Esther
The events recorded in the book of Esther happened between the first return of the exiles led by Zerubbabel and the second return led by Ezra. They give us an insight into life for the Jews remaining in Persia and how they were saved from genocide. A faithful Jewish man, Mordecai, and his cousin Esther, who he has brought up, are used by God to frustrate the evil plot of the king’s official, Haman, to destroy the Jews.
Providence and Preservation
Although the name of God is not mentioned once in this book, God is clearly behind the events working his purpose out. This is often referred to as providence; this is the invisible activity of God behind human society by which he sovereignly orders the normal processes of human affairs in order to carry out his intended purpose.
Even in the hostile, volatile and capricious world of human politics and the violence of that ancient world God sovereignly protects his own people through the work of Mordecai and Esther. We see here that, even when exiled in a foreign land and under threat from an evil and violent official, God preserves the seed of Abraham – the line of people from whom the Christ is going to come. This is a repeated theme throughout the Bible – God protects his people and so preserves his seed.
God’s People in God’s World
The book of Esther also shows how God wants to use his people in positions of influence in order to extend his purpose. The foreign powers of the Old Testament represent the kingdoms of this world and God raises up Esther to the kingdom for just the right time (4:14). Mordecai is also well-placed to be used by God and his faithfulness and wisdom causes him to be raised to a position of even greater influence.
God still wants his people not to retreat from the world but to be placed in positions of influence in the world in order to further the purpose of extending God’s Kingdom until the kingdoms of this world become the Kingdom of God and of his Christ (Revelation 11:15).
Authority and Honour
Another theme in this book is about how we respond to authority – especially in the home and in society. We witness the abuse of authority – of Ahasuerus over Vashti and of the king and Haman over the people. An attitude of submission and legitimate deference to authority is demonstrated by both Mordecai and Esther – but there is necessarily a limit to obedience. We see Esther have to go against the king’s edict to seek his favour and Mordecai refuses to bow down to Haman. It is good and right to be submitted to delegated authorities which are instituted by God (Romans 13:1) but our obedience to God is paramount and may sometimes require us to disobey men – we must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29).
We should also note that Haman abused his authority because he wanted honour from men. Mordecai refuses to give it because such honour that Haman sought was due only to God. Ultimately the man who sought honour for himself was forced to honour the simple, humble man and was hanged on the very gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. God truly does humblethe proud and exalts the humble (Matthew 23:12).
This background was written by Trevor Lloyd, the leading elder at Community Church Huddersfield and the founder of the Bible Tour Blog