Esther

Her name means: Her Hebrew Name, “Hadassah,” Means “Myrtle”

Her character: An orphan in a foreign land, she was willing to conceal her Judean identity in a bid for a pagan king’s affection. Esther seemed willing to make moral compromises by sleeping with the king and then taking part in a wedding that would necessarily have required her to pay homage to foreign gods. Even so, she displayed great courage in the midst of a crisis. Prior to risking her life for her people, she humbled herself by fasting and then put her considerable beauty, social grace, and wisdom in the service of Yah God’s plan.
Her sorrow: To learn that her husband, the king, had unwittingly placed her life and the life of her people in jeopardy.
Her joy: To watch mourning turn to celebration once the Judeans enjoyed relief from their enemies.
Key Scriptures: Esther 1-10

Her Story

Vashti, queen of Persia, was the most powerful woman in the Near East, yet her power was as fragile as a candle in a storm. Her husband, King Achashverosh, had just summoned her to appear before a festive gathering; The army of Persia and Media, the nobles and the provincial officials were in attendance. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the order of the king, which he had sent through his officers. This enraged the king — his anger blazed inside him.

What should be done to punish her insolence? One of the king’s counselors spoke for all: “Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Achashverosh. For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, ‘King Achashverosh commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.’ There will be no end of disrespect and discord.”

Vashti is never again to be admitted into the presence of King Achashverosh, and that the king give her royal position to someone better than she. When the edict made by the king is proclaimed throughout the length and breadth of the kingdom, then all wives will honor their husbands, whether great or small.”

After a while, a search was conducted for a new queen to replace Vashti. It so happened that many Judeans were living in Persia at the time. Exiled from Judah a hundred years earlier (after Jerusalem’s fall in 587 bc), they had been deported to Babylon, which in turn was conquered by Persia. Mordecai and his orphaned cousin Esther were among those living in exile, 650 miles northeast of Jerusalem.

Like many other young virgins, the beautiful Esther was gathered into the king’s harem. To refuse the privilege may well have meant her death. Counseled by Mordecai to keep her Judean origins a secret, because being a Judean would probably have disqualified her from becoming queen, she spent the next twelve months awaiting her tryst with the king. When the moment came, Esther so pleased Achashverosh that she became queen in Vashti’s place.

Some time later, an Amalekite named Haman rose to power in Persia. Haman was so highly placed that other officials knelt before him as a sign of respect. One man, however, the Judean Mordecai, refused to kneel. Haman became so angry that he decided to eliminate every Judean in the kingdom.  To ascertain the most favorable moment for destroying them, Haman piously consulted his gods by casting lots (or pur). Haman immediately persuaded Achashverosh to issue a decree that all the Judeans in his realm were to be slaughtered on that day. A date eleven months into the future was revealed. By way of incentive, the decree proclaimed that anyone who killed a Judean could plunder his possessions.

Mordecai reacted immediately by contacting his cousin Esther and asking her to beg King Achashverosh for mercy. But Esther was afraid and replied, “For any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spare their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”

Mordecai replied, “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Judeans will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Judeans will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?”

So Esther instructed Mordecai, “Go, gather together all the Judeans who are in Shushan and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”  On the third day, Esther approached the king. As soon as Achashverosh saw her, he held out the golden scepter. “What is it, Queen Esther?” he asked. “What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given to you.”

But Esther merely invited the king and Haman to join her that evening for a banquet she had prepared especially for them. That evening the king again pressed her to ask for whatever she desired, but Esther simply invited the king and Haman to another banquet, to be held the following night.

That evening, on his way home, Haman caught sight of Mordecai, sitting smugly rather than kneeling as he passed by. Haman was outraged, but his wife consoled him by proposing an evil scheme—he need merely build a gallows and then ask the king to hang Mordecai on it the next morning.

While Haman was happily constructing a gallows for his enemy, the king was pacing the royal bedroom. Unable to sleep, he ordered one of his servants to read from the annals of the kingdom. That evening’s reading just happened to be about how Mordecai had once saved the king’s life by warning of a plot against him. It struck the king that Mordecai had never been properly rewarded for his loyalty.  So the next morning the king asked Haman: “What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?”

Assuming the king intended to reward him in some new and marvelous way, the foolish Haman replied with a grandiose suggestion: “For the man the king delights to honor, have them bring a royal robe the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden. Then let one of the king’s most noble princes robe the man and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!’ ”

“Go at once,” the king commanded him. “Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Judean.” Haman was dumbstruck. The man who had planned to bury his enemy was suddenly forced to exalt him that very day!

That night, as the king and Haman were once again drinking wine at the queen’s banquet, the king implored Esther to ask for whatever her heart desired. This time she spoke her mind: “If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. For I and my people have been sold for destruction and slaughter and annihilation.”

“Where is the man who has dared to do such a thing?” the king demanded. “The adversary and enemy is this vile Haman.” And so Haman’s star, which had risen to so great a height, fell suddenly, like a bolt of lightning crashing from the sky. He was hanged on the very same gallows he had built for the Judean Mordecai, and all his property was given to Esther. Furthermore, the king, because he could not revoke one of his own edicts, issued another to counteract the first one. It gave Judeans throughout the empire the right to protect themselves, to destroy and plunder every enemy who might raise a hand against them.

As news of the king’s edict spread, many people from various nationalities became so terrified that they claimed to be Judeans themselves. The very day Haman’s gods had revealed as a day of reckoning for the Judeans became a day of reckoning for their enemies. Ever after, Judeans (the Jews) commemorated these events with the Feast of Purim. As the book of Esther says, these days were celebrated “as the time when the Judeans got relief from their enemies, and as the month Adar when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration.”

Subject to foreign powers after the exile, Yah God’s people must have felt among the weakest elements of society. But weaker even than a Judean man exiled to a foreign land was a Judean woman. And weakest of all would have been a young orphan of Judah descent. Yah God had once again employed one of his favorite methods for accomplishing his purposes: He had raised a wise woman, the weakest of the weak, placing her in a position of immense strategic importance.

But it had been up to Esther to decide whether she would play the part Yah God offered. Like Moses, she chose to identify with God’s people even if it meant risking her life to do so. And even though exile was a punishment for Yisrael’s long unfaithfulness, Yah God showed that he was still with his people, delivering and protecting them in surprising ways, turning the table on their enemies through a series of stunning moves. Earthly powers were at work to kill and destroy, but a heavenly power, far greater in scope, was at work to save and preserve Yisrael of Yah.

Her Promise

Yah God often uses the most unlikely characters to fulfill his purposes. He elevates a Judean orphan to become queen of a great empire. Esther begins as a nobody and becomes a somebody, a woman who somewhat reluctantly risks her life to make a stand.

Again, Yah God reveals his penchant for using the most unlikely, ordinary people to accomplish his divine purposes. But, you may wonder, could Yah God ever use you to accomplish his purposes, with all your foibles and imperfections, your lack of talent or influence? Yes, he can! He isn’t looking for people who are perfect or talented or influential. He is only looking for people who will listen and obey (Shema, Yisrael). King coming