Commentary - Esther 2:17-18

Bird's-eye view

In these two verses, the search for a new queen concludes, and what appears on the surface to be the happy ending of a worldly fairytale is, in reality, a crucial move on God's hidden chessboard. The book of Esther is famous for what it does not contain, namely, any mention of God. But His fingerprints are all over everything, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the elevation of a Jewish orphan to the throne of the Persian empire. The pagan king Ahasuerus acts according to his own affections and royal whims, but behind his choices is the invisible hand of divine providence, positioning His chosen instrument for a task she does not yet comprehend. This passage is a masterclass in God's sovereignty, demonstrating how He orchestrates the decisions of the most powerful men on earth to fulfill His covenant purposes for His people.

Outline

Context In Esther

Following the deposition of Queen Vashti in chapter 1, the king's servants proposed a kingdom-wide search for a beautiful virgin to become the new queen. Esther, a Jewish exile under the care of her cousin Mordecai, was taken into the palace as one of the candidates. After a year of cosmetic treatments, it was her turn to go before the king. These verses record the outcome of that meeting. Esther's selection is the culmination of this royal beauty contest, but more importantly, it sets the stage for the central conflict of the book. With Esther now in the position of highest influence, God has prepared a deliverer for the Jewish people in advance of the threat that will soon emerge in the person of Haman the Agagite.

Commentary

Esther Is Made Queen

17 And the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she advanced in favor and lovingkindness before him more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.

The first thing we are told is that the king loved Esther. We should not mistake this for the covenantal love that God has for His people. This is the affection of a pagan despot, a love based on aesthetics and sensual appeal. Ahasuerus is a man driven by his appetites, as we saw in the first chapter. And yet, God in His meticulous providence uses the king's carnal affections as the very means by which He advances His own eternal plan. The king thinks he is simply choosing the most beautiful woman in his harem, but the King of Heaven is seating an agent of deliverance on the throne. Proverbs tells us that the king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He will (Prov. 21:1). This is what that looks like in real time.

She advanced in favor and lovingkindness before him. The word for lovingkindness here is hesed, a rich term that in the Old Testament most often refers to God's steadfast, covenant-keeping loyalty to His people. The use of it here is dripping with divine irony. The fickle favor of a mortal king is described with a word that points to the unshakable faithfulness of the God who is, at this very moment, invisibly at work keeping His covenant promises to Abraham. Esther did not win this favor through cleverness or manipulation; it was granted to her. God gave her this favor, just as He gave Joseph favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. This favor is a gift, a tool, and a weapon that God is placing in her hand for future use.

The result is that he set the royal crown on her head. The process is complete. The search is over. The crown, a symbol of the highest earthly power in that time, is placed upon the head of a Jewish girl who had, until recently, been a complete unknown. She is made queen in place of Vashti. The contrast is important. Vashti was deposed for her disobedience, for refusing to display her beauty. Esther is elevated for her beauty, and will soon be put in a position where she must risk her life through a formal act of disobedience, approaching the king unsummoned, in order to save her people. God's story is full of such reversals. He takes the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and the weak things to shame the strong. He takes a Jewish orphan and makes her the queen of Persia.

18 Then the king held a great feast, Esther’s feast, for all his princes and his servants; he also held a remission of taxes for the provinces and gave gifts according to the king’s hand.

Of course there is a feast. This book begins with a feast of pride and ends with a feast of deliverance. This feast, Esther's feast, is the hinge. The king intends to celebrate his new bride and display his own glory, but he is unwittingly hosting a party to celebrate a key victory for the God he does not know. All the enemies of the Jews, soon to be marshaled by Haman, are gathered to celebrate the very woman who will be the instrument of their downfall. God has a marvelous sense of humor.

As part of the celebration, the king declared a remission of taxes and gave out lavish gifts. This was a public demonstration of his royal pleasure. His delight in his new queen overflows into a public display of generosity. This act of a pagan king is a faint echo, a shadow, of a much greater reality. The king grants a temporary holiday from taxes, a small financial release. But the true King is setting the stage to grant His people a release from total annihilation. Ahasuerus gives gifts according to the king's hand, meaning with royal largesse. But his hand, mighty as it is, is nothing compared to the hand of Almighty God, who does not give trinkets or tax holidays, but gives the gift of life itself. The whole scene is a parable of God's work in the world. He uses the structures of earthly power, the affections of sinful men, and the celebrations of pagans to accomplish His sovereign and good purposes, all while remaining completely hidden from their sight.

Application

The story of Esther's rise to the throne is a profound encouragement to the people of God in every age. It teaches us that our God is never absent, even when He seems to be. He is at work in the halls of power, in the whims of kings, and in the quiet details of our lives. We may not see how the current circumstances are serving His ultimate plan, just as Esther could not have known why she was being placed in the palace. But we are called to walk by faith, not by sight.

This passage reminds us that God can use anything to accomplish His will. He uses a pagan beauty contest, the lust of a king, and the political machinations of an empire to place His servant right where He needs her to be. We should therefore not despise the circumstances we find ourselves in, but rather seek to be faithful within them, trusting that the sovereign God of the universe is weaving all of it, even the messy and worldly parts, into the beautiful tapestry of His redemptive plan. Our lives are not a series of random events. They are a story being written by a good and all-powerful Author, who has placed us exactly where we are for such a time as this.