From Orphan to Queen

Photo Credit – cleffairy.com

We get information about the Jewish girl named Hadassah as we read in Esther 2. We also learn about Mordecai who was carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon (v. 6). He had a cousin named Hadassah (also known as Esther), whom he brought up because she was without parents. If you remember from the post a few days ago, king Ahasuerus had a spat with the queen and she was never to come near him. Now we read that he set out to find another queen. The plan was to gather all the beautiful women into one place, give them beauty treatments, healthy food, and get them prepared for their time to be with the king. They each had their turn with the king but he was attracted to Esther more than any of the other women so he made her queen.

Some may say that Esther committed sin to be with the king but we must take into consideration that the custom in those times was that everyone the king took was married to him and was considered his wife. For any that think, “yes it seems as though Esther sinned by using her beauty and letting the king have his way in order to become queen”, let us consider how God has a purpose for everyone and as we study this story of Esther, let’s see what good character traits we can learn from her.

Like Esther who faced many challenges in life and needed help from God, we too face challenges and my prayer for you this day with God is that He will bless and strengthen you as you take on these challenges. Visit again tomorrow and I’ll share some other thoughts on what we can learn from Esther.