Esther 2:1-23

In this chapter we have a revelation of customs obtaining in the household of the king. We can read them with thankfulness that wherever the purifying forces of revealed religion have operated they have forever become impossible.

In the midst of this story Mordecai appears on the scene. Living with him was his cousin, whom he had taken to be his daughter. In carrying out the decree of the king, she was taken to the royal palace in the company of the maidens. Mordecai's action in this matter is open to question. His love for Esther was evident, and the picture of him walking before the court of the women's house indicated his continued interest in her. One can only hope that her presence there was not due to his scheming for place and power. In any case his advice that she should not betray her nationality was questionable, as her position at the court of the king was in grave peril for a daughter of the Covenant. Her beauty captured the king, and she was made queen in place of Vashti. Her presence in the palace was part of that process by which the overruling God preserves His people and frustrates the foe. This overruling is even more remarkable if the action of Mordecai was that of scheming.