Coffeeville First Baptist Church By Craig Baker, Pastor 3/5/26
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
One of my favorite things to read are the stories of dumb criminals. Not long ago I read of a drug dealer in Florida who called 911 to report that his money and cocaine had been stolen from his car by a rival dealer. The 911 operator did not take the guy seriously. However, the guy insisted, so he was told to wait where he was that officers would be there as soon as possible. When the officers a few minutes later to their surprise the guy was right where he said he would be waiting for them. He began to tell them how much money and cocaine were stolen. Still thinking this was a joke, the officers asked the guy where he had the money and drugs that were stolen. The guy replied, “In the trunk of my car with the rest of my drugs.” Still thinking this guy could not be serious, the officers told him to show them. He opened the trunk, and to their surprise it was loaded with drugs. The man was immediately arrested for drug possession and other related charges. The whole time he was being arrested he complained that they were not doing anything to get his cocaine or money back.
We may not be dumb criminals, but we have all done dumb things at times. We have all, like King Ahasuerus who we learned about in Esther 1 last week, made foolish choices and stupid mistakes. We left King Ahasuerus having made the terribly foolish decision in his drunkenness to strip Vashti, his queen, of her crown and ban her from his kingdom because she refused to obey his command for her to parade herself around in the nude in front of the guest at his party. The year was approximately 483 B.C. In the four years following his removal of Queen Vashti, King Ahasuerus consumed himself with plans of invading Greece and capturing the city of Athens. After spending about three years planning and preparing, in the spring of 480 B.C. King Ahasuerus led his Persian army in a simultaneous invasion of Greece by land and by sea. The Persian and Greek navies clashed off the coast of Greece at the Straits of Artemesia and fought to a standstill. At the same time, the Persian ground forces were engaged in battle with a small group of allied Greek forces led by the Spartan King Leonidus I at the pass of Thermopylae. It is a famous battle that has been the subject of several books and movies. The Spartan king held off the Persians for three days before the Persians finally overtook them. Hearing of the defeat at Thermopylae, the Greek navy retreated west to the coastal city of Salamis to prepare their defenses. The Persian naval forces pressed onward toward Salamis as the Persian ground forces continued their conquest of Greece including capturing Athens. Weather and navigational confusion factored into the Persian navy being defeated by the Greeks at Salamis. This defeat would ultimately prove to turn the tide of the war. After the defeat, Ahasuerus, fearing rebellion within his empire and possibly being trapped in Europe, returned to Asia leaving his general Mardonius to finish the conquest. However, the Greeks gathered the largest allied ground force they had ever assembled and defeated the Persian ground forces in the spring of 479 B.C. In a coordinated effort, the Greek navy destroyed the remaining Persian ships. Despite the Persian army being superior and much larger than the Greek army, the Persian army was defeated by the Greeks bringing great humiliation to King Ahasuerus. As we come to Esther 2, the year is now about 479 B.C., and we find King Ahasuerus at a low point in his life.
King Ahasuerus returned to an empty palace no doubt lonely and depressed. Eshter 2:1 tells us King Ahasuerus remembered Vashti and what he had done to her indicating he missed his queen and needed her companionship, her support. Sure, there were servants and advisors everywhere, and the king had many concubines. However, there was only one queen; only one true companion to the king, but there was no queen in Persia. Her throne sat empty; her crown collected dust.
So, what did the king do? He sought the advice of the same men who were partially responsible for him exiling Queen Vashti. The king’s advisors, sensing the king’s distress, regret, and loneliness, suggest the king should start proceedings to choose a new queen. The ancient historian Josephus said 400 women were chosen to be brought to the palace and prepared to meet the king. From this pool of women, a new queen would be appointed, and Esther 2:4 tells us this pleased the king. It is easy for us to read this and criticize king, but let me ask you, “If you were the most powerful person on the planet and you do not know God, what would you have done?” You would have done whatever you wanted to do, just like King Ahasuerus did because without God, sinners sin. That is what we do. That is what we know, so the king ordered that all the beautiful, young women brought to him and prepared to be presented to him.
It is at this point in the story we meet Mordecai (Esther 2:5-6). He was obviously a proud Jew who knew and honored his heritage, so why did he not return to Jerusalem with the other Jews? Perhaps he felt obligated to stay in Persia for the sake of his family. We cannot be sure, but again we see God working in the lives of His people to accomplish His plan. Then in verse 7 we are finally introduced to Esther. Apparently, Esther was a much younger cousin to Mordecai. When Esther’s parents died, Mordecai was bound by Jewish social expectations and laws to bring her into his family and raise her as his own daughter, and that is what Mordecai did. Imagine his heartbreak when Esther is taken among the young women to be presented to the king. We can speculate and debate whether Esther was forced into the king’s harem, but she certainly played her part and accepted her role when she got there. We do not see her resisting the royal treatment, the beauty preparations, her allowances, her maidservants, or the best place among the women. Not only does it seem Esther accepted and enjoyed the royal treatment, but she is also preparing for an audition with the godless King Ahasuerus to possibly be his queen. The following verses say that each of these 400 women had their time with the king. Of all the hundreds of women the king saw, Esther stood out among them. We like to think of Esther as always being a modest, righteous, faithful and spiritually pure young woman; innocent to the ways of the world, but what we find in chapter 2 seems to suggest that there was a time that may not have been the case. Esther hid her Jewish identity. She went along with the beauty treatments and other special attention that was given to her. She prepared herself for a night with the pagan king, and to top it all off she did so well that she won the contest to be Queen of Persia. But one of the things I love about this book is it spans several years, and we get to see the spiritual growth of Mordecai and Esther as God worked in their lives throughout the twists and turns of their story. The fact is God changes people’s hearts and lives. Can you look back over the past year, five years, ten years and see how God has changed you? Have you let God used the people, circumstances, and changes in your life to get a hold of your heart and soul to mature you spiritually and draw you closer to Him? You may have never thought of Esther in the way I have presented her, a flawed sinner who perhaps compromised her values and made mistakes. The good news is Esther’s story is not over, and neither is mine nor yours. Whatever pain you have endured, whatever part of your identity you have hidden, whatever flaws you have, whatever sins you have committed in this moment you can choose to let God change you, to grow you, to mature you in your faith. Perhaps you need to experience the greatest change ever in your life by receive salvation by believing in Jesus Christ as your Savior.
Coffeeville First
Baptist Church
By
Craig Baker,
Pastor
