We've been in Esther for the past two weeks, we've been in chapter 1, and what we found out is there is King Ahasuerus, but most of us know him as Xerxes, his Greek name. He's been throwing just one big party for six months; he's just been having a great time, living it up. He wanted to bring out his trophy wife, Queen Vashti, and so he sends the order for her to come and she says no, and he's angry. Between chapter one and chapter two, we already know he's angry about that, but there's a couple of other things we need to know that happened historically. What we find is after the party's over, he's got to save face, so he does what all kings do—he goes to war, and he chooses to go to war with Greece. If you've seen the movie "300," his first conquest is the 300 Spartans, and so he ends up gaining victory, it's a little costly, so he goes back for a second round and he gets his clock cleaned, very embarrassed, very shamed, and so now he comes back to his palace and he realizes that something's missing here—it's a wife, and that's where we're going to pick up.
So, let's read chapter two of Esther. We're going to look at the first eighteen verses. 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. Then the king's young men who attended him said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the King 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 the custody of Hegai, the King's eunuch, who is in charge of the women; let their cosmetics be given them, and let the young women who please the King be queen instead of Vashti." This pleased the King, and he did so.
Now, there was a Jew in Susa of the Citadel 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 among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away. 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. So when the king's order and his edict were proclaimed, and when many young women were gathered in Susa the Citadel under the custody of Hegai, Esther also was taken into the king's palace and put in the custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women. 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. Esther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known. And every day Mordecai walked in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.
Now when the turn came for each young woman to go into 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—when the young woman went into the king in this way, she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem to the king's palace. In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she was returned to the second harem, in custody of Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not go into the king again unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name. When the turn came for Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go into 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. 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, 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. 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.
Let us pray: Father, we just ask that as we go through this passage today, you would illuminate the Scriptures for us, show us those things that we can apply to our lives, Father, that we would come away with new things to grab hold of, and Father, that we would know you in a much deeper way today. Father, just guide our thoughts and our message today. We ask all of these things in Jesus' name, Amen.
So again, as we said, the King had gone to battle, he had lost handily, he comes back, he's ashamed, he's embarrassed, and he begins to remember the good old days, at least I had my wife. But then he remembered, wait, I banished her, so I can't call her back. I've got to hold true to my edict, so I don't lose face with those around me. And so, he remembers, boy, it was sure nice to have a wife. Maybe she could comfort me in this time. So, verse 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. So, he's got a quandary, what do I do? A king needs a queen, and I don't have one. I banished her because she told me no. So, he turns to his council.
Then the king's young men who attended him said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the King, 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 the custody of Hegai, the king's eunuch who is in charge of the women. Let their cosmetics be given them, and let the young woman who pleases the King be Queen instead of Vashti." This pleased the King, and he did so. So, the young men proposed, hey, King, here's the deal, why don't you have Persian Idol, or Persians Got Talent, and let's do a beauty contest. Let's find the most beautiful women here in the kingdom, let's bring them together, and let's put them in the harem, and you choose your favorite. And the King says, wow, what a great idea.
So, let's talk real here for a minute. You hear when you were younger took your counsel from other younger people, and all it did was cause problems for you, anyone else? Yeah, most of my visits to the principal's office began with the counsel of other younger men. Right, and so, as a young man, as an adult, I still bought old men didn't know anything, they were stuck in their ways, and I still would listen to young men, and I still would run into trouble. And then one day, it clicked, wait a minute, these old guys actually know something because they've got some life experience, they failed more than I have, so I can learn from their mistakes and not have to repeat them. So, really quickly, for all you youngsters, who's my 50 and above crowd? Raise your hand here. Oh, no, raise it high, be proud, be proud. John, you know, Jeff, yeah, okay, look around the room, this is where wisdom is at, right? Just, I want you to be aware of that. By the way, if they're over 55, and you go to coffee or breakfast, you'll get a 10% discount because of their AARP card, just, just saying, right.
Okay, so what happens is, he listens to his young men, hey, that sounds like a great idea, go find a new trophy wife. And I want you to really consider the qualifications here, not character, not personality, not relationship, she's just got to be really good-looking, and then when she spends the night with him, sparks have to fly, that's the contest. So here's what I want you to be kind of thinking about as we go through today, what contest are you involved in that you didn't sign up for, or maybe you did when you said, yes, I'd like to work here. Many of us are in contests competing for things that bring no satisfaction for all the wrong reasons, and that's the backdrop of this story. All of these young women are about to find themselves in a contest they didn't sign up for. So, let's talk through this.
Verse 2, then the king's young men who attended him said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the King, 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 the custody of Hegai, the king's eunuch who is in charge of the women." So, let's really understand what's happening here. The king is going to send out people who literally are going to go and look, and if you're an attractive young woman, you are not going to have a choice, you have to go. Now, what we have to understand historically is that Esther is somewhere between the ages of 14 and 20, 20 is probably on the very far end of that, she is probably a teenager. So here you are, you're a young woman, all of a sudden, you are taken to be part of the king's harem. And here's the prize, you might be chosen as queen someday. Oh, how exciting. But it's not something you apply for, it's not something you sign up for, you just find yourself in the contest. Then it says, "Let their cosmetics be given them." Now, when we read this, you've got cosmetics, okay, so they're going to get like some Clinique and a good facial treatment, no, the word interpreted is scraping, they're going to scrape their skin, that's part of the treatment. Again, really, really fun times. And let the young woman who pleases the King be queen instead of Vashti. This pleased the King, and so he did.
Now, verse 5, "Now there was a Jew in Susa, the Citadel, 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 among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away." So, all things we need to realize, in the culture, is that there were many Hebrews, many Israelites, still living in somewhat of a captive state within the Persian Kingdom. They had originally been taken captive under the Babylonian rule, once Persia conquered Babylon, they were still stuck in that area, and there was an anti-Semitic tone to the culture. It was not going to be a popular thing to be known as a Jew because you were part of this captive people. So Mordecai is part of that group, his family lineage, they had been taken captive under Nebuchadnezzar, and he is still in Susa at this point. What we find out though is that he is bringing up a young girl, he was bringing up Hadassah, which means myrtle, or her Greek name, or scheming, her Persian name, Esther, which means star, the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. Now, here's what the Bible says about her, she had a beautiful figure and was lovely looking, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. So what I want to begin to draw for us is a thread that we want to follow, and because the backdrop is, God had made a covenant promise to the people of Israel, "You will inherit the land, you will be a great and mighty nation," and yet, some of them are still living in a foreign land. How is God going to follow his promise, his covenant from point A to point B with that obstacle? And so, this is where the story of Esther is so important. Scott explained to us earlier that Esther's story has been kind of controversial over the years because it's not a story about the worship of God, it's not a story that refers directly to the faith practices of Esther and her family, and yet, it's in here. And the reason it's in here is we have to see how God followed his covenant through. And the reason this is important for us is, in this case, he's going to use this young woman, and he's going to use this beauty contest that really isn't a contest, where the grand prize is a one-night stand with the king, and if you're lucky, you get a crown. It's not a great prize, and yet, God is going to use man's unrighteousness to accomplish his righteous purpose. Don't lose sight of that. So, there are times where we find ourselves in unrighteous situations, and what God is really doing is bringing his righteousness through, even in the midst of that. So, don't lose sight of that as we talk here.
So, she's got a beautiful figure, she's lovely to look at, and when her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. So, verse 8, "So when the king's order and his edict were proclaimed, and when many young women were gathered in Susa, the Citadel, in the custody of Hegai, Esther also was taken into the king's palace and put in the custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women." So, the contest is kind of interesting, not only do you get picked because you're beautiful, but now you're going to be here with all these other beautiful young women, and now you have to work your way through the harem to find, hopefully, the King's favor, if you're lucky. And what we realize here is, this isn't just one or two young women, there is a multitude of young women who've been selected for this purpose. So, this order comes out, she's taken, she's put in the custody of Hegai, and verse 9, "And the young woman pleased him and won his favor, and he quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her portion of food, with seven young women from the king's palace, and advanced her and her young women to the best place in the harem." This is the point we want to see if you'll turn with me for a moment to Psalm 75, verses 6 & 7, here's the principle that we're really landing on today, "For not from the east or from the west, and not from the wilderness, comes lifting up, but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another." Over the years, I watched God put me in places that I could not have put myself, if I had tried on my best day, and normally, the way that's happened, is he's put someone in my life who I found favor with, not because I did anything special, for whatever reason, their heart was turned towards me, and because of that, what happened is, they would open doors for me that I couldn't open for myself. One thing that we want to look at in our walk is, who are those destiny-foreordained people that God puts in our life? And so, if I look back over my life, there's been a group of men over the years who show up in that capacity, they take an interest in me, and invariably, they open doors for me that I couldn't open for myself. And through that, God has given me platforms and opportunities that I couldn't have created on my own. The same thing is happening here with Esther. She pleases him, verse 9, she wins his favor, and because of that, he begins to open some doors for her. Notice what happens, he provides her with her cosmetics and her portion of food, which leads us to believe there were some that didn't have his favor, and so they didn't get the same treatment, the contest was rigged. So, let's go back to the contest. Who here has taken on a job, only to find out you're in the contest? I didn't know I was in a contest. Yeah, I'm in a contest with shareholders, I'm in a contest with the boss, I'm in a contest with the guy that sucks up to the boss. I didn't know I was in a contest, but I find myself in the contest, and sometimes, the contest is rigged. Do I trust God enough to put me in the right place at the right time to protect me and watch over me as things go on? In fact, I was laughing in the early service, who here, you know, when you were younger, who probably got your first salary job, and they went, "Hey, we're gonna put you on salary, with benefits," and you went, "Oh, that's so awesome, like, I don't have to clock in, I always know what my paycheck's going to be." What they forgot to tell you is that you would work more hours for less money. So, so you do the math, and you go, "Good grief, I'm not even making minimum wage, right?" The contest is rigged, it sounds good, but it's not that great.
So, here we go, she's in the custody of Hegai, the eunuch, he is showing her favor, with her cosmetics and her portion of food, and he gives her seven young women from the king's palace, and begins to advance her to the best place in the harem. Now, I don't know exactly what the best place in the harem really looks like, other than, you get a shot with the king, but that's what happens here. And again, we have to look at what is God trying to do, he's going to fulfill his covenant to his people. And so, she begins to see this favor taking place in her life. Verse 10, "Esther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known." And every day, Mordecai walked in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.
So, a couple of things are happening, remember, it's not cool to be a Jew in this society, so one of the things that her uncle tells her, Mordecai tells her, is keep your heritage quiet, keep your heritage quiet, it'll be a detriment to you, it'll bring undue persecution to you, keep it quiet. Now, what we're going to find is there's going to come a place, though, where she can't keep it quiet anymore. And that's one thing I want to challenge, yes, what are the things that, that maybe we're hiding because we don't want to take the pressure? So, we talk about this all the time, I'll gladly tell you what sports team that I like that you don't like, but am I as bold in my faith, am I as bold to say, I'm a Jesus person? Not always, but what's going to happen ultimately, she's going to be called to disclose that.
So, let's keep going here. So, every day, Mordecai would walk in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her. This is important, back to those destiny-pointer kinds of people, the mentors in your life. One of the things that makes them unique is they check up on you, they take a personal interest in you, they take a personal interest in what's happening with you. I've got mentors in my life that every four to six months, I'll hear from them, "Hey, how you doing? I've been praying for you. How can I encourage you? What's going on in your life?" They stay interested. One of the things that I encourage anybody, you need a mentor in the faith, if nothing else, somebody who's got a little more mileage than you do, who's walked with God a little further than you have, and let them pour into your life, let them take an interest in you, let them look over your shoulder and help guide you. I encourage business people to do the same thing, get a mentor. What I find is, business people go further if they've got somebody speaking into their life, taking an interest in what they do, and that's the part of what Mordecai was doing. He was walking by, keeping tabs on what's happening with Esther. Is she okay? Is she doing well? Is she being taken well care of? Is she being treated well?
So, verse 12, "Now when the turn came for each young woman to go into King Ahasuerus, after 12 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—when the young woman went into the king in this way, she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem to the king's palace. In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she was returned to the second harem, in custody of Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not go into the king again, unless the king delighted in her, and she was summoned by name." Horrible perspective on women. Hey, you got to be in the harem as a virgin, once you've seen the king, you get to go to the used-car lot, and if he likes you, he'll call you again, probably not going to happen. So, it's not a, when we talk about the contest is rigged, it's not a good outcome, it's a terrible outcome. Here's the other thing, for that young woman who is now corralled in the concubine pool, she never has a chance to get married to anyone else. She's the King's property. Terrible, horrible contest, and your only hope of getting anywhere is to be the queen, for him to like you so much in that one night that he puts the crown on your head.
So, here's what Esther does, back to the importance of wisdom. Where's my 50 and above crowd again? Hands up, lay them high, be proud. Okay, a little more mileage under the belt, I've been around for a while, here's what I've seen, and that's exactly what Hegai does for Esther. "Hey, Esther, here's what I've seen, here's the things that I think you need to take when you go to see the king." Now, that may not have been her choice of what she would have done, but she defaulted to the wisdom that was put around. So, here's the thing I want to encourage us, and his, I believe God surrounds us with wisdom constantly, I also believe most of us don't listen to his new because we're stubborn, and I like my ideas. As you get older, you learn, now maybe I should, maybe I should listen a little more, and in her case, very wise, is a young woman, I'm going to listen to Hegai because he sends women to the king all the time, and he knows who gets kicked out, he also knows who gets called back, he knows what's happening. So, she needs that wisdom, and she takes the things that Hegai suggests.
Now, when we read this, what happens, the young woman would go in, in the evening, and she would come back out in the morning, and she would be assigned to the concubine harem, under the custody of another eunuch, and the only way she would ever leave that place is if the king actually delighted in her and called her back. Well, things we know about Vashti, Vashti was the queen, she had received the crown, and she was sequestered. He just called her out for the party, so everybody could look at her; she was there for his glory, and nothing else.
So, verse 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 into 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. Again, when God is placing you where he wants you to be, there will be favor in those places. That doesn't mean it's going to be easy, but that does mean you're going to see God's hand at work on your behalf. It's not really even on your behalf, it's on his behalf, but you are a key component in that picture, and we'll talk about that a little more here in a moment.
Verse 16, "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, 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." So, I want you to follow the process here. Here's Esther, she's a young girl, she's beautiful. You have a wicked king, who all he cares about is his own pleasure and his own glory. He puts out a vert and edict that that is unfair, all the beautiful young women have to be brought into my harem to be my possession, and whoever Hegai thinks is most suitable for me for the night gets sent to me. Once I'm done with her, she goes to the second harem for the concubines. If I like her, I'll call her back. Pretty wicked setup, and yet, God is going to give this young woman favor all the way through, favor with Hegai, the eunuch, and now favor with King Ahasuerus, so much so, that when he spends time with her, he immediately is taken by her, and he puts the crown on her head, and he makes her queen. It's amazing to see the places God takes us that we couldn't have gotten there on our own, but when you look back, you can see his favor, you can see his hand moving all the way through.
So, two or three weeks ago, I took Collin, my middle son, out to Stearman to watch the fly-in, and I bored him to death with discussions about when I was four or five, six, seven, riding in the back of a Cessna 172 and a Cessna 152 with my dad, and Piper Cherokees, and all of those small planes. My dad loved to fly when I was a kid, and so I was always in airplanes, and I absolutely loved airplanes, and I loved flying, and normally, I get to do a lot of it now. When an airplane flies by, I go, "Oh, people are still flying, like, I hope someday we can fly again." But here's where that became important. A lot of my ministry is overseas. I spend a lot of time on airplanes, and I know some of you in this room, hey, airplanes, the thought of being on an airplane for 14, 20, 22, 26 hours would drive you crazy. Me, I'm like a little kid still, I'm looking out the window, I love takeoff, I love landing, I love, I love to fly. But God was using that thread, even as a kid, I can see his hand at work. He gave me a love for it. As I've grown older, I always find myself teaching, I don't ask for it, I just end up there, and I end up leading, don't ask for it, I just end up there. That thread is consistent. I can point all through my life where God's been doing that, and I can see the doors that were open that made that possible, and I couldn't put most of them together. I've met people in this life that there's no possible, conceivable way I could have initiated those interactions, right place and right time is what most people would say, but it's not, it's God's hand moving as we go through. And here's the thing I want us to see, the places where you see God moving in your life, they're just a small glimpse of a much larger picture that he's painting. That's what I really love. So, I've been traveling to Africa now for about 12 years. Some of my favorite things to watch is, I know out of those trips to Africa, there's at least one marriage and two kids, lots of churches, lots of pastors, kids who are on the street anymore. Now, those aren't all things I did, I just got to be in the right place to be a part of some of them, and that's what I love about God's favor. His favor, his choosing, is as much a part of His grace and mercy as salvation is. I don't deserve it, I didn't earn it, I'm not qualified, there are other people who could do a better job than me, doesn't matter, he chose me for this purpose, for this time, and he does what he does best, he shows his glory through my failures, through my weakness, that's the beauty of what Christ does in us.
I'm a terrible example of a Christian, one of the struggles of a pastor, every Sunday morning, as we wake up and we go through our mental rolodex of Monday through Saturday, and go, "Man, I shouldn't even be up here. I don't deserve to be here. My life was horrible. Why would anybody allow me to teach?" God says, "I, I take broken vessels, so my glory is seen. I didn't choose you because you were talented or qualified, I chose you because I loved you, and then I equipped you." Cool, so let's finish off here.
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. So, this year, I am voting for the person that when they're happy, repeals taxes, whatever it takes, if you'll throw a party and cut my taxes, you're in. But here's what I want you to see, here's the bigger principle, when you are in the place God has put together for you, you being in the right place affects a lot of other people, and you may not realize just how great that impact is. The men who have impacted my life, I've had conversations with some of them where I said, "Thank you for this conversation you had with me 25, 30 years ago." They don't even remember the conversation. I'm now to the age where every now and then, I'll get an email from somebody I haven't talked to in 15 or 20 years, "Hey, thank you for what you said, what you did." Didn't know I did anything, and then they'll go on to tell you how I changed the trajectory of their life. And that's the thing I want us to see, you may be in an unfair contest right now, that may be in your workplace, that may be in school, that may be in your neighborhood, that may be in your peer group, it's rigged, and it's frustrating, and it's disheartening, and yet, God is still working on your behalf, and he's working through you. Don't lose sight of it. He's doing things in your life, you can't see right now because you don't see the bigger picture. You just see what's right in front of you. What Esther couldn't even begin to fathom is that God was going to deliver his people because she was in that place. She's just a young, good-looking girl, but God was going to do something with that, and whatever it is that God's equipped you with, and you may not feel like you have much, so most of us kind of, we look at where we lack. So, as a kid growing up, I was really good at soccer, I was terrible at everything else, so I didn't get picked for a lot of stuff, especially baseball, I had no hand-eye coordination, and now, now that I wear bifocals, I can't figure out which lens to look for, or to coordinate the two, right, but that doesn't matter. God has given you what you need for this move, and he's put you where you are right now because there's a bigger plan at work beyond what you see. And so, what I want us to do today is walk away realizing that yeah, the contest is really, society right now has all of us performing, trying to impress somebody, and when we're going to get to the end of that, a lot of times, we're going to find out, it was a bad deal to begin with. I meet too many men and women who give their life to a company, a career, and retire with nothing. That wasn't the dream, that wasn't the plan, and yet, God is working in spite of all those things. There's not a lot of us to plan for this year, amen. Like, nobody got up January 1st and said, "Hey, I hope we can stay home for the next few months and quarantine and social distance and stop going to school," but that's the game. Question we have to ask is, are we allowing God to use us in the place we find ourselves today?
