Written by Emma Grace Steil, Ministry Assisstant to Iron Rose Sister Ministries, and Spanish student at Harding University
Esther was born into a time and place where she and her people were in exile in the land of Persia. The Jewish people were by some as less than, and by others as equals. That is still held true in all cultures between people of native descent and those whose ancestry is of another origin. During the reign of King Xerxes he banishes his queen from his kingdom, and begins to look for a new queen.
He invites many young virgins into his palace for what is, essentially, a beauty pageant to find who the new queen will be. Esther proves to be the most beautiful in heart and in her physical beauty out of all the other women brought into the palace, meanwhile, she is keeping her identity as a Jew a secret. Notice, she is not considered less than by anyone in the palace, but because of the beauty in her heart she is awarded a high position in the kingdom of Persia, a land she did not come from.
Meanwhile, Mordecai (cousin and caretaker of Esther) is in a fight with the Second in Command of Persia, Haman. Haman knows that Mordecai is a Jew, and he despises Mordecai because of where he comes from, his customs, and the way he worships. When Mordecai refuses to bow to Haman, Haman decides to not only kill Mordecai, but all Jews.
Haman approaches King Xerxes hoping to pass his law to kill the Jewish people. King Xerxes passes the law with the seal of his signet ring (this is a permanent promise that even the king cannot retract). Through her smarts and beauty she reveals to King Xerxes that she is one of the people Haman is trying to kill. The king becomes enraged and Haman is killed because the plan he made would have killed the queen, Esther. The king decided to make another signet-ring-promise that the Jewish people would be able to fight back on the day of their planned annihilation.
My favorite part about the story was that the King and Haman were blind to the fact that Esther was a part of the Jewish people that they had planned to kill. The king did not seem to care where Esther came from, but loved her for who she was and was able to see past what differences that might have separated them. Esther came into a position of power because God put her there. He made it possible for Esther to live the life of a hero in a land where her people were exiled. This story shows that though we may appear different, physically, we are truly defined by what is in our hearts.
God can use anyone, and God loves everyone. He does both these things despite who we are (by earthly terms), and what we have done. He always has and always will.