I’d like to tell you one of my favorite stories. It is an awesome story just for a story. It would make a great movie. But what makes it all the more awesome is that it’s a true story. The official record of events is the book of Esther in the OT, if you’d like to turn there with me.
A fascinating feature of this book of the Bible is that there is not a single mention of God anywhere in it. Nor is there any mention of anything closely associated with God. There is no mention of prayer or worship. There’s no mention of the Scriptures or God’s commands or the temple of God. There is no mention of angels or satan or anything spiritual or supernatural. And it appears to be deliberate, there are places in the book where you know the characters were praying fervently, but it doesn’t say it. There are places where you know the people are thinking or talking about God, but it doesn’t say it. Anything associated with God is kept completely in the background. So some people have wondered, “What’s this book doing in the Bible, if it doesn’t mention anything about God? Isn’t the Bible about God?” Well, the book actually has a whole lot to say about God.
The rest of the OT Scriptures prepare us to see the hand of God all through the events of this story, even though He is not mentioned. The OT tells us over and over again that God works behind the scenes. So much that happens in the world and our individual lives are not just matters of chance and natural processes and people making decisions, God is very involved. We find in the Scriptures that God brings down the wicked and prideful and raises up the humble and righteous to take their place. We find that God brings upon the head of the wicked the evil they intended to do to others. Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is as a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He will.” The books of Ezra and Nehemiah, right before this one, speak of God stirring the hearts of rulers to do certain things and to like certain people and grant them things they ask for. In Nehemiah you read of God putting ideas into people’s minds. All of that prepares you to see God all through the book of Esther even though He’s never mentioned.
The deliberate absence of any mention of God or things associated with God in this book of Esther is a brilliant method of illustrating what is perhaps its main message, and that is that even when God seems to be absent, He’s there. And even you can’t see Him working, He’s working. It gives us some practice in how we are to look at the events of our own lives and the events we see unfolding in the world. We’re not to look at what’s happening in our lives and the world as just a matter of chance and natural processes and people making decisions. We’re to realize the God of the Bible is still alive and well and working behind the scenes. We’re to know that and try to discern what He’s up to.
The King’s Divorce (1:1-22)
These events took place in the fifth century B.C. The Persian empire was ruling the world at the time. The Persian king was Ahasuerus, also known as Xerxes I. I’m going to call him Xerxes because I find it easier to say than Ahasuerus.
The story begins in chapter 1 with King Xerxes divorcing his wife, the queen. He was hosting a conference for all the important people of his kingdom, and he was showing off his exorbitant wealth and splendor. And there was one more treasure he wanted to show off, and that was his beautiful wife, Vashti. She was hosting a party of her own at the time for all the important women of the kingdom. The king sent servants to fetch Vashti. She told the king’s servants, “No. Tell the king I’m not coming. I’m busy.” This put Xerxes in an embarrassing situation and he was furious.
He asked the wise men who accompanied him how he should handle this disrespect of his wife. They said, “If you do nothing, other wives are going to think they too can treat their husbands like that. We could have a women’s rebellion and national crisis on our hands. So we advise that you make a clear statement to your empire about how husbands are to be treated by divorcing her right here and now, and issuing a royal order that Vashti is never to set foot in your presence again. Then let her royal position be given to another who is better than she.”
That language “let her royal position be given to another who is better than she,” sounds much like what Samuel the prophet said centuries before to King Saul, after he disobeyed the Lord multiple times; Samuel said to him, “The Lord is giving the kingdom to another who is better than you,” referring to David (I Samuel 15:28).
Xerxes followed the advice of his advisors. Vashti was divorced and demoted.
The Beauty Queen Contest (2:1-18)
Chapter 2 is mainly how Vashti was replaced by one better than she. Xerxes’ advisors suggested a sort of empire wide beauty queen contest and that he take the winner as his new wife and queen. So officials were sent throughout the empire to gather to the palace the most beautiful young ladies that could be found. The pageant took a little over a year to complete with all that went into it.
The winner happened to be a beautiful Jewish girl named Hadassah, but probably to hide her Jewish origins she took on the Persian name Esther, which meant star. She was an orphan who had been taken in and raised by her older cousin, a man named Mordecai. Mordecai and Esther were exiles, taken away from their homeland because when the Babylonians destroyed Judah and Jerusalem they had exiled all the survivors to other parts of the world.
She wasn’t just beautiful in physical appearance. There are some statements in chapter 2 that indicate she was beautiful in character as well. A couple statements indicate her humility. 2:20, “Esther had not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him.” She had great respect for her older cousin who raised her and characteristically did whatever he asked of her. And in 2:15 you read that she followed the advice of the eunuch who was in charge of the women at the palace. She wasn’t a know-it-all. She was humble enough to follower other’s advice.
The biggest statement about her character to me in chapter 2 is the end of verse 15 where it says, “Now Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her.” We’re told something very similar about other exceptional characters in the Bible. Something like that was said of Joseph in the book of Genesis when he was in Potiphar’s house and he was gaining favor with everyone. And then the same was said when he was put in the dungeon and was gaining favor with the jailor and everyone else. Young David, we read that as he was growing up he won the favor of most people. He was a very admirable young man and had a good reputation (I Samuel 16:18-22). Something like this is what we’re told about Jesus when He was growing up. Luke 2:52 says young Jesus “increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” As Jesus was growing up, most people admired Him and thought highly of Him. Proverbs 3:3-4 tells how a person obtains favor with God and people. It says, “Let not steadfast love and faithfulness [trustworthiness] forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.” Steadfast, unwavering love and trustworthiness is how you obtain favor with God and people. So I believe in addition to being humble, I believe Esther was loving toward people and she was trustworthy; you could count on her to tell the truth and keep her word and take care of her responsibilities. She’s a woman after God’s own heart, who was better than the queen before her.
Mordecai Saves the King (2:19-23)
The last paragraph of chapter 2 describes how Mordecai actually saved king Xerxes’ life. He overheard an assassination plot and reported it. An investigation was made and it was discovered the plot was real and the assassins were caught and hanged. And the events were all recorded in the royal records. But the king apparently got distracted and forgot to reward or even thank Mordecai for saving his life.
Trouble Arises (3:1-15)
Chapter 3 introduces us to the bad guy, the man Xerxes appointed as the new prime minister over the empire. His name was Haman and he was an Agagite. That is, he was a descendant of king Agag of the Amalekites whom the prophet Samuel of the Jews hacked to pieces long ago. There had been centuries of conflict between Jews and the ancestors of Haman.
But that wasn’t his only reason to hate the Jews. Xerxes commanded that everyone bow and pay homage to Haman. But Mordecai, the Jew, felt that falling on your face before someone whenever you see them is only how God is to be treated. It was too much like worshiping a man. So Mordecai refused to show that sort of reverence to Haman. This compounded Haman’s hatred of the Jews.
So Haman set his heart to exterminate the entire Jewish race from the earth. He met with Xerxes and said, “King, there is a strange people of a certain nationality scattered throughout your empire who don’t abide by your laws. They have their own law they live by. And they’re really a detriment to the empire. It would be in your best interest if they were all just exterminated. And for any possible trouble it may be to get rid of these people I am going to contribute 10,000 talents of silver (like $2 billion) into the king’s treasury.” The king didn’t ask questions. He just said, “Sounds good,” and he handed his signet ring to Haman so he could write and seal official documents and get the job done.
To decide on the day the Jews would meet their doom, lots were cast, the lot fell to the 13th day of the 12th month, which was nearly a year away. Official sealed letters were sent out everywhere in the Persian Empire stating that in every location on the 13th day of the 12th month, every non-Jew may rise up and kill every Jew, man, woman and child, and plunder all their possessions.
Esther is Compelled to Risk Her Life for Her People (4:1-17)
Chapter 4 is about how Jews, including Mordecai and Esther, respond to this terrifying threat. And it’s here that the fascinating feature of this book really begins to set in. You know that the Jews were praying fervently about this and crying out to the Lord for help. Many were probably also repenting of any sins they knew of and crying out to God. But the author of this book intentionally leaves out anything associated with God. He just mentions how the Jews everywhere were weeping and wailing and fasting and many put on sackcloth and sat in ashes.
Mordecai and Esther communicated about the situation through a mediator who ran back and forth between them. Mordecai of course told Esther, “You have to talk to the king about this and plead for the life of your people.” But Esther sent back word about what a huge risk that was for her. One reason was that she had not revealed to anybody yet that she herself was a Jew. If she made that known, she could be killed. The other reason it was so risky was that no one was to enter the presence of the king unless specifically asked for. If someone did, they would be immediately put to death unless the king held out to them his golden scepter to spare their life. And she said, “I haven’t been called to the king for 30 days.” Which may have caused her some concern about their relationship, and that maybe she’d displeased him somehow or he’d gotten tired of her.
Mordecai’s reply is full of faith in God’s work behind the scenes, but in the way it’s recorded, there is no mention of God. Mordecai told Esther, 4:13, “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.” So Mordecai was confident that somehow, some way the Jews would be delivered from this threat. But he told Esther that she would be held responsible for doing the part she could for the salvation of her people. Then he said to her, “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” In others words, “Perhaps it’s not just good luck that you’re the queen.”
So she agrees to talk to the king. But first she calls for a three day fast from eating or drinking for herself and her friends and Mordecai and all the Jews. And you know they’re not just fasting, they’re praying and they’re doing this to seek God’s intervention, but that’s not mentioned because the book is wanting you to see God even when He’s seems to be absent.
Esther’s Strategy (5:1-8)
So in chapter 5 we read of Esther’s courageous act for her people after the fast. I imagine they were the longest seconds of her life, when she went through the doors into the king’s presence and stood there for a moment to see if he would extend his scepter to her or if she would lose her life. It says when the king saw Queen Esther, she won favor in his sight, and we know from the rest of the Bible who it is who can grant one person favor in the eyes of another. The King held out his scepter to her.
Now, Esther had a strategy planned. She didn’t plead for her people at that moment. Instead she invited the king and prime minister Haman to dinner. I suspect she wanted the king to be in the best mood possible when she made her request, to be full of good food and wine. And I suspect she wanted Haman there at the table, so that her husband might deal with him in the heat of his anger when he would first hear the details of Haman’s plot.
At dinner the King said, “Now honey, I know you didn’t risk your life just to have dinner with me. What is your request? Up to half my kingdom, I’ll give it to you.” Interestingly Esther postponed making her request. She said, “Can we do this again tomorrow? Have another dinner? And then I’ll make my request.” It makes you wonder, what’s up with that? Why didn’t she just make her plea right there? Did she get cold feet? Did she want more time to figure out how to go about it exactly? Or did she just have some feeling that it wasn’t the right time yet? Whatever her reason, waiting until the next day was perfect timing. There is an unseen someone who knows the perfect timing for things and He can see to it that the perfect timing happens.
Haman’s Plot Against Mordecai (5:9-14)
Haman left that dinner thinking quite highly of himself. Of all people, he alone has been invited to not just one, but two personal dinners with the king and queen. But as he was walking home his gladness quickly turned to fury, because sitting by the gate was Mordecai, the Jew. And as usual Mordecai did not rise nor bow, nor even flinch at the sight of Haman. Haman went home filled with rage and told his wife and his friends, “Though I have power and wealth and honor and everything, I can’t enjoy it as long as that Jew, Mordecai, is still alive. Oh I can’t wait until the 13th day of the 12th month when he and all the Jews are annihilated.” His wife said, “Why wait? Have a gallow 75 feet high set up in our yard tonight. In the morning, go get permission from the king to have Mordecai hung on it.” He said, “Great idea,” and gave orders for the gallow to be set up in his yard.
Mordecai Saved and Honored (6:1-14)
Well, it just so happened that that night… the king could not sleep. For some reason, for hours he just did the “rotisserie chicken” in his bed. So finally in the early morning hours, because he couldn’t sleep, he called for somebody to come read to him from the royal records. And it just so happened, the section of the records that were opened and read to the king were about the time when Mordecai the Jew saved the king’s life. The King said, “Oh yeah. I forgot about that. Has anything been done for Mordecai? We’ve got to honor and reward him for that?”
Then he hears somebody is outside his room. He asks, “Who’s outside?” They said, “It’s Haman.” Haman was there early to get permission to hang Mordecai in his yard. The king says, “Let Haman come in.” So Haman comes in. The king says, “Haman, I’m to think of how to honor someone I’m really pleased with. What would you suggest I do for him?” Haman thinks, “Who could the king possibly be more pleased with than mooaah? He’s got to be thinking of doing something for me.” So Haman said, “King, for the man you desire to honor, have one of your royal robes put on him and put him on your horse and have your highest officials lead him through the city square and proclaim before him, ‘Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor.’” The king said, “Yeah! That’s wonderful! Everything you just said, go do all of that for Mordecai the Jew.” You know God has a sense of humor, right? That’s where we get it from. We’re made in His image.
After publicly honoring Mordecai, Haman went home crying like a baby, and his wife and friends said the most remarkable thing to him. They said, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him” (6:13). What Haman’s family meant was, “It looks like the God of the Jews, the God of all gods, has not totally forsaken His people. It looks like He’s working for his servant Mordecai against you. And if that God is on Mordecai’s side, you’re in big trouble.” But once again, God is not mentioned because that’s part of making the point of this book.
Haman’s Fall (7:1-10)
Chapter 7 is the second dinner for the king and Haman hosted by queen Esther. After they’d eaten, the king said, “Honey, now what is your petition? Up to half my kingdom, I’ll grant it to you.” She said, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” Xerxes could hardly believe what he was hearing. Somebody intends to kill his queen and her people?! “Who is he? Where is he? Who has dared to do this?” Esther points at Haman across the table and says, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” The king was so irate he didn’t know what to do with himself. He stormed out for a minute. Haman began to beg Queen Esther for his life.
And it just so happened that when Xerxes came back, that Haman, in begging for his life, fell on the couch where Esther was sitting, and it looked to the king like he was trying to assault her. The king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence in my house?” The guards knew exactly what to do. They immediately covered Haman’s face. One guy said, “Excuse me my lord, outside Haman’s house is a 75 foot high gallow that he built to hang Mordecai, the guy that saved your life.” The king said, “Oh perfect! Hang him on it!” And he said to Esther, “Honey, if you’d like, you can have Haman’s house and all his possessions.”
Salvation of the Jews (8:1-9:17)
Then in chapter 8, Esther tells the king who Mordecai is to her, that he is her older cousin who adopted her and raised her. So the king has Mordecai brought before him and he gives to Mordecai his signet ring and Haman’s position as prime minister of Persia. And Esther gave to Mordecai Haman’s house. And so as Queen Vashti was replaced by one better than she, Haman was replaced by one better than he.
But there’s still one more great turning of the tables yet to happen. All over the empire are people who hate God’s people, the Jews, and they’re looking forward to the 13th day of the 12th month to slaughter them and take their belongings. And the thing about the laws of the Medes and Persians was that once they were issued, they could not be revoked, not even by the king. So this decree against the Jews could not be changed.
So Xerxes said to Esther and Mordecai, “You have my signet ring. Write up a new decree, whatever you want, to counteract the previous decree. Seal it with my ring and send it throughout the empire.” So the new decree they wrote was that on the 13th of the 12th month, the Jews are allowed to assemble and defend themselves by any means and kill anyone who seeks their harm and plunder their attackers’ belongings.
And just like Haman’s wife and friends began to realize, people all over the Persian empire were beginning to realize, “Uh oh, the Almighty God of the Jews is still alive and well and has not forsaken His people. He’s on their side.” So it says at the end of chapter 8, “many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for the fear of the Jews had fallen on them.”
Over the next several months, until the day of the battle, Mordecai continued to gain more and more favor and respect. The other leaders and mighty men of the empire held him in high esteem and they chose to side with the Jews and help them. The big day came, on our calendar it would have been March 7th 473 B.C. In towns all over the empire, there were those who hated the Jews and dared to attack them, but the Jews, with the help of many neighbors, in every place defeated their enemies. Over 75,000 enemies of the Jews were killed that day throughout the Persian Empire.
Toward the end of that bloody day, the king said to Esther, “Anything else I could do for you, honey?” She said, “Here in the capital city, Susa, let’s have one more day of this.” So word was sent out that evening in the city, “you want to attack the Jews tomorrow as well, go for it, but they can fight back.” That next day in the capital, the Jews assembled and killed another 300 of their attackers.
Establishment of the Feast of Purim (9:20-10:3)
And in commemoration of those days, the feast of Purim was instituted on the 14th day of the 12 month on the Hebrew calendar; it occurs in March on our calendar. It’s a time for the Jews to remember how their God worked behind the scenes to save them and to celebrate and send food and gifts to one another and to the poor. Purim is derived from the ancient Persian, “Pur” which means “lots,” as in the casting of lots, or dice. It’s called Purim for two good reasons. One was because Haman had cast lots to determine the day of the battle. The other reason is because all the events recorded in the book of Esther, which can seem like just chance events, all work together so perfectly for the good of God’s people and the downfall of the wicked, that it would make any reasonable person reconsider if these were just chance events. The chances of everything working out would be like rolling double sixes a hundred times in a row.
Proverbs 16:33, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” So even in the casting of lots or the rolling of dice where it doesn’t seem like God is involved, where it just seems like it’s a matter of chance and luck. God is there and He is working.
I’ve told most you about some of the amazing coincidences and perfect timings in my life. I’ve told you about the Sunday 15 years ago right after I sent out the one and only resume I ever sent out, to the Kalispell Church of Christ. And how I walked into our little church building that morning in Durango CO, and I met this older couple who were in the area visiting some family. And they just so happened to be the preacher and his wife of the Kalispell church who were looking for their replacement.
And I’ve told about how Ally met an old friend for coffee and told her that she would really like one day to get a golden doodle puppy, but probably won’t because they’re so expensive. And her friend said, “Really? I have one out in my car. You can have her. For free. I got her from my sister, but I can’t take care of her.” Perhaps my favorite event like that was a couple years ago, I was giving a lesson at a camp and in the lesson I told about this dream I had one night where I was told I’m being prepared for what’s coming and my name will be called Bullet. Kind of weird, right? I finished that story and a young guy got up from the back row, carrying a piece of paper and stood to my right. He waited until I finished another point in my lesson and then he interrupted and handed me this piece of paper of a sketch and a poem he had written right before I got up to speak, not knowing anything I was going to say. It was a very well-done sketch of a 45-caliber pistol with a bullet flying out of the barrel and little arrow pointing to the bullet that said “Me”. And below it was a very clever poem about being a bullet of God. I kid you not! It was awesome! I have that paper in a frame at my house and a picture of it on my phone.
You might say it’s just coincidence, just luck. But I believe the God of the Bible, the God behind the events of the book of Esther, the God of amazing coincidences and perfect timings and incredible just-so-happened things, is still alive and still doing what He does.
If we will humble ourselves before Him and walk in His ways of love and trustworthiness, we too like Esther and Mordecai, will have an awesome story. He will triumph over our enemies and exalt us when the time is right.
-James Williams