If You Can’t Be Good Looking, At Least Be Good
I have heard the story of Ester many times but had never read it myself. The story I have always heard is one of faith and courage but the story I read came off very differently to me. Surely courage and faith were elements in the story but I came away from the reading seeing many of the characters in the story motivated by pride, arrogance, stubbornness, hatred and disgust, manipulation, domination, lust, self-preservation, revenge, groveling, and so forth. Nearly every bad character trait and evil societal proclivity are on full display in the book of Ester. Only two characters in the story, Ester and Mordecai, had redeeming qualities as far as I can tell.
When I prepare to write these messages, I try to put them into a context that could be applicable to our time, and so I look for the motivations behind the actions of the characters in the stories. The story of Ester is jam-packed with many of the most negative and harmful motivations that are part of the world in all ages, as I have listed above.
I will start with king Ahasuerus. Because he was king, he almost naturally was prideful, domineering, and arrogant. My impression was also that he was lustful and powerful to a fault. He was also easily manipulated and too trusting and his decision making process was not well thought-out. Also, I don’t think he was lovable and possibly even unbearable to be with since his his wife, the queen, refused to come to him when he summoned her, knowing the law was not on her side, which led to her being deposed. Vashti was not without her own faults. I can imagine that she was not very agreeable, and stubborn to a fault. But she must have had something going for her not to be executed.
This leads to the advisors of the king. They wanted to make an example of Vashti, the queen, not to cross their husbands. They could not have the women defying the men of the kingdom. If you want the definition of an oppressive patriarchy, this is it. It is not surprising that happened considering the conditions of the world in those times, but still grates on me that men ever behaved that way, and I don’t believe that men who are close to the spirit of God ever acted that way towards their wives. I don’t think you can have the spirit with you if you are domineering in that way, and it is contrary to the principles of power. (see Doctrine and Covenants 121:41-42)
Now we come to Mordecai. I think he was a good man. I do not know what his motivations were when he offered his cousin Ester to the king’s “keeper of the women” Hegai. Apparently Hegai had the same taste in women as the king. Nevertheless, Mordecai thought that Ester was “fair and beautiful” enough to have a shot at becoming queen. It seems that the qualifications to be queen were not based on competence. I am not saying that Ester was not competent, only that there seemed to be no interview process. I believe Mordecai loved Ester and had her best interests at heart as he checked on her from a distance every day to see how she was doing.
Next we have Haman the despicable. He was the kings right-hand man. I think he was attached to the king in another way which I will leave to your imagination. Haman displayed all of the negative traits I mentioned earlier, and probably many I missed. His hatred for the Jews consumed him. Somehow he convinced the king that the Jews were worthy of annihilation and got a decree sent throughout the kingdom that called for their elimination. He was not alone in his hatred as we discover later in the story. I won’t dwell on Haman but I know his sentiments are part of our world today.
Now for Ester. Not only was she good looking; she was good. She had the best interests of others before her own. She also knew how to use her talents to get what she wanted from the king. She was smart, savvy, and keenly aware. She was able to manipulate the king to use his power to save the people she loved. She was also humble enough to know when she needed the help of God, and asked Mordecai to have the people fast three days to give her the confidence she needed to approach the king. The way she did it is brilliant; she dressed in her best clothes and put herself in a position to be seen in the king’s court, knowing that Ahasuerus would not be able to resist her.
The rest of the story is well known. The bad guys die (especially Haman, in an ironic way)and the good guys get the glory.
I suppose the moral of the story, as I see it is; that God fulfills his promises by using the talents he gives us, and that it is nice, and probably advantageous, to be good looking, but it is better to be good.