When the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what Hegai the king's eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her. And when Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign, the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. Then the king gave a great feast for all his officials and servants; it was Esther's feast. He also granted a remission of taxes to the provinces and gave gifts with royal generosity.
The story of Esther and her uncle, Mordecai, is a story of the providence of God kissing the preparation of mankind. Mordecai and Esther, as captives in the land of Babylon, are nothing more than pawns in the hands of the leadership of Babylon. They are slaves. However, the king (Ahasuerus) is about to make Esther the queen. He doesn’t even know that God is controlling all aspects of these events. Esther will become one of many “virgins” to “audition” for the job of “queen.” Esther is taking for a one-year beautification ceremony and then will appear before the king. If the king likes her, she becomes queen. If not, she becomes another one of the kings many concubines. This was the life of a slave, especially a female slave in the land of Babylon. A person of faith might simply reject all this. But, notice what Esther does. She actually uses the system that the Babylonians put in place to her advantage. She actually sought out counsel from the world’s system. Listening to the “wisdom” of the world ... she gathered appropriate data and used the data to make a decision. That use of the world’s system put her in the best possible light for impacting the world around her. We are not to be conformed to this world, but that does not mean we are not recognize the power structures and the systems of the world and use them to the advantage of the Kingdom of God. Esther, given a choice, would not want any of this. But, Esther also knew she was where God had her and she used the world’s system to her (and God’s work in her life) to an advantage. Joseph did the same thing in Egypt. Daniel does the same thing in his captivity. Paul did the same thing in the Roman court system. God even used the evil justice system of the Romans to fulfill the promise of a crucified Savior by sending His Son to die on the cross for us. The world’s system crucified Him so that the world’s system would have a Savior. In the end times, God will use the world’s system to bring His wrath on the world. We are not to be conformed to the world, but we are not to shy away from using God’s system to advance God’s Kingdom, either.
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