Feature story
Who will it be?
3
Would I be chosen to replace Vashti? If I am, would it even be a good thing? The king could get rid of her the same way he got rid of the old queen. But aside from all these thoughts, she was excited to get out of this house. She was excited to finally meet this amazing and handsome king that everyone had been talking about for the past year. But as she came back to the house the next morning, it was not good news. The king had not picked her- she was not the chosen.
The next up was a beautiful elegant-looking woman. Her name was Esther, and she was 16 years of age. She was not as excited to see the king as all the other girls were. Her stay in the house of women was luxurious, but she would rather be anywhere but there. She did nothing to prepare herself for the king, she did only what Hagai, the head of the house, told her to do. As she was called upon to spend the evening with the king, she was neither excited nor scared. She was anxious to get the night over with.
After Ester’s day with the king she returned to the house of the women to await the news. Whether she was chosen or not didn’t matter to her, because she always had Mordechi and Judaism. She realized that if she was chosen she would have to listen to the words of Mordechi and not reveal her religion to the king. The next day all the women in the house got the news; Achashverosh had chosen a queen. Of all the women who were evaluated to be queen, the most unexpected decision had been made. Ester was the new queen, she was the chosen.