Providence in the Perfume: Esther's Rise Text: Esther 2:8-16
Introduction: God's Hidden Chess Game
The book of Esther is a masterpiece of divine irony. God is not mentioned once, but His fingerprints are all over every page. He is the invisible hand moving all the pieces on the board, the silent playwright directing the action from behind the curtain. The story is a high-stakes chess match between the unseen God of Israel and the arrogant, bloated powers of the Persian empire. And in this passage, we see God moving His queen into position.
We live in an age that, much like the court of Ahasuerus, is officially godless. Our ruling classes, our media, and our academic institutions operate as though God does not exist. They believe history is driven by power, economics, lust, and chance. And the book of Esther cheerfully grants them their premise, on the surface. It reads like a secular court history. There are no miracles, no prophets, no angels, no direct divine speech. There is only the sordid business of a pagan king looking for a new wife after petulantly dismissing the old one. It is a world of eunuchs and harems, of extravagant beauty treatments and sexual politics. It is, in short, a world very much like our own.
But this is precisely the point. God's sovereignty is not limited to the spaces where we acknowledge Him. He does not only work in stained-glass sanctuaries. He is just as sovereign in the godless halls of power, in the decadent palaces of unbelieving kings, and in the midst of morally compromised situations. He works through crooked means to achieve righteous ends. He uses the vanity of a pagan king, the efficiency of a pagan bureaucracy, and the shrewd calculations of a faithful Jew to save His people. This passage is not just about how Esther became queen. It is a lesson in how God works in the real world, a world of grit, grime, and gray areas, to accomplish His perfect and holy will.
We are tempted to think that for God to be at work, things must be clean, straightforward, and overtly religious. We want our heroes to be stainless and our circumstances to be unambiguous. But Esther's story confronts us with the messy reality of living as God's people in a fallen world. It teaches us to see the hand of God not just in the parting of the Red Sea, but in the "lucky" favor of a court official, in a wise piece of advice from a guardian, and in the quiet obedience of a young woman thrust into a perilous and corrupt system.
The Text
Now it happened that when the word and law of the king were heard and many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the hand of Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s house into the hand of Hegai, who kept charge of the women. And the young lady was good in his eyes, and she advanced in lovingkindness before him. So he hurried to give her cosmetics and portions of food to her, and to give to her seven choice young women from the king’s house. And he transferred her and her young women to the best place in the harem. Esther did not tell anyone about her people or her kinsmen, for Mordecai had commanded her that she should not tell anyone about them. And every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the court of the harem to know the well-being of Esther and how she fared. Now when it reached the turn of each young lady to go in to King Ahasuerus, after the end of her twelve months under the regulations for the women, for the days of their cosmetic treatment were fulfilled as follows: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and the cosmetics for women, then the young lady would go in to the king in this way: anything that she said she desired was given to her to come with her from the harem to the king’s house. In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second harem, to the hand of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who kept charge of the concubines. She would not again go in to the king unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name. Now when it reached the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she did not seek anything except what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who kept charge of the women, said. And Esther advanced in favor in the eyes of all who saw her. So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus to his royal house in the tenth month which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
(Esther 2:8-16 LSB)
Providential Favor in a Pagan System (v. 8-9)
The story picks up with the machinery of the Persian state grinding into motion.
"Now it happened that when the word and law of the king were heard and many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the hand of Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s house into the hand of Hegai, who kept charge of the women. And the young lady was good in his eyes, and she advanced in lovingkindness before him..." (Esther 2:8-9)
Notice the language. The king's decree is a "word and law." This is the counterfeit word of a man who thinks he is a god. And by this word, young women are "gathered" and "taken." Let us not sugarcoat this. This is a state-sanctioned kidnapping. These women are conscripted into the king's harem. This is not a voluntary beauty pageant. Esther is a victim of this pagan system. She is an orphan, an exile, and now a conscript. From a human perspective, her situation is bleak. She is caught in the gears of a vast, impersonal, and immoral machine.
But the first glimmer of God's hidden providence appears immediately. She finds favor with Hegai, the chief eunuch in charge of the harem. The text says she was "good in his eyes." This is not just about her physical beauty, though that is certainly part of it. The word for "good" here implies more than just aesthetics; it suggests a pleasing character. And as a result, she "advanced in lovingkindness before him." This is covenantal language, the Hebrew word hesed. It is a strange word to find in the mouth of a pagan eunuch, but it shows us that God can stir up favor for His people in the most unlikely of hearts.
Hegai hurries to give her the best of everything: the best cosmetics, the best food, seven choice maids, and the best apartment in the harem. This is not mere luck. This is what theologians call common grace. God, for the sake of His ultimate purposes, bestows blessings and favor through unbelievers. Hegai has no idea he is an instrument in the hands of the God of Israel. He thinks he is just doing his job, perhaps spotting a winner early on. But in reality, God is arranging the circumstances, smoothing the path for His chosen vessel. This is how God works. He doesn't have to send a thunderbolt. He can work through the professional judgment of a pagan official.
Calculated Concealment and Covenantal Care (v. 10-11)
Next, we see the shrewdness of Mordecai, which is a key element of the story.
"Esther did not tell anyone about her people or her kinsmen, for Mordecai had commanded her that she should not tell anyone about them. And every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the court of the harem to know the well-being of Esther and how she fared." (Esther 2:10-11)
Some have criticized Mordecai and Esther for this concealment, as though it were a shameful compromise. But this is to misunderstand the nature of wisdom in a hostile world. Mordecai is not telling her to deny her faith; he is telling her to hold her cards close to her chest. This is tactical prudence. In a world where her Jewish identity could be a liability, revealing it prematurely would be foolish. This is not cowardice; it is strategy. Daniel and his friends operated with similar wisdom in Babylon. We are called to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Mordecai understands the serpentine nature of the Persian court.
And alongside this shrewd command, we see Mordecai's deep, covenantal love for his adopted daughter. Every single day, he paces in front of the harem, trying to get news of her. He is a picture of faithful headship and pastoral concern. He has placed her, or rather, has seen her placed by God, into a dangerous situation, and he does not abandon her. He is her link to her people, her faith, and her identity. This daily vigil is an act of faith, an ongoing prayer acted out in shoe leather. He is watching, waiting, and trusting God to protect the charge He has given him.
The Dehumanizing Gauntlet (v. 12-14)
The text then gives us a stark description of the process these young women endured.
"Now when it reached the turn of each young lady to go in to King Ahasuerus, after the end of her twelve months under the regulations for the women... In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second harem... She would not again go in to the king unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name." (Esther 2:12-14)
This is a brutal and dehumanizing system. A full year of cosmetic treatments, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes, all to prepare for one night with the king. This is not romance; it is human livestock being fattened and perfumed for the owner. They go in at night, and in the morning they are discarded to the "second harem," the house of the concubines. They become, in effect, royal property, never to marry another, living out their days as forgotten women unless the king happens to remember them and summon them by name. This is the world's definition of beauty and power: a system built on the lust of one man and the objectification of many women.
The text describes this with a detached, almost clinical tone, which makes it all the more chilling. This is the moral swamp that Esther must navigate. The world sees this as the pinnacle of glamour and privilege. The Bible quietly reveals it as a soul-crushing machine. The contrast between this pagan sexual economy and the Bible's vision of covenantal marriage could not be more stark. One is based on selfish consumption; the other is based on self-giving love.
God-Given Wisdom and Sovereign Selection (v. 15-16)
Finally, Esther's turn comes, and her character shines through.
"Now when it reached the turn of Esther... she did not seek anything except what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who kept charge of the women, said. And Esther advanced in favor in the eyes of all who saw her. So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus to his royal house..." (Esther 2:15-16)
Here we see Esther's wisdom in action. The other women, when their turn came, could request "anything" to take with them to the king's palace, presumably jewels, fine clothing, anything they thought would make them more attractive. You can imagine the grasping, the anxiety, the desperate attempts to stand out. But Esther does not play that game. She shows remarkable humility and wisdom. She doesn't trust her own judgment; she trusts the counsel of the expert, Hegai. She asks for nothing but what he advised.
This is a sign of true character. It is a quiet confidence that is not rooted in external adornments but in something deeper. And the result? She "advanced in favor in the eyes of all who saw her." This is a supernatural grace. Her beauty was not just physical; it was a radiance of character that everyone could see. This is the favor that comes from God alone. Peter would later describe this as "the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious" (1 Peter 3:4). Esther had this, and even pagans could not help but be drawn to it.
And so, the final step is taken. She is taken to the king, and the implication is that he was so delighted with her that the contest was over. The specific date is given, the tenth month in the seventh year of his reign. This is not a fairy tale. This is history. God is working in real time, in a real place, moving His servant into the center of power. The orphan girl from a despised minority, taken by force into a pagan harem, is now the queen of the greatest empire on earth. No one, least of all Ahasuerus, knows that the God of heaven and earth has just checkmated him.
Conclusion: Your Placement is Your Calling
What does this story of a Jewish girl in a Persian harem have to do with us? Everything. We too are exiles living in a pagan empire that does not acknowledge our God. We are often placed in situations that are morally compromised, uncomfortable, and dangerous. We are tempted to think that our circumstances are an obstacle to God's plan. Esther's story teaches us that our circumstances are God's plan.
Esther was "taken." She did not choose to be in a harem. But God used her placement. You may not have chosen your job, your neighborhood, your family situation, or your particular trials. But God has placed you there. Your placement is your calling. And like Esther, you are called to be faithful right where you are.
How do we do this? First, by recognizing that God's favor can operate anywhere. He can give you favor with an unbelieving boss, a hostile neighbor, or a skeptical family member. Pray for this favor, and look for it. Second, by exercising wisdom. Mordecai's counsel to Esther was shrewd and practical. We are not called to be naive fools. We must understand the world we live in and act with sanctified common sense. Third, by cultivating an inner character of quiet trust and humility. Esther's true beauty was her character. In a world obsessed with external image, we must be people of substance. The world is dying for a lack of it, and is strangely attracted to it when it sees it.
Ultimately, Esther is a pointer to Christ. She was willing to enter the court of the great king to save her people. But Christ, the true King, left His throne, entered our squalid and corrupt world, and went to the cross to save His people. He is the ultimate example of God working through the ugliest of circumstances, the injustice of a Roman court and the brutality of a cross, to bring about the greatest good. Because He was faithful, we can be faithful. God has placed you where you are, for such a time as this. Trust Him, obey Him, and watch what He does.