself. The king could learn nothing of value here. He was in charge and there was no one willing to help him to see that he really was not in charge. As we have noted, God was in charge and He would only allow this mess to go so far.
Shaashgaz was another of the king’s eunuchs. His Hebrew name means “servant of the beautiful”. Keep in mind that the young virgins were chosen for their beauty. He would need to look after them if they did not please the king.
In verse 15 we read that it came to Esther’s turn to go in unto the king for a night. We are reminded again of who Esther was. We read that she did not require anything special for her time with the king. It seems that Esther was not really interested in this mess, but she was not given a choice. She was a young woman. Mordecai should have been standing up for her and protecting her, but all he did was watch to see what would happen to her. He was a spectator, but not a protector.
We could look at this and we can see that she obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her. Esther was not grovelling for attention. She was not putting herself out there. She seems to have had some sense of modesty and shamefacedness. That was being stolen from her by men who did not appreciate God’s design for the woman.
In verse 16 we read that she was taken unto king Ahasuerus, into his royal house in the tenth month, the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. In chapter 1:3 we read of the third year of king Ahasuerus’ reign. That was when he made that feast for his special people and then a seven day feast for all of Sushan. It was that drunken party that brought about the current situation. This was now the seventh year of his reign. This was quite the process that he undertook to find a replacement for his wife, Vashti.
In verse 17 we read that the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight. He saw her as being better than all the other virgins. The text says he loved her above all the women. In reality he lusted after her.
The Hebrew word translated as loved there means: “to have affection for (sexually or otherwise)”. The king had a wife. Her name was Vashti. He did not need a replacement for her. She was not dead. She just did not meet this ungodly king’s fancy. She was not willing to be mocked by him and he would not accept that.
In verse 17 we see that the king took the royal crown and placed it on Esther’s head. He made her queen instead of Vashti. The king thought he had found what he was looking for. If a man cannot be pleased with the wife of his choice, anything else is just based on lust. A godly marriage is not a selfish love. It is not something that is entered into just to feed the flesh. Too often that is the way it is. Too often there is very little teaching on what a marriage needs to be. Too often very little teaching is sought for.
In verse 18 we see that the king made another feast. He found what his lust had desired. He had a new woman that he could show off as his prize possession. We read that the king made a “release” to the provinces. The word translated as “release” means “a rest, a holiday”. This was a big day for the king. He wanted the people to appreciate this ungodly method of obtaining a wife. He would cover up the immorality involved here. He would promote an ungodly means of finding someone that a man could use for his own pleasure. Keep in mind that this was all a part of teaching the men and women of his kingdom the need to behave in a certain manner.
The king also gave gifts at this time. An ungodly society would appreciate such events. They would remember this event for the gifts and the holiday. They would not give much thought to the corruption of women that had taken place here.
We need to keep in mind that:

Romans 15:4  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Notice in that verse that we are supposed to find comfort through the Scriptures. As we patiently study the Word of God we will see what God is teaching us and we will find hope. Through the book of Esther we can see how not to live if we are truly born again. We can also see the vile nature of lost humanity. Nothing has changed. Pictures that have been published of the past life of our P.M. and his current attitude toward those events, show us that he is not any different from king Ahasuerus. The same goes for the current U.S. president.
The message God is giving us here is not to normalize the promiscuous nature of a pagan nation. He is showing us how a pagan nation develops its culture and adapts that culture to the lusts of the flesh. This is not some romantic book that is showing us how to adopt such sinful practices today. There are far too many people who refuse to look at the Biblical foundations of marriage, and they think they can find justification for fulfilling their own lusts through passages like we have in the book of Esther.
Esther was being played. Mordecai forsook his duty as her guardian. King Ahasuerus had already hardened himself against anything decent in his life. He was a pleasure seeking king who had minions under him who would do his bidding because they liked the prestige offered with this close connection. Vashti was cast into the dust heap and she was supposed to be an example to the women of what not to do.
God designed the woman to be an help meet for the man. Ahasuerus was a lost man and thus he lacked the understanding of what a help meet was all about. His counsellors also had no idea how to guide him on this. Mordecai chose to remain silent and he was a passive participant in this demeaning of women. As we mentioned, God would only allow this charade to go so far. It would hurt Esther, but she was not an innocent bystander. God would protect His promise made to Abraham. The Jews would have to live in fear for a time because of their compromised position. They could not pat themselves on the back because they had been so faithful to God. They were spared, in spite of their sinfulness.
Today, we need to learn the important lessons God has here for us. We need to be saved and we need to be submissive to God’s Word. If we, as men, want a blessed marriage we need to follow God’s design as first stated in Genesis 2. The young virgin women need to pray for their fathers, that they would not abandon them to the whims of wicked men. There is a need to learn the blessings of walking in the fear of the Lord. That is how we can impact our society for good.
Pastor Bartel