On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace, in front of the king's quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace.
And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.
Truth: Even God can overcome the issues of a paranoid king.
In the days of Esther, the king of the Medes was a paranoid and fearful man. No one was able to come into the chamber of the king without his direct permission. We have to remember that in those days the coup to overtake a leader was quite common. It was nothing for an enemy to enter the kingdom by deception with the desire to kill the king. Even the kings own family would have aspirations to kill the king. The "cupbearer" of the king would drink and taste everything so that the king could feel safe. When Esther became queen she was vetted for one-year, along with all the other virgins. This was no doubt to assure she was not carrying some disease, or was a potential murderous. This is what makes the story of Esther coming to the king so intriguing. Esther's cousin (Mordecai ... who had raised Esther) had alerted Esther to the decree, instituted by evil and jealous Haman, to have all the Jews killed. Esther needed to approach the king to ask him to rescind the decree. But, Esther couldn't just rush into the king. She would have to summoned. She asks Mordecai to ask all the Jews to pray and fast for three days. As a result of their imploring God for her, she simply waits outside the door and the king summons her into his chambers. Esther shows great wisdom and faith as she does the impossible. Through her faith she sees that God can turn the heart of the king. Perhaps she had a copy of the book of Proverbs and had read the following:
Proverbs 21:1 (ESV Strong's)
The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;
he turns it wherever he will.
Whatever the reason for her faith, it demonstrates to us that God can work in the hearts of anyone to accomplish His task for His people.
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