Here is a very common question received via e-mail a few weeks ago:
Mike, what do you think of beauty pageants? Was it wrong for Esther to be a part of a pagan beauty contest and to become part of Xerxes harem? Thanks.
I’ll answer the second question first.
A lot of people have noticed that not once is God’s name mentioned anywhere in the book of Esther. However, His providential presence and guidance is obvious throughout the book.
Esther’s time was perilous for the Jews. Haman, the prime minister of Persia, had decided it was time to wipe out the Jewish population once and for all. To stymie this evil plan, God raised up a woman named Esther, who would make herself available to Him for the deliverance of God’s people. Esther, coincidentally, was both beautiful and intelligent, and the only way she could intervene on behalf of her people was to present herself before the king as a candidate in his beauty contest.
There is some question as to whether Esther volunteered to become a contestant or was forced into it. Esther 2:8 says this–
Esther also was taken to the king’s palace and entrusted to Hegai, who had charge of the harem.
This probably means that she had no choice in the matter. Whatever the case, voluteer or conscripted, Esther was no doubt God’s instrument to halt the wicked purposes of Haman.
As we read the whole book, it becomes obvious that God was in control of the situation from beginning to end and that Esther acted completely within the will of God. Esther was truly a remarkable woman; willing to risk her life for the sake of her people–
[I]f I perish, I perish.
While it is true that God used Esther’s beauty and courage to deliver His people from certain extinction, the story of Esther does not teach that young Christian women should use beauty pageants to achieve some sort of life goal or fulfill some kind of ambition. The survival of a nation is not at stake in any beauty contests these days and, in my opinion, it would be wise for young Christian women to avoid them.
