Dear Angel,
Chapter 1 of the Book of Esther is a show of man’s pride and
wisdom. Laws to the effect of the ways
that seem right to a man. Proverbs tells
us that this way leads to death. In a
nutshell, King Ahasuerus calls forth his wife Vashti to show all in the court
her beauty. She refuses, thus loses her
place as Queen because the men of this society felt threatened. This is not the focus of my letter but leads
us to the next part. Chapter 2 takes us
into a deeper, more intimate part of the story as King Ahasuerus is convinced
by the King’s servants who ministered to him, that fair young virgins should be
sought and brought to the palace into the house of women for purification.
Thus, the maiden which pleaseth the king was to be queen instead of Vashti. One of these maidens was Hadassah, that is
Esther, the young cousin of Mordecai.
Esther 2:1 – 7, After
these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered
Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her. Then said the king’s servants that ministered
unto him. Let there be fair young
virgins sought for the king. And let the
king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather
together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of
women, unto the custody of Hege (Hegai) the king’s chamberlain, keeper of the
women; and let their things for purification be given them: And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be
queen instead of Vashti. And the thing
pleased the king; and he did so. Now in
Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of
Jair, the son of Shimel, the son of Kish, a Benjamite; Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with
the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther,
his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was
fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took
for his own daughter.
Esther was brought unto the King’s house, under the custody
of Hegai, the King’s chamberlain, the keeper of the women. Esther found favour with Hegai, giving her
all her needs for purification, seven maidens to wait on her, and the best
place in the house of the women. Verses
8 & 9 After twelve months of
purification, with oils of myrrh and sweet smelling oils, the maiden was allowed
one night with the King. She was allowed
to take all that she wanted before the King for the evening. The next day, she returned to the second
house of the women, which kept the concubines, under a different chamberlain,
Shaashgaz. She was only allowed to come
to the King when her name was called, from that point forward.
Esther 2:8-9, 12-14, So it came to pass, when the king’s
commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered
together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was
brought also unto the king’s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the
women. And the maiden pleased him, and
she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for
purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, which
were meet to be given her, out of the king’s house: and he preferred her and
her maids unto the best place of the house of the women…..Now when every
maid’s turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve
months, according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their
purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six
months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the
women;) Then thus came every maiden unto
the king; whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house
of the women unto the king’s house. In
the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of
the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s chamberlain, which kept the
concubines: she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in
her, and that she were called by name.
It is Esther’s turn for a night with the King. She takes with her only what Hegai advises
her to take. She obtains favour in the
sight of all of them in the palace. And
the King loved Esther above all the women and he set the royal crown upon her
head and made her his Queen.
Esther 2: 15-17, Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter
of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come
to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king’s
chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favour in the sight of
all them that looked upon her. So Esther
was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is
the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. And the king loved Esther above all the
women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the
virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen
instead of Vashti.
I stop the story at this point, not because it is not vastly
interesting and important, but because my point to be made is only in Chapter 2
of Esther. My friend Cindy had a vision of Esther as Our Lord showed her that
we, those chosen ones, are like Esther.
We have been chosen as the Bride to be, to be brought into the Kingdom
of God, for purification and preparation to be able to be brought before our
King! Like Esther, we need help with
this; thus, we have Hegai, the King’s chamberlain as a type of Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit prepares us,
purifies us, readies us to come before Our King. Esther’s job is to submit herself to Hegai’s
direction and leading only; to stay in a place of trust and obedience. She is unable to prepare herself as a young
Jewish woman but under Hegai’s care, she will be ready for the King when it is
time. This is the very same for us as we
are unable to prepare ourselves with good works, or our own ideas of
purification or holiness. We cannot even
get ourselves chosen without our Lord’s leading. We are to submit ourselves to The Holy
Spirit’s leading and guidance and trust Him only to prepare us. When I heard my friend tell of this, my heart
received this knowledge from Him and I knew that it was truth. As I took it to The Lord later, I saw another
truth in this passage. The seven maidens
are perhaps the seven spirits of Our Lord.
The seven maidens hovered over Esther, dressing her, preparing her hair,
her jewels, her fragrance as Esther stood, yielding herself to their care. If this is the case, again, I see us standing
in the truth of who we are in Jesus Christ, one with Him, His righteousness,
His love and His purity. The seven spirits
of The Lord rest upon us; in wisdom and understanding, in counsel and might, in
knowledge and finally, in the fear of the Lord.
We receive these gifts by faith, by standing in the knowledge of who we
now are in Him, our Lord and Saviour.
And we move in faith and humility that His Spirit is with us always and
these gifts are ours.
Isaiah 11:1&2, And there shall come forth a rod out of
the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots; And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon
him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
Hebrews 4:9-11, There remaineth therefore a rest to the
people of God. For he that is entered
into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from
his. Let us labour therefore to enter
into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
May you be continually blessed with the knowledge of His
great love and provision for you, my dearest friend. Be beautiful, be prepared, be confident in
Him, our Mighty Lord and Saviour.
Love always in Him,
Your friend for life
