Esther lived in ancient Persia about 100 years after the Babylonian captivity. When her parents died, the orphaned child was adopted and raised by her older cousin Mordecai.
One day the king of the Persian Empire, Xerxes I, threw a lavish party. On the final day of the festivities, he called for his queen, Vashti, eager to flaunt her beauty to his guests. But the queen refused to appear before Xerxes. Filled with anger, he deposed Queen Vashti, forever removing her from his presence.
To find his new queen, Xerxes hosted a royal beauty pageant and Esther was chosen for the throne. Her cousin Mordecai became a minor official in the Persian government of Susa.
Soon after, Mordecai uncovered a plot to assassinate the king. He told Esther about the conspiracy, and she reported it to Xerxes, giving credit to Mordecai. The plot was thwarted and Mordecai's act of kindness was preserved in the chronicles of the king.
At this same time, the king's highest official was a wicked man named Haman. He hated the Jews and he especially hated Mordecai, who had refused to bow down to him.
So, Haman devised a scheme to have every Jew in Persia killed. The king bought into the plot and agreed to annihilate the Jewish people on a specific day. Meanwhile, Mordecai learned of the plan and shared it with Esther, challenging her with these famous words:
"Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:13-14, NIV)
Esther urged all of the Jews to fast and pray for deliverance. Then risking her own life, brave young Esther approached the king with a plan of her own.
She invited Xerxes and Haman to a banquet where eventually she revealed her Jewish heritage to the king, as well as Haman's diabolical plot to have her and her people killed. In a rage, the king ordered Haman to be hung on the gallows--the very same gallows Haman had built for Mordecai. (Some translations read "impaled on a pole" rather than "hung on the gallows." In ancient Persia the precursor to Roman crucifixion was done by impaling the body and hanging it on a wooden pole or stake.)
Mordecai was promoted to Haman's high position and Jews were granted protection throughout the land. As the people celebrated God's tremendous deliverance, the joyous festival of Purim was instituted.
Esther's Accomplishments:
Queen Esther's accomplishment was to dedicate her life before the king to save the Jews, since she was a Jew by birth. She was loved by the king more than the other women and the royal crown was set upon her for that.
Esther's Strengths:
Esther appears in the Bible as a woman of godly character. She is a dutiful daughter to her adopted father, Mordecai. She is obedient to his counsels, and anxious to share the king’s favor with him for the good of the Jewish people.
Esther “obtained favor in the sight of all them that looked upon her” (2:15). She had both beauty and charm. Of all the women in the beauty contest, she was chosen to be the king’s new chief wife. She must have been the perfect “Miss Babylon.”
The fact that God used her as an instrument to avert the destruction of the Jewish people suggests a strength of character and commitment to the God of Israel. Her agreement to approach the king without being called for and her statement “If I perish, I perish” reveals a willingness to sacrifice her life for her people. As Mordecai said, Esther was in a position of influence “for such a time as this” (4:14). She used her position of influence to change things for the better.
Esther's Weaknesses:
Esther and Mordecai evidently had accepted the Persian culture rather than maintaining Jewish distinctives.
Esther adopted a Persian name rather than keeping her Jewish name Hadassah. Mordecai told her not to reveal that she was Jewish and she agreed. Both of them seem embarrassed or ashamed of their ethnic origins. Perhaps is Ahasuerus had known that Esther was a Jew in the first place, he never would have agreed to Haman’s evil plot.
Esther agreed to participate in a worldly beauty contest and to enter the harem of a heathen king. Mordecai at least should have known better than to allow his dependent to be associated with a royal harem. It was undoubtedly inappropriate for a Jewish girl to live in such a place.
Further, the Mosaic Law prohibited her marriage to a non-Jew (Dt 7:3). Neither she nor her guardian seemed at all concerned about this, however.
Life Lessons:
God is sovereign. Even though God’s name is never mentioned, the main theme of the book of Esther is God’s providential, sovereign care for His people. God works out his purposes behind the scenes, without much fanfare. Mordecai seems to appreciate God’s sovereignty when he suggests that Esther became queen for “such a time as this.” What are some other “coincidences” that reveal God’s providential control over the events of this story?
Trust God to take care of you. God’s ability and willingness to deliver his chosen people is a key theme found in Esther’s life story. Mordecai was confident that if Esther failed, deliverance for the Jews would arise from another quarter. Esther’s willingness to approach the king without being called suggests that she was relying on God’s providential care for her. Even when God's people are far from him and disobedient, they are still the object of his concern and love. He is working out his purposes through them.
Hometown: Persia
Referenced in the Bible: The book of Esther
Occupation: Queen
Family Tree:
Cousin: Mordecai
Husband: King Xerxes
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