Esther

LeRoy Eims

The book of Esther brings us to another great crisis in the history of the chosen people of God. They are threatened with extermination.

God's overruling providence is manifested in this critical situation when He placed Esther in the court of the king of Persia for the deliverance of His people.

No one is certain who wrote the book. The minute details of the banquet, the customs and regulations of the palace, and the names of the people connected with the court indicate that the author probably lived in the palace. He knew all about the private lives of Esther and Mordecai. This seems to support the idea that the writer was Mordecai himself.

This is one of the most interesting books of the Bible. It is a remarkably stirring story and the intensity never lags, even for a moment. The story cannot be read without immediately realizing that the purpose of this book is to show the hand of God through it all. While the name of God is not in the book, the overruling presence of God is everywhere.

One of the most important lessons for us in this book is the decision faced by Esther. Mordecai placed before her the opportunity and responsibility to act in behalf of her people. The king had sent forth an edict to destroy the people of God. "And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, so to take the property of them for spoil." (Esther 3:13)

Esther was the only one to whom her people looked in their desperate situation. She stood between them and destruction. Mordecai laid it squarely before her: "For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed. And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14)

She showed herself to be a woman of God, full of faith and courage, when she responded: "Go, gather together all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day; I also, and my maidens, will fast likewise, and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law. And if I perish, I perish." (Esther 4:16)

One lesson to note is the timing of this service for God. Had she failed to take advantage of the situation, God would have used other means for the deliverance of His people. Naturally she realized that she was taking her life in her hands to go before the king on her own initiative. The penalty for such an act was death, unless the king happened to be in a good mood and overlooked it.

The destiny of the Messianic nation was in the balance at that moment. So was the destiny of the world. Their death warrant had been signed and the law of the Medes and Persians was unchangeable. It is one of the most desperate, most critical situations in which the chosen people of God have been placed.

However God had gone before them to turn this ugly mess into a monument to His grace and goodness. Just as Joseph was in Egypt at the court of Pharaoh by the appointment and sovereignty of God, so Esther was in Persia as the favorite of the king. Just as the Egyptians perished in the waters of the Red Sea, in their headlong rush to murder the people of God, so Haman is hung on his own gallows and Mordecai stepped up to a place of prominence in the empire.

Possibly God has placed you in a key position of service at this time. Take advantage of it. If you don't, God will look elsewhere to achieve His purposes. "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.” (II Chronicles 16:9)