February 10 Taken

Esther 2:8-9 So when the king’s order and his edict were proclaimed, and when many young women were gathered in Susa the citadel in custody of Hegai, Esther also was taken into the king’s palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women. 9 And the young woman pleased him and won his favor. And he quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her portion of food, and with seven chosen young women from the king’s palace, and advanced her and her young women to the best place in the harem.
 
THREE phrases in this passage speak of the evil into which Esther enters. First, we note Esther was “taken”. She didn’t volunteer. She didn’t have a goal to go to Susa, an enormous, well-fortified palace and estate. She was taken.
    The second evil is to note that she was put in the “best place in the harem”. Think about this. In their book, Extreme Grandparenting, Tim and Darcy Kimmel talk of ways a grandparent can offer these three essential human needs to their grandchildren. They are: 1) a secure love 2) a significant purpose 3) a sufficient hope. And let’s go further. Not only do grandchildren need these, every human being needs them. You and I need these, don’t we?
    Isn’t that one way to define Scripture’s purpose? God’s Word proclaims to us that, indeed, we do have a secure love, a significant purpose and a sufficient hope. Consider John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  Is there any way to know a more secure love than to know that God sent Jesus to die for us? Is there any purpose more significant in our lives than to believe in him? Can there be hope more sufficient than to know we will not perish “but have eternal life?”
    We can see then the depths of Esther’s imprisoning dilemma when we understand this: Esther would have no secure love, no significant purpose and no sufficient hope in the king’s harem. There, she was stripped of her personhood to become, instead, a royal pawn. She will be moved about the “royal chessboard” of physical pleasure at the whim of a weak-minded, sensual-driven king.
    How did this happen to Esther, the simple, beautiful peasant girl? Go back to a few days ago to remember how the king had become angry at Queen Vashti. Then four years after King Ahasuerus deposed the queen, his advisors had directed him to this evil intention. One sin at a moment’s whim can erase the opportunity for secure love, significant purpose and sufficient hope in another’s life.
    Think about this debilitating power of your words and actions. What will happen to those around you if you focus first on you? Think then about the affirming power of your words and actions. What will happen to those around you if you focus first on them?
    Oh yes, Esther suddenly found herself in a penthouse of luxury, but it would be at the cost of her purity.
    I recently watched a television program in which college women were interviewed regarding their sexual habits. They experienced great remorse over their belief in the college culture of sexual promiscuity as the fun and favored way to be. In such sin they quickly learned there was no secure love. None of that activity led to a significant purpose. The casual whims of desires did not lead to sufficient hope.
    Here’s the third phrase to see here. Did you notice Esther was in Hegai’s “custody”? “Custody” can mean protection and safekeeping. It can also mean ownership of a master over a slave.
    Esther is in a great moral dilemma. Has God placed Esther among sin, so she can demonstrate his holiness?
 
Prayer: Father in Heaven, my I embrace the wonder of your secure love, your significant purpose and your sufficient hope for my life. I love you above all. In Jesus’ name, amen.