Author

The author of the book is unknown.

Theme

The theme of Esther is Divine Providence. The book relates a series of events that would seem at first hardly if at all related, but the strands of the story are woven together by God in His unseen providential care for His people throughout the world and in the humblest of conditions into a beautiful pattern of divine salvation. Esther shows that God cares for His people wherever they are, not just in Palestine.

Overview

It receives its title from the Persian name of its chief character, Esther, meaning "star." Her Hebrew name was Hadassah (2:7), "myrtle." Esther was a Jewish girl of the Dispersion (Jews outside Canaan) in Persia, raised by her cousin Mordecai as his adopted daughter (2:7), whom she obeyed as a father even after she was queen of Persia (2:20), the greatest kingdom of the world in her day and the largest empire the Middle East had known to that time (1:1). Esther was the most beautiful young virgin in all the vast kingdom (2:17; She won the "Miss Persia Contest"!), yet her loveliness of character surpassed her beauty of face and figure.

Mordecai, her guardian, lived in Shushan (Susa), the winter capital of Persia, as one of the Jews of the tribe of Benjamin in the Dispersion (2:5-6).

The book of Esther is remarkable for several reasons. It is the only book of the Bible in which God is never mentioned, yet every line relates the story of His providential care for His people (cf Jeremiah 30: 11; 46:28). The book does not record a single miracle, yet the hand of God is behind every event. Prayer is not mentioned directly even once, but the book chronicles the answer to millions of fervent prayers. The Word of God is unmentioned, yet Mordecai was a stricter observer of that Word (3:1-4; cf. Deuteronomy 6:13-15). The book records the deliverance of the Jews from the greatest danger the seed of Jacob ever faced. Had evil Haman been successful in his wicked plot, every Jew upon the face of the earth would have been killed (1:1; 3:8-14). Christ would not have come of the lineage of David. The heroine who effected this great deliverance was a young orphan girl, far from her homeland, raised by her cousin. Girls, here is a real role model!

Lessons

Esther contains great lessons. Haman put his trust in mindless fate, luck ("Lady Luck"), the casting of lots (pur) (3:7; 9:24). This backfired on him (7:9-10; 9:25). "Hanged on Haman’s gallows" has become a maxim for an evil plot that turns to the destruction of its deviser. In reality, every wicked scheme eventually backfires on its designer, either here or hereafter.

Mordecai placed his faith in divine providence (4:13-14) and was victorious (10:3). While trusting God’s care, Mordecai would not venture to affirm what specific events that providence would bring about (4:13-14).

Esther was an orphan girl of a powerless, despised, racial and ethnic minority. But, in the providence of God, she became queen. Because she had the courage to do her duty even though it meant she might die, she delivered God’s people from certain destruction.

God has a plan for the life of everyone, a plan that we accomplish by using the abilities He gives us to obey His revealed will, the Scriptures, in whatever circumstances we find ourselves. Doubtless Esther never dared imagine that she would be the queen of the mightiest empire the world had ever seen and would deliver her beloved people from destruction, but her responsibility was to do her duty in the situation where she was found with the abilities God had given her. If we refuse to do our duty, God’s plan will still be accomplished, but we will be destroyed.

God used each person of the book and each event of the story to accomplish His will, yet each person exercised tree will and was responsible for his own conduct.

Although God was in control throughout, not a single circumstance or incident was miraculous.

God, not fate, directs the world and its affairs. His rule, His providence, is for the care of His people.

Outline

1. The Feasts of Ahasuerus - chapters 1-2
2. The Feasts of Esther - chapters 3-7
3. The Feast of Purim - chapters 8-10