April 2, 2016
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Quest for Beauty

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Opening Prayer

Lord, You are the God of truth and life. As You speak words of truth to me, may they bring life.

Read Esther 2:1-14

[1] Later when King Xerxes’ fury had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed about her. [2] Then the king’s personal attendants proposed, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king. [3] Let the king appoint commissioners in every province of his realm to bring all these beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let beauty treatments be given to them. [4] Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This advice appealed to the king, and he followed it. [5] Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, [6] who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin king of Judah. [7] Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This young woman, who was also known as Esther, had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died. [8] When the king’s order and edict had been proclaimed, many young women were brought to the citadel of Susa and put under the care of Hegai. Esther also was taken to the king’s palace and entrusted to Hegai, who had charge of the harem. [9] She pleased him and won his favor. Immediately he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food. He assigned to her seven female attendants selected from the king’s palace and moved her and her attendants into the best place in the harem. [10] Esther had not revealed her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so. [11] Every day he walked back and forth near the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther was and what was happening to her. [12] Before a young woman’s turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics. [13] And this is how she would go to the king: Anything she wanted was given her to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. [14] In the evening she would go there and in the morning return to another part of the harem to the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he was pleased with her and summoned her by name.

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

Read 1 Peter 2:13-17; consider how these words of Scripture, and the example of Esther, can give insight to living in difficult situations.

In the four years since Vashti was deposed (1:16), Xerxes had been preoccupied with a failed Greek invasion. On his return, he “remembered Vashti” (1)–possibly wishing he could reverse her action and his decree. He became so obviously bereft by her absence that his courtiers suggested a process to find a new queen. We are not sure what characteristics–beyond physical attractiveness–Xerxes was looking for in Vashti’s replacement, but it may have included a more compliant spirit! At the time of her inclusion in the kingdom-wide quest, Esther would have been regarded as respectful of authority (e.g., 1:15,20) as well as possessing great natural beauty.

The process for enhancing the desirability of the young women was elaborate and lengthy, involving perfumes, moisturizers and diet. Today we are critical of beauty pageants, which parade glamorously-attired bodies. Also we recognize that the moral ambiguity of the harem culture does not sit easily with Christian (or Jewish) values of marriage and sexuality. However, the verbs used of Esther suggest she was a passive participant in the search process, not an active seeker for the role. Once conscripted into the draft of eligible young women, she quickly won favor.

We are introduced to Mordecai as a Benjaminite, the descendant of Kish, an exile to Babylon over a century earlier. Identifying his tribal links to King Saul, the son of another Benjaminite Kish, will help interpret later parts of the story. It is not explained here why Mordecai instructed Esther to racial secrecy, but again it is important to the story that no one knew of her Jewish background until the time came to reveal it. 

Apply

“Esther’s position forces her to make compromises. . . suggesting that within a foreign context there is an order of priorities that were needed if one were to be faithful” (David G. Firth). How do you handle situations that demand compromise?

Closing prayer

Heavenly Father, I pray for the renewing of my mind, so that the world will not squeeze me into its mold.

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