Cinderella has nothing on Esther. This young woman will change the whole course of history!
As the king scanned the bevy of beauties gathered for his appraisal at his winter palace in Shushan (Susa), one young lady stood out from the crowd. “Now the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor” (Est 2:9). What was her name? The text reads, “Hadassah, that is, Esther” (v 7). Hadasseh, meaning “myrtle,” was her Hebrew name. Esther, of Persian derivation, means “a star.” She certainly was! We don’t know who changed her name, or when, but it certainly disguised her heritage, and “Esther had not revealed her people or family, for Mordecai had charged her not to reveal it” (v 10). Hegai, custodian of the women, “readily gave beauty preparations to her, besides her allowance. Then seven choice maidservants were provided for her from the king’s palace, and he moved her and her maidservants to the best place in the house of the women” (v 9). Meanwhile, “every day Mordecai paced in front of the court of the women’s quarters, to learn of Esther’s welfare and what was happening to her” (v 11). How fatherly! For twelve months, the women were put through a beauty regimen, “six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women” (v 12). As I heard one man advise his wife on her visit to the beauty parlor, “Take all the time you need, and don’t spare the expense!” One by one they were paraded before the king. “Now when the turn came for Esther…to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Hegai…advised” (v 15). And the result? “The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti” (v 17). What a story—and this is just the intro!