Esther's Secret

Esther 2:20

But Esther had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai had told her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai's instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up.

The month of December is difficult for me because that’s when we buy presents and hide them until Christmas day. I have to work to keep quiet about my kids’ presents. I can’t wait to give the gifts, so I try not to giggle about the way I think they’ll react when they open them. Over the years, I’ve learned to be patient. It’s hard, but I can keep a secret.

I admire the way Queen Esther could keep her secret before and after she became queen. She went through a year of preparation before she was chosen by the king. After she received her crown, she waited until the right moment before she said anything. That must’ve been hard.

She notified the king of an assassination plot and made him aware that Mordecai was the one who discovered it. But she didn’t reveal her secret.

Mordecai was her uncle, and they were Jews. But Mordecai taught Esther to wait until the time was right to tell the king of her heritage.

Because of an evil man named Haman, the king was persuaded to issue an order for the destruction of the Jews. Mordecai told Esther to go before the king and plead for mercy. He reminded her that she would be found out and executed along with all the other Jews if the order was carried out. She knew her crown wouldn’t save her, but God would.

She risked her life by appearing before the king, but he was glad to see her and didn’t mind the interruption. Instead of falling at the king’s feet and begging for mercy, Queen Esther invited Haman and the king to a banquet. That night, she invited him to a second banquet and promised to explain why she was doing this.

The king was outraged when she finally told him that Haman had convinced the king to order the deaths of all the Jews, including herself. A servant told the king that Haman had erected a gallows to put an end to Mordecai, who had been faithful to the king and had saved the king’s life by alerting him about the assassination plot. The king made sure Haman was hung on his own gallows.

Then Esther asked the king for mercy since the order to kill the Jews had already been issued. Mordecai was allowed to write a decree to cancel the first. The king gave his signet ring to him to use on the decree so it couldn’t be revoked.

Esther, because of her wisdom, saved her people by revealing her secret at the right time. The Jews promised to celebrate every year at the same time so they wouldn’t forget how they got relief from their enemies.

That’s worth keeping a secret for a little while.