Welcome back to
our Daily Bread study of the Book of Esther. In the first chapter we learned how queen Vashti disobeyed the commandment of her king, so she was expelled from the
palace and it was ruled that her royal estate would be given to someone more
worthy than her.
So, when the
king’s anger subsided, he remembered what Vashti had done and what was
ordered against her. The king’s servants suggested that there be a search
for beautiful young maidens for the king to be able to choose a new queen
from the group. The king liked the idea and he appointed officers in all the
provinces of the kingdom to bring all the beautiful young maidens to Shushan
the palace, to the house of the women.
They were put in
the care of the king’s chamberlain, Hegai, to see that the customs of
purification were followed and the maiden who pleased the king would become
queen instead of Vashti.
Now, in Shushan,
there was a certain Jewish man named Mordecai who was of the tribe of
Benjamin, and he’d been taken away with the captives from Jerusalem when
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, carried them all away. Mordecai raised
his uncle’s daughter (his cousin) Hadassah, which is Esther because her
mother and father had died and he took her for his own daughter. She was a
very lovely maiden.
ESTHER BECOMES QUEEN LESSON WITH ESTHER BECOMES QUEEN EXPLANATION AND ESTHER
BECOMES QUEEN SUMMARY
When the king’s
commandment was declared and many maidens were taken to the palace, Esther
was also brought to the king’s house. She pleased the king and won his
kindness, and he readily gave her the things for purification which were
necessary out of the king’s house, along with seven maids. He promoted her
and her maids to the best place of the house of the women.
Mordecai advised
Esther not to reveal that she was Jewish, so she kept it a secret. He walked
every day in front of the court of the women’s house to know how she was,
and what would become of her.
The custom of
purification for women took twelve months. Six months was with oil of myrrh,
and six months with sweet odors and other things for the purifying of the
women. Then each maiden was presented to the king and whatever she desired
was given to her to take with her out of the house of the women to the
king’s house.
In the evening,
she went, and on the next day she returned to the second house of the women,
to the care of the king’s chamberlain, Shaashgaz who cared for the king’s
concubines. She was not allowed into the king's presence any more unless the
king liked her, and called her by name.
When it was
Esther’s turn, she took nothing with her except what Hegai advised her, and
she won favor in the sight of everyone who saw her. Esther was taken into
the house of king Ahasuerus in the tenth month, which was called Tebeth, in
the seventh year of his reign. The king loved Esther above all the women,
and she obtained grace and kindness in his sight more than all of the
maidens, so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead
of Vashti.
ESTHER BECOMES QUEEN INFORMATION WITH ESTHER BECOMES QUEEN MEANING
AND ESTHER BECOMES QUEEN DISCUSSION
The king held a
great celebration for all his princes and his servants, called Esther’s
feast and he made a holiday for the provinces and gave gifts according to
the state of the king.
When the maidens
were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat in the king’s
gate. Esther had still not told of her heritage of being Jewish, as Mordecai
had advised her. She obeyed him as she did when she was brought up by him.
At that time,
while Mordecai sat in the king’s gate, two of the king’s chamberlains who
kept guard of the door, were angry with king Ahasuerus and plotted to kill
him.
When Mordecai
found out about it, he told Esther and she informed the king in Mordecai’s
name. When the matter was investigated, it was found out to be true and the
two chamberlains were both hanged on a tree, and it was written in the book
of the chronicles that Mordecai, saved the king's life.
And that’s how
Esther became the queen. Next in our story, there’s some trouble ahead for
Mordecai, so you’ll want to come back and see what happens in the next Daily
Bread Bible Study.
