Click above to watch video.
OR
Click below to play audio and read along.
Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
How many times have you applied for a job? Probably several in your lifetime. Some were simple 1-page applications and a brief interview, maybe even over the phone. Others were many pages, background checks, reference checks and multiple interviews with various levels of management. But have you ever been hired simply on the basis of your appearance?
Come with me back to the city of Susa in about 482bc. I left you yesterday standing in the royal throne room of his majesty King Xerxes, emperor over all 127 provinces of the vast Persian kingdom. He had thrown a week-long extravagant banquet for his officials from all provinces. Near the end of those festivities, in a rage, this temperamental King had declared the kingdom’s Queen Vashti was banished from ever coming into his presence again! Her crime? She had refused to come to his banquet and allow the king to parade her beauty before hundreds of the kingdom’s officials who had way too much to drink. This story is found in the Bible book of Esther.
After several days of reflection, King Xerxes came to realize the folly of his ways, but an edict of the king immediately became law of the Medes & Persians and was irrevocable. So, his advisors came with this recommendation for the king: “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 young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai…who is in charge of the women; and let beauty treatments be given to them. Then let the young woman who pleases the king be made queen instead of Vashti.” (Esther 2:1-4) Depending on the society of the world in which you live this advice can seem barbaric, sadistic, chauvinist and cruel; or it may seem normal to you. Depending on your religious or spiritual background this may seem wicked or appropriate.
We don’t know how long King Xerxes contemplated it, but this we know: “This advice appealed to the king, and he followed it.” (Esther 2:4) And so the word went out from Susa, all across the vast Persian empire. For many families in that era, we might presume it would be a great honor for their daughter to be selected to join the haram of King Xerxes and enter the competition with the potential of becoming Queen of the empire! But for others, it was offensive, maybe even barbaric.
The record of the Bible book of Esther focuses on one such young woman. Her given Jewish name was Hadassah. In Persian Susa, she had become known as Esther. She was an orphan being raised by her uncle named Mordecai. They were Jews, of the tribe of Benjamin.
Mordecai’s grandfather had been among those taken as captive from Jerusalem in 597bc during King Nebuchadnezzar’s 2nd invasion. (2 Chron. 36:9,10; Esther 2:5,6) By the way, this is the same time that the prophet Ezekiel was part of the large caravan of POW’s taken from Jerualem to Babylon.
At some point, Mordecai or his father had relocated from Babylon, 200 miles to the east, to the great Persian city of Susa. When King Cyrus had issued his FREEDOM decree of 539bc, found in Ezra 1, that ALL Jewish captives, in the entire Persian kingdom, were permitted to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their city and Temple, it appears Mordecai’s father had decided NOT to return, but rather remain in Babylon and continue building their lives in Persia. Oh they were not alone in that decision and we should not necessarily assume this was a spiritual rejection of God’s open door to return to Jerusalem. Perhaps it was a financial decision because they, by that time, may have had a good business going in Persia.
As Mordecai and Esther come into this King Xerxes story, we can see God Himself had been involved in giving Mordecai’s ancestors a desire to remain in Persia. From God’s perspective, God had been preparing both Mordecai and Hadasseh for this moment in history!
Now pause right there and reflect back on your life and the number of times you moved or didn’t move from one location to another. Think about how the winding path of your life has been impacted by those decisions regarding where to live or what job to take.
From the vantage point of May 2025, looking back over your life, can you see the guiding hand of God directing your choices so that WHO you are today, WHERE you are today is the result of those choices? Do you understand WHAT God was doing as He led your life and WHY God led you to various places?
Have you spent significant time seeking to understand the story God has been writing with your life and how both your cooperation with God and your resistance to God has impacted your life?
We need to pause right here and contemplate. This is a very big issue! The more you can understand God at work in the story journey of your life, the more you will seek to honor Him with your life, and let HIM lead your decisions, and then teach your children and grandchildren to do the same.
Here’s a worship song to help us with this and please come right back here tomorrow to see how God continued writing Esther’s story:
Today’s Scripture: Esther 2:1-7.
Choose below to read or listen.
 |  |
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).
Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.