The scene is set, and the
preparations for the new queen have been made. Twelve long months of
beauty treatments have been applied to all the fair young maidens who
are to be presented to King Ahasuerus. Each young lady will choose
whatever she desires as accessories to wear when she stands before
the king, and the procession has begun. In chapter two and verse
fourteen we discover more about the process of being presented to
King Ahasuerus where we read:
In the evening she
went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the
women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king's chamberlain, which
kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no more, except the
king delighted in her, and that she were called by name.
The
verse begins, “In the evening she went, and on the morrow she
returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of
Shaashgaz, the king's chamberlain, which kept the concubines:...”
This must have been quite the undertaking as each young woman was
presented one by one in the evening time and returned to the second
house of women on the next day. Imagine each fair maiden coming in
before the king, having a little time to let him discover her, and
then being taken away from him to return to a second living quarters
for the women. We are told they were returned “to the custody of
Shaashgas” whose name means, “servant of the beautiful”,
where they would stay until they were notified whether they were
chosen as queen or not. Notice too that Shaashgas was also a eunuch,
the king's chamberlain, who took care of the king's concubines.
The
verse goes on to say, “...she came in unto the king no more,
except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by name.”
As each young lady was returned to this second house of women,
she would only be allowed to return to the king if he called her by
name. More than likely some of the women only saw the king one time,
and if he was not delighted in her and did not call her name, she
only had one chance before him.
If we
place ourselves in the position of these young maidens, what was it
like to prepare for a year for such a presentation and then not know
whether we would be chosen? This was the ultimate bachelorette
presentation, and all of the young maidens must have desired to be
selected. However, only one of them would be. As we grow closer to
the time when Esther will be presented perhaps our thoughts should be
upon preparation for our own presentation before the King of Kings,
Jesus Christ. Would He be delighted in us enough to call our names to
be presented before Him again, or would we only have one chance in
His presence? May we live our lives in such a manner that rather than
go in before Him once never to return, He would desire to be with us,
and we with Him every day.
Next time we see Esther presented to
King Ahasuerus, 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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