People of Hope Part 9 - Queen Esther
Monday Morning devotions @ Work 18 May 2020
Hadassah was a young girl living in Persia during the reign of king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) an immensely powerful king that reigned over 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia. She was an orphan living with her cousin Mordecai in the Persian city of Sushan. One day the king held a feast for all the people and called for the queen to wear her royal crown and join the king at his banquet so that he could show off his beautiful wife. However, she refused to come. Her refusal left the king humiliated and he removes the queen from her position and decide to find someone to fill her place.
It is in this context that Hadassah was kidnapped by the king’s guard and taken to the king’s palace to take part in a beauty pageant she did not choose to enroll in. The prize was to be the Queen of this powerful Persian King and his empire. May sound compelling to some, but if you take into account that this meant you are never going to go back to your family, that you essentially become the “main peanut in the package of the harem of the king” – and that is only if you win the contest – otherwise you just become “another peanut in the harem” then I am not too sure that I would have been extremely excited about these prospects. I am sure Hadassah had dreams of her own. Being a Hebrew, she probably dreamed of visiting her home country Israel and Jerusalem. She may have been in love with the boy next door planning to get married next summer and live happily forever after. In one moment, all her dreams were shattered. I can imagine the devastation and fear. Her life took a turn that she did not expect or plan, she was dealt a deck of cards completely outside of her own doing and choices and plans.
In these circumstances she had 2 choices. Either be devastated and live defeated or look at that deck of cards and go – this is what I have in my hand – nothing surprises God, and nothing happens without Him having a plan.
So, Lord, what is the plan? Well Hadassah, the plan is for you to become Queen Esther. You were chosen for a time such as this.
Imagine the change of heart and attitude she needed to make. The U-turn in the air. At least she had plenty of time because the preparation for this event took 1 full year. Mordecai who raised her after she became orphaned changed her name to Esther and urged her to not reveal her nationality to anyone. Esther enjoyed the favour of the king’s servant who was tasked to oversee the preparations of the prospective candidates, he helped her, and she won over the king’s heart and became the new Queen.
Meanwhile Mordecai saved the king’s life by revealing a plot to kill him and Hamman the king’s right-hand man started plotting to kill all the Jews in Persia. He offers the king a great amount of money for the approval of his plans. Upon hearing of these plans Mordecai comes to Esther with a request for help. Esther explains that nobody including she can even go to the king unless they are summoned, and should you try, the law says you shall be killed unless the king holds out his scepter to you. Mordecai replies that she has to know that she cannot be sure of her life even though she is the queen, and should she do nothing, help will come to the Jews from another source but she might perish in this war. Esther then took the decision of her life. She requested Mordecai to gather the Jews and to fast and pray with her and her maidservants for 3 days and 3 nights after which she will go to the king and risk her life to plead for the lives of her people.
On the third day she got dressed in her royal robes and went into the king’s court. When the king saw her, she found favour in his sight and he held out to her, the golden scepter that was in his hand. The king asked her what she wanted and even offered her up to half of his kingdom! Esther only requested that the king and Hamman join her at a banquet.
In the meanwhile, the king ordered Hamman to honour Mordecai for saving his life, which Hamman has no choice to do although he hates Mordecai because he hates all Jews. What a humiliation this must have been to Hamman and it certainly fueled his hatred for the Jews. So why did Hamman hate the Jews so much? Well Hamman was the son of an Agagite. Agag was the king of the Amalekites the nation that attacked Israel at Rephidim – they were the descendants of Esau. An old family feud still alive after all these years only this time Hamman thought he got the perfect plan to finally exterminate the descendants of Jacob.
When Esther, the king and Hamman were together at the banquet, she invited them to, Esther finally reveals to the king her request, her nationality and later also her relation to Mordecai. She asks for her life and the life of her people. When the king discovered that Hamman plotted to kill the Queen and her people, he left the banqueting hall angry and Hamman realizes that he is in trouble, initially he pleads for his own life before Queen Esther. However, when the king returned the king find Hamman where he had “fallen across the couch” the king exclaimed “Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house”? From this response of the king it looks like Hamman may have tried to attack Queen Esther in that moment in some way. She had just stood up in her authority as the queen of Persia and stood against the evil plot of the Amalekite spirit and was attacked while the king was in his house. Upon this Hamman was removed and the law was amended, the king could not change it since a law of Medes and Persia could not be changed, but he could amend the law to allow the Jews to defend themselves, which they did with success.
Esther and Mordechai (who was eventually appointed as second in charge to the king) instituted a feast called Purim which the Jewish nation celebrate to this day. She went on to live as the Queen of Persia and had children with the king serving him and her people for many years to come. Years later we read about a man called Nehemiah who served in the king’s court as the honoured cupbearer and wise advisor of king Artaxerxes. It is noticeably clear that Nehemiah and the Jewish nation enjoyed the favour of king Artaxerxes I. The King allows Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls and the temple. He provided him with letters of authority and with building materials – everything he needed to complete the project. Why would a Persian king show this kind of favour to the Jewish nation? No doubt it was the working of God in his heart – but there was also a family connection with Queen Esther. While the exact family connection is a bit unsure it is safe to say that he was influenced by her testimony and legacy.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. With hindsight we can look back on Hadassah’s life and see how she won the favour of the king, became queen, risked her own life to save her the lives of her people and left an influence in the Persian king’s house that was effective enough to ensure the favour of the subsequent king. In this way she was also instrumental in the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem, the second temple and the restoration of her nation. She did not have this perspective the day she was kidnapped into the king’s harem. She could easily have fallen into a place of despair thinking that her life was over and that there was no purpose or future for her when her dreams was devasted by things she had no choice in or power over. However, she did not. She took that deck of cards and made the decision to have the best life she could. And it payed off. God was with her even through all of this and made her a great Queen and influencer in her own lifetime.
Which circumstances are there in your and my life that we did not choose? Those things we have no choice in. That happens without our permission – things like Covid-19 viruses causes our lives to be totally uprooted from what we planned and dreamed about. We can still choose our reaction and we can ask what is God’s plan in all of this? Then follow His direction step by step even when we cannot see the result yet. There is always hope no matter how hopeless something looks in the here and now, mostly we just do not see the whole picture yet.
Hadassah was a young girl living in Persia during the reign of king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) an immensely powerful king that reigned over 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia. She was an orphan living with her cousin Mordecai in the Persian city of Sushan. One day the king held a feast for all the people and called for the queen to wear her royal crown and join the king at his banquet so that he could show off his beautiful wife. However, she refused to come. Her refusal left the king humiliated and he removes the queen from her position and decide to find someone to fill her place.
It is in this context that Hadassah was kidnapped by the king’s guard and taken to the king’s palace to take part in a beauty pageant she did not choose to enroll in. The prize was to be the Queen of this powerful Persian King and his empire. May sound compelling to some, but if you take into account that this meant you are never going to go back to your family, that you essentially become the “main peanut in the package of the harem of the king” – and that is only if you win the contest – otherwise you just become “another peanut in the harem” then I am not too sure that I would have been extremely excited about these prospects. I am sure Hadassah had dreams of her own. Being a Hebrew, she probably dreamed of visiting her home country Israel and Jerusalem. She may have been in love with the boy next door planning to get married next summer and live happily forever after. In one moment, all her dreams were shattered. I can imagine the devastation and fear. Her life took a turn that she did not expect or plan, she was dealt a deck of cards completely outside of her own doing and choices and plans.
In these circumstances she had 2 choices. Either be devastated and live defeated or look at that deck of cards and go – this is what I have in my hand – nothing surprises God, and nothing happens without Him having a plan.
So, Lord, what is the plan? Well Hadassah, the plan is for you to become Queen Esther. You were chosen for a time such as this.
Imagine the change of heart and attitude she needed to make. The U-turn in the air. At least she had plenty of time because the preparation for this event took 1 full year. Mordecai who raised her after she became orphaned changed her name to Esther and urged her to not reveal her nationality to anyone. Esther enjoyed the favour of the king’s servant who was tasked to oversee the preparations of the prospective candidates, he helped her, and she won over the king’s heart and became the new Queen.
Meanwhile Mordecai saved the king’s life by revealing a plot to kill him and Hamman the king’s right-hand man started plotting to kill all the Jews in Persia. He offers the king a great amount of money for the approval of his plans. Upon hearing of these plans Mordecai comes to Esther with a request for help. Esther explains that nobody including she can even go to the king unless they are summoned, and should you try, the law says you shall be killed unless the king holds out his scepter to you. Mordecai replies that she has to know that she cannot be sure of her life even though she is the queen, and should she do nothing, help will come to the Jews from another source but she might perish in this war. Esther then took the decision of her life. She requested Mordecai to gather the Jews and to fast and pray with her and her maidservants for 3 days and 3 nights after which she will go to the king and risk her life to plead for the lives of her people.
On the third day she got dressed in her royal robes and went into the king’s court. When the king saw her, she found favour in his sight and he held out to her, the golden scepter that was in his hand. The king asked her what she wanted and even offered her up to half of his kingdom! Esther only requested that the king and Hamman join her at a banquet.
In the meanwhile, the king ordered Hamman to honour Mordecai for saving his life, which Hamman has no choice to do although he hates Mordecai because he hates all Jews. What a humiliation this must have been to Hamman and it certainly fueled his hatred for the Jews. So why did Hamman hate the Jews so much? Well Hamman was the son of an Agagite. Agag was the king of the Amalekites the nation that attacked Israel at Rephidim – they were the descendants of Esau. An old family feud still alive after all these years only this time Hamman thought he got the perfect plan to finally exterminate the descendants of Jacob.
When Esther, the king and Hamman were together at the banquet, she invited them to, Esther finally reveals to the king her request, her nationality and later also her relation to Mordecai. She asks for her life and the life of her people. When the king discovered that Hamman plotted to kill the Queen and her people, he left the banqueting hall angry and Hamman realizes that he is in trouble, initially he pleads for his own life before Queen Esther. However, when the king returned the king find Hamman where he had “fallen across the couch” the king exclaimed “Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house”? From this response of the king it looks like Hamman may have tried to attack Queen Esther in that moment in some way. She had just stood up in her authority as the queen of Persia and stood against the evil plot of the Amalekite spirit and was attacked while the king was in his house. Upon this Hamman was removed and the law was amended, the king could not change it since a law of Medes and Persia could not be changed, but he could amend the law to allow the Jews to defend themselves, which they did with success.
Esther and Mordechai (who was eventually appointed as second in charge to the king) instituted a feast called Purim which the Jewish nation celebrate to this day. She went on to live as the Queen of Persia and had children with the king serving him and her people for many years to come. Years later we read about a man called Nehemiah who served in the king’s court as the honoured cupbearer and wise advisor of king Artaxerxes. It is noticeably clear that Nehemiah and the Jewish nation enjoyed the favour of king Artaxerxes I. The King allows Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls and the temple. He provided him with letters of authority and with building materials – everything he needed to complete the project. Why would a Persian king show this kind of favour to the Jewish nation? No doubt it was the working of God in his heart – but there was also a family connection with Queen Esther. While the exact family connection is a bit unsure it is safe to say that he was influenced by her testimony and legacy.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. With hindsight we can look back on Hadassah’s life and see how she won the favour of the king, became queen, risked her own life to save her the lives of her people and left an influence in the Persian king’s house that was effective enough to ensure the favour of the subsequent king. In this way she was also instrumental in the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem, the second temple and the restoration of her nation. She did not have this perspective the day she was kidnapped into the king’s harem. She could easily have fallen into a place of despair thinking that her life was over and that there was no purpose or future for her when her dreams was devasted by things she had no choice in or power over. However, she did not. She took that deck of cards and made the decision to have the best life she could. And it payed off. God was with her even through all of this and made her a great Queen and influencer in her own lifetime.
Which circumstances are there in your and my life that we did not choose? Those things we have no choice in. That happens without our permission – things like Covid-19 viruses causes our lives to be totally uprooted from what we planned and dreamed about. We can still choose our reaction and we can ask what is God’s plan in all of this? Then follow His direction step by step even when we cannot see the result yet. There is always hope no matter how hopeless something looks in the here and now, mostly we just do not see the whole picture yet.
We are chosen for a time such as this…
Listen to Mandisa tell the story of Queen Ester in song:
Listen to Mandisa tell the story of Queen Ester in song:
Movie scenes are from the Movie: One night with the King
©2020 Copyright All rights reserved HG Venter gerda.venter@telkomsa.net
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