Esther 6 - A big surprise

Haman was about to receive something of a shock, and once again we see God working through the smallest details. The king could not sleep, so he had two books of chronicles of the kingdom brought in to read. Perhaps he thought this would help him to sleep! Now remember that back at the beginning of the book when Mordecai had reported a plot to assassinate the king it had been recorded in the chronicles. So Xerxes came upon the incident and he asked if Mordecai had ever been honoured for this action. Nothing had been done.

Now note this. Mordecai had done good, but for a time it seemed as if he he had received no reward. Yet a reward would come, and it would come at such a time as to save the whole Jewish people. We should always seek to do the right thing. Many times it can seem pointless, or we can feel so fed up and adopt a grumpy attitude, giving up on doing good. As Paul says in Galatians, we should never tire of doing good. God is always watching and knows exactly what He is doing.

The king speaks to Haman and asks him for his advice on how to honour someone, Haman thinks it he himself who will be honoured. So he thinks up a grand reward, then discovers to his horror that it is Mordecai who will receive the honour.

God is in control of all things.

Esther 5 - Haman the proud

Esther duly sought to see the king and the king acted favourably towards her. Now notice that she had no way of knowing how the king would react. When God leads us to do something there will be all sorts of things that "could go wrong", but God will have taken care of various things, and there is no way we can know that He has until we take the steps of faith.

Esther approaches the issue in a roundabout way. The direct approach is not always the best. So she plans to hold a banquet for Haman and the king. In fact she goes about it in a very indirect way. At the first banquet she invites them to come to a second banquet. Note that she does this only after they have drunk some wine, and she is seeking to intrigue them into coming.

Haman thought everything was going well. He was still incensed at Mordecai. Haman was full of himself and was boasting to his family of the favour he had been shown. His family encouraged him in this, and to take steps to deal with Mordecai. The enemy will often be full of pride and boast of his plans to do us harm. We should not fear and should not listen, it is God who determines the outcome.

Esther 4 - For such a time as this

We are not told why Mordecai thought Esther should enter the "beauty contest" in chapter 2, maybe it was just because she was beautiful and it seemed like a good idea at the time. However, the things that happen to us can sometimes be of far greater significance than we ever imagine and work out in ways we never dreamt of. In preparing for the future we like to plan and we like to know exactly what is going to happen. We like to be in control. Now it is good to look ahead and it is wise to plan, Proverbs and Jesus tell us so, but we can never know everything, never anticipate everything, never plan for every eventuality. We are not in total control. The answer is to trust God. Faith in the Lord is our security for the future.

Mordecai was deeply troubled, to say the least, about the edict, as were all the Jews. Esther heard about Mordecai's distress, but evidently did not know about the edict to kill all the Jews. Mordecai sent Esther a copy of the edict and instructed her to go to see the king to plead for mercy.

This was a very dangerous thing to so, one could not just go and see the king when one pleased, even if you were the queen. 

Mordecai has no time for this excuse. Remember that in Chapter 2 we are told that no one knew Esther was a Jew, so maybe she thought she would be safe. We might think Mordecai is being a little harsh on Esther's motives, but when we encounter deadly serious situations all sorts of things go through our minds. Mordecai believed that salvation would come to the Jews one way or another, and tells Esther that she would not escape. Also Esther would still suffer. 

When things are really difficult we need to realise that there is no easy way out. If we seek an easy way out we may find that we just run in to more trouble.

More positively, Mordecai says that maybe God had placed her in such a position for such a time as this. God controls all sorts of aspects of our lives. Now see how this works, for people get all het up about pre-destination. God had planned things, yet Esther's decision to enter the beauty contest mattered, all the preparation mattered. And now the decision that she was about to make mattered. God's decree and sovereignty does not mean that our lives do not matter, rather it gives real purpose and significance to our lives.

So Esther agrees to do as Mordecai said and asks all the people to fast and pray. This is about the nearest we get to religious content in Esther!

Esther 3 - Destruction of the Jews?

It is now four years since Esther became queen. As has been noted before, remember there were no chapter and verses in the original text, so chapter 3 flows immediately after the end of chapter 2, there is no division. So Haman's rise is contrasted with what happened to Mordecai. Mordecai had saved the king's life, but we received no immediate reward. Haman is not recorded as having done anything much. 

Haman was probably an Amalekite. They were enemies of Israel, which is the reason why Mordecai refused to bow down to him. Haman was enraged at this and decided to take out his anger on all the Jewish people, not just Mordecai. This presents us with a common dilemma. Mordecai's refusal to bow can be fully justified in isolation, but was it worth risking the lives of all Jews in the area? In our society we would probably say no, yet Mordecai is not criticised at all in the Bible, and God did rescue His people. So the lesson could be said to be that even in these situations we should choose to do the right thing, even if doing so seems to endanger many "innocent" people.

Haman then went to the king and incited him against the Jews. He turned what was a personal slight against Haman himself into a more general refusal to obey the king, which it was not. So Haman was given permission to do as he wished against the Jews. See the arbitrariness of all this and the way that kings act. We think our governments are so much more sophisticated and expect them to act is logical and reasonable ways. Often they will not, but this will not stop God's plans.

So an edict was sent out setting a date for the destruction of all the Jews. There is a long history of laws being issued against the Jews.

Esther 2 - A beauty contest

Having dispatched Vashti a new queen was needed, so a beauty contest was to be held. In fact it seems like this was a forerunner of the X-Factor. The potential winners would be looked after and given various beauty treatments, then the winner would be chosen.

Esther was one of the Jews who had been taken into exile and she had lost both her parents. So she was looked after by her cousin Mordecai.

Hegai, the chief Eunuch gave special treatment to Esther. The preparation time was twelve months, with various beauty treatments being applied. 

Esther won the contest and was the king's favourite. Esther was to be queen for about six years. It is not clear what happened after that, she may have died or fallen from favour, but during that period she was to fulfil a vital function.

Then we get another incident that was to prove vital. Mordecai became aware of a plot to kill the king. Since Esther was now queen he was able to inform the king through Esther, and this was noted in the official records.

So we see the unusual ways in which God works. 

Esther 1 - A right royal row

Why did God put this book in the Bible when He doesn't get so much as a mention? The fact that God isn't mentioned, and that neither is prayer nor worship has led some to dismiss the book as being of little value. Such an approach is garbage. This book is a reminder that God does not always act in a "religious" way in our lives. He guides us in many ways. He speaks to us through His word. We know we should love, we should worship, we should pray, we should witness, we should give, we should forgive, and so on. And if we do these things we will find that we are in the will of God. Occasionally God will speak to us directly, be it through the inner witness of the Spirit, a word of prophecy, a vision or whatever. But at other times things will just seem pretty random, there will be no clear indication that God is in the midst of it all, and yet He is there achieving His purposes, sometimes through you and me. Esther is such an occasion.

The king was holding a prolonged celebration, largely of his own wealth and greatness. Then he had a row with his queen. This angered the king and Vashti banished from his presence. Moreover an edict was sent around the kingdom that a man should ruler over his own household.

So this is how things began to unfold. God works in mysterious ways!

Esther - Introduction

Two  OT books to go! Esther is unique in that it is the only book in the Bible that does not explicitly mention God!

The book gives unique insights into the Persian empire, and is sent the period 483 to 473 BC. As mentioned in comments on Nehemiah, Ezra and Zechariah, most Jews had not actually returned home to Israel, despite the words in Isaiah and Jeremiah.

As well as God not being mentioned, the book of Esther is not quoted in the New Testament either. Nor have any copies been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Moreover, there is no reference to practices of the Law, though I guess it would have been difficult for them to follow Jewish practices in Persia.

In the book we see God protecting His people. So this is despite their disobedience, and is not done through "spiritual giants". Quiet trust and quiet decisions to do God's will are often far more powerful and effective than elaborate shows.

Then there is the question of why the book was written. It was probably written in Israel based on reports of what had happened, or by someone who was actually an eye-witness. The purpose may have been to encourage the people in Israel that God was still working among their fellow Jews in far off lands.