She was an orphan who hid a family secret until becoming a national champion. Today she remains the talk and centerpiece of a Jewish holiday.

The story of Esther is told every Spring at the Festival of Purim. With noise-makers, costumes, and practical jokes, the nation of Israel celebrates the story of a Jewish orphan who became a Persian Queen and then a hero in the face of racial hatred. Her life unfolds like a drama on the stage of history.

Plot: A Jewish orphan living in exile becomes the Queen of Persia and then risks it all to save her people.

Place: Shushan (winter palace of Persian kings)

Time: 5th Century BC

Cast:

Ahasuerus—The King of Persia

Vashti—The Queen who dared to say no

Haman—The self-absorbed Prime Minister of Persia

Esther—A Jewish exile destined to be Queen of Persia

Mordecai—The older cousin and guardian of Esther

God—The Invisible Unmentioned Presence 

Act I

The king of Persia hosted a great banquet—a 7-day feast that wrapped up 180 days of royal open house. For 6 months, the powerful world leader had been showing off his wealth to officials from all corners of the realm.

On the seventh and last day of the royal party, drinks were flowing freely, and the intoxicated king called for the queen to parade her beauty before his drunken guests.

To the king’s embarrassment, Vashti the queen said “no.” Her response hit the palace like an earthquake. If the king tolerated this kind of behavior, his counselors insisted, he would jeopardize the social order of the kingdom. Not only had the queen insulted him, she had threatened every home in the land. Before long, wives all over the empire would hear what she had done and would begin despising their husbands.

Act II

After the king divorced Queen Vashti, the whole Kingdom helped him look for her replacement. Messengers were sent to the 127 provinces of Persia to bring the most beautiful young women of the land to the King’s summer palace.

In the events that followed, a Jewish orphan lost any innocence that might have remained. Esther found herself in the harem of a pagan king, then in his bed, then wearing the crown of the Queen of Persia.

As the eyes of the empire focused on Esther, Mordecai worried. Every day he walked to the women’s quarters of the palace to see if he could find out how she was doing. One day while sitting at the King’s gate he overheard two palace guards conspiring to kill the King, and he got word to Esther. She told Ahasuerus, and the two men were arrested and hanged. As a result of his action, Mordecai received a note of honorable mention in the national record.

Act III

Mordecai’s presence at the palace also got him in trouble. For reasons that are not clear, Mordecai refused to bow when Haman, the King’s Prime Minister, walked by. Haman didn’t take the insult well. When he found out that Mordecai was Jewish, he was so furious that he concocted a plan to wipe out all Jewish people in the empire. By persuading the king that these people had their own laws and were therefore a security threat, Haman convinced the King to sign a law calling for the extermination of all Jewish people.

When Esther discovered the plot, she was in a tough spot. No one but Mordecai knew that she was Jewish. To protest the new national policy would mean losing the crown and probably her life. While sympathetic to her fear, Mordecai gently urged, “If you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (4:14).

Mordecai was wise. He didn’t force Esther’s hand. But he reminded her of an opportunity to use her influence on behalf of their people. After some thought, Esther rose to the occasion, saying, “If I perish, I perish!”

Intermission

At this point I hope you see why Esther is worth another read. It’s about self-centered men who try to dominate their wives with social power. It’s about a drunken world leader, the woman who lost her marriage for standing up to him, and the young Jewish woman who was chosen to take her place. More important, it’s the story of God working behind the scenes to orchestrate extraordinary circumstances to preserve His people.

Act IV

Heaven helped the orphan Queen. At a critical moment the King spent a sleepless night reading the National Record. There he was reminded that Mordecai had reported the plot to kill the king.

That sleepless night marked a turning point. In the days that followed, Haman discovered that in trying to destroy the Jewish people, he had taken on the King of Heaven. Through a series of events full of intrigue and irony, Haman ended up hanging on the gallows he had built for Mordecai. Then, instead of a Jewish ethnic cleansing, the exiles were themselves given the strength to destroy those who were intent on killing them.

Esther—a Story for Today

One of the most significant facts about the story of Esther is that the name of God is not mentioned once. For this reason many have wondered whether it belongs in the Bible. Yet, what this amazing chapter of history shows is that God doesn’t have to be named to be present. To the eye of faith, our Protector is everywhere, orchestrating the most unlikely events and giving Mordecai and Esther an opportunity to be God’s man and woman of the hour.

What was true of Esther is true for us. God is not dependent on us. But who knows when and how often He works through the confusion of our own circumstances to change the eternal destiny of one or thousands of His people.

Who can say when we will find ourselves looking in the eye of destiny as we contemplate the needs of a lonely child, a hurting neighbor, a frightened co-worker, or a disillusioned mate? Who can say that heaven has not brought us to this place—for just such a moment? (Esther 4:14). —Mart De Haan