Esther is the only book of the Bible not to mention God or His name. For this reason, the Jews decorate the book of Esther in their Tanak. Purim, which is a festival commemorated in Esther comes from a word meaning “die,” or “dice.” And that theme of chance reverberates throughout the book. It reminds me of the book of Ruth where Ruth “chanced” upon the field of Boaz, but who of us would not realize that it was not about chance at all? It was providence.
Apparently, Esther was the only book that the Nazi’s denied the Jews in concentration camps to read because they knew that this was a story about what goes wrong with you when you oppose God’s people. That being said, providence is the key word. The fact that the name of the Lord is not even alluded to, and that even when Esther commands her people to fast, she leaves out that they ought to pray, leaves one to wonder. Why? Was it that Esther herself is so thoroughly pagan? Remember, Esther does not use her Jewish name.
Whatever else might be said, this book is an explicit case made by Yahweh, even as He had done by sending Elijah to Lebanon (Baal’s capital) to heal a widow’s son, that He is God even when in the deepest roots of the enemy’s false worship in foreign regions. In Lebanon, Yahweh showed He had power over life and death through Elijah instead of Baal, and in Babylon, Yahweh showed Ahasuerus that He was God. Yahweh is God even ironically where He is not worshiped.
It seems that every time you see the king in this book, he is drunk and/or reversing his decrees that cannot be altered. The fact is that he makes so certain of his decisions and winds up being redirected by the hand of Yahweh, who isn’t explicitly mentioned but is in all the details.
So, let me be frank on a point: Just as the proverb says, the king’s heart is in the hand of God, and He turns it wherever He will (Prov. 21:1). The text compares the king’s heart to streams of water. We have this confidence in our lot in life, whatever it may be. God makes light of our control because He does as He will just as He did with the apparent control freak issues that Ahasuerus had. Even though the text indicates repeatedly that he was a controlling guy, God turned him around repeatedly.
So do not be concerned about your life, what you will eat or drink Jesus said. God cares not only for sparrows and for you, but He is able to ebb and flow the big decision-makers of our era wherever He desires. You can fear; or you can trust. Even where God is silent, He is sovereign.
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