Introduction to Esther

Unlike Ezra-Nehemiah, which chronicles the architectural and communal rebuilding efforts of the exiles who returned to the land of Judah, Esther is set back in the land of the exile—formerly called Babylon, now part of the Persian empire. The story recorded in Esther is set in the capital city of the Persian empire, Susa, sometime during the reign of the Persian king Ahasuerus (Xerxes), who reigned from 486 BC to 465 BC. This would place the story of Esther before the time of the ministry of Ezra and Nehemiah, which took place during the reign of Ahasuerus’s successor, Artaxerxes.

We do not know who wrote Esther or precisely when it was written. The book is anonymous. According to the Babylonian Talmud (Bava Batra 15a), the Scroll of Esther was written by “the Men of the Great Assembly,” an ill-defined group of Jewish leaders traditionally associated with the postexilic period and Ezra, but whose membership according to rabbinic tradition spans more than one generation. In his medieval commentary on this passage in the Talmud, Rashi (d. 1105) identified the Men of the Great Assembly as “Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Zerubbabel, Mordecai, and their colleagues.” Thus, Rashi seems to have understood Mordecai either to have written Esther or to have played a role in its production.

Rashi’s identification is far too late to be taken as historical evidence for the authorship of the book. Nevertheless, it is plausible that Mordecai played some role in its production. Indeed, the book of Esther itself states that “Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews,” obliging them to keep the Feast of Purim (Esther 9:20-22). This does not prove that Mordecai was the author of the book in its final form, but it does suggest that written material originating with Mordecai may lie behind at least part of the book.

Themes of Esther

First, The conflict of seeds and already/not-yet judgment

The hatred of Haman for Mordecai and the Jews is part of the age-long conflict between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman (Gen 3:15). The seed of the serpent persecutes and tries to exterminate the godly seed (in both the collective and singular sense). Ultimately, the seed of the woman in the singular sense (Christ) triumphs over the seed of the serpent. This triumph occurs in two decisive moments: the cross (the “already” judgment), and the parousia (the “not yet” judgment).

We see a prefiguration of this in the Book of Esther, especially in chapters 8-9. There are some pretty gruesome passages here. We have Mordecai’s decree reversing Haman’s decree, stating that the Jews were permitted to kill their enemies, children and women included (8:11). Then the next chapter narrates the fulfillment: the Jews killed 500 of their enemies in the capital city of Susa, including the 10 sons of Haman (9:6-10), followed by another 300 the next day (9:15); while in the provinces 75,000 of those who hated the Jews were killed (9:16).

This seems pretty crazy at first, and perhaps morally repulsive to us. But it is no more crazy or morally repulsive than Joshua’s conquest of the land of Canaan (which, recall, was God’s judgment on the Canaanites because of their wickedness, abominable practices, and idolatry – Deut 9:4-5). The best explanation for this is what Meredith Kline refers to as the biblical-theological concept of “intrusion.” To understand this, we have to go back to the very beginning. Before the fall, the garden of Eden was a holy territory in which God dwelled among his people. After the fall, God might have immediately executed final judgment, leaving no survivors. But because of his plan to save an innumerable company of men and women through the atoning death of Christ, God established common grace instead, which resulted in a delay of judgment. Judgment day is still coming, but it is suspended in order to allow for the plan of redemption to unfold. Yet throughout redemptive history prior to the coming of the Messiah there is “an intrusion of the power, principles, and reality of the consummation into the period of delay” (Kline, Structure of Biblical Authority, p. 156). The flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the conquest of Canaan, and the destruction of the enemies of the Jews in Esther 9 are examples of this intrusion at work, providing an anticipation or prefiguration of the final outpouring of divine wrath against the reprobate at the day of judgment. In particular, the conquest of Canaan and Esther 9 are examples of holy war, in which God is devoting his enemies to destruction.

The fact that the Jews’ destruction of their enemies in Esther 9 is a continuation of holy war is the fact that God had long ago promised perpetual war against the Amalekites: “The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation” (Exod 17:16). And remember that Haman was called “the Agagites” (Esther 3:1), which links back to Agag, king of the Amalekites (1 Sam 15:8), whom God had commanded Saul to devote to destruction, men, women, children and livestock (1 Sam 15:1-3). The fact that the Jews do not touch the plunder (Esther 9:10, 15, 16) suggests that they are fulfilling Saul’s unfinished business, for Saul did touch the plunder (1 Sam 15:3, 9) contrary to God’s command and lost the kingship for doing so.

Not only is the carnage in Esther 9 a prefiguration of the second coming of Christ, when he destroys the reprobate, but Mordecai himself is a picture of Christ. His vindication and judgment upon his enemies is a pre-figuration of Christ’s 2-stage victory.

How does this apply to us today? We do not put our enemies to death by the edge of the sword. Jesus has commanded us as his followers to the opposite calling of suffering for him. It is hard to live as God’s people in the midst of a hostile world, but we can turn the other cheek and pray for our enemies, because we know that Christ has already won the victory. Those who have rejected us are not rejecting us but Christ (John 15:18-21). We wait for the day of judgment to see God’s just vengeance on his and our enemies, and meanwhile we pray for our persecutors that they might repent before it is too late.

Second, waiting humbly for God’s vindication

1. Mordecai’s act of foiling the plot went unrewarded initially, but he continued to faithfully serve at the king’s gate.
2. Esther did not immediately demand that the king save the Jews, but let events unfold until the king saw the wickedness of Haman for himself.
3. Unlike Vashti, Esther shows respect to the king at all times, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king” (5:8; 7:3; 8:5).
4. Mordecai and Esther put themselves at the mercy of a fickle sinful king, knowing that God would use him to accomplish His will (Prov 21:1; 29:26).
5. Contrast Haman’s self-aggrandizement and arrogance, which leads to his downfall (Prov 11:2; 16:18; 29:23).
6. Mordecai, Esther, and the Jews receive absolute vindication by the end of the story, yet it is clear that they did not scheme to achieve it in a fleshly, self-assertive way.

Third, God’s amazing providence

1. Queen Vashti “just happened” to refuse the king’s command (1:12) and her royal position was opened to another better than she (1:19).
2. The king “just happened” to delight in Esther more than all the other virgins (2:17).
3. Mordecai “just happened” to learn of the eunuchs’ plot to kill the king (2:21-23).
4. The king “just happened” to hold out the golden scepter to Esther (twice – 5:2; 8:4).
5. Haman’s wife “just happened” to suggest that he build gallows on which to hang Mordecai (5:14).
6. The king “just happened” to be unable to sleep and had the royal archives read to him, where he learned how Mordecai foiled the eunuchs’ plot (6:1-2).
7. Haman “just happened” to enter to request that Mordecai be hanged when the king asked what should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor (6:4-6).
8. The king “just happened” to return as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was, enraging the king (7:7-8).
9. Haman “just happened” to be hanged on the very gallows he had prepared for Mordecai (7:9-10; 9:25).
10. Haman “just happened” to cast lots (pur) to determine the best day to exterminate the Jews (3:7; 9:24), the 13th of Adar (3:13), but “on that very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred” (9:1). Proverbs 16:33: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.”

“What the writer of Esther has done is to give us a story in which the main actor is not so much mentioned – the presence of God is implied and understood throughout the story, so that these mounting coincidences are but the by-product of his rule over history and his providential care for his people. It is an extraordinary piece of literary genius that this author wrote a book that is about the actions and rule of God from beginning to end, and yet that God is not named on a single page of the story” (Dillard & Longman, An Introduction to the OT, p. 196).

“The deliverance experienced here in Esther is very different from the exodus of Egypt in the time of Moses. There are no signs and wonders, no special revelations, no prophet like Moses – and no one even mentions God! Yet the way the story is told makes it clear that, even when God is most hidden, he is still present and working to protect and deliver his chosen people” (ESV Study Bible, p. 851).

Fourth, God’s faithfulness to his promises, fulfilled in Christ

If the plot to destroy the Jews had succeeded, the line of the seed of the woman would have been broken, there would be no Messiah, no fulfillment of God’s promises, and no gospel (Acts 13:32-33; Rom 1:1-4; 9:4-5; 15:8). Of course, it is impossible that God would be unfaithful to his promises (Rom 11:29; 2 Cor 1:20; 2 Tim 2:13; Heb 6:13-20). The fact that the Jewish people still exists to this day, after experiencing much persecution over the centuries, is a testament to God’s faithfulness, at least historically and temporally, and eternally for those who accept Jesus as the Messiah.