Ernest Paul Braxton

Queen Esther Ernest Paul Braxton

QUEEN ESTHER It was a controversial marriage for Esther and Xerxes I. He was not a Jew, but the tyrannical King of the Persian Empire, and she was only the orphaned, teenaged daughter of a captive Jew. However, her background gave her strength. The marriage was arranged by the King as the first "Miss World" contest. Although he did not call his search for a wife by that name, he could have. The empire covered the known world, with 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. (Est. 1:1-2). Mordecai, the aged cousin who raised her, egged her into entering the contest, but he warned her Xerxes was a womanizer with a large harem. She scoffed at the idea that it would matter and reminded him, that Jewish King Solomon had 1000 wives. (I Kings 11:3-6). Mordecai planted a reluctant friend in the palace; however, it developed that the Jews needed a lobbyist. The viceroy, Haman had made a plot to kill all Jews remaining in Persia, bribing the king with 10,000 talents. The threat to her people drove Esther to God in prayer. She fasted and prayed in mourning garb with dung on her head for three days, (Est. 14:2-3 Apocrypha). She fell at the king's feet, begging him to oppose Haman. Her prayer was contrary to Biblical scholar claims that God was not mentioned in the Book of Esther. Clearly, she felt strongly about saving her people; thus, the Biblical cannoneers misfired the canon. After the defeat of Haman and his henchmen, Esther and Mordecai established the Jewish Holiday PURIM, and many Jews still celebrate it. Her husband was murdered in 465 BC, but was that the end of Esther? The author says no. Historical events indicate that she had a life after she was widowed.