God is not mentioned in the book of Esther. What does that mean? Why does a book of the Bible not mention God? While this can seem mysterious, the reality is that God is not absent in the story at all. He is all over it. In fact, the better way to describe it is that He is the main character. While there are lots of people acting in the story, no one character in the story is moving the story forward. Through the events of the story, we see that God is the one who is making everything happen. In this way, each character in the story is really more of a side character upstaged by God performing his sovereign plan.
God’s Plan
God’s sovereign design is emphasized at the beginning with Vashti refusing to obey the king’s request at his feast. If Vashti had not done this, then the rest of the story would not have happened. While Vashti was acting on her own account, God removed Vashti in order to make way for Esther.
When looking at Esther’s rise, we see that she did not choose to be queen. God put her there. And this position was not particularly nice. She was chosen by the king as an object to gratify his desires. But Esther did not remain passive in this event, rather she attempts to gain the king’s favor by following the advice of Hegai about what to take in with her to the king. But even this highlights that her role of queen was not her choice but one that was given to her. Which is to say, God turned the heart of the king to make her queen.
We see God’s sovereignty in Mordecai also. The story notes that he was from the tribe of Benjamin. This reference highlights and draws us back to other stories about Benjamin. One important story in Israel’s history is the story of King Saul who is also from the tribe of Benjamin. The story of Esther notes that Haman is an Agagite. While Haman may or may not be a direct descendant of King Agag whom King Saul fails to kill, the story of Esther does suggest that this story is at least an echo of that earlier story. God is at work telling a similar story through Mordecai. While Mordecai is a kind of Saul, called to defeat the wicked Haman, he actually does very little to bring this about. Mordecai angers Haman and that is about all he does. The real cause of Haman’s downfall is designed by God who is orchestrating the events.
Last, but not least, we see God’s sovereignty at work in the plot of Haman. Haman plans out a day to have the Jews slaughtered and Haman picks the day by casting lots. The lot falls on the twelfth month. The timing of this month is key because it gives Esther and Mordecai time to appeal to the king and attempt to overrule the evil decree. This highlights the factor of time in the story. The events are timed out perfectly. This again highlights God’s work in the story. The sequence of events is not accidental but purposeful and deliberate. Everything happens at the right time. No person in the story planned the timing; that was all God’s doing.
We especially see God’s perfect timing in the climax of the story. When Esther goes to the king to make her request she doesn’t tell the king her request right away. She invites him and Haman to a feast. Even at that feast, she doesn’t reveal her request but invites them to a second feast. Why did Esther do that? It seems that there are a couple of reasons for this tactic. First, Esther knows, as we do, that the king likes feasts: at the beginning of the story, the king held a seven-day feast. Having a multi-day feast is playing to the king’s interests. Another reason is that Esther is using her powers of persuasion to draw the king to her side. If she had just blurted out her request, the king might not have been open to it. By delaying her request, Esther is drawing the king to be interested in her request and therefore more open to what she wants.
While this seems to be Esther’s reason for a two day feast, God has designed the two day feast for a specific reason beyond anything that Esther had planned. This extra time in the story allows for the king to have a bad night of sleep before the second day’s feast. This allows the king to request the royal records to be read and this reminds the king of Mordecai’s service to him in saving him from the assassination plot of Bigthan and Teresh. This reminder of Mordecai’s service to the king is a key piece in moving the king to favor Esther and the Jews: these people have saved the king’s life.
The striking thing to note is that this all happens at night. At a time when people are asleep and are doing nothing, God is at work bringing about his sovereign design.
Feast of Purim
The last piece of the story is the naming of the feast at the end: the feast of Purim. Purim is the word for lots. This is a reference to the lots that Haman cast. The feast of Purim is a celebration of casting lots. While Haman was acting in order to destroy God’s people, God was at work protecting his people and promoting Esther and Mordecai. If Haman knew what he was doing, he would not have done it.
The name of the feast is entirely appropriate: a celebration of casting lots. While Haman was the one who cast the lots, the lots were entirely under God’s control. This story illustrates what Proverbs 16:33 says, “The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the Lord.” In this way, the feast of Purim is a feast of God’s sovereignty. While these events might seem like chance events brought about by the toss of the dice, every event was brought about by the sovereign decision of the Lord. In this way the deck was stacked against Haman from the beginning. Haman should have known: the house always wins.
Image by moritz320 from Pixabay
