God adds context to the circumstances

Scripture Read: Esther Chapter 2:16-17 So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus to his royal palace in the tenth month which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. ¹⁷ The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.   

Application: The word for love here has no limit on it’s meaning in the sense of deep love versus carnal love ….

אָהַב [ʾahab, ʾaheb /aw·hab/] - There is little variation in the basic meaning of this verb. The intensity of the meaning ranges from God’s infinite affection for his people to the carnal appetites of a lazy glutton.^[1]

So the real issue – as it is with all honest communication is the context we find the word in. For us today what this King did was disgusting – “trying” all these virgins out and then sending them to his harem as concubines. Therefore, it would be easy to classify his love as one that is very selfish. Yet, we know that this story does not hold to that. This King shows real care for Esther and even in this section, it points out that Esther was favored and shown kindness by the King, if it were purely sexual, kindness would not need to be mentioned. Again, we cannot know exactly what was in his heart because the scriptures are silent, but we must remember this is not our culture or era. What we can see is that God was with Esther and now has her in a place where she can save her people. It is clear her circumstances were tolerable to her, which testifies to the truth that God will work all things – even the ones that seem bad – out in a way that is best for us. We should take a moment and ask ourselves two questions from this text: Do I look for God’s moving in every circumstance? & What kind of love do I show to those in my life? We need to see behind the scenes of our life and discover God! We also need to consider the context of our love. We might find that it is not always controlled by God’s desires, but ours. Father, enable us to be honest about the love we express. Lord, also help us to slow down enough to see You in all that happens in our life.

Meditation Questions: Do I react to the surface circumstance or slow down and try and see the deeper truth? Do I pray that Your will be worked out in every situation or do I try to make something happen? Is my love driven by what I get or what I give?

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^[1] Harris, R. L., Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., & Waltke, B. K. (1999). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed.) (14). Chicago: Moody Press.