Esther:
- Prayer warrior
- Community organizer
- Beauty pageant winner
- Ambassador
- Babylonian queen
- Teenager
Esther is the only book in the Bible besides Song of Solomon that never mentions God by name. Instead, it uses the life and choices of its major characters to show how the God of Israel loves and cares for both the nation of Israel and a young woman and her family.
Esther had an unusual resume. Even though she was young, her actions and words went beyond her age and experience.
The most prominent feature of Esther was her beauty. She also had never been married or known by a man. Whatever the beauty standards were of this time, Esther met and even exceeded them. This may rattle some people, but man’s estimation of what it means to be beautiful is what got Esther an audience with the king. She was involved in a 12 month beautification program with the king’s overseer of the palace women. This was the best use of Esther’s time and talent. If Esther didn’t present as the most attractive of all of the beautiful women, Israel would have been destroyed.
“And let the king appoint officers throughout all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the attractive young women to Susa the citadel, to the harem under the authority of Hegai, the king’s eunuch who oversees the women, and let him provide whatever cosmetics they desire” (Esther 2:3 ).
When she became Queen, Esther made choices that proved how courageous she was:
She chose to identify with her family.
She chose to represent her family in the face of death threats.
She chose to risk her life by asking for an audience with the king.
She chose to trust God for the final outcome.
When Queen Esther found out about the plot to kill the Jews, she responded by going directly to the king. which was not allowed unless the king granted you the gift of his audience.
“‘Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast in my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. If I perish, I perish!’” (Esther 4:16).
Her decisions saved the lives of 750,000 Jews.
To this day, the people of Israel celebrate this special event. It’s called Purim and It includes the following rules:
- Hear the story of Esther by night and by day.
- Send food gifts to friends.
- Give gifts to the needy.
- Celebrate with a feast.
There are probably hundreds of stories that were never written that described God’s love for Israel.
But this story tells of a beautiful young woman who risked everything to save her people.
What do we have that God wants us to risk? How could it bless others?
