08/01/2026
Esther Part 1: Esther's s3x Abuse Matters!
“Years later, when Nehemiah asked the Persian king for permission to return to Jerusalem to rebuild it, we are told the queen was sitting beside him on the throne. Rabbinical tradition tells us that queen was Esther…”
The language in the Come Follow Me Sunday School Manual suggests Esther was lucky and that God put her where she was to help people. But Esther wasn’t lucky. She was an orphaned girl, part of a community of refugees who had the opportunity to return to their homeland before Esther was born; but for some reason her family chose to remain under the control of the Persians. Because of her position as a Jewish exile and because she was a young girl, Esther was subjected to circumstances beyond her control and was eventually forced into s*x slavery, becoming one of the King’s many concubines.
By comparison, Joseph of Egypt, who was also sold into slavery, is not described as being lucky to have been placed in Pharaoh’s court. Rather, we acknowledge his abuse, abandonment, and that, while God didn’t make him suffer, his trials were used for good. Esther’s descent was even lower than Joseph’s. While he had the right to refuse Potiphar’s wife, and was given authority in the various positions he held, Esther had none of these privileges, and no bodily autonomy. She was a slave in every sense of the word.
When Esther was made a queen, she was still one of many wives and had little authority, as indicated by her fear in approaching the king. And yet, what little privilege she did have, what comforts that may have eased her pain somewhat, were the very things she was willing to sacrifice on behalf of her people. AND THAT’S WHAT MAKES ESTHER SO REMARKABLE! She knew desperation. She had seen what happened to the queen before her who displeased the King, and yet she was willing to face exile, and even her own death, for the sake of others.
Esther shows us that even though we will inevitably experience pain and tragedy in a world where horrible things happen, it is that very struggle that God can use to empower us to be a light and an intercessor for others who are also suffering when we embrace our hardships with faith. While God would never make us suffer, choosing, as Esther did, to embrace the difficulties allowed her heart to be transformed into one so courageous and loving that she was willing to descend even further and let go of everything she had in life—even letting go of life itself—for the sake of others. And in doing so, she was elevated even higher, empowered to intercede in greater and greater ways for her people.
Years later, when Nehemiah asked the Persian king for permission to return to Jerusalem to rebuild it, we are told the queen was sitting beside him on the throne. Rabbinical tradition tells us that queen was Esther. As the queen mother, she held an honored position, even after the death of King Xerxes, which allowed her to influence her stepson and intercede for her people a third time. But let us never forget that Esther herself never returned to her homeland, and only ascended to such great heights because of circumstances beyond her control as a woman in ancient Near Eastern society, and her own courageous choice to condescend below all to serve all— to willingly intercede on behalf of those who could not help themselves.
