TWO QUEENS (Esther 1:10-2:18
INTRODUCTION:
In the first message on Esther, I gave you some background information and an idea of where this book of history fits into the chronology of the history of Israel and Judah. Then I explained that even though this book is true history it was inserted into the canon of God’s Word as an example for us for our instruction. As I said last Sunday, “These are true historic events that took place, but, in the wisdom of God, they happened in such a way as to form a detailed picture of God’s dealings with us on a spiritual level.” We will read and study this book using the New Testament as our key as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:11, “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (1 Corinthians 10:11, NASB95)[1]
We learned last Sunday as we looked at the first nine verses that Ahasuerus, the king, is a picture of the soul of man, which comprises the mind, emotions, and will. The capital city of Susa represents man’s physical body in which all man’s decisions and actions will be most immediately felt. The Midia-Persia empire represents the sphere of influence each man has in his life. In the very last verse of our passage, we met the beautiful Queen Vashti and learned that she was a picture of man’s spirit, which is so closely bound to man’s soul that no division or separation can be seen. The queen bound by marriage to the king depicts the place of fellowship, refreshment, and communion with God which is intimately related to the soul.
This morning we will meet two more characters that are important to the rest of the history of the book of Esther. Let’s begin by praying and then by looking at the rest of chapter one briefly.
--LET’S PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles with me to Esther 1:10-22 and follow along as I read. Please, if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
Esther 1:10-22,
“On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown in order to display her beauty to the people and the princes, for she was beautiful. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs. Then the king became very angry and his wrath burned within him. Then the king said to the wise men who understood the times—for it was the custom of the king so to speak before all who knew law and justice and were close to him: Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media who had access to the king’s presence and sat in the first place in the kingdom— ‘According to law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti, because she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?’ In the presence of the king and the princes, Memucan said, ‘Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king but also all the princes and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women causing them to look with contempt on their husbands by saying, “King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in to his presence, but she did not come.” This day the ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s conduct will speak in the same way to all the king’s princes, and there will be plenty of contempt and anger. If it pleases the king, let a royal edict be issued by him and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media so that it cannot be repealed, that Vashti may no longer come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal position to another who is more worthy than she. When the king’s edict which he will make is heard throughout all his kingdom, great as it is, then all women will give honor to their husbands, great and small.’ This word pleased the king and the princes, and the king did as Memucan proposed. So he sent letters to all the king’s provinces, to each province according to its script and to every people according to their language, that every man should be the master in his own house and the one who speaks in the language of his own people.” (Esther 1:10–22, NASB95)[2]
QUEEN VASHTI DEPOSED (Esther 1:10-22)
The first nine verses of this chapter were filled with joy as Ahasuerus displayed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor of his great majesty. In the end the king threw a banquet for all who were in the citadel and royal wine was flowing freely from the king’s bounty. But before this feast was over, the king made a tragic decision as he was merry with wine, a tragic decision that would end by instantly severing his communion with his queen, a tragic decision leading to a tragic action which in the end destroyed the peace of the whole kingdom. Ahasuerus sent the eunuchs who served him to bring Queen Vashti in her royal crown, in order that he might parade her before the princes and the peoples that they may gaze on her beauty. But when the eunuchs delivered the king’s command, the queen refused to come. When this response was returned to Ahasuerus, we read that he became very angry and that his wrath burned within him.
In what is described here we have a picture of the fall of man. If you remember that Adam living in the garden of Eden was created and placed there that he might display in his own human personality all the majesty, glory, wisdom, and might of the God who created him, loved him, and walked with him and showered his with His goodness. But here in our present passage, the king is not content to display the authority that is properly his, or maybe he feels he has already displayed all his splendor and majesty. So as the party progresses, he begins to believe that glory and majesty are of his own making. What we see is the king lifted up with pride and weakened by too much of the royal wine, and he foolishly sends for the queen to come and display her beauty to the crowd as if she is his treasure to show off. That which should have been private and intimate he perverts by using the queen as an object to be displayed and ogled by a room full of drunken men.
Let’s look at this from another way, I think we can understand this event of history better and the picture it is for us if we ask ourselves when it was that Adam actually fell? Did he fall when Eve picked the fruit? Did he fall when Eve took the first bite of the fruit? No! Eve fell when she took the first bite of the fruit, that was the fall of the woman. But it was also the means by which the tempter, Satan, gained access to the man. Adam fell when he was confronted with the fact of his wife’s disobedience, he deliberately chose to go with his emotion, his love for his wife, which he elevated over his spirit where God spoke to him. When Adam violated the function of his spirit, refusing to listen to God’s voice, and instead asserting his own authority of his soul, he became a fallen being. In doing this he tried to reverse the order of his nature to make his reason superior to God’s revelation to him, and this has been the problem of fallen man ever since.
When the queen refused to do what the king had commanded, instead of acknowledging the selfish pride that had made him act so foolishly, the king in his pride and wrath called for his counselors and asked them what should be done to a queen who does not respond to the king’s command. Ahasuerus’ counselors wanted to remain on the king’s good side and so they slyly suggested that the fault was all the queen’s, and if he failed to do something to support his foolish command, he would cause a revolt among the women of the kingdom and there would be contempt and anger. This was nothing more than a lie, just as the serpent in the garden had lied to Eve that God was putting unwarranted restrictions on her freedom, why she could be like God and if she didn’t act to claim her rights, she would never realize the full potential of her being. Just as Eve listened to the lie of the serpent and believed what he said, so Ahasuerus listened to the lie of his counselors and made a choice which he could not turn back from, a royal order written in the laws of Persia and Media which cannot be repealed. Vashti would be deposed of her royal title and banished from the presence of the king and her royal position given to one more worthy than her. This will send a message to all wives that the husband is the master of his house and what he says is law. The order was written, the law was struck and not even the king could change it.
If we compare this to our own lives, this unalterable law is known as the “law of sin and death.” When Adam was approached by Eve with the forbidden fruit and he understood clearly what the consequences of eating this fruit were, he deliberately chose what his reason said over what God’s revelation had taught him, and he ate the fruit, immediately cutting himself off from the glory of God in his own spirit. He chose the desire of his heart over fellowship with God and set in motion a string of circumstances he was powerless to change.
So, the human spirit became dark and unresponsive, and man entered upon a lonely restlessness that has characterized him ever since. Man’s soul was his only identity, governed only by his mind, emotions and will. In selfish pride he sits on the throne of his kingdom, and he is himself the highest authority in his life. He lost the joy and peace, the insights and the refreshment and the fellowship that was made available to him in the communion of his spirit with the Spirit of God, and he is helpless to change this fact. It is no longer available and in this we find more than enough reason for all the injustice, evil, sin, misery, and darkness of human life as we know it in our world today.
But there is One who can change what has happened to man and as we turn to chapter two, we not only continue the true history of this book, but we also find the truth about redeeming grace. It opens with the king vainly seeking to satisfy his restless soul in a fruitless search for someone or something to fill the vacuum of his life. The something was not enlarging the empire, he had failed miserably in the invasion of Greece and returned to Susa in humiliation.
SCRIPTURE:
Turn with me to Esther 2:1-18 and follow along as I read.
Esther 2:1-18,
“After these things when the anger of King Ahasuerus had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her. Then the king’s attendants, who served him, said, ‘Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king. Let the king appoint overseers in all the provinces of his kingdom that they may gather every beautiful young virgin to the citadel of Susa, to the harem, into the custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let their cosmetics be given them. Then let the young lady who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti.’ And the matter pleased the king, and he did accordingly. Now there was at the citadel in Susa a Jew whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite, who had been taken into exile from Jerusalem with the captives who had been exiled with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had exiled. He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young lady was beautiful of form and face, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. So it came about when the command and decree of the king were heard and many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the custody of Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s palace into the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the women. Now the young lady pleased him and found favor with him. So he quickly provided her with her cosmetics and food, gave her seven choice maids from the king’s palace and transferred her and her maids to the best place in the harem. Esther did not make known her people or her kindred, for Mordecai had instructed her that she should not make them known. Every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and how she fared. Now when the turn of each young lady came to go in to King Ahasuerus, after the end of her twelve months under the regulations for the women—for the days of their beautification were completed as follows: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and the cosmetics for women— the young lady would go in to the king in this way: anything that she desired was given her to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. In the evening she would go in and in the morning she would return to the second harem, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not again go in to the king unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name. Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her as his daughter, came to go in to the king, she did not request anything except what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the women, advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of all who saw her. So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus to his royal palace in the tenth month which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with him 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 banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his princes and his servants; he also made a holiday for the provinces and gave gifts according to the king’s bounty.” (Esther 2:1–18, NASB95)[3]
SEARCH FOR A NEW QUEEN (Esther 2:1-14)
After returning from defeat in Greece the king remembers Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her. Ahasuerus missed her, maybe with his anger abated he recognizes the foolishness of what he requested of her. Man never forgets that he has a spirit. Though dark and unresponsive to his present longings, it remains in the back of man’s memory, and he longs for the joys and delights he was intended by God to have. Ahasuerus cannot be satisfied with the choice he has made. His heart is empty, that vacuum that needs to be filled. He is searching for someone, and he is restless and unhappy. This is the whole history of human life without God. Each person without God is restless and dissatisfied, always seeking for something to fill that void in their life, to take away the pain of loneliness. This search, this longing to fill the void is portrayed for us in the verses that follow the opening verse.
The king’s attendants make a suggestion that the king have all the beautiful young virgins of the empire gathered up and brought to the citadel of Susa to the harem, or the court of the women and that they be given into the custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who was in charge of the women. Then let the young lady who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti. This idea pleased Ahasuerus and the gathering began. Driven by his loneliness and the desire to fill this void in his life, this search begins. But man does not realize what is involved, he does not realize that God who made man is unwilling to abandon him to the result of his own foolish choice. With this in mind we are introduced to the two most important characters in this book.
These two are Mordecai and his cousin who he has adopted as his daughter, her Hebrew name is Hadassah, her Persian name is Esther. Mordecai and Esther are Jews, they belong to a nation chosen by God to be His point of contact with the human race. Jesus Christ was a Jew and He said, “Salvation is of the Jews.” This nation which God saved out of Egypt was chosen to be the instrument in the hands of the Holy Spirit by which the world was to be redeemed, and it was through Jesus Christ, the Jew, that redemption was accomplished. Mordecai’s name means “little man” and suggests the humility of the One who laid aside His glory and became a man, to die at last upon a cross of shame that man might once again enter into life by having that void filled and his spirit revived. Mordecai is a picture of the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, whose specific work is to restore man to the fellowship and communion with God which he had lost.
Though Mordecai is really Esther’s cousin, we read that after the death of her own father and mother, Mordecai took her or adopted her and raised her as his own daughter. The union between Esther and Mordecai is a perfect description of the human spirit with the Holy Spirit, accomplished through adoption. Paul wrote in Romans 8:15-16, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Romans 8:15–16, NASB95)[4] The work of the Spirit of God in a person’s life can only begin when that person’s human spirit is introduced into the family of God by the sovereign adoption of the Holy Spirit.
When the decree went out for the beautiful young virgins to be gathered into the king’s harem, Esther was taken being beautiful of form and face. But Esther was not only beautiful physically, but she was also beautiful inside and quickly won the favor of Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the young women. We learn that each young lady had a 12-month period of beautification to prepare her for her night with the king. When Esther found favor in Hegai he quickly started her beautification and assigned her seven choice maids and moved her to the best part of the harem. All is in place for Ahasuerus to discover Esther, although he is unaware that the Holy Spirit is moving to bring these two face to face. Isaiah 55:6 tells us to, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.” (Isaiah 55:6, NASB95)[5] Scripture also teaches us that it is really the Holy Spirit who is doing the seeking, and when our search is ended and we have found the Lord, we are astounded to learn that it was not we who found Him, but that it was the Spirit who found us. In the course of the king’s search for someone to fill that void in his life, young maiden after young maiden was brought before him, and the next morning each was sent to another part of the harem where the king’s concubines would spend the rest of their lives.
ESTHER CROWNED QUEEN (Esther 2:15-18)
Finally, the day came when it was Esther’s turn. We read in chapter 2, verses 15-17, “Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her as his daughter, came to go in to the king, she did not request anything except what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the women, advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of all who saw her. So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus to his royal palace in the tenth month which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.” (Esther 2:15–17, NASB95)[6]
This is pretty clear. We could call this the conversion of King Ahasuerus. Esther came before him with only those things advised by Hegai. She stood before him in the loveliness of natural beauty. We read that the king loved Esther more than all the women and he set upon her head the sign of royal authority and she became his queen. Four years after Vashti was deposed. He recognized in this beautiful young lady the answer to his restless, empty life, and in setting the crown on her head he entered at last into the joy and comfort of a life made complete.
This new queen had an immediate effect throughout the whole empire. We read in verse 18, “Then the king gave a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his princes and his servants; he also made a holiday for the provinces and gave gifts according to the king’s bounty.” (Esther 2:18, NASB95)[7] There is a sense in which this king had no right to this young lady. She belonged to a chosen people; a people forbidden by law to marry into another ethnic group. Yet here in this foreign land, by the sovereign, overruling grace of God, she is brought before the king and he when he finds her he knows that this is the one for whom his heart has longed. This beautifully represents that we have no right to the grace of God in our lives. The king, in his gratitude, immediately expresses his joy with great banquet and by declaring the day as a holiday throughout the empire. It is believed that there was a lifting of the burden of taxation, and we read that the king distributed gifts according to his bounty. Esther’s banquet became a holiday for all the provinces.
CONCLUSION:
Do you remember when you became a Christian? Did you discover at that time what Paul meant when he wrote these words in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV)[8] When you put your faith in Christ was there the sense of the lifting of the burden of sin and an enjoyment of God’s royal gifts such as you never dreamed of? This is an experience that is available to all. We may not fully understand all that happens when we come in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ and our spirit is made alive again by His grace. But if this has taken place in your life, you know that there has been a wonderful change. When we make this decision, we can never be the same again. Much must yet happen before the full value of our salvation is realized, but already there is a new joy, a new liberty, and a new richness.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[8]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.