The book of Esther is one of the most interesting stories in the entire Bible.  In it, a young Jewish girl rises to the level of Queen of Persia and saves her people from genocide.  Esther influenced world events.  The account of her life is filled with irony and drama, and well worth the read.

One interesting aspect of the book is the importance of Esther’s beauty.  Bible characters like Ruth and the Proverbs 31 “woman of excellence” prove the relative unimportance of physical appearance, so we should be careful not to overemphasize the attribute of visual beauty in the Bible’s definition of femininity, but we still might find something to learn from Esther on this point.  Our raunch culture encourages women to be brazen, linking sexuality to porn.  On the other hand, 1960s feminism made women feel offended to “stroke the fragile male ego” with feminine beauty.  These confusing messages cause many women to hate the subject or lurch toward unhealthy extremes.  Esther’s beauty played an important role in changing the course of history, so it might be worth exploring.

Esther is described as being especially jaw-dropping.

Est. 2:7 This young woman was very attractive and had a beautiful figure.

She was a nobody, but her beauty arrested the king’s attention.  Esther basically won a national beauty contest when the king went looking for a wife.

But there is more to Esther’s beauty than a “beautiful figure.”  A woman might be physically beautiful, but a rotten character can uglify her (yes, that’s a word – and isn’t it a great word?).  Wisdom tells us:

Proverbs 11:22 Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman without discretion.

Beauty is much more than physical appearance.  Apparently God made Esther physically stunning so that she could influence a shallow Persian king.  But powerful beauty doesn’t need beauty-pageant pedigree.  Most men can’t “gather all the beautiful young virgins” (2:3) and pick his favorite.  Almost all men are ordinary guys who fall in love with ordinary women. Powerful beauty is possible for all women, and it doesn’t require a “beautiful figure.”

The reason that all women can be powerfully beautiful is because God’s definition (thus, the real definition) of female beauty is deeper than skin.

Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

1 Peter 3:3-4 Do not let your adorning be external – the braiding of hair, the wearing of gold, or the putting on of clothing – but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

Real beauty comes from the heart.  Esther was no sex object; she was a beautiful person.  She won the favor of Hegai in 2:8-9 so that he advanced her to the highest place in the harem.  She was a prayerful lady who trusted God in dangerous times.  She’s to credit for one of the classic phrases of the Bible, “I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish” (4:15-16).  The “hidden person” of Esther was powerfully beautiful.  In fact, everyone liked Esther.  Can you imagine the competition in an ancient harem?  And yet…

Esther 2:15 Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her.

Normal people think that beautiful people have it easy.  But Esther literally feared for her life.  Her husband was an ungodly man with too much power, and he was an angry drunk (1:10-12 & 7:7), but Esther’s faith gave her direction and shelter.  I imagine her clinging to passages like this one: “For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.” (Psalm 27:5).  Anxiety, envy, disappointment, selfishness, irritability and bitterness are not beautiful.  But faith, with its companions joy and peace, are powerfully beautiful.

Esther knew how to influence a man.  She had a creative plan that took advantage of every aspect of her beauty.  She dressed in royal robes, she invited him to a mysterious feast, she created a intriguing conversation.  She invited her husband to experience her beauty, probably because she knew that her beauty could inspire him to be heroic.  And it did.

Esther had access to the king because she was “very attractive,” a quality that most women never need.  But her powerful influence came from a “gentle and quiet spirit.”  This is counter-intuitive to the modern woman who thinks she has to act masculine in order to be powerful.  But God created women to have powerful influence through beauty.  The phrase “gentle and quiet” isn’t about a woman’s personality, like a godly woman can’t work in construction.  The Bible doesn’t have any problem with capable, strong, educated, extroverted women.  “Gentle and quiet” refers to her heart.  A godly woman’s heart is not storming with anger or discontent.  A gentle and quiet heart is one that rests in God’s hands.  A heart that is set on the treasures of Christ will produce Biblical femininity.  Like Esther, a gentle and quiet wife is not harsh, brazen, boisterous, complaining or rude, but she worships God, even in difficult times. Gentle and quiet girls do not “go wild.”

Where does a gentle and quiet spirit come from?  The Gospel.  All shame and fear and selfishness are extinguished by the Gospel where a lady finds complete purity and a God worth trusting.  If she is not gentle and quiet, she shouldn’t worry so much about her behavior as she should seek to understand the Gospel better.  I suggest in all seriousness that there is nothing more beautiful in all creation than a woman who understands grace.  Not rules, grace.  Not behaviors, grace.  Only grace melts the heart and spills out in power to the people around us.

Esther was very attractive physically, but more importantly she had the imperishable heart beauty that influenced her husband for great good.  She created beauty and she invited her husband to enter her beautiful world.  He flourished in her beauty, changing the course of history.  True beauty is powerful.

All ordinary women can achieve the imperishable beauty of Esther and they do not need women’s magazines or Victoria’s Secret to do so.  Contrary to popular belief, normal men don’t need their wives to look like Esther, but they will fight to the death for wives who live like Esther.