The scene has been set, and
now the plan of God for the children of Israel is coming more and
more to light for their salvation. King Ahasuerus has been
embarrassed by Queen Vashti for her failure to respond to his request
to appear at his feast with the royal crown upon her head. He was
advised by one of his seven princes, Memucan, who knew the Persian
law, to banish her from his throne forever to prevent chaos from
occurring throughout the empire. This edict was carried out and now
King Ahasuerus was lonely. At the suggestion of one of his servants,
a search for young maidens has begun throughout all the land, and
they were to be under the tutelage and care of Hege who is the king's
chief eunuch chamberlain. Mordecai, a captured Jew, was introduced to
us in our previous verse, and in chapter two and verse seven we
understand more about him and his cousin Esther. We read:
And he brought up
Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had
neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and
beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took
for his own daughter.
The
verse begins, “And he brought up Hadassah, that is Esther,...”
The word “Hadassah” means “myrtle tree” which was changed to
Esther which means “a star”. We shall see just what a star she is
in our story as we continue.
The
verse goes on to say, “his uncle's daughter: for she had neither
father nor mother,...” Let us notice the relationship between
Mordecai and Esther. She was his cousin, and because she was without
father and mother, Mordecai began to raise her.
We
continue, “and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai,
when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.”
Let us keep in mind this description of Esther: she was “fair
and beautiful.” These are God given traits that are used for
His Divine purposes later on, and although Esther was as an orphan,
God was still behind the scenes and ready ahead of time for the
difficulties that Esther would have after losing her dad and mom.
Mordecai was her older cousin, and rather than simply leave her to
the care of others when her parents died, Mordecai took her in as his
own daughter.
If we
think about this for a few moments, we may ask, “What was it like
for Esther to lose her parents?” “Where they somehow killed in
the deportation, or was there some disease that took them away?”
“How did Mordecai know that Esther needed adoption? Was there a
funeral for her parents and was he was the only one left to care for
her?” We may not know the answers to those questions, but we do
know that for whatever reason Esther's parents died and she went to
live with her older cousin Mordecai. This must have been quite the
adjustment for both she and Mordecai, and perhaps they wondered if
God really saw the blight they were experiencing. But alas, for us,
we know more of the story, and though they did not know it at the
time, God was using all these things for His Divine purpose and plan.
If He was able to do this for Mordecai, Esther and the children of
Israel, is He not just as likely to use the events in our lives for
His purposes and plans as well?
Next time we see the beginning of
Esther's preparations for the king, so read ahead, and we shall join
together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation” and the new marriage book “So, You Want
to Be Married” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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