God Sightings in Esther Part 1: A Sermon Based on Esther Chapter 2

We return this morning to the book of Esther, one of the least preached books of the entire bible. The biggest reason, as we explored the last time we read from this is the fact that the Book of Esther doesn't even mention the name of God, not even once. There is no reference in it to worship, or to faith. There is no prophecy of Christ. There is no mention of heaven or hell or even Jewish tradition. In short, there is nothing very religious about this book.

As a result, it does not find it's way to the pulpit very often.

And although it's a real page-turner of a story, one that might make the NY Times best seller list if it were expanded to a novel, you can't help but ask yourself...

"Where is God?"

That's a really good question in and of itself.

Have you ever wondered that in your life? With all this stuff going on, "Where is God?" Isn't he going to intervene at some point? Show his face?

C.S. Lewis described such a period in his life in his poignant work, A Grief Observed. In the aftermath of Joy Davidman Lewis' death, Lewis described the agonizing sense that God had abandoned him. He expressed his distress as if God had closed the door of fellowship with his grieving child.

Now we know that God never truly abandons his people, but there are times when he not seem present. And perhaps the book of Esther gives some insight into this reality.

Sometimes, it seems, when God seems to be hiding in the shadows, it may be when we are simply not looking hard enough. Other times, we may have clouded our minds so greatly, that we cannot see him standing right before us.

But before we jump into chapter two, lets do a little recap on what has happened up to this point.

King Xerxes had thrown a banquet and invited most everyone to attend, and they did. It lasted for seven days and there was much food and drink being passed around. So much drink that most people became quite drunk, including the king. On the seventh day of the feast the king ordered his eunuchs to bring out the queen Vashti and put her on display in front of all the guests with the royal crown on her head. We don't know for sure why, but she refused to come out and it infuriated the king. He consulted his officials and wise men, and they recommended she be banished from the kingdom forever. The king agreed, and by royal decree she was sent away.

That's were we are today, Esther has yet to enter story, and Queen Vashti has just been sent into exile. You'll note again, unlike most all the other texts we read from, there is no mention here of what God wants, what God promises to do, or what God is doing. God seems absent, but of course, he's not. He just seems tucked "behind the scenes" as we talked about last time we visited Esther, but he's not missing from the scene, we just have to look a little harder.

Esther Chapter 2 [From the NLT - New Living Translation]

1 But after Xerxes' anger had subsided, he began thinking about Vashti and what she had done and the decree he had made. 2 So his personal attendants suggested, "Let us search the empire to find beautiful young virgins for the king. 3 Let the king appoint agents in each province to bring these beautiful young women into the royal harem at the fortress of Susa. Hegai, the king's eunuch in charge of the harem, will see that they are all given beauty treatments. 4 After that, the young woman who most pleases the king will be made queen instead of Vashti." This advice was very appealing to the king, so he put the plan into effect.

We don't know, for certain, King Xerxes's emotional state at this time, but we can draw some clues from the historical context. King Xerxes divorced Queen Vashti in the third year of his reign. He didn't marry Queen Esther until his seventh year as king. In the interlude, King Xerxes made a disastrous expedition to Greece. In 480 BC his navy faced defeat and again in 479. When he had banished Vashti, he was at the height of power and ego, but now with these setbacks his sense of omnipotence and self-glory must have certainly been suffering. Xerxes, like all Persian kings of this time period, was seen as a god. So how could a god have made such mistakes and been defeated?

So when the text tells us matter-of-factly that King Xerxes "remembered Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed about her" we might wonder whether or not he regretted his decision to banish Queen Vashti.

His failed conquests surely left him lonely and longing for the companionship he once shared with Vashti (although we can be sure he had a large harem of one-night stands, but that's certainly not the same thing.).

So a beauty pageant of sorts is proposed. "let the girl who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti"

There were certainly some good intentions here, from a certain point of view, but it wouldn't work. I will never work. Think about how many times have you and I tried to fill our lives with stuff to make us happy? How many times have we thought that this time, this relationship or this marriage will finally make us happy? How many times have we thought that a new, more powerful position at work, or a big paycheck, if we could only get that "big break" we'll finally be on easy street. We'll never be unhappy again.

This "beauty queen" scenario is very real, in particular, for a lot of men. Get into middle age, lose a little hair, life not quite going how he'd like it to go, not quite in his prime anymore so here he goes, to dump the faithful wife, buy a corvette, and find a pretty young thing that's twenty years younger, so now he will finally be happy.

But he's wrong. In nearly every case, the man, or woman as the case may be, discovers how painfully wrong they were after it's too late.

And that's what Xerxes is exhibiting here, and what his advisors thinks will be true. To be happy, you need a new "virgin" queen. What you need Xerxes to feel young, and powerful, and to get rid of the emptiness by finding a new twelve to fourteen year old bride. And because you are king, before you pick one you can sample them all. Surely that will make you happy.

It didn't and it won't.

We have a God sighting here by noting that there is no true happiness and only emptiness in pursuits apart from God's kingdom. King Xerxes ruled the largest empire of his time, but it wasn't enough. He would strive to conquer more territory, but ultimately he couldn't. He had the choice of an endless harem full of beautiful women, but they couldn't take away the loneliness. All his power and pleasure still left him like a poor man, begging for more. King Xerxes did not know God. God was not in his story. Without God, his life would always be a life of striving, rather than one of rest and peace and contentment.

5 At that time there was a Jewish man in the fortress of Susa whose name was Mordecai son of Jair. He was from the tribe of Benjamin and was a descendant of Kish and Shimei. 6 His family had been among those who, with King Jehoiachin of Judah, had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. 7 This man had a very beautiful and lovely young cousin, Hadassah, who was also called Esther. When her father and mother died, Mordecai adopted her into his family and raised her as his own daughter.

Our next God sighting comes here. And this one may not be as evident. It is in this place that Esther finally enters the story in the seventh verse of the second chapter. She will be the main character for the remainder of the book, and we are introduced to her here by way of her heritage, her pedigree if you will.

And it's pretty impressive isn't it?

No, actually it isn't. To those who would read this at the time (although none did because she kept it a secret, that will come a little later) she might as well have come from the Island of Misfit Toys.

In verses five and six, the family tree of her uncle, Mordecai, reveals that they were about three generations removed from the Jewish exile into Babylon.

Over a hundred years earlier, the Jewish people faced the shame of watching their holy temple pillaged and their people captured. Only the poorest of the poor remained in the land. The rest were forcibly settled in Babylon. When the Persians later defeated the Babylonians, Jews were given permission to return to Judah if they wished. Many, including Mordecai and Esther, chose to remain in Persia.

So she belonged to two cultures. Her Hebrew name, Hadassah, was a reminder of her family's roots in Judah, where her Persian name, Esther, indicated the culture in which she had been raised.

Being caught between these two worlds, belonging to neither, she would have been a "long-shot" candidate for queen of Persia, and seen as "unlikely to succeed" by all.

Beyond that, verse seven tells us that Esther was an orphan. Her parents died, leaving her in the care of an uncle who apparently had no other family.

That also made her chances of being useful to God or anyone else very improbable. At least, that's how people would have seen it.

But here's that God sighting that's hard to see again. God does use her to his glory. There are no people who are counted out, or disqualified by Him.

Esther's family tree would seem to make her unfit, but when God sees fit, he uses whomever he chooses, however he chooses.

So have you counted yourself out? I know in my life, I've thought dozens of times.

I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid, but as I got older I thought, "I'm too old, I'm out of shape, I'm not smart enough, I don't have the right connections. I'm not properly educated and qualified so that's not gonna happen."

Now it's true, it is indeed unlikely. And even though sometimes I already feel like a space cadet, if God wants me to go into outer space to his glory, it'll happen. I believe that.

I thought the same thing about becoming a minister. As improbable as it seemed, God had this work in his plans for me right now, and that's all we can know is right now.

If your eyes are open, looking for God sightings, you will see Him.

No personality flaw, no physical disfigurement, no personal inadequacies make us unfit in God's kingdom. Everyone belongs because we belong to God!

From Psalm 138 comes the assurance "The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me" And he does.

8 As a result of the king's decree, Esther, along with many other young women, was brought to the king's harem at the fortress of Susa and placed in Hegai's care. 9 Hegai was very impressed with Esther and treated her kindly. He quickly ordered a special menu for her and provided her with beauty treatments. He also assigned her seven maids specially chosen from the king's palace, and he moved her and her maids into the best place in the harem.

10 Esther had not told anyone of her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had directed her not to do so. 11 Every day Mordecai would take a walk near the courtyard of the harem to find out about Esther and what was happening to her.

Our text tells us Esther had great beauty. And frankly, this very likely was quite helpful in her "job interview".

This beauty earned her special regard when she was brought into the king's harem. Hegai noticed her immediately, and her beauty won her preferential treatment.

God needed her to be of strong influence. He needed her to be able to "blind people" to the reality of what's God mission was for her. Hers wasn't just a job to become queen, but to become queen to fulfill God's will.

And we also see that her beauty was coupled with strong character. Mordecai instructed her not to reveal her Jewish identity, and she deferred to his wishes. This way, again, she can be Lord's servant, while staying under the radar.

These things all worked together in order that she might be an instrument to help save God's people.

12 Before each young woman was taken to the king's bed, she was given the prescribed twelve months of beauty treatments-six months with oil of myrrh, followed by six months with special perfumes and ointments. 13 When it was time for her to go to the king's palace, she was given her choice of whatever clothing or jewelry she wanted to take from the harem. 14 That evening she was taken to the king's private rooms, and the next morning she was brought to the second harem,* where the king's wives lived. There she would be under the care of Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch in charge of the concubines. She would never go to the king again unless he had especially enjoyed her and requested her by name.

After that initial year: each girl was allotted one night with the king. For a year, she had been moisturizing her skin, a putting on perfume, doing her hair-and for what?

In truth, a one-night stand.

And beyond that, she had to make it memorable enough that King Xerxes would remember her name in the morning.

Scholars estimated that somewhere between 400 and 1,400 girls took their turn along Esther. Surely this was not the situation Esther wanted to find herself in. But she had no choice. Our text does not give us the false sense that this was a voluntary thing.

Harems, no matter how you looked at it, were dens of slavery.

So imagine Esther's feelings before her turn to go with King Xerxes.

That was a tough situation. One that most of us will never face. But we do face difficult stuff in our walk with Christ. So how do you approach difficult situations like these? Are you filled with fear? Worry? Do you turn to prayer?

Our text does doesn't tell us what Ether did. But God tells us what to do in Philippians 4:

If we belong to the Lord, we must "not be anxious about anything, but in everything present [our] requests to God."

15 Esther was the daughter of Abihail, who was Mordecai's uncle. (Mordecai had adopted his younger cousin Esther.) When it was Esther's turn to go to the king, she accepted the advice of Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the harem. She asked for nothing except what he suggested, and she was admired by everyone who saw her.

16 Esther was taken to King Xerxes at the royal palace in early winter* of the seventh year of his reign. 17 And the king loved Esther more than any of the other young women. He was so delighted with her that he set the royal crown on her head and declared her queen instead of Vashti. 18 To celebrate the occasion, he gave a great banquet in Esther's honor for all his nobles and officials, declaring a public holiday for the provinces and giving generous gifts to everyone.

On the night of her presentation to the king, each eligible girl in King Xerxes's harem placed worked hard so they looked just right. Before being taken to the palace, each had access to anything she wanted which was probably a reference to jewelry and clothing.

However, This wasn't Esther's primary approach. She didn't try to be all in and of herself. Rather than relying upon her own opinions, she sought advice. Did she pray to God? Again, it doesn't say. We know that she was, however, not self-reliant.

She knew that pretty things did not make her attractive. There were hundreds of pretty girls, and to get out of that "pool" of pretty faces and become queen there must be something more.

Xerxes could sense there was something more about her.

Our next God sighting and question is as followers of Christ, can others sense something more about us? Do we stand out from the crowd or just blend in. When we are presented before the king of Kings, what will he see? A pretty exterior, or a faith that goes deep? Are we too self reliant to turn to the Word for advice?

19 Even after all the young women had been transferred to the second harem* and Mordecai had become a palace official,* 20 Esther continued to keep her family background and nationality a secret. She was still following Mordecai's directions, just as she did when she lived in his home.

21 One day as Mordecai was on duty at the king's gate, two of the king's eunuchs, Bigthana* and Teresh-who were guards at the door of the king's private quarters-became angry at King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him. 22 But Mordecai heard about the plot and gave the information to Queen Esther. She then told the king about it and gave Mordecai credit for the report. 23 When an investigation was made and Mordecai's story was found to be true, the two men were impaled on a sharpened pole. This was all recorded in The Book of the History of King Xerxes' Reign.

Here we find Mordecai, sitting at the king's gate. Most biblical scholars agree that this detail provides evidence that Mordecai held some sort of official position in the court of King Xerxes. Those seated at the gate were most likely respected men of the land.

Mordecai learned about the assassination plot against King Xerxes, revealed it to Queen Esther who then warned the king, giving credit to Mordecai. But no big reward was given to Mordecai at that time.

But this is no small detail, and we will read about that in future chapters. Nothing is coincidental.

God had placed Mordecai at the king's gate precisely when a conspiracy was plotted, but the meaning of it wouldn't be revealed for many years. Esther's Jewish identity had to concealed, and the reason for that wouldn't be revealed for many years. Mordecai's recognition for his heroism wouldn't be revealed for many years

At different points in our lives we see only parts of the story. Here in these first two chapters of Esther we see God's hands in the beginning, and only from a wider view can one see God's results in the endings. And sometimes not even then. God's plans are not always revealed to us. Ever. And that is frustrating, because we are impatient.

We're going to take a number of years to finally get through the entire story of Esther, reading only a chapter here and there, and that a God thing because it reminds us of God's patience and persistence and steadfastness.

This story didn't conclude in a day. Sometimes when we read the bible it seems like that. It takes us a few days to read 1 & 2 Kings, so we have this sense it happened that quickly. Of course it didn't. It unfolded just as God had planned it. And this story of Esther is just that way. God, although never mentioned by name, is in there all the way.

The having to wait for God, the having to look for God, the having to sit and wonder and anticipate God's next move reminds me of the 500 years.

Do you realize how long 500 years is? Go back before TV and radio and automobiles and you hardly go back a hundred years. Go back about 250 years and the United States was becoming a nation. Go back 500 and your talking shortly after the time of Columbus?

You're talking so long that most of us couldn't even trace back the names of our ancestors, yet alone tell anything about most of them. Hundreds of generations!

500 years is a long time to wait. It's a very long time to wait in silence.

That's how long the prophets went silent. For roughly 500 years from the time of the last biblical prophets till the arrival of Christ, there was no new word from the Lord.

Just silence and waiting!

Imagine how hard that must have been. No new prophets, no new signs, generation after generation, no Messiah.

But if they read the scripture, and they did, they could maintain the faith.

They could see in Esther, that although God seems to remain silent, he's there working out His kingdom.

We wait for the Messiah, as well. He is here amongst us right now, and he provides salvation to those who would take Him inwardly as their personal Savior.

And though it seems to be forever, we wait for him to return, as well. The early believers were very discouraged as times. The thought He would return in their lifetimes. They started to give up waiting. People do that now. Getting all in a spin because the Lord has not returned, and the signs and portents are everywhere.

But we are encouraged to read the scripture, be vigilant, be prepared. God keeps his Word. Always.

Jesus himself did not know the times and dates of theses things, nor did the angels. As strange as it sounds, Jesus is waiting too. Waiting for every last soul who will be save, to be saved. He waits for the Father to give the final Word.

Jesus did know this. His Father has it all under control. His Father has a plan. And He's it all the way.

©2010 Timothy Henry