Queen Esther

QUEEN ESTHER It was a controversial marriage for Esther and Xerxes I. He was not a Jew, but the tyrannical King of the Persian Empire, and she was only the orphaned, teenaged daughter of a captive Jew. However, her background gave her strength. The marriage was arranged by the King as the first "Miss World" contest. Although he did not call his search for a wife by that name, he could have. The empire covered the known world, with 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. (Est. 1:1-2). Mordecai, the aged cousin who raised her, egged her into entering the contest, but he warned her Xerxes was a womanizer with a large harem. She scoffed at the idea that it would matter and reminded him, that Jewish King Solomon had 1000 wives. (I Kings 11:3-6).