Esther Made Queen (Esther): What do you do when you aren’t sure what would be right in a complicated situation, conversation, or decision? Chapter 2 is full of morally ambiguous situations for Esther and Mordecai — not a lot of black and white, but lots of gray. However, the history-making result was that Esther was crowned queen of Persia. God’s people need wisdom and courage to navigate the complexities of life in exile. Recorded on Jul 13, 2025, on Esther 2:1-23 by Pastor David Parks.
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This sermon is part of our series, For Such A Time As This, from the book of Esther in the Bible. Twenty-five hundred years ago, a courageous young Jewish woman named Esther became queen of Persia. Far from home, Esther and her cousin Mordecai had to navigate palace politics, power, and danger to prevent the annihilation of their people. They needed humility, wisdom, and extraordinary courage. Esther’s story is dramatic, inspiring, and surprising. Because while God’s name is never mentioned, His fingerprints are everywhere. In our series, we’re reminded that God has faithfully worked behind the scenes in a lot of messed-up situations with messy people for a long time now. He did it then. He can do it again. But will we have the courage to do the right thing, whatever the cost?
Sermon Transcript
Well, last week, Pastor Nate kicked off a brand new sermon series called, For Such A Time As This, on the book of Esther in the Bible. And he said that twenty-five hundred years ago, a courageous young Jewish woman named Esther became queen of Persia. We’ll see how this came about today. But Esther and her older cousin Mordecai, who had adopted her, were living in exile in Susa, the capital of the Kingdom of Persia, 1,000 miles from Jerusalem. They were very far from home and had to navigate palace politics, power, and danger. We saw some of this last week in the over-the-top display of King Xerxes’ wealth and power — a six-month-long celebration of himself, followed by a week-long drunken feast that resulted in Queen Vashti being deposed as the queen. As we continue, we’ll see that Esther and Mordecai needed humility, wisdom, and extraordinary courage to survive all this themselves, much less to prevent the annihilation of their people. Esther’s story is a wild story for several reasons. For one thing, it’s one of only a few books of the Bible that take place outside the Promised Land. Nate did a great job charting the history of ancient Israel from the time of the Exodus out of Egypt to the Exile into Babylon and then later Persia. If you missed that, you can always go back and watch or listen online if you’d like. But this was life in exile: many people died, families were scattered, temple worship was disrupted…life was disrupted. Life in exile was far from comfortable or predictable. Second, a lot of what happens in Esther is really messed up. We started to see this last week in chapter 1, when Queen Vashti was removed as the queen for having the audacity to refuse the king’s probably inappropriate request while he was on this cosmic-level ego trip, showing off all his wealth and power. Whatever happened there, that wasn’t right. It was messed up. But that’s just the kingdoms of this world, right? They’re a mess! But third, (and most significantly), Esther is the only book of the Bible where God’s name is never mentioned. This causes us to ask, “Where is God in this story?” Why is this even in the Bible? Well, one answer might be: what do you do if you ever find yourself living through a wild story? What do you do when you’re not experiencing the most comfortable or predictable time, and when you’re in the middle of some messed-up situations and very messy people? What do you do when God isn’t missing exactly, but his plan/purposes are not as clear as you’d like? When you could ask, “Where is God in my story?” Chapter 2 starts to give us a few answers to these big questions for how to navigate the complexities of life in exile. Let’s jump back into the story. If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Esther 2:1.
Esther 2:1–4 (NIV), “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.” So, last week in chapter 1, we saw how Vashti lost her crown. Maybe we can be thankful she didn’t lose her life (as far as we know), but it still wasn’t right. Eventually, King Xerxes got over the sting of losing Vashti and wanted to move forward. But with whom, exactly? Who would be Persia’s next top queen? Well, maybe not surprisingly, the young men who served as personal attendants to the king suggested the king hold a beauty pageant and bring all the most attractive young women to them, I mean, to the king. Just as in chapter 1, we have the king seemingly unable to think for himself. So he listened to this “wise counsel” from his young advisers and appointed a whole bureaucracy of commissioners to all 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush to find his next bride, the most beautiful girl in all the land. This is probably a good time to meet the two main characters of our story.
Esther 2:5-7 (NIV), “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.” So, Mordecai and Esther were likely from a royal family of ancient Israel. Mordecai’s grand-uncle was King Saul, and Esther was probably his much younger cousin. Esther lost her parents at some point, though we don’t know how. But fortunately, Esther had a relative who could care for her and protect/provide for her in Persia. Interestingly, both Mordecai and Esther’s names seem to be based on the names of the foreign gods Marduk and Ishtar. We know that Esther had a Hebrew name, and Mordecai probably did too. We know from the book of Daniel that Jewish exiles were given foreign names. This was to help them assimilate into a new culture. But as we’ll see, this might’ve also been a strategy of Mordecai’s to keep their Jewish heritage a secret. But our author lets us know that Esther had a lovely figure and was beautiful. In other words, she was exceedingly beautiful. Do you see where this is headed?
Esther 2:8-11 (NIV), “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.” Ok! So Esther was taken to the king’s palace along with many other young women. We are not told if Esther wanted to take part in this or not. The author keeps it vague. Surely, if Esther were picked to be the queen, her life would change dramatically, and probably in many ways for the better. She was a young woman who was a foreigner in a foreign land. She was an orphan, and we don’t know how well Mordecai could’ve provided for her. She was vulnerable. But as a queen, she would have all the vast resources of the kingdom supporting her. She would still be vulnerable, as Vashti proved, but much less so. But on the other hand, she was vulnerable. This whole thing could’ve been done against her wishes, and what recourse would she have had? If Vashti couldn’t refuse the king, how could she? Should Mordecai have tried to put a stop to this? It says that Esther was taken to the king’s palace, and I can’t help but wonder about how Esther felt about all this. Clearly, Mordecai was worried about her. 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. I bet! Now, one thing Mordecai was worried about was that people would find out that Esther was Jewish. He had forbidden her from revealing her ethnicity. Perhaps he was embarrassed about his heritage, but I think it was more about protection. Next week, we’ll see the rise of the evil Haman, who hated the Jews and wanted to kill them all. Right or wrong, calculating or cowardly, Mordecai wanted Esther to keep her head down about where she came from.
Esther 2:12-18 (NIV), “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. 15 When the turn came for Esther (the young woman Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested. And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her. 16 She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. 17 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. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. 18 And the king gave a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his nobles and officials. He proclaimed a holiday throughout the provinces and distributed gifts with royal liberality.” So, who here would like your young sister or daughter to go through a contest like this? Well, whether or not Esther had a choice in the matter, she came to play. And she impressed everyone. She won the favor of Hegai, who gave her the best treatment. She won the favor of everyone who saw her. And she impressed the king so much when she spent the night with him that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen in Vashti’s place. All hail, Queen Esther! The king celebrated by throwing another great banquet, proclaiming a national holiday, and sending gifts to anyone who was anyone. Again, I so wish we could know how Esther felt about all this! What would all this have meant for her? She had to be wondering if she’d be thrown out like Vashti. If Mordecai was worried about her Jewish heritage being a liability, she must have been worried about that, too. Well, chapter 2 ends with a seemingly random scene, but this will set up an incredible turn of events in the weeks ahead for our story.
Esther 2:19-23 (NIV), “19 When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. 20 But Esther had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai had told her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai’s instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up. 21 During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. 22 But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai. 23 And when the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were impaled on poles. All this was recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king.” This is God’s word. The story really took a turn there at the end, didn’t it? We aren’t told why Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. Gates were social spaces back then, but they were also places you could come and bring a legal dispute. Mordecai might have been acting as a judge, or maybe this was just a place that was close to the harem so he could pass a word to Esther from time to time; we’re not sure. But seemingly by chance, he overhears a plot against the king. Now, interestingly, historically, we know that King Xerxes would eventually be assassinated by the captain of his bodyguard in 465 BC. So this was a very real threat. Mordecai decided to intervene by getting word to Esther, and in doing so, he saved the king’s life. My guess is this was more for Esther’s protection than the king’s. Mordecai surely would’ve known that if the king was killed, he new queen would probably be killed as well. In the weeks ahead, we’ll see that there will be unintended consequences to these things that will not only save Esther and Mordecai but also all the Jewish people who were exiled in Persia. For now, how do we apply this text to our lives today? What do we do with this chapter of Esther’s story? Where is God in this story? What are we supposed to do with this for us who are trying to follow Jesus all these years later in a much different time and place? Well, a good place to start is by recognizing that the NT authors consistently use the metaphor of life in exile to describe what it means to follow Jesus in this broken world. Exile is one of the main images of life today for the Christian. In case you hadn’t noticed, we have not yet been made perfect, and this is not heaven. We, too, are far from our true and eternal home, just as Esther and Mordecai were so far from the homeland of their ancestors. The Apostle Peter in the NT addresses his first letter “To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces…” (1 Pe 1:1). Christians today are on a journey; we are not at our destination. We are pilgrims making progress through this world. We are exiles, not yet in the Promised Land. Now, as we’ve said, life in exile is anything but comfortable or predictable. And so the first takeaway is that we need to learn how to make our way through the complexities of life in exile. Now, friends, you will face many situations, conversations, and choices in your life, which, to some degree, are easy to make, easy to see what would be right or wrong in a particular situation, conversation, or choice. There are many things where it’s obvious, but life in exile is not always obvious. Think about chapter 2: was it right or wrong for Esther to participate in this beauty contest that would lead her to sleep with the king and maybe become queen (or maybe not!)? Is that right or wrong? Well, it’s hard to know if she even had a choice in the matter. That’s complicated. Should Mordecai have used his leverage there in Susa to interfere or prevent this from happening? It’s not clear if that was totally right or totally wrong. It’s complicated. Now, there are many situations as much as we would love to find a silver bullet, a magic pill, or just one bullet point to remember that would make every decision, situation, or conversation easy in the future. But that doesn’t exist in exile. Life is complicated, and the way forward for followers of Jesus is not always clear. So, what do we need? Well, I think through the whole book of Esther, but even in this chapter, we see Esther and Mordecai using wisdom to try and navigate the complexities of life in exile. Big idea: God’s people need wisdom and courage to navigate the complexities of life in exile. Now, why these two? Well, first of all, it’s not just two. We don’t just need wisdom and courage, and that’s it. But for this morning, this is what I’m focusing on today. So why wisdom? Well, I love the book of Proverbs in the Bible. It’s so practically helpful for life, and in the Proverbs it says, “Get wisdom…” (Pro 4:5). It’s a plea, “I’m begging you, God’s people!” Get wisdom! Why? Because it helps everything! Every situation in life would benefit from a little extra wisdom for the people involved. Esther needed wisdom for how to navigate life in the harem, with the king, and after. Mordecai needed wisdom for how to navigate all this and how to try and intercede and guide Esther in this unique function in which she was serving. God’s people need wisdom. The question then becomes, “Where do we get wisdom? How can we get wisdom?” in answer to the proverb. I’ll give you a couple of ideas here. First of all, in James, James the Apostle says if anyone lacks wisdom, you should ask God and he will give you wisdom. If you are lacking in wisdom, if you are looking at a situation and you’re saying, “I’m not sure if this is someone I should be dating.” “I’m not sure if this is a business I should try to get hired at.” “I’m not sure what career-path I should follow.” “I’m not sure whether or not I should be entering into this relationship with this person.” “I’m not sure when to retire.” and more. There are a huge number of questions that don’t have immediate, black-and-white answers. You need wisdom. And you need to start by praying to God, and he has promised to help give it. Second, God’s people need God’s people for wisdom. There is a ton of wisdom in this room right now. There’s a ton of wisdom in this church right now. And so, if you need help, if you need wisdom, pray about it, and then ask somebody around here. “Hey! I’ve got this situation, I’ve got this decision coming up, and I’m not sure what to do.” You could ask on Sunday morning before worship starts. You could ask on a Tuesday evening at someone’s house at a community group meeting. You could call someone or text someone, too. Either way, you could reach out to God’s people and get some wisdom. Third, read the Bible. The Bible is full of wisdom. It’s not just full of situations like this where we can learn from Esther and Mordecai’s situation and see how it turned out, it also contains specific instructions from God (do these things, don’t do those things). The more we can learn from God’s word, the more wisdom we can receive for God’s world. Finally, being a Christian means being a follower of Jesus. And the way of Jesus is a way that is infused with the wisdom of God. And sometimes, in my experience, when I’ve been trying to follow the way of Jesus, I haven’t always understood why his way was wise, until I did it and looked back and thought, “That was brilliant.” but I couldn’t see it until I trusted him and followed his way. Get wisdom. That’s the first point. God’s people need wisdom and courage to navigate the complexities of life in exile. So, second: courage. Why do we need courage? Well, if you get godly wisdom, not that many people in the world are going to agree that it’s wise. Wisdom is not common. Common sense isn’t common, right? Why do we need courage? Because if we gain wisdom, and we see what would be the wise decision in some situation or conversation, we’re going to need courage to do it, because there isn’t going to be this huge outpouring of encouragement from our culture to do things that are wise. Esther and Mordecai needed both wisdom to know what was right and the courage to do it. And we do as well. Now, we probably won’t face the exact situation that Esther and Mordecai faced. But, for us, there are going to be many situations, circumstances, and decisions where we will need God’s wisdom and the courage to be able to do it. Friends, this is one of the things I am most hopeful for about the future of our church. If, together, we can all grow in God’s wisdom and the courage to do what is right, then we too will grow in the way of Jesus. And I know this isn’t easy, so this is why we need to pray and ask for help. So, let us pray right now.
