And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.
Esther walks into the throne room uninvited. The law made that a crime punishable by death, so everything now hangs on one movement of the king's hand. A whole people will live or die by it.
The unseen hand behind a royal favour
Nothing in the scene names God. One writer traces the king's favour back to faith in God's goodness.
William Kelly...for faith was great in the goodness of God. All that appears is only man, yet the unseen hand was there. This she looked for, and this she found.
Another writer names the principle at work in a king's change of mood:
J. G. BellettAt the end of the three-day fast they had agreed on, she takes her life in her hand. She stands in the inner court of the king's house, while the king sits on his royal throne. But kings' hearts are in the hand of the Lord, and so it proves here. Esther finds favour in the sight of Ahasuerus, and he holds out the golden sceptre to her.
Why she touched the top of it
Esther does not just walk past the sceptre. She reaches for it, and one writer explains what that reach admits.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe king holds out the royal sceptre, the symbol of royal power, towards her as the sign of his favour, and she touches it. (The Latin translation, the Vulgate, renders it "she kissed the sceptre.") In touching the sceptre she showed her need of it. She touched the royal sceptre of power and authority, because from it she seeks and expects deliverance. And it was the touch of faith.
A sceptre true to itself
Once held out, the sceptre could not disappoint her. One writer finds a lasting lesson in that.
J. G. BellettThe sceptre, again let us say, was true to itself. What a truth this carries! The promise of God, and the work of the Lord Jesus, are like this sceptre. They have gone before us as pledges given by the hand and the mouth of our God. Eternity will be true to them, and endless ages of glory, bearing witness to salvation, will make them good. Nothing is too great to redeem such pledges. Here the king lays half his kingdom at Esther's feet, for her to use as she pleases.
Grace before the rescue
The rescue had not happened yet when the sceptre went out. What Esther received first was the welcome.
H. L. RossierTrusting in Mordecai's word, Esther presents herself before the king. The king has barely seen her when he holds out the golden scepter to her. She is received in grace!... Deliverance has not happened yet, but the grace that brings deliverance has appeared before Esther's eyes... From the very first moment, she is sure of sharing half of the king's possessions.
The third day
Three days of fasting came before this moment. One writer sees a wider picture in the day she went in.
Michael HardtEsther goes to the king on the third day. It will be on the ground of the resurrection of Christ that the remnant will be accepted (as are we). Then the king sees Esther. She finds grace in his sight, and he holds out the golden sceptre — the gesture of royal acceptance and favour. Hosea looks ahead to the day when Israel is restored as a remnant, and he uses the picture of resurrection: "on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him" (Hos. 6:2).
Access into favour
Esther gained more than permission to speak. She gained access to the king's favour, and one writer sets that beside what believers have.
The Bible TreasuryThe way into king Ahasuerus's throne room was guarded by an unchangeable law: anyone who came in uninvited was to be put to death... She had access into the favour of the king, and so obtained the lives of her countrymen. Those justified by faith have access into the favour of God. And the Lord Jesus Christ is infinitely more to undeserving people like us than the golden sceptre held out to Esther was to her.
Another writer points to the fear Esther felt, and to its absence for the believer:
Other AuthorsQueen Esther dared not enter the presence of her own husband. When at last she bravely decided to do so, she realized that she carried her life in her hand. "If I perish, I perish!" she said. We have no such fear in drawing near to God, for He is our Father.
Summary
- Hidden. God is never named here. Yet the hand that moved the king was His: "All that appears is only man, yet the unseen hand was there."
- Held out. The favour came first, and unearned. The king held out the sceptre before Esther said a word, and she was "received in grace" before deliverance had come.
- Touched. Her reach for the top of it was "the touch of faith." By touching the sceptre she showed she needed that very power.
- True. The sceptre kept its word. One writer takes it as a picture of God's pledges: "endless ages of glory, bearing witness to salvation, will make them good."
- Nearer. Esther came in carrying her life in her hand. Those justified by faith come into God's favour with no such fear, for He is Father.