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Seeing the invisible God - Part 3
God is nowhere and everywhere in the Old Testament book of Esther, says Carla Lindsey. Part 3 of 5.
If you are a party animal you would have loved the party lifestyle that took place in King Xerxes’ palace. Xerxes, king of the Persian Empire (486–465 BCE), really liked parties. He liked feasting, he really liked drinking, and he liked schmoosing.
The book of Esther is set at Xerxes’ palace, and many of its key events either happen at parties or are celebrated by parties. In Esther, we find 10 parties (or banquets) mentioned. Some were huge, attended by many people and lasted a long time. For example, the party in Esther 1:2–4, during which Xerxes showed off his wealth and power to important military leaders, lasted six months! This party was immediately followed by another party that lasted a mere seven days (1:5–8). While those parties were going on, Queen Vashti threw a party of her own for the women (1:9).
And now, we come to the first of two more intimate dinner parties that Queen Esther threw. Here, as we look at Esther 4:1–5:8, we’ll see the Jewish people’s response to the terrible news that their race would be annihilated and the brave response of Queen Esther who stepped up to try and do something about it.
When we left Esther chapter 3, a decree had gone out ‘with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods’ (Est 3:13).
Understandably, the Jewish people were devastated! As Jews around the empire heard the news, they mourned. For them mourning involved fasting, weeping and wailing. Many tore their clothes, and put on sackcloth and ashes as a sign of their great distress. When Mordecai, who was the parental guardian of the Persian Queen, Queen Esther, heard the news, he mourned, for Mordecai was a Jew. Esther was too, but she had done a good job of keeping her racial identity a secret.
Bad news reaches Esther
Being closeted in the harem, Esther had not heard about the decree. She had no idea what was in store for her people. When she heard Mordecai was in sackcloth weeping bitterly by the King’s gate, she was very distressed. She knew there must have been something big going on!
Unable to leave her quarters herself, she sent clothes to Mordecai so he could come to her, as it wasn’t acceptable to wear sackcloth into the palace. But his distress was so great that he would not simply change his clothes and stop mourning. Mordecai sent the clothes back.
So Esther tried a different approach. She sent her attendant Hathach to find out why Mordecai was mourning. Mordecai told Hathach everything. He gave Hathach ‘a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her … Mordecai told Hathach to instruct Esther to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people’ (4:8).
So Esther was given the awful news, and along with it, the advice of her guardian that she should approach the king on behalf of the Jewish people and ask for mercy.
But it wasn’t that easy. Not even for the queen. According to the ancient historian Herodotus, the Persians had adopted a law that was instituted by Deioces I, king of the Medes. This law said that anyone who approached the king uninvited would be subject to death, unless the king extended his gold sceptre to them. This law protected the king from unwanted intruders. It meant if you wanted to see the king you had to send a letter requesting an audience with him. Then, if the king agreed to see you, you would be summonsed.
Why Esther didn’t write a letter we don’t know. The annihilation decree was not to be carried out for another 11 months, so there was plenty of time. Perhaps she was simply obeying Mordecai’s instruction that she go to the king, or perhaps she just didn’t want to wait. Writing a letter and waiting to hear back might have taken months, and there was no guarantee that she would get a summons. In the meantime, her people were terrified. Perhaps she just wanted to get it all sorted out. The sooner the better.
This is God’s moment
Esther knew the risks of approaching the king uninvited well. She sent Hathach back to Mordecai with a message expressing her fears and telling him that the king had not called for her in over a month. She must have wondered if she had lost Xerxes’ favour. After all she was only one wife of many. Perhaps the king had moved on to someone else. There was a very real possibility that approaching the king would mean her death. Xerxes was known for being a ruthless man.
Mordecai’s response to the concerned Esther is what most scholars consider the central idea in the book. Mordecai ‘sent back this answer: “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?” ’ (3:13–14).
In other words, ‘If you do nothing, your death is certain. Just because you are queen doesn’t mean you will escape’. But Mordecai also seems confident that the Jews would be rescued somehow. He doesn’t say that the rescue would come from God—in fact, no-one in the whole book talks about God—but one does presume that’s what he means. No doubt Mordecai knows the history of his people. He must know that over and over again the Jews were oppressed by other nations, but always God saved a remnant. He never let them be completely wiped out.
And here’s the central idea. Mordecai suggests that actually Esther might have been put in the position that she was in for this exact moment. Maybe the king’s party and the former queen Vashti’s deposition weren’t a coincidence (chapter 1). Maybe Esther being chosen to go to the king and her becoming queen (chapter 2), were all part of a much greater plan. Perhaps she had been put there by God for the very purpose of going before the king on behalf of the Jews. Maybe this was her moment. Esther decided to grab that moment. Even though she was afraid, she accepted the challenge. Here we see a huge change in Esther. She goes from being passive—just a young girl who took orders from others—to taking the initiative. She makes a plan and she puts it into action.
Esther steps up
Esther becomes the one giving the instructions. She told Mordecai to ‘gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish’ (4:16).
Fasting and praying usually go together. While the narrator seems to deliberately avoid any language that connects to God, the fact that the Jews were fasting, implies that they were praying too. Esther was afraid. No doubt she felt inadequate for the task. She knew the fate of her people rested with her. She was under just a bit of pressure! She knew she couldn’t do it alone, so she called on the Jewish community to join together to enlist divine help.
Mordecai rallied the Jewish people to fast for Esther, and on the third day Esther discarded her mourning garb and put on her fi ne royal robes. She went and stood in front of the king’s hall, where from his throne, Xerxes could see her approaching.
I imagine she held her breath as she stood nervously waiting to see what kind of response she would get from the king. Dramatic pause. When Xerxes saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the sceptre (5:2). So Esther approached …
Well, that was a relief! Esther had the king’s favour so she could make her request. Xerxes knew there must have been a very good reason for Esther to have risked approaching him like that. He knew her request must be very important. To reassure her, he said, ‘What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you’ (5:3). That sounds pretty generous!
But it wasn’t quite as good as it sounds. To offer up to half of the kingdom was an oriental courtesy not meant to be taken literally. In Mark 6:23, King Herod offered Salome the same. But this gesture told Esther that Xerxes was prepared to take her request seriously. So, given how well everything has gone, we would expect Esther to make her request now, right? But she doesn’t. Perhaps because she hadn’t been with the king for 30 days she felt she needed to re-establish her relationship with him? Perhaps she just wanted to butter him up?
Come to the party
Although Esther is given the opportunity, she doesn’t make her request for the rescue of the Jews. Instead, she invites the king along with Haman, the prime minister, to a private dinner party. It had been Haman’s idea to eliminate the Jews. He had the annihilation decree written up, so why did Esther want him at the party? Was it to lull him into a false sense of security? Was it so she might learn more about her enemy and his plan? Was it so that he would be present when she revealed she was a Jew? We’re not sure, but no doubt the already proud Haman would have had his ego stroked further by the invitation from the Queen.
As the trio dined, the king once again invited Esther to make her request. But Esther must have sensed that it wasn’t yet the right time. So instead she invited Xerxes and Haman to yet another dinner party, at which, she promised, she would make her request known. The suspense! Twice now the reader has thought Esther was going to explain everything to the king and twice we’ve been left hanging. Will she ask him at the next banquet? And what will happen when she does?
Unknown to Esther, her delaying technique would allow for an interesting twist in the plot concerning Mordecai and Haman. Another coincidence? Perhaps—or perhaps another instance of the God, who is never mentioned in this book, actually being all through it, standing silently behind all of the events, bringing them together for his purpose.
by Carla Lindsey (c) 'War Cry' magazine, 19 September 2015, pp 20-21.
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Points to ponder
When you look back, can you find times when God has woven together the coincidences in your life?
Is there an area in your life where you need to stop doing what others want you to do, and step up as Esther did?
Is there an area of your life where God is asking you to do something even though it scares you?
Is there an area of your life where you could call on your community for support?