Hegai liked Esther and took a special interest in her. Right off he started her beauty treatments, ordered special food, assigned her seven personal maids from the palace, and put her and her maids in the best rooms in the harem. Esther didn’t say anything about her family and racial background because Mordecai had told her not to. Every day Mordecai strolled beside the court of the harem to find out how Esther was and get news of what she was doing. Each girl’s turn came to go in to King Xerxes after she had completed the twelve months of prescribed beauty treatments—six months’ treatment with oil of myrrh followed by six months with perfumes and various cosmetics. When it was time for the girl to go to the king, she was given whatever she wanted to take with her when she left the harem for the king’s quarters. She would go there in the evening; in the morning she would return to a second harem overseen by Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch in charge of the concubines. She never again went back to the king unless the king took a special liking to her and asked for her by name. When it was Esther’s turn to go to the king (Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had adopted her as his daughter), she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch in charge of the harem, had recommended. Esther, just as she was, won the admiration of everyone who saw her. She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal palace in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of the king’s reign. The king fell in love with Esther far more than with any of his other women or any of the other virgins—he was totally smitten by her. He placed a royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. Then the king gave a great banquet for all his nobles and officials—“Esther’s Banquet.” He proclaimed a holiday for all the provinces and handed out gifts with royal generosity. * * *
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3 Days
In a time where a king wanted a wife, a Jewish woman named Esther appeared. Looking at the life of Esther helps to give us direction into how we’re supposed to act when God places us in His providentially designed plans. In this 3-day reading plan, Tony Evans teaches the history of Esther, providing an in-depth look at the inner workings of Persian royalty.
One of the most compelling aspects of Jesus' approach to helping others is his indiscriminate compassion. In contemporary society, the call to help others as Jesus did remains as relevant as ever. In just three days, for 10 minutes per day, alone with God and His Word, you will learn we are called to extend a helping hand to all who are in need.
4 Days
How can the heroes of the Bible inspire us to greatness? Join us in this four-day reading plan as Kristi Krauss motivates us with Esther's risk-taking, Job's hidden treasure, Isaiah's hope for good, and Jeremiah's endurance of opposition. Don't be surprised if these testimonies transform your life.
As Black women, we are grieving either our own experience or something going on in the Black community. It’s a constant resurgence of grief and pain. And in our grief, it is easy to feel unseen, unheard, misunderstood, and abandoned by others and by God. In this 4-day devotional, discover hope with biblical truths to encourage you, dear Black woman, to live a God-filled life in a grief-filled world.
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