The story of Esther in the Bible is a story of perplexities unscrambled as an unexpected savior emerged. Nothing about the orphan girl Esther suggested that she would save her people from annihilation in a pagan country to which they had been exiled. While it’s true that she was exceptionally pretty, there were many beautiful girls rounded up to please King Xerxes and to replace his disobedient queen.

At first neither Esther nor Mordecai, her uncle, perceived any advantage for Esther in having been chosen to be queen. Esther hid from the king her relationship to Mordecai . Everything in their new environment was strange, so strange that, though they were faithful to their God, they never spoke of Him to each other, even in a life and death crisis.

Esther never thought of herself as a savior. In fact, she remained ignorant of the cataclysmic plan of Haman, the prime minister, to exterminate the entire Jewish population living in Babylon, until Mordecai made it known to her. When she finally understood the crisis, Esther drew on her faith in God and what she knew of the rituals of her people: Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king. . . and if I perish, I perish. (Esther 4:6)

Esther risked her life in appearing before the king unannounced and uninvited, but her action won Xerxes’ full support. With the help of her uncle, Esther made a plan to reverse Haman’s actions against the Jews, and the relief was felt throughout the kingdom. Where chaos had reigned in the city of Susa, a peace settled into God’s people.

From one perplexity to another, Esther moved to stay loyal to her family and her people: For how can I bear to see the destruction of my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family? (Esther 8:6) Though His name is never mentioned in Esther’s story, the Spirit of God lives in Esther such that His will and His providence is richly displayed, as one perplexity after another falls to the soul who offers herself for the survival of her people. Esther is a foreshadow of another Savior whose sacrifice for his people will reach and rescue Jew and Gentile alike beyond the limits of time or place.

Love in Him,

Prue