The Writings of Esther

Imagine being part of one of the most unusual and strangest stories of God’s rescue of His people.  This isn’t the first time God has rescued His people.  This isn’t the first time God has used a woman to rescue His people.  But it is the first time God rescued His people using circumstances so amazing, that this story must be remembered. So a brilliant storyteller, probably Mordecai or Nehemiah, writes the story of Esther, which is really the story of God saving His people.

 When the events are completed, everyone can look back and see God’s hand in every moment.  But during the story people may have wondered if God was active at all.  For this reason, the storyteller decides to leave God’s name out of his story.  Readers can see God at work, without having to read His name.  This brilliant storyteller decides to let God’s actions speak for Him. 

The story begins 500 years before Christ’s birth.  Israel is in captivity.  They are learning to survive, living in a time and place that is foreign to their culture.  They are under the control of a nation not accepting of their God.  How do you live when everyone around you rejects God? How do you live with people who view your faith as a threat to their lives?  This storyteller knows this story is not just a story for the Jewish people.  It’s an important story for everyone.

The storyteller recounts the story like a puzzle, slowly putting the pieces together.  There are many pieces, anxious moments and dangerous possibilities happening in this story.  The queen rebels against her husband the king so the king decides to replace the queen. He holds a contest making it possible for Esther, secretly a Jewish girl, to become the queen and the deliverer of Israel.   Meanwhile, completely separate from this story, Esther’s uncle Mordecai, shows his loyalty to the king by exposing a plot to kill the king.  But the king knows nothing of Mordecai’s loyalty.  And in another story, Esther and Mordecai know nothing of the evil plan of the king’s “prime minister” Haman, to destroy Israel.  Plus Haman knows nothing of Esther being Jewish.  No one character in these stories know all the different events happening except God. God is at work.  He can see His bigger plan coming together even though no one else can see it. 

The story gets more interesting.  Haman wants all people to bow to him but Mordecai refuses to bow to Haman.  Haman wants to kill Mordecai and even builds gallows to hang Mordecai.  Haman hates Jews and tricks the king into decreeing that all Jews should be killed. Mordecai asks Esther to influence the king and save Israel. Esther holds a banquet giving the king such joy he offers her anything she wants.  In yet another twist, Esther does not ask the king to save Israel.  The storyteller increases the tension as Esther only asks for a second banquet. This gives time for yet another event to happen.  The puzzle is coming together.  During the night the king can’t sleep and has the history records read to him.  He learns of Mordecai’s act of bravery in saving the king and decides to reward Mordecai. And in the greatest twist in the story, the king asks Haman how to honor Mordecai, the man who has served him so well.  Finally, Esther tells the king she is Jewish and exposes Haman’s evil plot to kill all Jews. The king then finds Haman drunk on the couch with Esther and thinks Haman is trying to steal his queen.  The king sentences Haman to death on the gallows he built for Mordecai and all Israel is saved. 

Through all the twists and mysteries in this story, one truth stays constant.  God is in control and God’s purpose will come to pass.  The storyteller records Mordecai even telling Esther that if she chooses not to be used by God to save Israel, God will find another way.   No matter what the circumstances, God is at work and will fulfill His plan.  The storyteller uses people like Esther, Mordecai, Haman and the king to tell a story where God is the hero, fulfilling His rescue of Israel and the all people.