The Book of Esther in Review

For Such a Time as This

Life Lessons from the Book of Esther

The Book of Esther in Review

What a tremendous book we have just completed!  Not only is it a great story with all the drama and elements that a novel would contain, but it contains great lessons about how we should be living, conducting ourselves on the job, facing opposition, facing success, and looking ahead confidently to the future.  Most importantly, it is the best “textbook" of the Scriptures about the providence of God, and how He works in the perfect way and the perfect timing to accomplish His purposes.

We began in the winter capitol of the Persian Empire, Susa, where we also concluded the story.  Pride, lust, alcoholism, and the pursuit of power and dominance marked the Empire’s ruler, Ahasuerus (Xerxes).  Ahasuerus sought to gain support for his campaign against Greece and then onward into Europe.  However, his foolish partying cost him his marriage, and although Queen Vashti lost her crown, she kept her dignity as she refused the king’s immoral drunken orders.  God used this providentially however to begin arranging His chess pieces for what He planned to do.

When Ahasuerus attacked Greece, despite all odds being on his side, he was badly beaten and returned to Susa in shame and depression, missing the wife he had divorced.  His advisors hooked onto this, and began a search for all the beautiful virgins of the land to be brought to the king so he could find a substitute for Vashti.  These women were sadly taken from their homes to never return again, but to be the concubines of the king.  Again God was working providentially in this, for this also allowed Esther to get into the place He had for her to make a dramatic impact for Him.  She was selected by the king as Vashti’s replacement, and this would be vital in the long run.

Then entered the bad guy of the story, Haman, who was promoted far beyond his level of competence, and it all went to his head.  Haman got the king to order all to bow to him, but there was one man who refused to do so, Mordecai the Jew.  This refusal angered Haman so much that he not only wanted Mordecai put to death, but the entire Jewish race!  He tricked Ahasuerus into ordering the death of the Jewish people, resulting in confusion throughout the city.  When Mordecai read the order of the king to exterminate the Jews, he immediately went into mourning with sackcloth and ashes.

It dawned on Mordecai that perhaps God was at work through all of this, and had elevated his cousin to the place where she was “for such a time as this,” and perhaps she could convince the king to stop this slaughter.  She took a bold step of faith and went before the King unbidden, yet he pardoned her rather than having her put to death for her trespass.  She had an unusual request of the king, for him and Haman to come to a feast she had prepared.  Ahasuerus knew something else was up, though, and that Esther wouldn’t have risked her life unless it was for a crucial reason. 

Ahasuerus and Haman attended the banquet that evening, and there the king asked her what was her request.  She deferred asking then, but stated that she wanted the two of them to return the next day for another banquet.  It was after that the hand of providence really began working.  Haman left the banquet feeling like the king of the world; but then he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate, and became furious.  As he shared about this with his wife and friends, his wife suggested he have a gallows built that he could hang Mordecai on the next morning, then go on his merry way to the banquet!

Esther 6 was one of the most ironic chapters of the Bible.  Ahasuerus had a case of providential insomnia, and called for a reading from the chronicles, at which time he heard about Mordecai’s having saved his life and not being honored at all.  He decided to right that wrong.  Haman had come early to the palace to trick the king into ordering the execution of Mordecai, but didn’t have a chance to ask.  The king immediately asked him what should be done for the man he chose to honor.  Thinking Ahasuerus meant him, Haman gave elaborate details of how to do so.  Ahasuerus thought this was a great idea, and told Haman to go prepare these things, and do so for Mordecai!  He did so, but as Mordecai returned humbly to his post, Haman ran home in grief and shame.  His wife and friends told him that he was headed for a downfall as long as he opposed Mordecai.  At that moment, the eunuchs came to take Haman to Esther’s banquet.

At this banquet, the king asked Esther again to tell him what was really going on.  She laid it all on the line, and told the king how an evil traitor had threatened her life as well as all of her people.  Ahasuerus was furious, and jumped to his feet demanding to know who would dare do this.  Then the famous line:  “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!” (nkjv)  Ahasuerus was beside himself and stormed out to the garden, but Haman lost his mind and pled with Esther to spare him, and in the process fell on the couch she was on.  Ahasuerus returned at that moment, and was shocked to see what he thought was Haman trying to rape Esther!  That sealed Haman’s fate.  One of the eunuchs told the king about the gallows Haman built.  The king’s response:  Hang him on it!  Thus Haman suffered the fate he had planned for Mordecai and the Jews.

The story wasn’t over then.  The evil man was gone, but his evil plot was still in place.  Although he was tricked into authorizing what Haman wanted, Ahasuerus couldn’t change that edict, so he suggested they write a new law to take effect that same day.  This allowed the Jews to defend themselves, and up to 75,000 allies of Haman were defeated that day in the month of Adar.  This was truly a reversal of fortune for the Jews, and they at last had rest from those who had troubled them for so long.

Our story concludes with the establishment of the Feast of Purim, and how it was clarified, established, and memorialized.  The book closed with a brief tribute to the impact one life can have when courageously surrendered to God and His providential purposes.