THE BOOK OF ESTHER
Esther |ˈestər| (in the Bible) a woman chosen on account of her beauty by the Persian king Ahasuerus (generally supposed to be Xerxes I) to be his queen. She used her influence with him to save the Israelites in captivity from persecution • a book of the Bible containing an account of events in the life of Esther; a part survives only in Greek and is included in the Apocrypha.
The book of Esther is a story about a young, orphaned girl who grew up to become the Queen of Persia in order to save God’s people from complete destruction. It’s one of the shortest books of the Bible but a beautiful story of God’s redemption.
The story starts about 100 years after the Babylonian exile of the Jewish people from their land. Though some Jews returned to their homeland of Jerusalem after the exile, many didn’t and this story is about a Jewish community living in Susa, the capital city of the Persian Empire.
After Esther's father and mother died, her uncle, Mordecai, adopted her into his family and raised her as his own daughter. They were Jews living in the Persian Empire under the rule of a Persian King named Xerxes. King Xerxes loved to party and show off his wealth, so during one of his banquets, he called his wife, Queen Vashti, to come down so he could show his friends how beautiful she was.
But Queen Vashti refused to come down. That made the King so mad that he sent out a new decree over the land saying that “every man should be the ruler of his own home” (Esther 1:22) and he began to search for a new wife by throwing himself a beauty pageant with all the eligible girls in his kingdom.
And along comes Esther. She enters the pageant and wins because she finds favor with the King. But as we continue reading, we see that her winning wasn’t just for her own benefit—God was setting up a plan to protect His people from a new law the King’s evil advisors put into place stating that the Jewish race should be wiped out.
Esther was placed in the perfect position to boldly ask the King to save her people and her Uncle Mordecai wondered, “Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)
And she was.
Esther fasted and prayed and then boldly asked, “If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request, I ask that my life and the lives of my people will be spared.” (Esther 7:3)
Esther had already found favor with the king because she had shown respect and honor to him. Her humility gave her favor with King Xerxes and God used her boldness to help the Jews win victory over those trying to persecute them once again.
“On that day, the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but quite the opposite happened. It was the Jews who overpowered their enemies.” (Esther 9:1)
This story can be an encouragement to us when we start to question God’s plan and provision in our own lives. Even when things don't look good, God always has a plan to redeem His people. Perhaps, you are right where you are for a purpose bigger than you know.
Do you ever wonder why God has placed you in the position of favor or authority you’re in? If you live in humility and want to honor God with your life, He will be able to use your platform—no matter what it is—for His glory.
If you desire a platform of some kind, ask yourself what you would do with it if God gave it to you. No matter what job, what position, or what gifts you have—use them to honor God and draw others into relationship with Him. You never know how He will choose to use you or your life. Just let Him know you are willing and watch what He can do. He did it through Esther, and He will do it through you!
XO-
Sabrina