The Fellowship Residency Program has introduced me to the idea of reading commentaries alongside scripture. By next August, I will have read through the entire Bible as well as The King in His Beauty, our selected commentary. As I am reading, I am writing a little bit about each of the books of the Bible so you and I can have a more thorough understanding of the scriptures. I invite you to follow along with me as we learn the Bible in its entirety from Genesis to Revelation. This summary does NOT encompass the entire book, but it is a good place to start. I encourage you to read for yourself and begin your own Biblical journal along the way. To read any of my other Residency related posts, click here.
Introduction – The theology of the book is expressed through the telling of the story of how Esther rises to become Queen to King Ahasuerus in 486 - 464BC. God is protecting His people from total destruction even under the rule of pagan oppressors. It is important to note that God is deliberately never mentioned in the book. This is to highlight that God is present even when all else is attempting to push Him out.
The Story – We see the story open up with the Queen Vashti refusing to obey King Ahasuerus’s orders to display her beauty for their guests. As a result, she is stripped of her power. God is working to use the human moments for divine paths to be laid. As a result, Esther was able to become the new Queen and as a result, she was able to better advocate on behalf of the Jews even through she had not revealed her Jewish heritage. We also see Mordecai, Esther’s Uncle and eventual adoptive father, refuse to bow down to Haman. He said he would not bow down, because he was a Jew. Indeed, this is another example where we would expect God to be mentioned, but His name is not present. However, we can infer that Mordecai would not bow down, because he believed that only Yahweh was worthy of worship. Haman was furious and plotted to kill Mordecai and the Jews for their disloyalty to the kingdom. Haman is essentially another example, like Cain and Pharaoh, of the serpent’s offspring.
When Mordecai and the Jewish people heard of his plan, they “fasted and mourned.” This was commonly associated with prayer, but again they do not specifically mention prayer or conversation with God. He pleads with Esther to fight on behalf of her people, and gives the famous “who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” speech (v. 4:13). Mordecai clearly believed that deliverance would come for the Jews somehow, implying a faith in God’s promises. However, he was urging Esther to fulfill her responsibility at this moment in the Jew’s history. So, Esther proceeds and requests that the king and Haman come to a feast she prepared and follows up with a request for them to come to a second feast. After the first feast, the king could not sleep and ordered reading materials. There, he reads about how Mordecai saved his life. He then tricks Haman by asking how he would recognize and celebrate an honorable man. Believing the king is referring to himself, Haman suggests parading him through the streets. Ironically, Mordecai is not oppressed and is ultimately exalted as God promised to exalt his people. At the second feast, Esther asks that her and her people be spared. The king is furious at Haman’s plan to kill the queen and Mordecai and has Haman hanged as a result. Many in the kingdom out of fear became Jews after the King gives the Jews permission to fight for their lives against their enemies. “Hence, the days that were intended for their destruction by lot (“Purim”) became the days of their triumph. The Lord was powerful and restored the future of the Jews. Purim, similar to Passover, celebrates the protection of the Jews from their enemies.
A Final Word – Esther shares a simple but crucial message. Though God is never mentioned, it is clear that He is ruler of all things and will protect His people. No enemies will ever fully succeed as the covenant promise with Israel will be more powerful. Though until final victory is won, the enemies will attack, they will never destroy God’s people. Israel will be a blessing to the world as promised.
Themes: God sovereignly protects His people from annihilation even in the midst of pagan rule. The Lord alone is the sovereign king. God will exalt His people and annihilate the enemies.
Interlude – A Synopsis of the Story of Possession, Exile, and Return – The generation of Joshua faithfully obeys the Lord’s direction and takes the land of Canaan. At this point, two of the three promises of God have been fulfilled, and the third looked to be near. Continuing onward, Judges develops a pattern of the Israelites getting into trouble, repenting, and turning to the Lord. He responds in mercy and grace by sending judges to rescue them from their enemies, but Israel falls right back to idolatry and sin. It becomes clear that Israel needs a king. Ruth is a bright spot in the Israelites history and shows that there are still some who are faithful and righteous towards the Lord. Ultimately, her offspring will lead to King David. The book of Samuel helps us understand the transition from judges to kings and depicts the first major fall of King Saul. However, David is known to be a man after God’s own heart. He suffers and is exalted just as we will see in Jesus’s life that “suffering precedes glory.” Though David is great, he is still a flawed man. We quickly learn that the worldwide blessing will not be fulfilled through him. Kings leads us to believe it may come through Solomon as he constructs a temple for the Lord so that He may dwell with His people. However, Solomon too falls into idolatry. Ultimately, the kingdom of Israel is split with 10 tribes in the north (Israel) and 2 tribes in the south (Judah). We hear stories of many kings who fall, some worse than others. Eventually the north is exiled by the Assyrians in 722 BC, and the south is exiled by Babylon in 586 BC. At this point things appear to be moving backwards. The book of Chronicles is written to the returned exiles to remind them of the great Davidic dynasty and that the Lord has not forgotten His people or His promises to them. Ezra and Nehemiah depict the story of Israel’s return after the exile. It is the rebuilding of the temple and the city. The people face significant opposition, but are reminded that if they live in obedience, then God’s promises will certainly be fulfilled to them. Finally, Esther reminds us that God uses His people to save Israel and prevent them from complete annihilation.