God is God in the Unfairness, Too

Yesterday, I included a Princess Bride quote in my blog post, and I decided to follow the trend today, too. Remember when Prince Humperdink stands up in his stone tower and presents Buttercup to the people, "this time as their queen," and Buttercup slowly walks out into the square to stand in front of the people of whom she is now ruler?

And then Fred Savage, a.k.a, the sick grandson of the narrator, stops the story. "Hold it, hold it, Grandpa, you read that wrong." Apparently, the story isn't supposed to have Buttercup marry Prince Humperdink. Buttercup is supposed to marry Westley, her true love. And the fact that Grandpa is just sitting there, against all odds, spouting out this story where Buttercup winds up in a loveless marriage with a ridiculous prince, well... "it wouldn't be fair," Fred summarizes.

Grandpa looks at him and says: "Well, who says life is fair? Where is that written? Life isn't always fair."

And Fred explodes. "I'm telling you, you're messing up the story! Now get it RIGHT!"

So I'm coming to Esther chapter 2 this morning from that place, the "life isn't always fair" place. Full disclosure, there are a few verses in this chapter that make me irrepressibly sad, because Esther -- like a beautiful butterfly trapped in a collector's net -- is taken for viewing pleasure only, never to be free again.

Backing up, though, to connect to Esther 1 from yesterday: "Later when the anger of Xerxes had subsided (approximately 4-5 years after Vashti's deposal, actually; historians mention the disastrous campaigns against Greece in 482-479 B.C. as the reason for the length of time), he remembered Vashti and what she had done" (Esther 2:1). 

So, after the lavish banquet of the last chapter and the subsequent royal decree (that cannot be changed, by the way) where he orders his pregnant wife off the grounds, never to appear before him again, Xerxes orchestrates a military campaign. When that military campaign finishes in 479 B.C., he's bored, and... somewhat typically per the personality we're beginning to see... finds himself in want of a wife's companionship.

He's apparently got lots of options, being king and having a harem at his beck and call. But that's not enough; he needs more options. His personal attendant gives him an idea: "Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king. Let the king appoint commissioners in every province of his realm to bring all these beautiful girls 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. Then let the girl who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti" (Esther 2:2-4).

What a great idea to ruin the lives of a whole slew of young girls. Xerxes jumps on the idea. Granted, I'll admit, it's likely that this would have been viewed as a golden opportunity for many of these girls: wealth and (likely) ease for the rest of their lives in the king's palace. 

But I'm not sure Mordecai and Esther would have looked on it like that. I guess we can't know for sure, though. Esther 4:14 gives us a hint of what Mordecai's point of view may have grown to reflect two chapters later. But here at the beginning, I wonder if they considered this the end of everything?

Mordecai was a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, one "who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (remember him from Daniel?), among those taken captive with Jehoiachin, king of Judah (one of the kings who did evil in the sight of God", per 2 Kings 24:8-17). This likely means that Mordecai was a descendant of these captives, since if he was directly the great-grandson of his ancestors, he would have been over a hundred years old at the time of Esther's story.

And Esther, which means star (her Jewish name was Hadassah, which means myrtle), was Mordecai's cousin. When she was young, both her mother and her father died, so her cousin Mordecai took her in and raised her as his daughter. 

The two seem to have a close relationship: When Esther is taken to Xerxes' harem, Mordecai tells her not to give away her Jewish identity -- likely for her own safety, and she obeys him. Mordecai shows great concern for her. Every single day, he faithfully walks back and forth by the courtyard of the harem where she lives so he can get news of her. Later in the story, she asks him for advice, and he gives it to her, and she obeys, etc. But I'm getting ahead of the story.

Xerxes gives his order for a bunch of pretty young virgins to be brought to his harem. "When the king's order and edict had been proclaimed, many girls 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. The girl pleased him and won his favor. Immediately, he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food (compare to the story of Daniel where Daniel and his friends were given similar treatment, but refused the Babylonian diet. They did not hide their identity as Jews; Esther did, and therefore, complied to the new diet). He (Hegai) assigned her seven maids selected from the king's palace and moved her and her maids into the best place in the harem" (Esther 2:8-9).

I have so many questions: What was it like when Mordecai and Esther heard the palace guards walk down their street to the door of their house? What were Mordecai and Esther feeling when the guards stated uncaringly that everything Esther had ever known was now over? It was all gone. Mordecai's daughter was taken from him. Esther's father was separated from her. 

If anyone wants a good look at what might this have been like, check out Tommy Tenney's book Hadassah: One Night with the King. It broke my heart. In Tenney's imaginative retelling, Hadassah experienced innocent romance before she was taken, and I wondered -- in the true story of Esther just how many threads of life the king's edict shut off for her, never to be taken back up.

This is where Fred Savage's words from The Princess Bride ring through my head. I'm telling you, you're messing up the story! Now get it right!

But Esther is taken to Xerxes' harem where the virgins are given their quarters. She undergoes her beauty treatments for an entire twelve months, and then she is led into the king's chambers to spend a night with him. The next morning, she is led to another part of the harem, the part where the king's concubines live.

But there is something about Esther that is attractive. One assumes that all the girls in the harem were attractive, right? They weren't taken unless they were considered beautiful (there's so much offensive to us in that, isn't there?) But Esther... is a star, apparently. She stands out from the crowd. 

Esther 2:17-18 says: "Now the king was attracted to Esther more  than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins."

What was it about her that set her apart? I have a good guess, which I'll get to in a minute.

"So Xerxes set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. And the king gave a great banquet (he likes banquets, doesn't he?) for all his nobles and officials. He proclaimed a holiday through the provinces and distributed gifts with royal liberality."

See, the thing is, in this kingdom of Xerxes, had you or I lived in the general... peasantry, for lack of a better word... we would likely have considered the king a good one, as kings go. Esther 1:7 talks about how "the royal wine was abundant, in keeping with the king's liberality." Esther 2:18 tells us where he makes a holiday and distributes gifts "with royal liberality." In Esther 2:23, after Mordecai uncovers a plot against the king's life (I'll save that for tomorrow's blog, though, I think), the king dutifully has his scribes record -- in his own presence -- the good deed that Mordecai did in "the book of the annals," which is apparently a book that he reviews on a fairly regular basis (as seen in Esther 6:1) as a good king should do to keep track of what's happening in his kingdom. 

But I wonder what Esther thought? I wonder what Mordecai thought.

It turns out that no matter what their feelings were, no matter how unfair they might have considered their circumstances to be...

Their actions played a pivotal role in God's plan and purpose for the Jews. 

Here's the deal: The Jews were scattered, exiled, far, far, far from home. They were a long way and a lot of years after their bountiful Promised Land settling under the leadership of Joshua. Generations had passed since those golden days, and the Jews were stripped of any sort of national identity. They were beaten. Done. The only inheritance they held onto was their observations of the laws of Moses. But you can get a sense of their mournful weeping in the book of Lamentations and other places. 

Psalm 137:1-6 says: "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormenters demanded songs of joy; they said, 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion!' How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land? If I forget you, oh Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy."

Abandoned as they may have felt after entire lifetimes of exile... God. had. a. purpose. He had a plan for their salvation. And He placed Esther and Mordecai in exactly the positions they needed to be in for His plan to take effect.

This really speaks deeply to me. How many times have I looked at our world and thought: That's just not fair!! How many times have I cried out in my heart: How long will You allow this? 

Wars, rumors of wars, nations rising against nations, kingdoms against kingdoms, famines, earthquakes in various places (Matthew 24:6-7)... it's almost like God has a plan that He will execute, and it's almost like He moves people into the exact places He wants them to be in order for His plan to move forward.

This makes Him sound like a chess-master, unfeelingly tossing his pawns across the board at the enemy. No, no. 

He did not send Esther into the harem by herself. He went with her every step of the way. He stayed with Mordecai every lonely day and night. 

When Moses met with the Lord in Exodus 33:12-14, Moses said: "'You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but You have not let me know who You will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with Me.' If You are pleased with me, teach me Your ways, so I may know You and continue to find favor with You. Remember that this nation is Your people.'

"The Lord replied, 'My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.'"

God doesn't forget His people. In the Old Testament, God doesn't forget His promise to Abraham nor his descendants, and under the New Covenant, God doesn't forget His promises to all who follow Him. "The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).

God promised that His Presence would go with His people. And so there He was, with Esther, with Mordecai -- miles and generations away from their true home -- standing right there with them, and guiding them. 

God's Presence set Esther apart from all the rest of the beautiful girls. God's Presence was with her in that chamber. God Himself was working in her to accomplish His purposes.

Remember Moses had to cover his face after He spent time with God in the tent of meeting, because God's Presence was still so brilliant and visible? 

I think Xerxes, whether he knew it or not, saw the beauty of God in Esther, and that's what attracted him to her "more than any of the other virgins." 

This was not a cold game of chess with hard wooden pieces and faceless pawns. God was there, strengthening Esther for the time He'd brought her to... and through.

God is God in the unfairness, too. Which is something I think it's good for us all to remember.