Esther 2:5

Esther 2:5 says, Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;  Mordecai, a Jew, served in the palace at Shushan.  Matthew Henry says that Dr. Lightfoot says this is the same Mordecai mentioned in Ezra 2:2 who went to help rebuild Jerusalem and then returned to Persia to be of further service there.  I am not sure who Dr. Lightfoot is, but Matthew Henry refers to him several times.   

Verse six adds, Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.  This verse would put him in the time frame to have returned to Jerusalem and then gone back to Babylon.  I do know that even if we were to be held captive by some power of the world today, we still have the responsibility to do what God calls us to do.  

Verse seven continues, And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.  Mordecai had taken Esther, his cousin, to be like his own daughter after her parents both died.  We know that women had to depend on men meet their needs in that day and time and had few rights of their own, so Mordecai was showing mercy to her.  We likewise need to show mercy to orphans and widows today, who still often do not have as many opportunities to make their own way.  Esther was fair and beautiful we are told, so she would have been an ideal person to be the king's wife, except she was a Jew.  No one in that day would have thought that a captive orphan would become queen, but God had a plan for her to be.  

Verse eight states, So it came to pass, when the king's commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also unto the king's house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.  Esther was included in the maidens from whom the king was to seek a wife from.  We aren’t told exactly how this happened, but only that it did.  We may not always know everything about how God accomplishes His will in the world today, but we need to only have faith that He will.   

Verse nine adds, And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her, out of the king's house: and he preferred her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the women.  Esther was preferred above all the other maidens by the king’s chamberlain and was given the things of purification that belonged to her and seven maidens to help her.  She was still not the queen though and was still in a bad situation.  We may be treated better than others in the world but still not be in the position God wants us to be in.   

Verse ten continues, Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew it.  Esther did not reveal that she was a Jewess since Mordecai had her promise to not do so.  He still wanted her to have the best chance in life, even in a bad situation.  I don’t believe there is a time today when we should deny being a follower of Christ, but I have never been in a situation when doing so might get me killed.