“When the turn came for Esther (the young woman Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested. And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her.”(Esther 2:15)
Esther “asked for nothing”. Why not? Because she knew that outer beauty is nothing unless it is complemented by the inside beauty. She was obedient to her “adopted father” (her uncle). She was submissive to the man who was in charge of all the women who came forward to be picked as a wife to the king. Every woman was privileged to ask anything they wanted (as it is recorded in Esther 2:13) but Esther “asked for nothing”. She knew that she only needed one thing; favor before God. Esther is one of the Bible Old Testament Books where we don’t find the word “God” but we see it throughout the book, invisibly, God intervening in the middle of the story.
Yes, Esther found favor before God and He helped her to win the favor of the king and she became queen. Verse 13 says “Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.” This is what is called “pure favor from above.” She didn’t take what was legitimately hers. She was just beautiful from the inside out. And the king couldn’t resist that. ///