I am excited to say that my church is starting a preaching series through the Book of Esther. One commentator has said that this is the most overlooked and understudied book in the Bible. The Old Testament writers never referred to the book. The New Testament writers allude to three times, just once in each of the synoptic gospels. Luther questioned whether this book should even be in the Bible. Calvin wrote no commentary on this book. He only referred to it once in the Institutes. To the best of my knowledge, neither Luther nor Calvin preached from this book. That’s saying something, since these two preached seven days a week, two or three times a day, for over 20 years. The upcoming preaching series has prompted me to reflect on the book. I thought I would share my thoughts here.
In my view, the Book of Esther is one of the most fascinating stories in the Bible. It reads like a drama filled with palace intrigue, a powerful king, a brave queen, a cunning villain, and a surprising twist of events.
The book is a real head-scratcher. I am hard-pressed to find a hero among the characters in this book. Ahasuerus, the king, is a party boy, flaunts his wealth and power, and tries to strong-arm his wife into putting on a one-woman beauty pageant for his friends. Vashti the queen herself is strong-willed. She publicly refuses the king’s order at a time when that kind of resistance could lead to death. In her refusal she willfully breaks both custom and Persian law. Esther gets caught up, apparently willingly, with moral compromise. Her uncle Mordecai, who is supposed to be her guardian, puts her into one dangerous and compromising situation after another. Of course, there is Haman. Read the book to learn about this violent, self-serving, anti-semite.
Perhaps the most unusual feature of the book is this: God’s name is never mentioned. Not once. And yet, His presence is everywhere. The silence of His name highlights the power of His providence. Even when He seems hidden, He is still at work, guiding events for the good of His people. In fact, the only hero in the book is God Himself. Isn’t that weird? The most important person is never even named.
At its heart, Esther teaches us about God’s sovereignty and providence. He works through compromised, sinful people and challenging, complicated circumstances to accomplish His extraordinary purposes. Though unseen, God is never absent. The whole story reminds me of Psalm 2, where the kings of the earth plot against God’s anointed, while God laughs. In this book the most powerful nation on earth plots to eliminate God’s people, while God laughs. And, if you read the book, you will laugh with Him.
So, after reading through the book four or so times this week, my one big takeaway is that God can be trusted to keep His promises. He will not let either world powers or sinful compromise among His people frustrate His decree. This of course points us to Jesus. The powers of the earth sought to destroy Him. Yet He lives. Because God has been faithful to Israel, and faithful to Jesus, we can be certain that the one who is with us always (Mt. 28:20) will be faithful to us.
There is more to come. But that’s enough for today. I hope I have spurred you into reading this fascinating book.
TheoFaith 