We are now looking at the top ten characters in the Old Testament. The “top ten” has been modified to include 5 men and 5 women and not include any that then been looked at recently. At number 10 is Esther do we know anything about her?
Her story is found in the book of Esther. It is a short story, you can read it in a few minutes.
Esther is an exciting book of the Bible. It contains all your classic storybook ingredients: a bold, beautiful heroine, shifting love interests, a life or death threat to the good guys, a villain you absolutely love to hate, and of course a happy ending. There are suspense and dramatic irony and reversals of fortune and poetic justice. Really, this story has it all! It has even been made into a film.
Esther
This book is set when the Israelites were in exile and were ruled over by the Persians. King Xerxes wanted to replace his queen, so he organised a “Miss Persia” contest and Esther, a Jewish girl, was chosen to become queen.
Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, told her not to tell anyone that she was Jewish and so it was kept a secret.
The king’s chief official, Haman, expected everyone to bow when he passed by. Mordecai refused to bow to Haman, which made him so angry he wanted to wipe out the entire Jewish population. He convinced the king to sign a decree that would exterminate all Jews on a certain date.
His plan is frustrated by the intervention of the queen, who though frightened, discloses her race and saves her people. The tables are turned and Haman dies on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai, while the Jews massacre those who had purposed their downfall. The rejoicing that followed was known as Purim, and subsequently the festival was observed as a highly convivial occasion.
This story does not mention God and many find it hard to understand why it is included in the Old Testabent. The story contains little charity and no mercy but an abundance of hatred and savage slaughter. It is suggested that it was only included as it explains the origins of the Jewish festival of Purim.
The story also shows that God can and does work in the mess and moral ambiguity of human history, using the faithfulness of even morally compromised people to accomplish his purposes.