She Stood Up for God's People

She Won Favor "in the Eyes of Everyone Seeing Her"

Esther found  herself ushered into a world that was entirely new and strange to her.  She was among "many young women" who had gathered from fare and wide in the Persian Empire. Their customes, languages, and attitudes msut have varied greatly. Placed under the charge  of an official named Hegai, the young women were to undergo an extensive  beautry treatment, a yearlong program that included massages with fragrant oils.  (Esther 2:8, 12) Such a lifestyle and environment might easily have bred an obsessions with personal appearance among those young women, along with vanity and competiveness. How was Esther affected?

No one on earth could have been more concerned about Esther than Mordecai was.  We read that day by day, he made his wayt as near as he could to the house of the women and endeavored to learn about Esther's welfare.  (Esther 2:11)  As bits of information  trickled out to him, perhaps through cooperative servants in the household, he must have beamed  with fatherly pride.  Why?

Esther so impressed Hegai that he treated her with great loving-kindness, giving her seven servant girls and the best place in the house of the women.  The account even says:  "All the while Esther was continually gaining favor in the eyes of everyone seeing her." (Esther 2:9, 15)  Would beauty alone have impressed everyone so profoundly?  No, there was much more  to Esther than that.

For instance, we read:  "Esther had not told about her people, her relativers, for Mordecai himself had laid the command upon her that she should not tell." (Esther 2:10) Mordecai had instructed the girl to be discreet about her Jewish heritage; he no doubt saw that among Persian royalty, there was much prejudice  against his people. What a pleasure it was for him to learn that now, even though Esther  was out of his sight, she still showed the same wise and obedient spirit! 

Next time: She Stood Up for God's People -  She Won Favor "in the Eyes of Everyone Seeing Her" - Conclusion 

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