As our story continues in
the book of Esther, we have found the servants of King Ahasuerus
gathering fair young maidens who are candidates to be the new queen
from all over the empire to receive a special spa treatment within
the palace of Shushan. Esther, who is the young cousin of Mordecai,
has been selected to be among them, and she is now in the care of
Hege who is the king's chief chamberlain who will prepare the ladies
for presentation to him. In chapter two and verse nine we learn of
special favor that Esther obtained from Hege where we read:
And
the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he
speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as
belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were
meet to be given her, out of the king's house: and he preferred her
and her maids unto the best place of the house
of the women.
Our
verse begins, “And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained
kindness of him;” There was something about Esther that drew
the special attention of Hege. Among all the maidens who were
gathered, Esther “pleased him” which means she made him
glad and joyful, and because of this, she was given goodness and
kindness from him. We are not told exactly why this favor was
granted, but as we continue our story it might be related to her
outward beauty and her attitude and manner as well. Nonetheless,
Esther stood out from the other maidens and received the favor of
Hege.
The verse goes on to say, “and he speedily gave her her things
for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven
maidens, which were meet to be given her, out
of the king's house:” It is one thing to say that one is in
favor, and it is quite another to see it demonstrated by actions.
Hege “speedily gave her her things for purification”. When
he met Esther, Hege hurried to get her the provisions of the king. He
must have known right away just what a wonderful young lady Esther
was. As one who knew the king (he was the chief chamberlain we know),
Hege must have had it in mind that Esther would definitely please
him. He gave her the beauty treatments, seven maidens to apply them,
and whatever was necessary to condition Esther for presentation to
the king in the future.
Finally
we read, “and he preferred her and her maids unto the best place
of the house of the women.” Hege didn't stop with provisions
for beauty treatments and seven maidens for Esther. He also gave she
and her maidens the “best place of the house of the women.”
Esther was preferred which means “changed” to the best
location within the palace where the women were located. It's as if
Esther was gathered within a room with all the fair young maidens
initially and then selected to be given the best place among them.
There is no doubt that Esther has been given a very special place of
honor in our story.
Can we
imagine the thoughts of Esther for one moment? Can we envision her
being excited about advancements along the way? At one point in her
life she lost her father and mother and was now to live with her
older cousin Mordecai who has been exiled during the Babylonian
empire. Then suddenly she is dwelling in the best place in the house
of women within the palace of Shushan. If we cannot see the Divine
hand of God working in her life, perhaps we should continue to
meditate upon these verses just a little while longer. If we can see
the hand of God in Esther's life, might we imagine that He is working
in our lives as well?
Next time we will discover a secret
Esther kept to herself, 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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