Esther

 

 

The book of Esther is not about Esther

God would have us understand,

Rather, it is about God whose name is not,

And His wonderful redemptive plan.

 

God is not mentioned, that you can see

But He is definitely behind the scenes,

Behind every act and every scene involved

The God of the Bible can be seen.

 

Let us note the four principal characters

And the roll each one plays

As they negatively or positively portray

God’s miraculous power to save.

 

Many see it as just a great story

But it can be easily checked for its truth,

The event involves Medo-Persia and Israel

And secular history supplies the proof.

 

 

Over one hundred twenty-seven provinces:

From India to Ethiopia Ahasuerus reigned,

Such was the might of the Medes and Persians

Having risen to second world-power fame.

 

Haman is the villain as we all can see

And he solicits the support of the King,

His objective is to execute Mordecai

And genocide to all of Israel bring.

 

Mordecai on the other hand is a Jew

And he will not take this sitting down,

The King at this time desires a new queen

Hence, a ring and a wedding gown.

 

And here enters the beautiful Esther

A descendant of the Benjamin tribe,

Emerging top of the list of the prospective queens

Esther becomes King Ahasuerus’ bride.

 

This was the scarlet thread for Mordecai

As he put his rescue plan in place,

If he does not counter wicked Haman’s plot

Of the Jews there would not be a trace.

 

Hence, a dangerous job for the new queen,

Before King Ahasuerus she must stand

But in order for her to do such a thing

This must be at the King’s demand.

 

To do such a thing could mean her death

But Mordecai determined that she must,

If something was not done, and very soon,

Every Jew would lie in the dust.

 

Can you not see what that would mean?

There would be no promised Messiah,

Perhaps Mordecai also knew this

And that’s why he persuaded Queen Esther.

 

However, he was convinced if she refused,

Deliverance would come some other way

But if Esther had come to the throne for this

Then King Ahasuerus she could sway.

 

If I perish I perish, were Esther’s words

And into the king’s presence she went,

He received her with such acknowledgement

You would think that for her he had sent.

 

The king had issued an irreversible decree

On information Haman had supplied,

He knew not that the information was false

And so, every single Jew must die.

 

However, Mordecai had saved Ahasuerus' life

When he told of plot to overthrow the king

And while reading his diary one sleepless night

The king came upon this very thing.

 

On this information he sent for Mordecai

And offered to make amends

But because the decree could not be retracted

He could not reverse that trend.

 

Instead, he made a counter decree

That allowed the Jews themselves to defend,

And with that a massive victory they won

That throughout the provinces extend.

 

As for Haman, he died on his own gallows:

The one he had built for Mordecai,

Like Pharaoh, Herod and many others,

To stymie Messiah's coming is to die.

So, Esther is not some fairy tale

Around which Hollywood movies are made,

But it takes its rightful place in the Canon

And deserves the highest grade.

 

It appears to be around the same period

As that of Ezra and Nehemiah

And clearly from these two prophets

That’s when the 70-year exile expired.

 

They were able to rebuild the temple

And repair the breeches in the walls

After King Cyrus in adherence to the prophecy

Suggested they should no longer stall.

 

 

However, not all the Jews had returned

From Daniel and Ezekiel’s time

So, Jerusalem was still under Medo-Persia rule

And this we must keep in mind.

 

Eventually, however, most did return

And the city of Jerusalem was reestablished,

The rituals and ceremonies were done again

Just like the devout Jews would wish.

 

The dry bones had come to life again

Just like the prophet Ezekiel saw,

That these events were this prophetic fulfilment

Is the conclusion I now draw.

 

There are still a lot of questions

To which I do not have the answers

But the idea this will occur at some future time,

Now, that’s a different matter.

 

Stewart Russell © August 31, 2021