I love the Book of Esther! It is a short book, yet so profound. God in this book is not mentioned or obvious – He is rather implied. The book is so much fun – it is a treasure hunt to find God! The author kept God hidden but showcases Him as the star indirectly. He is the common thread in the text.
One has to be intentional about finding God in the text. Spotting the hand of God in the book is easy if you know His character. God, in this book, is working behind the scenes on behalf of His people. He is moving to cause shifts to take place for His will to come to pass!
The book showcases how God activates divine favour when we go after our calling. The book stresses that our birth was not an accident. We were born for an assignment on the earth. We were indeed born for a time such as this!
The summarised version of the book is that Esther is born in poor circumstances. She loses both her parents at a young age, and her cousin, Mordecai, raises her. He takes on the role of a father figure and an advisor. They are of Jewish descent and are exiled to a foreign land. Esther is blessed, she is a beautiful young lady, but more than that – she has the favour of God on her life. She was born for an assignment. The king of the foreign land, king Xerxes banishes his queen due to disobedience. Thus, a spot for a new queen opens up. This showcases that God will change the circumstances for His plan to be fulfilled.
The reigning king becomes lonely after banishing his queen. His counsel advises him to choose a new queen – from the virgins in the land. Esther is among them. These girls have to undergo months of intensive training. Esther ends up winning the favour of the one who trains her. The king is smitten at the end of it all, and he crowns her the new queen.
She is now the reigning queen but still keeps in touch with her cousin, Mordecai. She still heeds to his advice even though she is now the queen of the land. This shows the importance of humility when God opens up doors for us. It teaches us that we need godly people around us. So they can help us when we are in doubt about our calling. She continues to heed the advice of Mordecai. He advises her not to reveal her Jewish origins to the king yet, and she obliges.
The favour of God is on Mordecai as well. He has a big role to play in the story. Mordecai goes about his business. He gets hold of valuable information – which later helps him meet the favour of the king. Mordecai is sitting at the gate of the king as he usually does, minding his business. He hears two officials of the king plotting to assassinate him. Mordecai gets word of this to his cousin, Esther, the queen. She passes this information to the king. She also lets the king know that Mordecai was the source of this valuable information. The secretaries of the king record what Mordecai has done in the chronicles of his reign.
Life goes on, and the king gives promotion to one of his loyal nobles, Haman. His new ranking puts him above the other nobles. He is arrogant and lives for the praise of others. He goes out of the Palace gate to go home after the announcement of his promotion. All the officials at the gate kneel to him in honour of his new rank. Mordecai, who sits at the gate, refuses to kneel to him and continues in this manner day after day.
The stance Mordecai takes enrages Haman – how dare he refuse to bow down to honour him? He learns that Mordecai is of Jewish descent. He vows to kill him and all his people. He gives out an edict to annihilate and destroy all Jewish people in the land. God will use the boldness and pride of our enemies against them. Haman was not satisfied with only killing Mordecai.
Haman, in his plot against Mordecai, spins a story to the king. He accuses the Jewish people of refusing to heed to the commands of the king (meaning kneeling to Haman). He convinces the king not to tolerate such. The king permits him to do what he must with the offenders. After all, the king trusts the judgement of his highest noble.
Mordecai hears about the plot against the Jewish people and is distraught. He tells Esther about it and asks her for assistance, seeing that she is the queen. He asks her to plead with the king to save them from Haman. Esther was queen, but the king was still the one in charge. Rules were set in place about when a queen or the king’s subjects could come before him. His subjects, including his queen, were forbidden from coming to him without being summoned.
Strict protocol was set in place at the time. Anyone who approached the king without summons was put to death. The exception was if the king extended his gold sceptre to grant the person mercy. Esther was in a tough predicament.
Mordecai sends word to Esther about the plan Haman has put in place to annihilate the Jewish people. Esther sends word back, telling him about the strict protocol in the palace. She explains that the king puts to death anyone who dares go to him without being summoned. Besides, it had been a month since she was last summoned.
She explains that her hands are tied – her flesh is in charge at this point. Mordecai sends word to her once more, in Esther 4:14 “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this.”
Something in her spirit is immediately quickened as soon she hears those words. An unexplained boldness comes over her. The will of her flesh is brought to subjection to the will of her spirit. She understands that she is in this position for such a time as this. Her calling awakens, and wisdom springs forth. She understands that this is bigger than her and that they need God.
Look at the wisdom which comes upon this young lady. She asks Mordecai and the others to go on a fast – in the same way, she and her maids will do the same. She sends this word back to Mordecai: Esther 4:15 “Then Esther sent a reply to Mordecai: “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
The Book of Esther is where the famous saying “If I die, I die” or “If I perish, I perish” comes from. She was ready to lay down her life for God to prevail. She trusts God to come through for her and her people. She takes a chance and goes to the King – without being summoned. She holds her breath at the sight of him. She is probably expecting him to say: “Off with her head!”. He looks up, and to her surprise, he is pleased with her. He extends his gold sceptre to her, as a sign of approval, thank God!
She comes forth, and he asks: “What is troubling my queen?” He assures her that he is willing to give her anything, including half his kingdom. Can you imagine that? The amazing thing about God is that He always goes ahead of us. He touches the hearts of those he needs to for his purpose to be accomplished. The favour of God goes before those who are bold and willing enough to walk out their calling.
So she answers: “May I extend an invite to a banquet to the king for later this evening? May I also request that Haman – the highest noble of the king, also join us at the banquet? I will reveal all to the King at the banquet.”
The evening rolls around, and the banquet is in session. The king once again asks Esther: “Now tell me, what is bothering my queen?” Her answer is another request that the king and Haman honour her once again by accepting another invite – to a second banquet the next day. She had to have divine favour. The king is neither annoyed nor angry at her delaying tactics.
In the meantime, Haman is pleased with himself. His plans for destroying Mordecai and his people are taking shape. He goes out of the gate of the king to go home. Mordecai does not kneel to him as per usual, and Haman continues to burn with anger. He goes to his friends and brags about his riches, his sons, and his new rank. He rubs the fact that he was the only noble invited to the banquet. He also brags about the invite to the second banquet the next day.
The king retires for bed, yet sleep eludes him. He requests that the secretaries read the recorded chronicles of his reign to him. He hears the record of how Mordecai exposed the corrupt officials – who tried to assassinate him. The king finds out that Mordecai received nothing in return for this information. At that very moment, Haman enters the court of the king. He has come to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai. He has the nerve to have prepared gallows for Mordecai’s execution!
The king summons Haman and asks: “What can we do for a man the king delights to honour?” He does not know that the king is talking about Mordecai. Haman advises the King and says, “The person must wear a robe that was worn by the king. He must ride on a horse that was ridden by the king. The man must have a royal crest placed upon his head. Let the robe and horse be entrusted to the noblest prince of the king. The man must be robed and let him be led into the streets – proclaiming that this is what is done for a man that a king delights to honour.” The king asks him to do exactly as he has recommended to honour the man who sits at his gate, Mordecai.
Haman is asked to do the honours. God will cause our enemies to work for us, with or without their consent. Mordecai is paraded by Haman in the king’s robe while riding the king’s horse. He returns to his usual place, the gate, after the parade, and Haman cries all the way home. He tells all his friends about the misfortunes that have befallen him. He complains that he was asked to parade his worst enemy around the streets of the city.
The second banquet rolls around, and Haman returns to the palace. Wine is flowing, and the king once again kindly asks Esther: “What has been on the heart of my queen the past two days?” She unravels and starts pleading with him, “I am begging you, my king, grant my life and that of my people. Plans of slaughter and annihilation against my people and I are in progress as I speak. Spare us if I have found favour in your eyes”.
The king is not impressed and exclaims: “Who dares to plan such evil against you and your people?!”. She points to Haman, “the adversary and enemy is this vile Haman”. Haman cannot believe that he has been exposed. He tries to plead with Esther, but his fate has been sealed. The king is not impressed, as we can all imagine. He exclaims: “Off with his head!”.
The soldiers drag him off and hang him on the same gallows he prepared for Mordecai. His sons are also hanged. God wipes out his plans – to the last generation. God will cause our enemies to fall into the same trap they set for us. He will destroy the enemy and all traces of his plan.
The king gives an order for the edict that was given by Haman for the execution of the Jewish people to be expunged. He permits the Jewish people to destroy anyone who they deem to be a threat. Mordecai is raised to greatness by the king and becomes second in command.
It is a beautiful story. God is the common thread in the story. God will move on our behalf if we go after our calling or assignment. No matter the mess we find ourselves in, we were born for such a time as this!
Be blessed X!
