Learning Through the Book of Esther

           Learning Through the Book of Esther

The story of Esther happened simultaneously with the Book of Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, Obadiah, Zechariah, Hoshea and Haggai – that is from the time of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, up to the time of Artaxerxes king of Persia.

This is the time when God is finally fulfilling His promise through the word spoken by Prophet Jeremiah that after 70 years of captivity, God will gather again His people in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 29:10-14). Prophet Jeremiah is one of the last prophets in the divided kingdom of Israel who was also being led to captivity in Babylon.

In fulfilling of that same promise, the Lord touches the heart of Cyrus, King of Persia, in order to issue a royal decree that allows the Jewish people to gathered again in Jerusalem – those remnants, whose heart God had touched – to rebuild again the temple of the Lord (2 Chronicles 36:21-23, Ezra 1:1-5).

Now, all the faithful men of God gathered in Jerusalem for one purpose, to rebuild the temple and serve the living God. The first batch who came up during the time of Cyrus includes Mordecai, Zerubbabel, Haggai and Zechariah (Ezra 2 and 5, Nehemiah 7). While the last batch who came up during the time of Artaxerxes were Daniel and his friends, Ezra, Obadiah, Hoshea and Nehemiah, who became Jerusalem’s Governor, among others (Ezra 8, Nehemiah 8:4, Nehemiah 10 and Daniel 1:6).

After the temple was restored, Ezra, the priest, prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach it to Israel (Ezra 7:10). Thus, so, the Law of the Lord was being read in the whole congregation of Israel (Nehemiah 8) and led to prayer and fasting of whole Israel. Those things that they restored includes the celebration of the Passover, which was last celebrated on the time of Joshua, son of Nun. In addition, the festival of restoration resumes every seven years, which aims to return each one to his brothers the properties and freedom, which was sold to mortgage to his fellow Israelites. Another God’s stipulations that resumes its effect is the forbiddance of Israel to intermarry with Pagans, which compels everyone to send away their foreign spouses and children that led them to idols and sin against the Lord.

Now, these things – the purposing of each one’s heart to return to Jerusalem, restoring the practices of Jewish Law and the banning of foreign marriages – were all will of God. However, there were Jews who decided to stay on the comfort of Babylon and never return. These Jews were scattered abroad in the whole Empire of Persia, in Mede, Ethiopia and India. This leads us to the story of Esther.

The Book of Esther centers on the lives of Jews, who chose to stay in the land of their captivity, in the time of reign of Ahasuerus or Xerxes I. Now, in the whole book of Esther, never once that the Lord’s name is mentioned. There were also no mentioned of prayer.

The question is, why is that God’s name was never mentioned?

Well, as you see, this book mirrors the life of believers who did not leave the comfort of Babylon, their temporary haven. These are Jews who cannot leave behind the current way of life that they are living.

Babylon here stands to the old life – a life of sin. Meaning, this tackles the condition of life of professing Christians who cannot leave sin and who did not want to pay the price of serving God. Though they claimed to believe God, they do not want to make the choice to leave their comfort and money. In addition, even though God still cares for these people, because they are not all-out into serving the Lord, God is also ashamed to identify them as His people.

Going back to what God’s will is, God wants them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild His house and serve Him, but they disobey God by refusing His invitation to return. In parallel, God also wants us to return to Him and rebuild God’s spiritual Jerusalem in our hearts – His territory. However, as we keep on refusing to accept God’s offer of salvation, we can never be part of God’s promises (His Covenant), nor could be part of His chosen people (Kingdom of God).

A Life of Compromise

As you see, it was mentioned in Ezra and Nehemiah that Mordecai is one of the first batch of Jews to return to Jerusalem. However, in the Book of Esther, though it is not mentioned that he returned back to the place of their captivity, the mere fact that he is present only means that he returned back to Shushan Palace in India. In Nehemiah Chapter 1, there was also mentioned during Nehemiah and Hanani’s conversation about that Jews that escaped. Meaning to say, there are certain Jewish people who joined the journey of returning home to God, but after pressures from the outside enemy, decided to just go back.

Mordecai is a symbol of Christians who’s life is not fully surrendered to the Lord. They are emotionally overwhelmed at first, but because their faith is not deeply rooted in God, when persecution comes, they suddenly fade away. After Mordecai returns to the life of captivity, instead of seeking God’s help and strength, he find help and strength to man. Saying so, he encourages Esther, his cousin and adopted daughter, to marry the king of Persia. This is highly forbidden by the God of heaven. You see, when we are not all out to God, we made room for compromise into our lives. When the compromising Spirit fully takes control, it led to sin until we are already in the point of no return to God.

When problem comes on the time of Esther, as they face the upcoming peril of annihilation, instead of humbling down into prayer, they only plead mercy by wearing sackcloth and fasting. Until the very end, they still refuse to talk to God. Instead of seeking for God’s glory, they seek to save their life instead.

What are the Implications to Compromise Christians?

Well, as you see in the story of Esther, in the very end, God still help them. Why? Because he is a faithful, God and He did it as part of His covenant to Abraham. You see, the first time that we connect the Christian name into our life, we are already under the umbrella of the Body Life of Christ – the Church. We may not be faithful to the Lord, but this allows us to catch even just a bit portion of the protection of God that is intended for His people. Why? Because God can never shamed His name.

What is the purpose of the Book of Esther then?

The only purpose why the Book of Esther is part of the Bible is in order for us to see the difference between faithful and compromiser Christians.