How can you live by faith when you feel far from God? What about he seems entirely absent from you life? The Book of Esther encourages us that God is at work even when he feels hidden from us. By his providence, God works to keep his promises even when his people feel far from him.
Find more Esther resources below:
Esther 1
The first chapter introduces us to two essential details of the story: the setting and the silence. God’s people are in exile, far from their homes, but what makes it all the more heartbreaking is that God seems to be silent. He seems to have forgotten them in this faraway land. Is God here? Does God care? These are the questions that set the stage for the saga about to unfold in the book.
Esther 2
In Esther 2, we meet the title character herself. Esther is an orphan who is part of God’s exiled people. She is taken by the king as he seeks to replace the queen he has recently deposed. Esther seems to live by the whims of the powerful around her, but this will prove to be prelude for how God will work through Esther. As the story unfolds, we will see that it is actually God who has been in control this whole time. By this providence, he has been positioning Esther to preserve her people and to carry out his good purposes.
Esther 2-3
Esther 2:19-3:15 revolves around two characters: Mordecai and Haman. Mordecai has already been introduced as Esther’s older cousin and caretaker, and now the book reveals his work in and around the court. Haman is another figure at court, who wields wealth and influence in the kingdom. He’s a foil to Mordecai and will prove to be his adversary. As the narrative unfolds, it is the rivalry between these two that will spiral into the threat of extermination for God’s people and will bring Esther to the place where she courageously acts. In Mordecai and Haman, we find two men who try to wield their influence to bring about their desired ends, but we again find that it is ultimately God who is in control.
Esther 4
Queen Esther learns of the plot against her people. Her cousin Mordecai challenges her that she must act in order to save her people. Ultimately, Esther decides to risk her life by identifying with her people in order to intervene on their behalf.
Esther 5-7
Queen Esther hosts two banquets in order to ask the king to spare her and her people, but the key turning point of the book comes during the night between the two feasts. The king cannot sleep, and in an effort to fall asleep, he has the annals of his reign read to him. Here, he hears again of Mordecai’s saving his life, and the king decides that he must be honored. This sleepless night and reading of the history ends up rescuing God’s people. The narrative invites us to see God’s extraordinary work in these ordinary circumstances.
Esther 8-10
As Esther comes to an end, the future of God’s people turns on a series of dramatic reversals. In these chapters, we are reminded that God’s wisdom turns human wisdom on its head. Such redemptive reversals call our attention to the greatest reversal in the resurrection of Christ, and we’re challenged to consider how we can live by faith according to the wisdom of God.