The Gospel according to Esther - Week 1

God is never mentioned in the book of Esther. Neither is prayer. There is no example of a divine miracle that happens, and no obvious divine intervention. There is no mention of the temple, Jerusalem, or the Torah.

On the surface, the book of Esther looks like a secular story that took place in the Persian Empire, with no real involvement by God in what happens.

However, this is the same thing that allows us as Christians to view and understand how Esther contributes to our Christian theology, exactly because it seems so absent of God’s involvement, just like many people seem to experience in the world they live in today. Most people have never seen a miracle with their own eyes, and haven’t experienced some indisputable example of God’s intervention in their lives. Their lives seem ordinary for the most part. This leads many people to approach their lives from a “secular” approach, and leave God and faith to the part of their religious experience on Sundays, instead of part of their daily lives. They act as if God is far away and not really involved in the day-to-day of their lives.

This leaves most Christians with a tension between belief that God exists, and yet a seeming lack of experience of His involvement in their lives. Many people go though life’s experiences wondering, “Where is God in all this? Why does it feel as if He is so far away?” This leads many to doubt, and some even experience a crisis of faith.

It is exactly in this kind of situation that the Book of Esther is helpful to Christians. God chose to include it as one of the books of the Bible for a reason. Some parts of the Bible show God’s involvement in history in visible and unmistakable ways (like when we learn about Moses, or Elijah), but Esther sits on the opposite end of the spectrum. Other parts of the Bible show God working in more subtle ways, like the stories of Joseph or Ruth. And then there is Esther, where it seems that God is completely absent and inactive, at least on the surface level. All of these different examples are important to our faith. Stories like Exodus show that God sometimes intervenes on humanity’s behalf in dramatic ways. Books like Ruth show us that God also works in ways that are just barely noticeable. But with Esther, God has given us an example of how even when it seems like there is no divine activity that we can see — no miracles, no obvious intervention, no evident instructions or commands — He is still at work on behalf of His people.

The theology of the book of Esther is under the surface. The book seems full of apparent injustice, cruelty and random events on the one hand, but is also proof of the providence of God even in seemingly secular world events. It shows that God can be trusted even when it seems He is out of sight. He is directing all things to accomplish His purposes.

The narrator writes in a way that subtly hints at God’s active presence, even when He seems absent.

Hints of God’s active involvement:

1. “Coincidences” in the book of Esther:

For example, if there were just one or two coincidence, then we might not see any connection between them, but the story of Esther is full of so many “coincidences” that turn out just the right way, that it becomes more and more incredible to see, and it points to something more than just mere chance being involved.

What are some things that happen in the book of Esther that might seem like mere coincidences at first?

For example:

The queen of Persia is suddenly dismissed, just in time to open the door for Esther to take her place. When a search is made for a new queen, it just so happens that Esther is brought in with the other young women of the kingdom to compete for the honor; it just so happens that she wins the favor of the eunuch in charge; is just so happens that she finds favor in the eyes of the king. After becoming queen, it just so happens that her cousin Mordecai is working in the king’s gate and learns of a plot against the king; it just so happens that his name is recorded in the king’s book of memorable deeds and there is a courtly oversight to reward him properly. When Haman gets angry at Mordecai, it just so happens that the lot cast to find the best day for the destruction of the Jews falls almost a year away (an not just a few weeks away, giving no chance for events to play out), giving Jews time to prepare for the day. When Esther goes to the king to plead for her people, it just so happens that she finds favor with him.

When Esther defers her request until the next day, it just so happens that Haman crosses paths with Mordecai again and becomes so mad at him that he decides to execute him immediately, instead of waiting another eleven months for the appointed day set earlier. While the builders are constructing the gallows at Haman’s home, it just so happens that Haman can’t wait any longer and goes to the king to get permission to execute Mordecai in the middle of the night.

Meanwhile, at the same time, the king is having a hard time sleeping, and it just so happens that what is read to him as he is trying to pass the time is the book of memorable deeds, and the story of how Mordecai saved the kings life is what is read. Immediately after that reading, which shows that the court failed to honor Mordecai for his good deed, it just so happens that Haman shows up. It just so happens that the king asks Haman a question about how to honor the man the king wishes to honor, but forgets to say who he wants to honor, and so Haman thinks the king wants to honor him.

After the humiliation of having to honor his nemesis, Mordecai attends Esther’s banquet, where she implicates Haman in the plot to kill her people. When the king leaves in anger, and Haman begins to beg Esther for his life, it just so happens that the king returns at the exact moment when Haman’s pleading looks like an assault on the queen. The king is further enraged at Haman, and it just so happens that a eunuch points out that Haman had a gallows built in his home for Mordecai, allowing the king an easy way to execute Haman.

One or two coincidences might not add up to much, but all of these put together point to something deeper going on even though God is never mentioned.

2. Unexpected Reversals of Situations

Esther’s Hebrew name is Hadassah. But if you pronounce her Persian name in Hebrew, it sounds like the words “I am hidden.” This motif of hiddenness is found all throughout the book of Esther. Queen Vashti loses her position because she insists on concealing her body, instead of dancing for the king’s guests. Esther conceals the fact that she is a Jew. When Esther invites the king to a banquet, she conceals her true intentions. So this theme of concealment is in the story itself. However, the Jewish Rabbis in later years also believed that there was more than just the concealment that was happening in the events of the story.

2. Unexpected Reversals of Situations

Throughout the book, we see situations that become reversed unexpectedly.

Queen Vashti loses her position, and Ester becomes the new queen.

Esther fears she may die when she approaches the king, but he shows her favor instead.

Haman proposing a lavish parade for the person the king wants to honor, thinking the king wants to honor him, and then having to do what he proposed for his enemy, Mordecai.

Haman’s joy at being invited to a banquet with the queen, but it turns into a disgrace, not an honor.

Haman’s act of falling on the queen to beg for mercy, but as the king walks in on it it looks like Haman is attacking the queen.

Haman building a gallows to kill his enemy, but being executed on it himself.

The Israelites going from being doomed to destruction, to being the ones who get to destroy their enemies.

3. The “Hiddenness” motif.

Esther’s Hebrew name is Hadassah. But if you pronounce her Persian name in Hebrew, it sounds like the words “I am hidden.” This motif of hiddenness is found all throughout the book of Esther.

What are some things that are “hidden” in the book of Esther?

Queen Vashti loses her position because she insists on concealing her body, instead of dancing for the king’s guests. Esther conceals the fact that she is a Jew. When Esther invites the king to a banquet, she conceals her true intentions. So this theme of concealment is in the story itself. However, the Jewish Rabbis in later years also believed that there was more than just the concealment that was happening in the events of the story.

The Jewish leaders related the story of Esther to where God speaks to Moses about how the people of Israel will turn away from Him, and that He will eventually turn his face away from the people, or conceal His face. This is a symbol of disapproval and loss of blessing, but even in the midst of the warnings and consequences that will come upon the people of Israel because of their rebellion, God promises that he will eventually restore them and rescue them. So even when God is concealed from His people, He still promises to save them.

4. The Third Person (Omniscient) point of view.

The Jewish religious leaders of later years argued that God was a part of the events of the book of Esther because the book was written in a point of view that revealed that the author knew things about what people were thinking that they could only know if God had inspired them to write it. Phrases like

“Haman said in his heart...”

“Esther found favor in the eyes of all that looked upon her.”

“The thing became known to Mordecai.”

IN other words, the ancient rabbis believed that the story itself, even though it never mentioned God explicitly, gave all kinds of hints as it goes along that God is involved in the story. After all, how could the narrator know what was in Haman’s heart or about the private information that Mordecai became aware of, etc. If God’s Spirit was witness of the events, and knew what had happened, then He must have been involved in them as well.

Inconspicuous Providence: The Gospel according to Esther For Further Reflection

1. In what ways have you struggled personally and spiritually with God’s seeming absence in your life?

2. How have you sought to make sense of it?

3. How does Jesus help us to make sense of divine hiddenness in our own lives? What might a Christ-focused response look like when God seems to be absent?