Esther 2:1-23.  This part of the story shows how pathetic Xerxes was.  Remember the story started in 483 BC in the newly finished palace in Susa.  Xerxes had a six month open house ending with a week long party.  At the party he decided to bring his “queen” out and parade her around in front of his drunk friends.  When she refused he banished her to the harem forever.  During this time, or shortly after, he began planning his attack on Greece.  Many plans were made and supplies were set up in Sardis in Asia Minor (Modern day Turkey).  In 480 BC he attacked Greece from Turkey.  Two years into the war, after suffering a defeat, Xerxes went home, leaving the army in charge of his generals.  The year was 479 BC, the seventy year of Xerxes’ reign.  Either upon returning home or just before he left he remembered that he had vanquished Vashti and was upset.

Verse one of today’s reading makes it sound like he had regret over vanquishing Vashti, but it is clear for the response of his attendants that this was more of a selfish tantrum.  There is no remorse over the lonely existence Vashti would have to endure (or even the other girls in the harem) Xerxes wanted a new fling.  So he issued a decree to gather “beautiful virgins” to the palace where they would prepare for a year before a one night stand with the king.  After that one night they would be sent to another harem where Xerxes discarded his used women.   If they were “lucky” he might remember them and have them sent over to him again.  The fact that he did not call for one of the women already in his harem to “comfort” his indicates that it would be very unlikely that these girls would ever experience a real love relationship in their lives.

In verses 5-7 we learn that there was a certain Jewish man in the capital who was raising his cousin.  His cousin , Esther (Esther is a Persian but she also had a Jewish name, Hadassah), was a beautiful young girl and was one of the ones taken to the palace.  There is some speculation that Mordecai had an official position in the government because he was able to get information about Esther from the palace.  Later we will see him sitting by the gate to the palace, a place where government officials waited for instructions from the king.  Mordecai told Esther not to mention that she was a Jew and she did not.

In the harem the girls went through a yearlong process of “beautification”.  This may seem like an exaggeration but history records other similar treatments for women.  In the harem Esther was respectful of the man in charge and wound up being his favorite.  When it came here turn to spend the night with Xerxes she listened to the advise of the head of the harem and took only what he told her to take with her.  Verse 16 tells us this happened in the seventh year of King Xerxes.  It may have been that the girls were gathered before the king left for Greece or shortly after his return.  In any case we have Esther making quite an impression on Xerxes and we are told it was in 479 BC.  Xerxes was so pleased with Esther that he made her his queen.  Then he gave a banquet in her honor and decreed a holiday I his empire.  In verse 19 we see Mordecai sitting at the gate of the palace and are told again that Esther didn’t tell anyone she was a Jew.  The repetition of that fact should make you wonder why you would want to hide that you were a Jew.  To the average Jewish reader it would probably signal that something bad was coming for the Jewish people in Xerxes empire.

Verses 21-23 Tell us that Mordecai over heard a plot by two of the king’s officials to kill the king.  He told Esther who told the king but gave the credit to her cousin.  Mordecai’s involvement was officially recorded in the king’s history books.  So the suspense keeps building, something is going to make it bad to be a Jew but we also see that Mordecai has done the king a huge favor.  We are left wondering at this point in the story.

I don’t know how a faithful Jewish person could allow themselves to be kidnapped and put in a harem, certainly it would have attacked your dignity and made you angry.  But we do not see that in Esther, she remains faithful.  She maintains here character in spite of her disgusting circumstances.  Of course she did become queen (but we sill see that that only has limited benefits) but that was after her respectful life in the harem.  We will have to wait for more of the story before we get to the big lesson of Esther but in the mean time we can learn to be patient when we encounter trials in our lives.  Some would see Esther as the hero in this book, and she may be, but she still makes mistakes.  One thing that is not a mistake though is being respectful even in the face of evil and trials.  We might remember the story of Joseph, one of Israel’s twelve sons who was sold as a slave by his brothers.  Years later when they found him second in command in Egypt they feared him.  His response was “you meant it for evil but God meant it for good”.   When we face trying circumstances that we cannot control we need to trust God with our lives and do our best to do what is right.

Lord help me have a good character.  Help me trust you.  Let me do what is right.  Let my life please you.  We live in a messed up world but you can bring good out of any situation.  Help me trust and follow you faithfully.

Esther 1:1-22.  If you read the “Intro to Esther” then you know that Ahasuerus and Xerxes are two names for the same guy.  Xerxes became king in 486 BC so that means these event happened in 483 BC.  Xerxes had just successfully put down rebellion in both Egypt and Babylon and proved his power as king over his father’s empire.  There was one more score to settle, with Greece, but that would have to wait.  Now it was party time.  This story fits well with other information we have about Xerxes.  The description of the palace in verses 6-7 match an inscription by Xerxes father on the foundation of the palace which describes the various material he used in the palace and where he got it.  Included in that list were gold, precious stones, and ivory.  Also in the inscription was a description of various workers from many different parts of his empire.  If Xerxes took over in 486 BC and completed the palace this may have been one of his first parties there.  In verse 4 we learn that he had an “open house” (at least open to his rich and powerful buddies) that lasted for six months.  At the end of the six months he had a weeklong party.  In verse 9 we learn that his queen, Vashti, also had a part for the women.  In those days women were not treated as equals, at least not by the rich and powerful.  So her party was separate.  Excavations of the ruins of the palace show evidence that Xerxes had a “harem”, basically a collection of girl friends who lived in the palace.  That was a common practice of kings in that part of the world in those days.  Vashti, however, was the official wife or queen.  Verse 8 is interesting to me because I think it reflects the ego of Xerxes, he even had rules for drinking.  Now in this case the rule seems to be a good one, no one was forced to drink, but still it shows us what a control freak he must have been.  The fact that the author makes a point of the rule tells me it was unusual.

The next part of the story shows me that the king didn’t take advantage of his own rule because we see he was pretty drunk.  It also shows that women, even a queen, were only things in a king’s life.  Xerxes orders his servants to bring the queen into the men’s party.  She is told to dress up in her crown and come let the guy’s check her out.  She refused and Xerxes got very mad.  He then consulted his legal experts and wise men about what to do.  Verse 15 again shows me he had quite a big head because he uses the third person point of view when referring to himself.  He doesn’t just say, “What should I do she didn’t obey me?” he says, “What should happen to the queen who did not obey the commands of King Ahasuerus delivered by the servants?”

In verses 17-20 the wise men tell him that her actions will cause women all over the kingdom to get unruly so the queen should be stripped of her position, sent back to the harem, never see the king again, and someone else should be made queen.  The king liked the idea and so he made the proclamation.  He sent copies of his decision through out the whole land (notice in verse 22 how he makes a big deal about how many different people live in his kingdom).  Also with the ruling about queen Vashti he decided that all women needed to get the point, don’t step on your husbands toes.

This chapter sets the stage for the next part of the story but we don’t want to miss the kind of world Esther is living in.  The king is very powerful and controlling.  Women are just things, toys of their husbands or masters.  It is in this environment that Esther will be the one with the opportunity to save God’s chosen people.  The tension is between the power and forces of mankind and the power of God.  A tension that existed not only in the world but in the life of Esther.

God we live in a world filled with powerful controlling people.  There are a lot of opportunities to follow their examples.  In our own country we talk about freedom of religion but then we also talk about being politically correct.  Help us be spiritually correct.  Help us listen to your voice and your rules.  Thank you for being here beside us each day and thank you for your “proclamation” the Bible.  You too have poswer, more than Xerxes could have ever imagined, and you too have people from lots of different languages, all languages actually.  You are the real king of the universe.  Help us, help me, respond to you alone.