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Full disclosure: I couldn’t put this book down! Love story? Check. Intrigue? Check. Good guys? Check. Bad guys (and girls)? Check. Strong female characters? Check. Teaches something? Check.
I don’t know about you, but for me, it’s difficult sometimes to wrap my mind around the fact that the people that we read about in the Bible were actual living, breathing people just like you and me. I tend to see them more as ‘fictional’ characters, even though intellectually I know better. I mean, Esther was a Veggie Tale, even!
I really love reading books that while the stories are really great, they also teach me something. And you’ll get a lot of that in ‘Esther: Royal Beauty’. We see how the young girl, Hadassah (later Queen Esther) lived as a Jewish young lady in the middle of Persia. You will begin to understand her life and the way she thinks.
At the same time, you will learn a lot about the mighty King Xerxes before Esther ever entered his life. What made him the way that he was? How did his mind work? What were his motivations?
Esther never set out to be the savior of her people. She didn’t have her heart set on being the queen – that was so unlikely and out of reach for her that although she may have daydreamed about it, it was about as likely as me becoming the Queen of England. But God had a plan (doesn’t He always???).
As a very young woman, Esther found herself at the palace undergoing the job interview of a lifetime. Heaven’s human resources department pulled some strings and she got the job of Queen of Persia. King Xerxes was thirsty for the company of someone like Esther; someone young and innocent – a breath of fresh air. Especially after the evil Queen Vashti pulled her nasty tricks and became Xerxes’ ex. If Vashti had behaved herself, there likely would never have been room or need for Esther. (Did I mention God had a plan??)
Due to the politics of the time, Esther never disclosed to the King that she was Jewish. Although the Jewish people lived in harmony with the Persians, it was likely due to the fact that everyone kept to themselves and the king allowed them all to practice their own freedom of religion without persecution. But only if nobody caused problems. So Esther’s best plan was to keep her mouth closed about her heritage so as not to make waves.
Back in that time period, no one approached the king without being summoned. And here’s something that I learned from the book: if someone approached the king without a summons, it was automatically assumed that the person meant to harm the king. I knew that people weren’t allowed to approach, but I thought it was always just royal posturing and hoopla. When you think about it, the same is true today – you can’t just walk up to the president, can you?
If the king recognized who was approaching AND was in a reasonably calm mood, he would hold out his scepter to indicate that the person could approach without harm. If the king did not recognize the person, or was in a grumpy mood, or maybe just had some bad fish at lunch – the person approaching him would likely find themselves being dragged out dead and missing some body parts.
Little Esther was the epitome of obedience to her husband, the king. He had already proven that unruly wives would be punished. So when Esther found herself in the position of having to approach him without a summons in order to beg him to save her people, she was in quite a dilemma. And here’s where Esther became great. She obeyed. She knew what God was telling her to do, and she chose to obey, even though it could very well mean a painful and messy death. Spoiler alert – she lives.
How many of us would obey in the face of death? Or how about this lesson from the Book of Esther? It doesn’t matter where you start, it matters where you finish. It doesn’t matter that you’re only one person, you can make a huge difference. Those are some great truths!
I would highly recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I can’t wait to read the author’s other works!
It’s available here at Family Christian Stores.
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