The Book of Esther tells the story of Esther, an orphaned Jewish girl who becomes queen of Persia and risks her life to save her people from a royal decree ordering their destruction. With the guidance of her cousin Mordecai, Esther confronts King Ahasuerus and exposes Haman, the official who plotted the genocide of the Jews.
The story is an account of selfless courage and of good triumphing over evil, but above all it is a demonstration of God’s guiding hand of providence. This deliverance of the Jews is the basis for the feast of Purim, which Jews celebrate every year to this day.
The Historical Setting of Esther
The story is set in the ancient Persian Empire, more than 100 years after the Babylonian exile of the Israelites from their land. While some Jews did return to Jerusalem, many did not. The book of Esther is about a Jewish community living in Susa, the capital city of the ancient Persian empire.
Cyrus, the king of Persia, conquered Babylon in 539 BC. Babylon had conquered Judah about 60 years earlier and had taken thousands of Jews into captivity in Babylon. The year after Cyrus defeated Babylon, he issued a decree that allowed the Jews to return to their homeland in Israel. Many of them did so, but a significant number of Jews decided to continue living where they were.
Darius was king of Persia a few years after Cyrus. The son of Darius was Ahasuerus, who ruled Persia from 485 to 465 BC. Ahasuerus is the Hebrew transliteration of his Persian name. The Greek form of his name is Xerxes. It is this Ahasuerus or Xerxes that is the king in this story.
The events take place in the Persian capital city of Susa, also called Shushan, in 478 BC. The account presents a Persian emperor who makes momentous decisions for trivial reasons and a wicked minister who takes advantage of the king’s compliance.
The Opening Feasts and the Fall of Queen Vashti
The story begins when the king of Persia throws two elaborate banquet feasts that last a total of 187 days, all for the grandiose purpose of displaying his greatness and splendor. This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush.
At that time King Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa, and in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his nobles and officials. The military leaders of Persia and Media, the princes, and the nobles of the provinces were present.
For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. When these days were over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days, in the enclosed garden of the king’s palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest who were in the citadel of Susa.
The garden had hangings of white and blue linen, fastened with cords of white linen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and other costly stones.
Wine was served in goblets of gold, each one different from the other, and the royal wine was abundant, in keeping with the king’s liberality. By the king’s command each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions, for the king instructed all the wine stewards to serve each man what he wished.
Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes. On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at.
But when the attendants delivered the king’s command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Scripture does not state the reason for her refusal. She might have been insulted by the king’s intoxication, or perhaps she did not want to be made a public spectacle.
Then the king became furious and burned with anger. Since it was customary for the king to consult experts in matters of law and justice, he spoke with the wise men who understood the times and were closest to the king.
“According to law, what must be done to Queen Vashti?” he asked. “She has not obeyed the command of King Xerxes that the eunuchs have taken to her.”
Then Memukan replied in the presence of the king and the nobles, “Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes.”
“Therefore, if it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed, that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. Also let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she.”
The king and his nobles were pleased with this advice, so the king did as Memukan proposed. He sent dispatches to all parts of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, proclaiming that every man should be ruler over his own household, using his native tongue.
The decision that Ahasuerus made would become part of the law of the Medes and the Persians, which could not be changed because Persian pride would suffer if someone suggested that their laws could be improved.
Esther’s Family and Identity
The banquet of chapter 1 occurred in the third year of the reign of Ahasuerus, and the selection of a new queen took place in the seventh year. The king ordered that his agents go throughout the kingdom and gather attractive, unmarried young women for the king to consider as his new queen.
The story now focuses on one of these women, Hadassah or Esther, and her adoptive father, Mordecai. Mordecai was of the tribe of Benjamin and lived in the capital city of Susa.
Mordecai had reared his first cousin, Hadassah, after her parents died, so he must have been a good bit older than she. Esther was the daughter of Abihail. Her Hebrew name, Hadassah, means “myrtle.” Her Greek name Esther was apparently Persian for “star,” though some have connected the name to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar.
Esther was an orphaned Jewish girl who was cared for by her uncle Mordecai. She lived in Susa, the capital of Persia. The Persians had captured Babylon, and though some Jews had returned to Jerusalem, Esther and Mordecai had not.
Many Jews have had and continue today to have a Hebrew name as well as a name from the surrounding culture, such as Daniel, who was also called Belteshazzar and the apostle Saul, known as Paul.
“Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite” (Esther 2:5).
Esther 2:5 lists Mordecai’s ancestors. These references to his ancestors are significant. One important fact about a person in Jewish eyes was the identity of his father and his ancestors.
These references to Mordecai’s family connect him to the tribe of Benjamin and, according to the genealogy, to Kish. This family tree leads us back to Israel’s first king, Saul. Esther was the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai and Esther were of the lineage of King Saul.
The importance of family responsibility and family reputation is a lesson from which we could profit today. Mentioning a person’s forbears also gave that person a reputation to live up to.
Esther Becomes Queen
Esther’s beauty qualified her to be one of the candidates for queen. Esther received special treatment during her time of preparation to meet with the king, which indicates that the hand of the Lord was with her.
Esther did not reveal her identity as a Jew because Mordecai advised her not to. Mordecai understandably feared that a Jewish woman might not be accepted as queen of Persia.
Esther was of foreign ancestry and was the descendant of people who were formerly captives. In addition, anti-Jewish feeling was strong throughout the ancient world. The fact that Esther did not disclose her Jewish ancestry at this point sets the stage for when she does reveal it dramatically later in the story.
When Esther’s turn came for the king to consider her, she found favor with all who saw her. This was another indication of God’s providence.
King Ahasuerus delighted in Esther more than all the other women. The narrator tells us that Esther “found favor and kindness with him.” And so the king chose Esther to be his new queen.
Esther was an ordinary person until God placed her in the palace as a queen. God would use Esther’s royal position in an amazing way: to save his people.
Mordecai Foils an Assassination Plot
Following Esther’s selection, an incident took place that foreshadows a coming event. Mordecai learned of an assassination plot against King Ahasuerus by two of his doorkeepers.
Mordecai told Esther, and Esther informed the king. An investigation confirmed Mordecai’s accusation. The conspirators were hanged and a royal scribe recorded Mordecai’s act of service in the book of the chronicles of the king.
Mordecai “just happens” to overhear two royal guards plotting to murder the king. He informs Esther, who then tells the king, and Mordecai gets credit for saving the king’s life.
The king, however, does not immediately reward Mordecai. This forgotten act of loyalty later becomes central to the reversal of Haman’s plans.
Haman’s Hatred and the Decree Against the Jews
King Ahasuerus promoted a man named Haman to the position we would call grand vizier and ordered all of his servants to pay homage to Haman.
Haman was not a Persian but an Agagite, a descendant of the ancient Canaanites. When Mordecai saw Haman, he refused to kneel.
No doubt Mordecai knew the character of Haman, who was the villain in this story, and refused to give honor to a dishonorable man. Although the new grand vizier had all the wealth and power he could ever want, he lacked one thing: subservience from Mordecai; and this infuriated Haman.
Perhaps out of an overpowering desire for revenge, and perhaps because he knew that if one Jew refused to honor him all Jews would do the same, Haman resolved to wipe out the Jewish people in the Persian Empire.
When Haman finds out that Mordecai is Jewish, he successfully persuades the king to enact a decree to destroy all the Jews. The threat is not limited to Mordecai; Haman’s personal vendetta becomes a plan to annihilate an entire people.
We today might find his scheme incredible if we did not know of repeated anti-Jewish campaigns throughout history and especially the attempt to destroy the Jews of Europe by Nazi Germany. The book confronts the modern reader with important themes, including the evils of genocide and racism.
The Casting of Lots and the Date of Destruction
They decide the date of this horrific day in an outrageous way. Haman rolls ancient dice, called pur in Hebrew, and the decree is set.
The lots were cast in the month of Nisan, the month in which Jews observe Passover. This is significant because Passover commemorates God’s deliverance of Israel from an earlier threat.
Eleven months later, on the 13th of Adar, all the Jews will be executed. The ethnic cleansing that Haman hoped to accomplish was to be carried out eleven months later.
After the decree was written, translated, and distributed throughout the empire with the king’s approval, the king and his cold-blooded grand vizier sat down calmly to have a drink.
Haman and the king throw a party to celebrate the decree. Meanwhile, the Jews face the prospect of destruction throughout the Persian Empire.
Esther and Mordecai Respond to the Crisis
When Mordecai heard about this decree that endangered his people, he went into mourning, as did all the Jews.
When Esther learned the reason for Mordecai’s grief, her first reaction was to explain why she was powerless to do anything to stop the decree. If she approached the king uninvited, she risked being put to death.
No one could appear before the king unsummoned, not even the queen, his wife. Anyone who did risked execution.
Esther could choose to stay safe in her role as queen or risk her life by going to the king unannounced. Esther made her decision and asked Mordecai and the Jewish people to pray and fast for her.
Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Mordecai believed that God would rescue His people. Help for the Jews would come from somewhere, Mordecai stated, and then he said, “and who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”
God would deliver His people, Mordecai said, and Esther just might be His chosen instrument to bring this about.
“If I Perish, I Perish”
Esther resolves to go to the king, and she asks the Jews to devote three days to fasting and prayer before she goes.
“Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
Esther needed to be strong and courageous to do the right thing, even if it meant her death. She humbled herself by fasting and sought the Lord for help.
The entire Jewish community fasted and prayed for God’s deliverance. Esther’s courage did not mean that she felt no fear; it meant that she acted faithfully despite the danger.
Esther’s First Banquet
The king’s love for Esther led him to receive her and to offer her anything she wanted, up to half the kingdom.
Her first request was for the king and Haman to attend a banquet that day. At the banquet, she requested that they return for another banquet the next day.
Esther hosts the king and Haman at a banquet, where she makes a special request that they both come to an even more exclusive banquet the next day.
She might have taken these cautious steps to see how receptive the king was and to snare the egotistical Haman in his own trap. Esther delays the banquet, and this delay becomes part of the carefully arranged pace of the story.
Haman left the first banquet full of pride; but when Mordecai once more refused to bow to him, his bubble burst.
Haman Plans Mordecai’s Execution
Haman pours out his frustrations to his wife and friends, who suggest that Haman have Mordecai executed as an example to other Jews and as a way to satisfy Haman’s cruel desire for revenge.
Haman orders that a custom gallows be constructed immediately. He sees Mordecai in the street, and when Mordecai does not bow, Haman fumes with anger.
It seems things cannot get any worse for the Jews or for Mordecai. But all of a sudden, the story pivots in chapter 6.
The Sleepless King and the Great Reversal
That night, the king cannot sleep, so he has the royal chronicles read to him. Perhaps this was to build up his pride or maybe it was a sure way to be put to sleep.
This reading reminded King Ahasuerus of the time that Mordecai intervened and thus saved the king’s life; and he also learned that nothing had ever been done to honor Mordecai for his help.
The providential hand of the Lord can be seen when this clueless King of Persia is unable to sleep and asks for the records to be read to him. It just so happens the record of when Mordecai saved the king’s life is recounted.
No doubt it was providential that the king heard this portion of his record that night. Just then Haman entered the palace to request that Mordecai be executed.
Before Haman could make his request, the king asked him what he thought should be done for the person whom the king wished to honor. Haman, assuming that the person in question was himself, pulled out all the stops in describing a lavish ceremony.
Haman in pride thinks the king is speaking of him and provides his wish list. King Xerxes then commands Haman to perform this wish list for Mordecai.
The king agrees and orders Haman to honor Mordecai in just this way. Haman has to lead Mordecai about the city on a royal horse.
Haman is mortified by having to do so, and the irony of this turn of events also was probably not lost on the citizens of Susa. This reversal forms a turning point in the story, beginning with Haman’s downfall and ending with Mordecai’s rise to power.
Esther Exposes Haman
Haman arrives at the second banquet a discouraged and embittered man. In his mind, he had been at the top but now he could hardly imagine being lower.
Finally Esther makes her request of the king; her request is for her very life and the lives of her people. She says that they had been sold in order to be destroyed.
She was referring to Haman’s offer to pay ten thousand talents to those who carried out the slaughter of the Jews. If her people had only been sold into slavery, Esther continued, she would not have said anything; but this threat prompted her request for the king’s help.
King Ahasuerus is shocked and demands to know who would do this. Esther identifies the culprit as Haman, the other guest at her table, who had fallen into the trap that he had set for himself by his own pride.
Now the king sees the grand vizier for what he is. Furious, the king storms out of the banquet to think things over.
Haman, meanwhile, knows that he is a dead man and begins pleading with Esther to intervene on his behalf. His entreaties are so desperate that he falls across the couch where Esther is reclining for the banquet.
At this point the king returns and sees what looks like Haman attempting to assault the queen. At the word of the king, the courtiers cover Haman’s face in preparation for his execution.
Haman’s Downfall
Haman is put to death at the very time and on the very gallows where he had hoped to put Mordecai to death.
It is an ironic and grisly way to go. Haman’s punishment corresponds to the fate he had prepared for his enemy.
King Ahasuerus gives Esther the house of Haman, since the property of condemned criminals reverts to the state. Esther in turn appoints Mordecai to be in charge of this property, which apparently was of considerable worth.
Of even greater significance is the fact that the king gives Mordecai his signet ring, the same one that Haman had used to authorize the edict he had issued against the Jews.
This means that Mordecai is now grand vizier, with all of the power and prestige that Haman had once enjoyed and that he had abused in that role.
The Counter-Decree and the Jewish Defense
Haman’s decree calling for the annihilation of the Jews remains on the books because the law of the Medes and the Persians cannot be changed.
At the request of Esther and Mordecai, the king authorizes them to write a new decree that will help defend their people. He tells the new grand vizier to sign it with the king’s name and seal it with the royal seal.
No more authoritative law exists in the empire. The new edict allows the Jews to gather together for the purpose of defending themselves.
The wording of Mordecai’s decree is almost exactly the same as what Haman’s edict had called for, except now it applies to the enemies of the Jews. Now the Jews are on equal footing with their enemies.
The day when the Jews can carry this out is the thirteenth of Adar, the same day on which Haman’s law had called for the Jews to be attacked.
Copies of the law are distributed in Susa and in all of the provinces. It is translated into the various languages that are used in the empire, including the language of the Jews.
The enemies of the Jewish people are exposed. We see that the fear of the Lord is upon all the officials and provinces.
The Jewish Victory
Eventually, the decreed day comes, and the Jews triumph over their enemies. First, they destroy Haman’s family along with any other Persian officials who had joined Haman’s plot.
The next day, the Jewish people are allowed to destroy anyone who plotted against them. Rather than being annihilated, the Jewish people defeat their enemies on the thirteenth of Adar.
One very interesting detail in chapter nine is that three times we are told that the people did not touch any of the plunder. This fact brings the story full circle from Saul’s rebellion.
The book of Esther indicates that many people in the Persian Empire converted to Judaism. The implication from the text is that people recognized the power of God through what had taken place and were convinced that God was indeed worthy of being worshiped.
The events that had unfolded involving Esther, Haman, and Mordecai told the people not that the Jews were merely lucky or that they had somehow manipulated things to gain the upper hand, but that the God of the Jews was truly Lord over all the earth.
The Origin of Purim
The Jewish people’s deliverance is followed by great joy and celebration because they have been rescued from annihilation.
The story then tells how Esther and Mordecai establish another decree. This great reversal and rescue will be memorialized by an annual two-day feast called Purim, named after Haman’s fateful dice.
This deliverance is commemorated by the inauguration of the Jewish festival of Purim on the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar, from mid-February through mid-March.
After this, Mordecai, Esther, and Jewish people everywhere hold banquets and feasts to celebrate the new decree.
Mordecai’s Rise to Power
The book concludes with a short epilogue. Mordecai is elevated to second-in-command in the kingdom, and we are told of his royal greatness and splendor as the Jews thrive in exile.
The book ends with Mordecai as the king’s chief minister. The man who once mourned under a decree of death now holds the highest royal office under the king.
The work is a composite of reversals in the lives of individuals and communities. Mordecai passes from the threat of death to royal honors within twenty-four hours.
Esther’s Courage and Character
Esther’s character matures over the course of the narrative. As a girl she is recruited for the king’s harem because of her physical beauty.
At a key moment in the book, she rises to the challenge to risk her life for the salvation of her people. At that point, she transforms her status as queen from a position of personal privilege to one of power and public responsibility.
Esther’s story took place in Persia about 100 years after the Israelites had been taken into captivity. Esther was an orphan in a strange land. She was living as an exile. She was not wealthy and did not have status in the land.
She was a “nobody” until she entered the beauty contest. Yet God used her royal position to save his people from annihilation.
Esther was an ordinary woman that God used to do extraordinary things. She had to decide whether to remain silent or to use her position for the sake of others.
Mordecai’s Role in the Story
Mordecai appears first as an adoptive father, whose solicitude for Esther leads him to the king’s gate, where he foils a plot to assassinate the king.
When he learns of the edict against the Jews, he encourages Esther to confront the king. His counsel helps Esther understand that her position carries a responsibility beyond her personal safety.
Mordecai is presented as Esther’s older and wiser cousin. He is also the man who saved the king’s life and was later raised to the position formerly held by Haman.
Mordecai, the “ace” in the hand that God dealt, becomes the king’s chief minister. His elevation is one of the book’s central reversals.
Saul, Agag, Haman, Esther, and the Theme of Reversal
In 1 Samuel 15, God commanded King Saul to execute judgment on the Amalekites for how they attacked the children of Israel when they left Egypt.
“Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you came out of Egypt, how he confronted you on the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God.”
Scripture tells us the Amalekites showed no mercy to the “stragglers,” including women, children, elderly people, disabled people, and all those who were completely exhausted by their journey across the Red Sea and through the desert.
Saul is called to completely destroy all Amalekites as an instrument of God’s divine judgment to fulfill Deuteronomy 25:19. Instead, he only obeys half of the command.
He eliminates most of the people but saves King Agag and plunders some of the spoils along with the best sheep and oxen. He blames the soldiers for taking the plunder and says he only wanted to sacrifice the choice livestock to the Lord in Gilgal.
Samuel blasts him in 1 Samuel 15:22-23: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”
“For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king.”
Saul’s rebellion and presumptuous sin cost him the kingdom, which was given to David, and caused him a life of torment. But that was not all.
His sin affected the children of Israel 500 years later, when a descendant of King Agag rose to a royal position in a Persian kingdom. His name was Haman.
This descendant of the Amalekites had a longstanding hatred of the Jewish people, and it is no wonder Haman plotted to utterly destroy them.
Saul failed the Lord’s commands, but Mordecai and Esther are God’s instruments to bring redemption for Saul’s failure. The people who refuse to take the plunder in Esther’s story bring the narrative full circle from Saul’s disobedience.
The Hidden Presence of God
One striking feature of the Hebrew version of the Book of Esther is that no divine names or titles are employed here; God is not mentioned at all.
Esther is a curious book in the Bible because God is never mentioned, not once. This may strike you as odd because the Bible is supposed to be a book about God.
However, this is a brilliant technique by the anonymous author. It is an invitation to read the story looking for God’s activity, and there are signs of it everywhere.
The story is full of odd coincidences and ironic reversals that force you to see God’s purpose at work behind every scene. The king’s sleeplessness, the reading of the royal records, Mordecai’s forgotten service, Esther’s position, and the timing of the banquets all contribute to the story’s providential design.
This would not be unusual in a book whose subject matter or outlook was more secular, but Esther is a book in which the religious element is prominent.
The Jews fast in order to be delivered from imminent peril, experience deliverance at the eleventh hour, and commemorate their deliverance with an annual festival. Moreover, there are indirect references to divine activity, for example, in Esther 4:14.
Far from being secular, Esther pushes us to look at our own lives and consider how God might be actively working behind the scenes, even in the face of great threat or tragedy, to accomplish his good and perfect purposes.
Greek Additions and Different Versions of Esther
The book has come down to us in two versions: an older Hebrew version, and a Greek version based on a text similar to the Hebrew, but with additions and alterations.
The Greek additions to Esther have many explicit references to God, as well as explicit descriptions of the beliefs and emotional states of Esther and Mordecai.
They also elaborate on the content of the edicts from Ahasuerus as illustrations of Gentile attitudes toward Jews. While there are only a few contradictions between these Greek additions and the older Hebrew text, reading the book with these additions is a very different experience from reading the book without them.
The additions to Esther are an excellent example of a process that occurs throughout the Bible: further reflections on the story become part of the story itself.
The book was probably written in the third or second century B.C. The Greek version of the book dates from approximately 116 to 48 B.C.
Although the Book of Esther was questioned by some early Christians, even St. Jerome, the whole book, including the Greek additions, was included in the canon of Scripture by the Council of Trent.
The Literary Design of the Book
The book is a free composition, not a historical document. Its fictional character can be illustrated by many examples of literary motifs.
The use of extensive conversation moves the plot along. The motif of concealment is also important: Esther is a Jew related to Mordecai, but Haman does not know it, even as he comes to her banquet in chapter 7.
A whole series of banquets structures the work: two by the king, one by Vashti, three by Esther, and the joyful banqueting that ends the book.
Further artificialities are clear in the way characters are paired, such as Mordecai and Esther, and in the delays and the speed of the action.
Esther delays the banquet, but the tempo of chapters 5-6 is particularly fast. Mordecai passes from the threat of death to royal honors within twenty-four hours.
There are many exaggerations and even sarcastic implausibilities, including the effect of Vashti’s disobedience. There are also huge ironies, such as Haman’s assumption that the king wishes to honor him.
The entire book is structured as one large reversal, right down to the details. The king’s splendor, feasts, and decrees in chapter 1 correspond to Mordecai’s splendor, feasts, and decrees in chapter 10.
Esther and Mordecai first saved the king in chapter 2, and in the end they saved all the Jewish people in chapter 9.
Haman’s elevation, edicts, and banquet with the king in chapter 3 are reversed by Mordecai’s elevation, edict, and banquet in chapter 8.
Esther and Mordecai’s two planning scenes in chapters 4 and 8 and Esther’s two special banquets in chapters 5 and 7 form a frame around the greatest reversal in the whole story: Haman’s humiliation and Mordecai’s exaltation in chapter 6.
Moral Ambiguity and Faithfulness
Another fascinating feature of the book is the moral ambiguity of the characters. There is a lot of drinking, anger, sex, and murder, and Mordecai and Esther participate in at least some of it.
Also notable is their violation of many commands in the Torah, such as marrying Gentiles or eating impure food.
The story does not seem to put them forward as impeccable moral examples, nor does it endorse all of their behavior. However, they are presented as models of trust and hope in the midst of terrifying circumstances.
The book of Esther says that God can and does work in the mess and moral ambiguity of human history, using the faithfulness of even morally compromised people to accomplish his purposes.
The book of Esther asks us to trust in God’s providence even when we cannot see it working. That requires a posture of hope, to believe that, no matter how horrible things get, God is committed to redeeming his good world and overcoming evil.
Lessons from Queen Esther
God May Be Working Even When He Seems Hidden
We may not see God working in our lives, but He is even when we do not see it. God has a plan and He works to accomplish it.
This is important to remember when we are discouraged, defeated, or dealing with a great tragedy. It is important to remember when we are waiting. It is also important to remember when things are going well.
God is God and we are not. In our own lives, we might not understand why, but we do know who is in control.
Esther’s story illustrates trust when she goes before the king. She finds courage in the words from Mordecai: “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
Fasting and Prayer Prepare the Heart
Esther knew the importance of fasting and prayer and called upon others to fast and pray for and with her.
Fasting causes us to look to God and focus on Him as our source for life and ministry. It gives us a time away from our routine to focus on Him and His calling in our lives.
Fasting is a spiritual discipline that we may practice when we are faced with a major decision or circumstance like Esther, but it can also be part of our regular spiritual practices.
Wise Counsel Helps Us Face Difficult Decisions
Throughout the Book of Esther, we read of Esther listening to Mordecai and trusting his advice.
As God puts mentors in our lives, we can thank Him for them, and then listen to them. We can also ask them to pray with and for us as we make difficult decisions or as we need to have courage.
Esther knew that in going to see the king she was going against the law. She not only asked all the Jews to pray for her after listening to Mordecai, she had the courage to speak the words, “And if I perish, I perish.”
God Uses Ordinary People
God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. He also uses those who have experienced hardships or are in some way handicapped.
Even though Esther was removed from Persian nobility, God still had a plan and position for her. God could see the strengths that Esther possessed and understood how to use her traits for the greater good of the nation.
Esther was an orphan in a strange land, but God used her to save her and the Jews from genocide.
Courage Means Doing What Is Right
Joshua 1:9 says we should be strong, courageous, and not afraid. Esther had to make a difficult choice.
There will be moments when you have to make big decisions that will affect your life and the lives of others. Some decisions will be very clear to you and easy to make.
Other choices will pit what you want to do against what you know is right. Like Esther, you might be afraid of where some of your decisions could lead.
In Deuteronomy 31:6, God promises to go with you and never leave you. When we choose to go where God leads, we can courageously do the right thing “for such a time as this.”
Esther and the Hope of a Better King
This in-depth study of the book of Esther shows the vastness of the Lord. He is perfect in judgment and will repay the wrongs done to His people even if it is generations later.
He truly is sovereign over the universe. This makes us realize His holiness in the fact that the whole book of Esther points to a better kingdom and flawless King.
This King perfectly obeyed the commands of the LORD. One day He will return, and our tables will turn, our fortunes will gloriously be reversed.
“For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”
“In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.”
“Although He was a son, He learned obedience through what He suffered. And being made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”
