Coming to the Fore (Esther 2)
The author of Ecclesiastes now introduces us to the main characters in his story. They are Mordecai and his cousin Esther. Their contributions are set in situations that reveal the sordidness and treachery of life. Yet, since this book is included in the Bible, we know that there must be holy and divine reasons for its inclusions. As with other Bible books, it tells us about God, even if his name is absent, and how he works on behalf of his people. The book also provides for us encouragements and insights as to why and how we should live for his glory in difficult situations.
The king’s will be done
Ahasuerus needed to find a queen. The method of doing so was to get his officials to do the work. His queen had to have qualifications: she had to be unmarried, she had to be young, and she had to be beautiful. Lots of women would fill those categories, so there had to be a method of selection whereby he would have the best one as his queen. This process was the outcome of worldly wisdom.
Why are we told these details? Because behind the scenes God was at work. He was at work sovereignly, using the decisions of the greatest earthly power in order to follow his own designs. This was not the only time he did this. When he wishes, he can use the daughter of Pharaoh to look after his deliverer. At his timing, Caesar decides to have an enrolment that ensures the Messiah will be born where biblical prophecy said he would.
Moreover, God was at work secretly. No one knew what God was doing at that time. None could see what he was doing even if they tried. There was not a person anywhere who could see a connection between Ahaseurus’ desire for a bride and the development of God’s kingdom. But there was a connection, and the Book of Esther will make that plain.
Nobody could see a connection between a storm in the Pentland Firth and the future growth of God’s kingdom. On a boat in the storm was a man called James Macdonald and he was a widower heading to America for a new life. But God had other plans. The storm prevented James going to America. He went home, remarried a few years later, and had a son called John. We know him as the Apostle of the North, and we have been told often how he was used by the Lord to bring gospel blessings to thousands of people. He had a son who became a famous missionary in India and spread the gospel there. What a powerful voice is the silence of God in a storm!
The man with a discredited pedigree
Of course, the question arises, ‘Whom will God use?’ Mordecai steps into the story without knowing he was the man. His name is not very inspiring because he is called after the Babylonian god called Murduk. This choice of such a name does not say much about the religious commitment of his father. Maybe he chose this name so that people would see that he had assimilated the local culture. But no son has to be like his father if the father is going astray.
Moreover, Mordecai’s connections were not ones to be proud off. He was related to the tribe which had produced King Saul. They had been rejected by God as the royal tribe because of Saul’s disobedience. There was no point in them imagining that they could recover their past prominence. God had prevented that possibility when he promised the throne to the descendants of David. Yet that did not mean that Mordecai could not be used by God in other ways, although he would not be able to guess how God could do it.
In addition to his discredited pedigree, we are told a couple of other things about Mordecai. First, he accepted family responsibilities, and we see this in the way he looked after his cousin when her parents died. It would have been easy for him in that culture to pass on that responsibility to a female relative. Yet he chose to be her guardian. As one commentator says about this decision, ‘A blessing followed him because he had pity upon the orphan.’ It is easy to conclude that it is unlikely that God will use someone in public who does not do what is right in private.
Second, Mordecai was working in the centre of power, the citadel in Susa. We are not told here what his job was. Instead, we are to notice the detail and wonder if God had any plans for him in that location. It was not unusual for Jews to work for the Persian government. Daniel had been very high during the reigns of Cyrus and Darius. But Mordecai was not as high as Daniel. I wonder did he pray to be an influence where he was. At one level, the fact that he was there meant he could retain some form of contact with his cousin when she was taken into the palace. The lesson for us must be that wherever we are we can be useful for the kingdom.
The woman with no choice
It seems obvious from the story that Esther had no choice, but did she? What are we told about her? First, she had two names. Although we know her as Esther, that was her Persian name. Her Jewish name was Hadassah, a name derived from the myrtle tree, which was very common in Palestine, and perhaps her father thought often of that fragrant tree from his homeland. Her Persian name may have been linked to a star or to a pagan goddess. We don’t know if she had both names since childbirth. Yet we are being told that she had two choices. Is she going to live as Esther or as Hadassah? Maybe she wanted to be Esther in public and Hadassah in private. Two faces, one for each world in which she was in.
Esther was a very attractive person. Her attractiveness was more than physical, because Hegai realised that she had potential to become the queen and he gave her a set of attendants. Under his guidance and care, which lasted for about a year, she was prepared for meeting with the king. She would only have one chance to please him, and no doubt she realised that if she did not follow the instructions of Hegai she would be rejected as queen. It was obvious to all that Esther had great abilities.
Yet the author mentions two details that should make us pause. First, there was her response to the food she was provided with. Whatever it was, she did not respond the way that Daniel had done when he was asked to eat the food that Nebuchadnezzar had provided. Daniel had been willing to trust God that he would give health from following his instructions about eating the appropriate food. Esther did not do this. Instead she ate what her new masters gave. She was willing to ignore the small details of God’s instructions.
The second detail is that she followed the advice of Mordecai and did not reveal her Jewishness. We are not told why he did this. Perhaps we can say that he adopted a common-sense view of life. Keep quiet about your connections, Esther, and both you and them will be safe. Or perhaps Mordecai deduced that since Esther could do some good if she became queen she should not do anything that would hinder that possibility. Pretend that you are not a Jew seems to have been the advice. We cannot point the finger at Mordecai or Esther because we do similar things all the time. Often we use common sense to hide the fact that we belong to another kingdom.
The woman who was accepted
It is not surprising to the reader to discover that Esther was chosen by Ahasuerus as his queen. The occasion was marked by great festivity and displays of royal kindness. It also looks as if her promotion had led to her uncle rising higher in his roles because he now finds himself with access to the king’s gate. She too was now in the place of influence, with access to the king. Soon an opportunity arose for doing so. Mordecai overheard a plot by two officials to assassinate the king and informed Esther. She told the king, who executed the officials, and recorded the contribution of Mordecai in the royal archives. The importance of that detail will be seen later in the book. Yet we have been given an example of how straightforward it was for Esther as queen to influence the king. God in his providence had brought her to the place of power. But would it be Esther or Hadassah who would be queen?
Some lessons
At one level, we may wonder what this account of an historical period in the history of the Jews has to do with us. After all, the world in which they lived is very far away from the world that we inhabit day by day. Yet I hope we can see that there are many helpful lessons from considering a book that has much to say about the providence of God. So I will suggest four questions that are suitable for consideration.
Have we asked ourselves what would have happened to the Jews in the Persian Empire if Vashti had remained queen? This question has nothing to do with her personal character. Rather it has to do with the care God has for his kingdom. We do not know if Vashti gave the Jews a second thought, and she probably would not have spoken to the king about them at any time. She may have not got involved with any government decisions. So she was removed from power in order for someone to be in place who could help God’s kingdom. Does God still do this? Of course, he does. Except that we do not know when he is doing it.
What do we make of the exaltation experienced by Esther? It certainly was a change from a low position to a very high position. In her transformation we have a picture of what happens to believers when they become followers of Jesus and become members of the family of God. As Esther was made beautiful for her appearance before the king, so believers are given royal attire and fragrant perfumes to wear. They wear the robe of justification and are marked by the fruit of the Spirit. Even now, they are fit to live in the king’s palace.
Do we listen to the advice of those more experienced than we are? While we cannot really tell if Mordecai’s advice to Esther to keep quiet about her racial identity was based on common sense or on spiritual wisdom, we can see that her response was one of respect for his wisdom. The Bible tells us repeatedly that a sign of spiritual maturity is to listen to the advice of those with longer spiritual experience, who have gone through stages of spiritual conflict and come through them with the Lord’s help.
Does God write down good things that we are doing for him? In order for that to happen, we have to engage in doing good things. The rulers of Persia did so when one of their subjects did something for them, and so does God. In fact, he writes everything down, not literally, and keeps an accurate record. One day, Jesus will mention those who visited those in need and helped his people in numerous ways. And he will given them great rewards for expressing brotherly love.