The story of Esther, the orphaned cousin of Mordecai is far from over. The young women who were selected for "Persia's Most Beautiful Young Virgins" were groomed in the citadel of Susa before their turn to spend a night with the king. We are not sure how many young virgins were selected but they were enough to make the competition very tight. From a previous post, we mentioned that Esther won the favour of Hegai, the one who was in charge of the harem. Because Esther pleased Hagai and won his favour, she was immediately provided with her beauty treatments and special food. Hegai also assigned to Esther seven female attendants selected from the king’s palace and moved her and her attendants into the best place in the harem (Esther 2:9). The competition seems to have lasted longer. Remember, king Xerxes gave the banquet for all his nobles and officials in the third year of his reign (Esther 1:3). It was at this 180-days long banquet that Vashti refused to appear before the king and was deposed. Esther was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign (Esther 2:16).
The young virgins were groomed and made ready for the king. Different young virgins had their time with the king. After being prepared for twelve months, each virgin had just one night with the king. How were they to please the king in just one night? What if that night the young virgin had mood swings? Imagine the stress, the anxiety and the pressure to satisfy a king for just a night. Before any young virgin goes to the king, anything she wanted was given to her to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace (Esther 2:13). I can just imagine the ridiculous requests from the maidens. Afterall, their sole goal is to please the king and receive the royal crown as the Queen of Persia. Failure to please the king meant that the young woman would be returned to another part of the harem in the morning to the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines (Esther 2:14a). Thus, the maidens were sent as virgins and returned as concubines of the king. I don't think I need to explain further. These concubines would not return to the king unless he was pleased with one and summoned her by name (Esther 2:14). Imagine living the rest of your life as the king’s call woman! With the knowledge of all these, Esther might have lived in fear, worry and anxiety. If she fails the one night with the king, her fate lies as a concubine of the king. The only difference between Esther and the other maidens is the fact that Esther was trained, equipped and she won the favour of Hegai, the head of the harem.
Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. (Esther 2:17)
Finally, in the tenth month, in the seventh year of the reign of Xerxes, it was Esther's turn to spend one night with the king (Esther 2:16). This is how the writer of the Book of Esther presented it: "When the turn came for Esther (the young woman Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested" (Esther 2:15a). Hegai had been grooming women for the king for years and he knew what would please the king. Esther obeyed Hegai and took exactly what he recommended. Esther 2:15b states that, "And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her" (Esther 2:15). Those who saw Esther were not the ones to make the decision on who should be queen. However, they were impressed with Esther. At long last, Esther met Xerxes and spent the night in the Palace. This is what happened: "Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favour and approval more than any of the other virgins" (Esther 2:17a). First Esther won the favour of Hegai, second, she won the favour of those who saw her. Finally she won the favour of the king. Therefore, Xerxes set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti (Esther 2:17b). Esther rose from a lowly position of an orphaned cousin of Mordecai to a glorious position of the Queen of Persia.
This was not magic! It took years of background preparation, obedience, respect and most importantly favour with God and men. Imagine if Heaven had ordained Esther as the Queen of Persia but the systems on earth refused to align with God's will because Esther refused to be mentored, trained, equipped and prepared. Esther was not haphazardly selected, she was destined for the task. Her whole life was to fulfill this specific call which would ultimately lead to the salvation of her people. Yet, Esther was willing and ready to prepare for the task. Her beauty and purity took her to the palace but her obedience and the favour with God and men placed her on the throne as queen. Just like Esther, Samson was also born for a specific task, but because of his disobedience to the rules of his call, he died prematurely as a fighter not a judge! It took Esther a lifetime of preparation to spend just one night with the king. If she had missed a single day of her training, she would have missed the call of God in her life. Be intentional about your life, you have a charge to keep and a call to fulfill. Heaven is watching and earth needs you to make a difference. Don't disappoint God and men!
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