Ahasuerus, also called Xerxes the Great, took Esther as his wife and queen. She appears to have remained on the throne after Xerxes’s death and when Artaxerxes Longimanus became King. There is no record of Esther’s death.
We find Esther seated on the throne beside her son in Nehemiah 2:6, “And the king (Artaxerxes) said unto (Nehemiah), the queen also sitting by him.”
Xerxes took Esther as his queen at a very young age, several years after being crowned King. Let’s assume she was between 16 and 20 years of age. When the King died, Esther would have been about 35. She would remain by Artaxerxes side; how long is unknown. But the King did have another queen, Damaspia, the mother of Xerxes 2ed. When the King died in 425 B.C., the records say she died.
Why is this information concerning Esther important? Queen Esther most likely had a great deal of influence on Xerxes. Esther 2:17, “And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight --- so he sat the royal crown upon her head and made her queen ---.”
After the King’s death, she remained on the throne as queen in the reign of her son, Artaxerxes Longimanus.
She was to complete her ultimate mission for the LORD. That mission was to influence both Xerxes and Artaxerxes into letting the Jews return to Zion to rebuild the city and the Temple, thus fulfilling all the ancient prophesies.
It would be no stretch to claim that Artaxerxes’ sympathy and consideration for the Jews probably had much to do with the queen’s witness, influence, loyalty, and uprightness to him and his father.
Throughout the Old Testament, we can witness this pattern, a pattern in which the LORD knowingly would choose a woman to be instrumental in accomplishing his purposes: examples are Sarah, Rebekah, Miriam, Deborah, Jael, and others.
Considering all the players and the historical perspective, it would be easy to make the case that there was far more to Queen Esther’s mission than the initial saving of the Jews from the villain, Haman. Her obedience to the LORD laid much of the framework for the eventual restoration of Jerusalem, the wall, street, and Temple. Artaxerxes Longimanus decree in 457 B.C. triggered Daniel's prophesy of 490 years, Daniel 9:24.
We find Esther seated on the throne beside her son in Nehemiah 2:6, “And the king (Artaxerxes) said unto (Nehemiah), the queen also sitting by him.”
Xerxes took Esther as his queen at a very young age, several years after being crowned King. Let’s assume she was between 16 and 20 years of age. When the King died, Esther would have been about 35. She would remain by Artaxerxes side; how long is unknown. But the King did have another queen, Damaspia, the mother of Xerxes 2ed. When the King died in 425 B.C., the records say she died.
Why is this information concerning Esther important? Queen Esther most likely had a great deal of influence on Xerxes. Esther 2:17, “And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight --- so he sat the royal crown upon her head and made her queen ---.”
After the King’s death, she remained on the throne as queen in the reign of her son, Artaxerxes Longimanus.
She was to complete her ultimate mission for the LORD. That mission was to influence both Xerxes and Artaxerxes into letting the Jews return to Zion to rebuild the city and the Temple, thus fulfilling all the ancient prophesies.
It would be no stretch to claim that Artaxerxes’ sympathy and consideration for the Jews probably had much to do with the queen’s witness, influence, loyalty, and uprightness to him and his father.
Throughout the Old Testament, we can witness this pattern, a pattern in which the LORD knowingly would choose a woman to be instrumental in accomplishing his purposes: examples are Sarah, Rebekah, Miriam, Deborah, Jael, and others.
Considering all the players and the historical perspective, it would be easy to make the case that there was far more to Queen Esther’s mission than the initial saving of the Jews from the villain, Haman. Her obedience to the LORD laid much of the framework for the eventual restoration of Jerusalem, the wall, street, and Temple. Artaxerxes Longimanus decree in 457 B.C. triggered Daniel's prophesy of 490 years, Daniel 9:24.
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