HIS-story: Esther

If you've ever gone through a period of misfortune where everything seems to be going wrong [death of a loved one, sickness, divorce of parents, financial stress, relationships gone bad, depression] then you can relate to Israel in the midst of its exile. And anyone who is immersed in these types of trials and tribulations always has lots of questions: What have I done to deserve this? Is God mad at me? Has God given up on His promises? Does God care for me? Does God even exist? If you've been here before then you know the importance of receiving hope-filled reassurances when your circumstances seem hopeless. This is precisely what the book of Esther sets out to do...give the community of Israel hope-filled reassurances that God has not given up on them or His promises.

IRONY #1: GOD IS PRESENT EVEN WHEN IT SEEMS HE IS ABSENT

The interesting thing about the book of Esther is that God is never actually mentioned. Why is this? Might it be that the author is trying to mirror Israel's current perceptions in the way that He tells the story? Currently, Israel must perceive that God is absent from them. After all, they are living under the oppression of a foreign nation! Would this be happening if God were with them? And so to mimic this perception, the author makes it appear as though God is absent in the story. However, through a sequence of ironic coincidences in the story, the author makes it obvious that God is present and hard at work behind the scenes. By doing this, the author is able to point out the ultimate irony of Israel's exile: God is present in the exile even though it feels like He is absent.

IRONY #2: GOD BLESSES EVEN WHEN HE IS CURSING 

One of the most obvious ways that we see the God of Israel present in the story of Esther is that the blessings of the Abrahamic promise are still working themselves out in the current circumstances of the exile. How so? Even though the Jewish people are enduring the curses of the covenant that resulted from their perpetual disobedience, God is still "blessing those who bless Israel and cursing those who curse Israel." This is one of the hallmarks of the promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:3). 

The working out of this aspect of the Abrahamic promise is most evident in the lives of King Xerxes (for better) and Haman (for worse).  King Xerxes blesses Israel by appointing Esther to be his queen. As a result, an assassination plot on his life is averted (Esther 2:19-23). God blesses those who bless Israel. On the other hand, Haman plotted the annihilation of God's people and as a result his life was taken through an ironic twist of events. God curses those who curse Israel. In this, the author wants God's people to know that His blessed presence is with them even when they are experiencing His covenant curses! God remains true to His promises! God continues to protect His people!

IRONY #3: GOD IS FAITHFUL DESPITE OUR UNFAITHFULNESS

But God doesn't just want His people to know that He is present and at work in some general sense [so as to relieve their self-focused worries]. NO. God wants His people to know that His presence is still faithfully and specifically working out His plan to restore a broken world despite their unfaithfulness. By doing this, God hopes to encourage and motivate His people to live out His mission for the sake of others by reminding them that He has not given up on His plan!

Now the author is subtle in communicating the message that God is still working out His promises despite Israel's unfaithfulness. And so we need to pay close attention to the details of the story and take notice of the clues embedded in the text. CLUE #1: Notice that the author repeatedly provides us with the seemingly insignificant detail that Haman, the person who plots the annihilation of the Jews in the story, is the "son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews" (3:1; 3:10; 8:3; 8:5; 9:24). WHY DOES THE AUTHOR EMPHASIZE THIS? CLUE #2: Also notice that the author points out that Mordecai is a descendant of Saul, "the son of Kish" (2:5; see 1 Samuel 9:1). BUT WHY IS THIS SIGNIFICANT? 

ANSWER: To the Jewish person, the Agagites were a constant reminder of Israel's unfaithfulness. You might recall that in 1 Samuel 15:9 Saul spared Agag and the best of his possessions even though God had commanded their total destruction. But in the story of Esther, God finishes the job that Saul failed to complete [ironically through Mordecai, one of Saul's descendants]. How do we know this? Well, after all the ironic coincidences have worked themselves out for the benefit of the Jews, we read in Esther 9:5-9 that the Jews "struck down ALL their enemies with the sword." And then the author goes out of his way to record that "the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews" were killed "but they [the Jewish people] did not lay their hands on the plunder." God has vindicated the past mistakes of Saul by killing the Agagites [that is, Haman and his descendants]. In this we learn that God's plan to restore a broken, evil world can not be stopped [even by Israel's unfaithfulness]. God is committed to His purpose even when we are not! 

THE BOTTOM LINE

And so what is the author's message to us in all of this?
1.) We need to trust that God is present no matter our current circumstances.
2.) It only makes sense to abandon our selfish priorities and join God in His unstoppable mission!

May that be your heart's desire! May you desire to live a life that is focused beyond yourself!