Sin, Suffering, and Sovereignty

“For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jer 29:11)

Jobes notes, “While God may be good to all his creatures in general, he is in a special relationship of protection and preservation with his covenant people” (Esther, 103). Strain notes this as well:

We get the message, don’t we? Mordecai and Esther are exiled. That is, though they live in Susa, they belong to the people of God, and that changes everything. They are strangers in a strange land, exiled to be sure, but they’re not cut off from the covenant of promise or from the commonwealth of Israel. Whatever else happens, our author is indicating to us—“Keep your eyes on this family. God is not done with His people yet.” (“Beauty and the Beast”)

I’d like to make one more point here. God was using Mordecai to protect and preserve Esther’s life. We are not told at what age she was taken into his care, but we will see soon that this adopted orphan would be used to save her people. Do not let anyone ever tell you, then, that adoption does not matter. As awful as it would be for Esther to be gathered into the king’s harem, she was able to meet the qualifications because she had been protected and loved by Mordecai and not abandoned on the streets to settle into the arms of any passerby.

Esther 2:8-11

After telling us Esther was alive, she was living in Susa, and she was beautiful, the author probably surprises no one by informing his readers that Esther was taken to the palace. But the phrase was taken leaves one to wonder if Mordecai tried to prevent her capture or whether he was complicit. I would like to think that if a pagan king wanted my two daughters, I would fight the captors to my final breath. But if Mordecai did resist, the author does not reveal it. Surely, though, he did not think it would be good for Esther to live out her remaining days in the royal harem.

So, what was Esther thinking? Smith contends,

Interpreters sometimes attempt to read Esther’s mind, and some conclude that she remained a faithful Jew throughout this period, while others condemn her for leaving her faith and the moral requirements of the law. Although it is enticing to imagine what she might have thought and consider the things she may have done, none of this is revealed in this narrative, so it is impossible to condemn or praise her. The rest of her experiences prove that she did not totally abandon her faith, but it is impossible to know how she justified all the ethical choices she faced in the pagan world of Persia. (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, 239)

If Mordecai did not put up a fight, then did Esther? Did those who took her to the palace have bruises to prove her displeasure?

Ultimately, the author offers no commentary on the facts he or she is recording. Esther was pretty. Esther was taken. The author does not say Mordecai was wrong for letting her be taken or that Esther should have put up more of a fight. What is also missing is any evidence that Mordecai met with the Lord at a burning bush where God revealed his secret plan regarding Esther’s future. Actually, the text reveals that Mordecai has no idea what is going to happen because he checks on Esther every day and tries to get any morsel of information he can. So why was Esther taken to the palace? Jobes suggests, “Esther and Mordecai may have compromised knowing that if they did not then it could cost them their lives” (Esther, 101). In considering my own decisions, I tend to compromise with the world even with far less personal threat. So perhaps we might be a little sympathetic with Esther’s being taken captive. But then there is the issue of concealment.

Concealing our convictions in order to advance in this world may cause us to gain nothing of value but instead to lose what matters most. Mordecai’s clashing with the captors is not revealed in the text, but his commanding Esther to conceal her ethnicity while in custody is. Again, the Mordecai fan club is not gaining traction at this point. Esther complies with his counsel and does not tell anyone about who she is or who attended her last family reunion.

Frustratingly, we are not told why Mordecai made such a command. Were Jews being targeted and threatened by Persian authorities? Not any more than usual, as far as we are aware. No indication of intentional genocide is in the text up to this point. Was Mordecai afraid Esther’s ethnicity would decrease her opportunities to advance in the harem? I hope this was not true, but if that was the case, then she should have told everyone she met about her heritage. Was Mordecai right for what he commanded, or was he wrong? The author offers no answers.

There are questions we can and should answer about our own lives. For instance, are we currently concealing the fact we belong to God? Have you been shrinking back from using the Bible in your conversations at work because you are afraid it will harm your opportunity for promotion? If young and unmarried, are you not being vocal about your faith because you are interested in dating someone who is not a believer or in impressing a professor who is an avowed atheist? In short, are we seeking approval from others rather than resting in God’s approval in Christ? The gospel frees us to serve because we have found security in God and are not seeking it elsewhere.

With regard to Mordecai’s and Esther’s actions, hopefully we can all agree that making the right decision in the right manner is not always easy. But is compromise with the world necessary? Can we blur the means as long as it justifies the end? One would be hard pressed to prove this is what Esther and Mordecai were doing since their focus was most likely on personal survival and not on building a strategy to benefit an entire ethnic group.

I had an opportunity once to go with a friend to search for one of his sons who was living hundreds of miles away. There was concern the son was involved in drugs, and some doubted that we would be able to find him. My friend had been advised that if we did find him we needed to make up a story and get him in the car and then on the plane with us at any cost. As we talked through that plan in the hotel room late one night, the Spirit brought Romans 12:21 to mind. There Paul encourages us not to “be conquered by evil, but [to] conquer evil with good.” I told my friend that if we were seeking to do good toward his son then we should not have to start off our interactions with a lie. In God’s good providence we did find the son, we did not lie, and soon after our visit the son chose to return home on his own.

We are called to navigate being in the world but not of it. Duguid sees Esther’s actions as fully complying with the empire’s outrageous demands with the goal of winning the “love” of an unworthy royal husband. She would perhaps have objected that she had little choice, but if someone is willing to suffer the consequences, full obedience to God’s law is always an option. (Esther & Ruth, 29)

Jobes is not as critical as Duguid is here but offers another perspective:

Regardless of whether they always knew what the right choice was or whether they had the best of motives, God was working through even their imperfect decisions and actions to fulfill his perfect purposes. Other than Jesus, even the godliest people of the Bible were flawed, often confused, and sometimes outright disobedient. (Esther, 108)

If there is anyone who knows about denying who they are and their relationship to Jesus, it is Peter. On the night of Jesus’s trials, Peter had at least three opportunities to clearly affirm his love and support for Jesus. On all three occasions he chose to conceal the truth and feign indignation about being asked if he knew Jesus. After Peter’s last denial, the Lord looked straight at him, which led Peter to remember what the Lord told him and moved him to run out and weep bitterly (Luke 22:61-62).

Often, like Peter’s, our level of self-reliance and self-confidence is too high, but our level of self-awareness is too low. I am certain Peter did not think he was capable of denying Jesus in the Lord’s darkest hours, but he did it. J. C. Ryle offers wisdom as he cautions, “Let us settle it in our minds, that there is nothing too bad for the very best of us to do unless he watches, prays, and is held up by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” (Expository Thoughts, 370). But as we can learn from Peter, Esther, Mordecai, and a host of others in the Bible, though we may lack courage at times and choose to compromise with the world, it does not mean God is done with us.

Here are two truths for you to consider before we leave this section. First, God’s people are not perfect, but his plan is. If our imperfections disqualified us from being used by God, then none of us would be used. He is not seeking a perfect servant. He sent one: Jesus. Our previous compromises with the world do not completely disqualify us from contending for God in the future. (Ask Esther and Mordecai.) Second, knowing that Peter was ultimately led to repentance and restoration, though he had repeatedly denied Jesus and even invoked a curse on himself, we can have hope that all our sins can truly be forgiven as well. Though we need almost daily reminders of this fact, God’s grace is greater than all our sin.

Esther 2:9, 12-15

In the middle of the gloom of custody, compromise, and concealment shines a bright spot. Esther pleased Hegai and won his favor, and he placed her on the fast track with cosmetics and food. True, she was rapidly advancing toward the king, but she was also receiving the best possible care in an awful situation. Hegai also gave her the best place in the harem. Not exactly what every girl dreams of but a blessing nonetheless.

As the story advances, we move from the search process to the special preparations. Here we learn what happens to the unfortunate contestants. They receive twelve months of treatments to prepare them for one night with the king apiece. They will be made to look and smell in a way that pleases the king, regardless of their own preferences. I wish I could say things have since improved, but many of the same pressures of appearance still exist for women today. Just consult any magazine at the checkout of your local grocery store.

After joining with the king, these girls could not return to the virgins’ quarters for obvious and grievious reasons. The phrase walk of shame is used in our culture to describe the situation of someone who has a sexual encounter with a person to whom he or she is not married and then walks home the next morning wearing the same outfit worn the previous night. As these young girls would leave the king’s bedroom and walk to a different harem where all the king’s other concubines were living, it was a walk of shame indeed. But the deeper shame should fall on Ahasuerus for taking the virginity of all these women and then consigning them to a place like Hotel California, where they could check out but never leave. If the king did not call for them by name, the girls would live out the remainder of their days in the second harem having only been with the king for one night. This experience could have been Esther’s as well, but for some reason it was not. Any guesses why?

Though she may have been faithless (unnecessarily concealing her heritage) and though she may have been fearful (who wouldn’t be in that situation?), Esther still was winning favor with everyone she met. For some reason Esther is received positively by all who see her, and they help her for her good (as far as good goes in a harem). Why are the pagans so accomodating? Because “God makes even His enemies serve His ends” (Strain, “Beauty and the Beast”).

We are not told that God’s favor is something Esther asked for in her prayers. We are not even told she prayed. In fact, if God’s blessing were based solely on bold obedience to God, Esther would be owed no favor at all. But God bestows his favor daily on those who do not deserve it and could never earn it.

Just because Esther was out of Mordecai’s direct care does not mean she was out of God’s. Even if we find ourselves in a pagan king’s harem and not seeking God, we may find him seeking us. I am thankful for all the times God has walked with me even when I was not walking for him. The author gives no specific reason for it, but God’s kindness toward Esther is seen in how she was treated and how all received her. She was progressing instead of being punished. Her progress was because of his plan. And though it did not result in an immediate proclamation of her faith, she was certainly being advanced for the purposes of the faith.

In our lives God’s kindness and favor are not any more deserved than they were in Esther’s. We have acted faithlessly and fearfully as well. But when we experience the presence of God’s favor (and are given eyes to see it), we are often led to progress in our faith. His grace is for our growth and for the purposes of advancing the gospel in and through us. Esther will eventually identify her ethnicity and intercede on behalf of her people, and it will all have started because God’s hand is even over a harem.

Esther 2:16-18

Choosing to skip certain details, the author gives the outcome of Esther’s visit. The king decides no other virgins need be considered. He was smitten by Esther and wanted her to be his queen. In his joy he slashed taxes and gave gifts, which would have caused Esther’s most ardent detractors, if she had any, to at least be slightly grateful. The girl who was adopted became the girl who was abducted who then became the girl who advanced in the harem ultimately to be adorned with a crown and announced as a queen in a feast given just for her. A provincial search process, special preparations, and the move into a strategic position all seem guided by a silent providence.

In Esther 2 the biblical author is telling us how, despite all odds, a young Jewish woman comes into a position of power in the Persian Empire. It was not something she had sought for herself or been planning since childhood. Her being made queen certainly did not occur in a way any self-respecting woman would prefer. Being given the crown would have surprised Esther. But her rise to such a prominent position (though at this point in the story she would not have seen it as such) signaled that as sure as God had disciplined his people, he was committed to preserving them. Sometimes God moves us into position without fully revealing his plan.

Importantly, God has not placed Esther in this position just for herself. His provision for her is ultimately so he can provide for his people, and Esther will play a key role in that process. Reflecting on the chapter, Strain says,

Their wickedness notwithstanding, the advice of the king’s counselors actually leads to the positioning of Esther in the only place where she could save the people of God. The crass and abusive contest for the queen’s title is utterly wicked to the core and the suffering of those subjected to it can’t be minimized. And yet the painful rise of Esther to the throne of Persia meant salvation for the covenant people of God. (“Beauty and the Beast”)

The king does not know she is a Jew, and the Jews do not know they will need her. God, however, knows all and always knows exactly what he is doing.

We could stop our discussion with Esther’s being crowned, but it would be incomplete. Throughout our examination of the passage, I have tried to point us toward the Father and Son where applicable. Now I want to do so directly. When we consider Christ, we see that Ahasuerus and Mordecai cannot compare.

Though in our text Ahasuerus offered tax relief and gave gifts, it was only after he had taken so many young virgins from their families. Repeatedly, Ahasuerus is seen to rule for his own good above all. Ahasuerus is not unlike many political leaders through the ages—dominated by selfishness instead of service.

My hope, however, is not in Congress’s legislating for our good but in Christ living for it. As a matter of fact, “He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Rom 4:25). We could examine many places in Scripture when considering Christ’s leading for our good, but let me briefly mention two. In the first passage Jesus says,

A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John 10:10-11)

Selfish rulers think only of preserving their own lives, but Jesus presented his life as a substitute for ours. He placed our good above his own.

The second passage is in John as well. Consider these words Jesus prayed for you:

Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation. . . . I made your name known . . . so that the love you have loved me with may be in them and I may be in them. (John 17:24, 26)

Jesus’s desire is that we would be with him, that we would see his glory, that the Father’s love would be in us, and that he himself would be in us. In his final night of prayer before the cross, Jesus prayed for us to experience the greatest blessings in the world. He would then go to the cross to secure them. Jesus does not have to use his authority for our good. We do not deserve it. But grace is never about merit.

The instructions in the king’s decree were clear. There were three requirements for girls brought to the palace. Each one had to be beautiful, young, and a virgin. Their looks were to be appealing to all men, but they were to have known none of them.

The gospel, by contrast, is not a love story in which a good-looking and experienced groom meets and falls in love with a radiant and pure bride. The gospel is a love story in which a radiant and pure groom chooses to love and purify a wretched bride who has repeatedly given herself to the devouring love of the flesh, the world, and the devil. There is no beauty inherent in her, only sin and darkness. But as Duguid notes, “[Christ’s] pain was the prerequisite for our beauty” (Esther & Ruth, 31). And the beauty treatments he puts us through are not just for his benefit but ours. Unlike Ahasuerus who took what was beautiful from others, Christ took us who were spiritually ugly and gave us his beauty. Ahasuerus sought a beautiful and pure bride, but Jesus made us into one.

This truth seems similar to the previous one, but here I am not addressing beauty but shame. Too often we are one-dimensional in our application of Christ’s cross. We tend to think primarily of his paying the penalty for our sin. That truth certainly is important and necessary. But as sinners we also need peace and healing, which is why Isaiah says, “He was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds” (Isa 53:5). Not only is our penalty cleared in Christ, but in him we are made whole and given peace.

Related to the context of Esther 2:1-18 is the issue of shame. I mentioned earlier the “walk of shame” some of the girls would have felt as they left Ahasuerus’s chambers having had something taken away that they would never have given the king willingly. Perhaps they did not feel it immediately, but maybe shame came like a crushing blow on a girl’s first night in the new harem with all of the other concubines.

Victims of sexual abuse are prone to feel shame. They feel dirty and used. This feeling comes not because of any sin they have committed personally but because they’ve been sinned against.

I know I have felt shame because of my own sin. I have known the good I ought to do but instead have often chosen and desired the wrong I should not. In the aftershocks of the sin that I have chosen once again failing to provide what was promised, I have felt not just guilt but shame. I have sensed the filth of my rebellion. Like Peter, I have often said to Jesus, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord” (Luke 5:8). Instead of running away from me, though, he runs to me.

Christ uses his Spirit and his Word to remind me that he not only provides atonement, cleansing, healing, and peace, but he also has taken my shame. Roland Muller contends,

The overall message of the Bible is not just the story of God redeeming his people (a legal thought), but it is also the story of God raising mankind from a position of shame, to the ultimate position of joint-heir with Christ. (Honor and Shame, 57–58)

Muller goes on to say, “In the Gospels, Jesus continually turned to the lepers to heal them, demonstrating God’s desire to reach out to those in a place of shame, and restore them” (ibid., 60).

After telling us to keep our eyes on Jesus, the author of Hebrews says, “For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2). Jesus, then, knows all about shame. On the cross Christ had not only my sin laid upon him but also my shame. The psalmist says, “My disgrace is before me all day long, and shame has covered my face” (Ps 44:15). But on the cross Jesus bore our disgrace so that one day our faces will not be covered with shame but captivated as we “see his face” (Rev 22:4). Our hope in Christ is not just wishful thinking. Our faith will not be in vain. For Paul says, “Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame” (Rom 10:11). While Ahasuerus left the women he used with shame, Jesus has taken ours away forever!

Though Mordecai’s concern was not displayed in all the ways we may have hoped, his care for Esther was still evident. But as much as he loved Esther, Mordecai lacked the power to change her situation. He could not free her from the harem. He could not keep her from having to spend the night with Ahasuerus. There is no doubt he fully desired to help, but Mordecai lacked the ability to deliver Esther from her situation.

Jesus, however, can change ours. He has both the desire and the ability to accomplish all of his holy will. Jesus is not just full of hope for us but full of help. You can trust that “if the Son sets you free, you really will be free” (John 8:36). After calling the church at Ephesus to remember when they were “without hope and without God in the world,” Paul gladly declares, “But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph 2:12-13). Let us rejoice that Christ indeed can save his people, and at great cost to himself he has chosen to do so.