Would it surprise you if I told you there is a book of the Bible that does not even mention God? Maybe you think I am making that up. How could a book of the Bible leave out God? Isn’t God the focus of Scripture? Well, yes, God IS the focus of Scripture. But the book of Esther does not mention God. At least, not explicitly or by name. However, the sovereign hand of God is evident in the events recorded in the book of Esther.
There are times in life when we don’t see how God is working. He is that silent, invisible Presence behind the scenes. He is the omnipresent and omniscient Author of the Story who does not always tip His hand about the plot until the time is right.
Even though the book of Esther does not mention the name of God, it certainly has a place in the Biblical canon. It tells part of the story of the history of Israel. The point of this history is not just for posterity, but for theology. It is theological history, or the revelation of God and His purpose. God made certain promises to Abraham and his offspring (Gen. 12.1-3). Part of this promise was the Land. But in the book of Esther the people are not in the Land but are in exile because of their sin. Had God deserted them completely? Was God still going to honor His promise to Abraham? The book of Esther is showing us that God was still with His people even in the Exile. We know that another part of that promise to Abraham involved the coming of Christ, who is the “Seed” of Abraham (See Gal. 3.16). So God had not abandoned His purpose, His promise, or His people.
The book of Esther tells about a significant threat to the People of God in their exile and how that threat was put down. God is not mentioned explicitly in the book, but it is clear that He was delivering His people, just as He had done when they had been slaves in Egypt, by using individuals to do the work. These individuals were Esther and her uncle, Mordecai. It becomes clear that both Esther and Mordecai have been put in these positions at just the right time.
A wicked man named Haman rises to power. He is an Agagite, an Amalekite, descended from a lineage God had ordered Israel to destroy because they had opposed Israel when she had come out of Egypt (See Exodus 17.8, 14, 16; Deut. 25.17, 19; 1 Sam. 15.2-3, 33). Mordecai refuses to honor Haman. So Haman plots to not only kill Mordecai, but all of the Jews.
But through Esther’s and Mordecai’s bold efforts, the tables are turned. The Jews triumph over all those who sought their demise because of Haman, and the people establish the Feast of Purim to commemorate their victory. The victory of the Jews was made possible by the shrewd and courageous acts of Esther and Mordecai. They both made crucial decisions to act in just the right way and at just the right time. Though God is not mentioned, it is made clear that Esther and Mordecai are being helped by God and are acting as His servants in behalf of the Jewish people.
The book of Esther concerns a difficult period for the People of God. They are captives in a foreign land. The Persians were idolatrous and did not know or worship the God of Israel. It seemed like the enemies of the Jews had the upper hand, that God had deserted them, and that they would probably be wiped off the face of the earth.
God’s people are placed in circumstances that are far from ideal or perfect. They will face enemies and opposition as well as difficult problems that are not easy to resolve. The People of God will be tempted to compromise and disobey the Law of God in order to avoid pressure from the pagans. God’s people may face persecution, violent threats, loss of property, and even death. God does not always mitigate these circumstances and His people must learn how to pass through these times and remain faithful.
How can the People of God keep their faith in God in a context of hostility and opposition? Can the people count on God’s deliverance, or is it a futile exercise to do anything? Should the people of God be active or passive when facing opposition?
The book of Esther teaches the People of God today how to think and how to act when faced with difficult and hostile circumstances. Esther and Mordecai are excellent examples of how believers in every Age of history should conduct themselves in an evil world. The book of Esther is relevant for us today because our situation is similar to that of the Jews: we are exiles. We are strangers and aliens in the world. So how should we live in a place that is strange and potentially hostile to us?
We must avoid two extreme reactions not justified by Scripture: 1. we could compromise and just blend in with the surrounding culture and society. 2. We could try to physically separate ourselves and have little or no contact with the world around us. The third option might be called “righteous engagement.” This is where we neither compromise nor do we withdraw completely. Instead, we function in the world while refusing to be of the world.
We can count on God’s help because we are convinced that God is for us. The book of Esther is a perfect illustration of the principle that the Apostle Paul expounded in Romans: “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). God will not desert His People in their time of need. However, this does not mean that we are to be passive. We must trust God, yet we must also think and act in a way that serves the purpose of God.
Now it has often been noticed that those things that God works together for the good of His Elect may not be good in and of themselves. It is not that God only sends good things our way because we are His children. Rather, God is able to work out a good ending, one that is according to His purpose, even when the individual threads of our lives were less than ideal. Since there are no ideal situations in a fallen world, we must rely on God’s ability to work good things out of this mess.
The book of Esther is yet another Biblical illustration of God’s sovereign grace toward His people. We should remember that God had put the people of Israel in captivity, which is the setting for the book of Esther. But God was still God in Persia. He is over all of the nations, which is one of the things revealed to the prophet Daniel while he was also in captivity in Babylon and then Persia (See Daniel 2, 7-8). When bad things happen to the people of God, this does not in any way contradict the rule and reign of God. The prophet Ezekiel also received revelations of God in the time of captivity. Ezekiel, like Daniel, saw the Throne of God. Yes, God was still on His throne even though Jerusalem was destroyed, along with Solomon’s Temple. God was no regional deity like the false gods of the heathen. Ezekiel saw a Throne with wheels (See Ezek. 1)! God’s glory is everywhere in the Earth, even in places of captivity, and that means the people of God have a reason to have hope even in their exile.
Times of suffering, trial, and opposition from wicked men are not necessarily signs of God’s abandonment or displeasure. Now this contradicts a lot of popular teaching in the Church today. The Prosperity Gospel is embraced by millions who want to believe that the sign of God’s love and favor is a happy, healthy, wealthy, and successful life. We must conclude that if you are not enjoying prosperity in this sense then you must be spiritually deficient. During their darkest nights of trouble, when they need the most comfort and encouragement, many of God’s people are told that they lack faith or they would not be in that difficult situation! Now we know that God can prosper and deliver His people. That is illustrated in the book of Esther. But what I am utterly rejecting is the idea that God will spare His people from all adversity. Actually, the adversity may be evidence that God is working with His people.
For example, some adversity is the discipline of the Lord. This was certainly true of the Exile. God was treating Judah like a wayward son who needed discipline. Believers in Christ are to also accept hardship as discipline (Heb. 12.5-11).
Furthermore, adversity in the form of opposition is simply the natural consequence of living in a world that is wicked and opposed to God. God’s people have enemies, like wicked Haman, who hate them for no good reason, except perhaps because the people of God are different and won’t bow to the world’s demands. Jesus warned the disciples that the world would hate them because it hated Him and it hated His Father (John 15.18-25). So let us dismiss any foolish and unrealistic notion that if we are the people of God we will float through this world on a couch of ease and comfort!
But when we are in the midst of some kind of trouble it can become very difficult for us to see the hand of the Lord. In fact, we may conclude that He has abandoned us. It is not hard for us to feel that God is blessing us when everything is going the way we want. It is extremely difficult for us to see God’s hand in our troubles. And so this is why we need the book of Esther. God is hidden in the book of Esther. Sometimes God hides Himself from us and we cannot always see how He is working out His purpose. But the truth is that God never stops working. He is moving both people and events toward His ultimate goal, and we must learn to trust in the Lord, even when we can’t see Him.
Actually, theologians have a term for this invisible work of God: Providence. The book of Esther is a case-study in the providence of God. There is a series of events in Esther that we might call coincidence. A string of events just seem to happen at exactly the right time:
It all began when the King of Persia got drunk (1.10). In his drunken state he wants his queen, a woman named Vashti, to make an appearance before him and all of his nobles. For reasons every woman can immediately understand, Vashti refused to obey the King’s request (1.10-22). This was a brave move that cost Vashti the throne.
Esther just happens to be chosen as one of the young women to go before the King. She wins everyone’s approval, especially the King’s, and is chosen by him as the new queen (2.1-18).
Because Esther is in the palace, Mordecai, Esther’s uncle and guardian, is hanging around the palace and overhears a plot to assassinate the King (2.19-23). The deed is recorded, but Mordecai is not rewarded.
Meanwhile, Haman rises to power and is enraged that Mordecai will not honor him and so decides to build a gallows on which to hang Mordecai (5.9-14).
It just happened that one night the King couldn’t sleep and for some strange reason he wants to read the royal records where he is reminded of what Mordecai had done for him (6.1-3). Haman was at that very moment on his way to the King to get Mordecai hanged on the gallows Haman had constructed earlier. Instead, Haman is humiliated and Mordecai is honored (6.4-13).
All of that had to happen first so that when Esther finally reveals herself and the plot of Haman, Haman can be hung on the very gallows he built for Mordecai, while Mordecai is already known to the King and is therefore easily exalted to Haman’s place to undo the evil planned against the Jews (chapters 7-8). Because of Mordecai’s exalted position and favor with the King, everyone is now afraid to attack the Jews and they overcome their enemies (9.3-4).
Who could have made that happen so perfectly except for God? It is a story no Hollywood writer could invent! Only God can write an ending like that!! But the writer of Esther never mentions God in these events. We must conclude that this was an intentional omission. We are left to fill in the blanks and read between the lines. In this way Esther is different from every other book in the Bible. But even in its silence about God, the book of Esther is teaching us about God.
All of these events in the book of Esther are rather mundane and coincidental. Where is God in that? When we read the Bible we get used to God showing up and doing spectacular things for His people. In the Exodus He brought 10 plagues on Egypt. He parted the Red Sea. When God shows up we expect miracles, fire from heaven, the mouths of lions to be shut, and fiery furnaces not to burn human flesh. But that is not what happens in Esther. And that is probably not what happens in our lives. God is there, but He is hidden. If we are looking for God only in the thunder and lightning then we will probably conclude that He is not involved in our lives at all. But He IS there in a thousand little things that we usually do not see or that we simply chalk up to coincidence. Sometimes in retrospect we can look back and see the invisible hand of Providence in our lives. We see that if THIS thing had not happened like it did then THAT wonderful blessing would not have been possible. I suppose we will have to wait to see all of the ways God worked in our lives as He brought His dear children along the path to Glory.
We usually come to understand things in retrospect. But understanding what God is doing in the middle of any given situation, especially a trial, is impossible unless we were to have some kind of direct revelation. When we read the Bible we are used to God giving this direct revelation. But in Esther there is no such revelation. There is only silence. It is the silence that disturbs us. We usually want to know what God is up to. So how do we deal with the silence? We have two excellent examples in Esther and Mordecai.
We have to first deal with the fact, however, that Esther is initially reluctant and needs a rather heavy push to enter the fray and do her duty. She was afraid. If she went to the King without being invited, she was risking her very life. She lets Mordecai know her hesitancy to go to the King uninvited (4.11). She does not look like a person of faith here who is as bold as a lion. But that was not the end of Esther’s story. God was working with her and he was doing so through her uncle, Mordecai. Mordecai’s answer to Esther’s fear is probably the most important statement in the book of 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” (Esther 4:13-14)?
We should take notice of Mordecai’s confident faith in God, though he does not mention God: “Deliverance WILL rise for the Jews.” The only question was whether or not Queen Esther would be willing to play her part in God’s work. Even when we are afraid, and even when we do not understand what God is doing behind the scenes, we must always live by faith and according to what we know is right. We have to learn how to live wisely and to be bold when necessary. God will bless our efforts if we do these things. But if we draw back and allow fear to dominate God will not be pleased with us (See Heb. 10.39). God’s work and purpose will continue on without us.
Mordecai’s crucial word to Queen Esther shows us that the work of God must be done by the people of God. If God was working in the background, it was Mordecai and Esther who were working in the foreground. We don’t see what God was doing but we DO see what God’s people were doing.
Now this seems to be wrong. We are used to God performing mighty acts which are impossible for men to do. We have been trained to think that it is only God’s work that matters and our work only gets in the way of what God wants to do. So the best thing we can do is to just do nothing and let God do it all! What if Mordecai and Esther had reasoned like that? What if Esther had refused to go to the King? What if Mordecai and Esther had organized prayer meetings and then done nothing else at all? Mordecai was confident that deliverance would arise for the Jews. And then he purposed, with Esther’s help, to BE that very deliverance! Mordecai exhorted Esther to be active, not passive, and to do what was in her power to do. Later, when the King had exalted Mordecai, he was again proactive in countermanding the plot of Haman (8.8-14).
Mordecai seemed to be confident that whatever he and Esther did would be successful. Why was he so confident? Was he just arrogant? Some people do act out of pride for their own purposes and self-aggrandizement. That is exactly what Haman did. And Haman’s plans come to nothing. Haman is a perfect example of the fact that “pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). In this way Haman and Mordecai provide an instructive contrast. Haman is a proud man working for himself. Mordecai is a faithful man working for God. And we know who was successful. Mordecai was confident and proactive because he knew that no man can successfully oppose God, as Haman was doing, and, conversely, no man can fail who has aligned himself with God. So Mordecai knew he had to do something, but whatever he did would be successful because he was doing the will of God. You can’t beat God’s people because you can’t beat God! “If God is for us, who can be against us” (Rom. 8.31-39)?
At every stage of the story of Esther and Mordecai we see that there was a kind of synergy between those providential “coincidences” and the bold, wise actions of the human actors. It is as if Esther and Mordecai were in perfect sync with what God was doing and were making all the right moves and decisions at those crucial moments. Clearly the Jews were saved by the brave actions of Esther and Mordecai. While we cannot claim all the credit for the victory, we do participate in the purpose of God and what we do does matter.
But it is equally clear that God was working, albeit silently, to save His Covenant People. There are some things that only God can do. God’s people always trace their salvation back to what God has done. However, God does not simply thunder out of heaven and command salvation, like He did at the creation of the world. Salvation is a more complicated work than creation. The book of Esther is really about how God provides salvation. Esther is an Intercessor for the Jews who pleads for their lives before the King. Mordecai is an Exalted Ruler who is placed in a position of authority for the sake of his people. For the Jews to be saved and to be victorious over their enemies, they needed an Intercessor and an Exalted Ruler. Esther abandoned herself when she determined to go before the King and intercede for her people: “if I perish, I perish” (4.16). And she was received by the King and her intercession was heard. This reminds us of “the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (Romans 8:34). It was Mordecai’s position that made the final victory of the Jewish people possible. “For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai grew more and more powerful” (Esther 9:4). This reminds us of how God has exalted Jesus: “he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23). We are victorious because Jesus has been exalted. God has provided for our salvation by supplying both an Intercessor and an Exalted Ruler.
Salvation requires a sovereign God. What if God wanted to save His people, but could not carry out His desire? On the other hand, what if God did not want to save His people? Would anything that we do to save ourselves amount to anything? If God had not been working behind the scenes in the story of Esther, would anything that Esther or Mordecai did have been effective?
But there are some people who interpret the sovereignty of God to mean that there is nothing that we do that makes a difference. In fact, you can push sovereignty and predestination to such an extreme that even prayer becomes irrelevant. If everything is already determined by a sovereign God, then why do anything at all? If Esther and Mordecai had thought that way then they would have accepted the fate of the Jews as a God-ordained decree. So we must strike a balance between trusting in God’s sovereignty while also being willing to do the will of God in concrete ways. I do not mean to imply that we can earn salvation. Being saved by grace means we also do good works God has prepared beforehand for us to do (Eph. 2.8-10).
Trusting in the sovereignty of God does not imply that the people of God can afford to be simple or foolish. Esther and Mordecai both acted with forethought, wisdom, and tactfulness. Furthermore, the people of God are exiles and that means there will be a strong temptation to compromise with the pagan culture. We see this pressure on Mordecai when Haman is exalted by the King. Mordecai is the only one who refused to bow to Haman. God’s people must understand that the world is not really tolerant of those who will not conform. There are times when we have to draw a line and refuse to bow. Trusting in the sovereignty of God does not mean we expect God to make everyone our friend. It means that when we do have to take a stand, a stand we know will probably have consequences, we trust in our sovereign God to take care of us. “Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” (1 Peter 4:19) We don’t always know what will happen when we live to please God. But we trust Him no matter what happens to us.
Even after Esther exposes the plot of Haman and Mordecai is exalted to take Haman’s place, the Jews still have to fight (9.5, 16). But now their fighting is effectual and they triumph over their enemies. In some sense it had been Esther and Mordecai who actually won the victory, and then the rest of the Jews benefitted from that victory. The rest of the fighting was just a consolidation of that victory. Now the Christian is in a similar position. Christ has already won the decisive victory. He has spoiled Principalities and Powers through His Cross. And He is seated at the right hand of God in Heaven – far above all other earthly Powers. The plots of our Enemy, Satan, have been exposed and utterly defeated. However, there is still some fighting to do. God’s people still have enemies and we are still aliens and strangers in a world that is opposed to Christ. Even though we do not fight a physical kind of war, we must be armed for a spiritual battle and not intimidated by conflict. We are not confident in our own ability. But we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Rom. 8.37).
