12 Now when the turn of each young lady came to go in to King Ahasuerus, after the end of her twelve months under the regulations for the women—for the days of their beautification were completed as follows: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and the cosmetics for women— 13 the young lady would go in to the king in this way: anything that she [d]desired was given her to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. 14 In the evening she would go in and in the morning she would return to the second harem, to the [e]custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not again go in to the king unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.
15 Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her as his daughter, came to go in to the king, she did not request anything except what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the women, [f]advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of all who saw her. 16 So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus to his royal palace in the tenth month which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
Esther Becomes Queen
17 The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. 18 Then the king gave a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his princes and his servants; he also made a holiday for the provinces and gave gifts according to the king’s bounty.
19 When the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. 20 Esther had not yet made known her kindred or her people, even as Mordecai had commanded her; for Esther did [g]what Mordecai told her as she had done when under his care.
Mordecai Saves the King
21 In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s officials from those who guarded the door, became angry and sought to [h]lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 22 But the [i]plot became known to Mordecai and he told Queen Esther, and Esther [j]informed the king in Mordecai’s name. 23 Now when the plot was investigated and found to be so, they were both hanged on a [k]gallows; and it was written in the Book of the Chronicles in the king’s presence.
There’s a bit of a pattern in Esther’s behavior here. While we don’t know how old Esther was when she became queen, she was likely very young, or she would have probably been married already. After all, she was “beautiful of form and face”. For context, Mary was believed to be around 14 or 15 when Jesus was born, and that was a very common age back then for girls to be married.
All that to say, Esther had some learning to do when it came to knowing how to please the king, and she would only get one chance to make a good impression. So she listened to the advice of Hegai, and took only exactly what he advised. Likewise, she continued to follow the good advice of her cousin Mordecai, who told her she should not reveal that she was a Jew.
When we encounter something we haven’t done before, our human tendency, maybe more so for men, is to just “wing it”. After all, how hard could it possibly be? Sometimes it works out, sometimes it’s a disaster, but one thing is for sure, it likely would have been better if we looked for wise counsel first.
So, whenever we encounter something new, we should follow Esther’s example. Seek out those who know more than you do, and follow their advice. Now, I’m not a big fan of blindly following anyone’s advice, and that’s part of finding wise counsel, rather than just someone who thinks they know it all, or someone who does know it but doesn’t have our best interests at heart.
As believers, we can often weigh what we’ve heard against God’s word. Other times, we need to seek out several “experts” to make sure we are getting the best advice. It’s not necessarily biblical, but “fools rush in”, while the wise look for someone who is wiser than themselves first.