Lessons in Courage and Providence from the Book of Esther

God’s providence at work – a servant becomes queen

In the book of Esther it says, 

“On the seventh day of his banquet the king was drinking and feeling happy, so he called in… his personal servants, [and] he ordered them to bring in Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown. The queen was a beautiful woman, and the king wanted to show off her beauty to the officials and all his guests. But when the servants told Queen Vashti of the king’s command, she refused to come. This made the king furious… (and he and his advisors decided that Vashti’s ‘place as queen would be given to some better woman.’

Esther 1:10-19

Esther was brought to King Xerxes in the royal palace. The king liked her more than any of the other women… He placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.”

Esther 2:15-18

The Old Testament book of Esther tells the fascinating story of a Jewish orphan girl becoming a queen and saving her people from certain death. Its ten short chapters are chock-full of feasting, fasting and favouritism. Every page holds plotting and intrigue, cowardice and epic courage, cliff-hangers and conspiracies. Esther’s unknown Jewish author also seemed to love irony and duplication; there are no less than 16 pairs of events in the book – two lists, two reports that Esther concealed her identity, two royal edicts, two letters. 

A banished queen, a people-pleasing king, a scheming villain, an orphan-turned-queen, a hero in exile challenging his adopted daughter to risk her life for her people – all these characters fill the stage of The Book of Esther – a book of the Bible that does not once mention the name of God. And yet, His character, plan, and protection shines through on every page.

If you’re looking for the courage to speak up, step up, or stand out, why not take a walk through the book of Esther this week? 

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Mordecai defies the villain Haman

In chapter 3 of Esther it says, 

“Some time later King Xerxes promoted a man named Haman to the position of prime minister… The king ordered all the officials in his service to show their respect for Haman by kneeling and bowing to him. They all did so, except for Mordecai, who refused to do it… Haman was furious when he realised that Mordecai was not going to kneel and bow to him, and when he learned that Mordecai was a Jew, he… made plans to kill every Jew in the whole Persian Empire…”

Esther 3:1-11

Do you ever feel that being a Christian makes you part of a strange subculture that no one understands? When I feel that way, I’m tempted to hide my Christianity, blend in with the crowd as much as possible, and avoid anything that might threaten my reputation.

Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, took the opposite approach. When the egotistical Haman demanded that all of Susa bow down to him, Mordecai refused point blank. Despite the huge pressure put on him daily by the top dogs in the land, he still refused to bow to Haman. When asked why, Mordecai had no qualms about claiming his faith, simply answering, “I am a Jew,” as if it were perfectly obvious that therefore he could bow to no one but God.

Haman’s fury at Mordecai’s quiet rebellion turned into a vendetta, not only against Mordecai, but against the whole Jewish nation. In putting his case to the king for killing off the Jews, Haman made some chilling statements that are echoed in our own society thousands of years later: “These people are scattered all over your empire – they’re everywhere! They observe customs that aren’t like ours. It’s definitely not in the best interests of our progressive society to tolerate them or their archaic world view.” Surprisingly, King Xerxes went along with Haman’s plot to wipe out all the Jews, no questions asked. 

Can you imagine how unpopular Mordecai was now, not only with the Persians, but with his own people as well? Yet popularity was never Mordecai’s priority, a good reputation never his idol.  What Mordecai believed in was obedience to God, no matter the cost.

What about you? Take a few minutes to consider today what matters most to you—your image with the world, or submission to the One in whose image you’re made?

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The hero Mordecai boldly intercedes for his people

Esther chapter 4 starts by saying, 

“When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes in anguish. Then he dressed in sackcloth, covered his head with ashes, and walked through the city, wailing loudly and bitterly, until he came to the entrance of the palace. He did not go in because no one wearing sackcloth was allowed inside.”

Esther 4:1-2

Did you notice in Esther chapter 3 that Haman never mentioned the name of the people he wanted to destroy? The king had no idea that he had just authorised the destruction of thousands of Jews, nor that his own chosen queen was a member of that people.

So the order to kill every Jewish man, woman and child in the kingdom was dispatched. It didn’t take long for Mordecai and his fellow Jews to get the devastating news of Haman’s plot. Mordecai immediately began to mourn, tearing his clothes, putting on sackcloth and ashes in the grieving custom of the day. All over Susa, the Jewish people followed suit – fasting, weeping and were terrified. Mordecai’s anguish was not for himself, it was for his people. 

Again unafraid of what anyone thought of him, Mordecai headed straight for the palace, since he knew someone in high places there. But the palace gates were slammed shut in his face. Why? Because of what he was wearing as he was mourning. “No shirt, no shoes, no service,” the sign on the palace door might have read. We don’t want any bad news here. Keep out.

So Mordecai did. He stayed outside the gates but he didn’t shut up as he started wailing loudly, walking back and forth in front of the window he knew his niece would be looking out of.

Mordecai’s responses in this story challenged me to think about how I deal with fear, grief, and crisis. When I see people around me in pain, do I lock the gates, bury my head in the sand, and go find some entertainment with which to distract myself? Or am I willing to enter into their suffering, to intercede for them, even fast and grieve with them? Hmm, that’s worth pondering during today’s prayer time. 

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Stepping through fear into obedience

The Feast of Purim Inaugurated

²⁰ And Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, ²¹ obliging them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same, year by year, ²² as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

²³ So the Jews accepted what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them. ²⁴ For Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur (that is, cast lots), to crush and to destroy them. ²⁵ But when it came before the king, he gave orders in writing that his evil plan that he had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. ²⁶ Therefore they called these days Purim, after the term Pur. Therefore, because of all that was written in this letter, and of what they had faced in this matter, and of what had happened to them, ²⁷ the Jews firmly obligated themselves and their offspring and all who joined them, that without fail they would keep these two days according to what was written and at the time appointed every year, ²⁸ that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every clan, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants.

²⁹ Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew gave full written authority, confirming this second letter about Purim. ³⁰ Letters were sent to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, in words of peace and truth, ³¹ that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them, and as they had obligated themselves and their offspring, with regard to their fasts and their lamenting.

Esther 9:20-31

What would have been certain death and destruction for the Jewish people turned into a celebration, the jolly Festival of Purim, that is still commemorated by Jews to this day. Both Mordecai and Esther, elevated to positions of respect and authority within Xerxes’ kingdom, sent official letters which actually instructed the people to party, celebrate and send gifts to one another!

Someone once said that a hero is someone who steps through fear into obedience, and then leaves the results up to God. What do you think would have happened if Esther had stayed in her ivory tower, pretended those Jews weren’t her responsibility, and sought to keep her queenly life as comfortable as possible? Possibly the news of a Jewish orphan becoming queen would have earned itself a verse or two somewhere in the Bible, with no names or festivals attached to it.

I often ask myself the question, “What if I hadn’t paid attention to that nudge from God to move to Northern Ireland, or to talk to my neighbour at his gate that day, or to offer the small sacrifice of my time late at night, or to…?” Those small choices will never get me into a history book or create a national party. But the answer I find when I ask that question is worth it all: Think what I would have missed if I’d said NO instead of YES!

Sometime soon you will have a chance to step through fear into obedience. Follow Esther’s example and just do it. It’s so worth it.

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Top image credit: illustration of Queen Esther courageously petitioning the King to spare her uncle Mordecai and all the Jews from Haman’s plot to kill them, illustration from © GoodSalt.com. Used with permission.