Surprised By The Gospel In Esther

Surprised By The Gospel In Esther

Esther is a fun, short little book that I certainly haven't read in a long while. I can see why its placement in the Bible is controversial (Theologian Martin Luther found Esther to be very questionable in the Christian canon). For, there's no direct mention of God and the Jews take a very violent turn at the end, certainly taking advantage of the new Esther-inspired-edict of the King to "fight back" freely against Haman's old Hitler-esque edict that the Jews should be "destroyed, killed and annihilated, both young and old, women and children, in one day ..." (3:13)

At the same time, I was surprised by how much Esther was gospel-oriented and is connected to the Bible in so many ways. Here's the gospel that I saw lying underneath the subtle words of God in Esther:

• "But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage [to 'worship' Haman]" (3:3) which reminds me of Shadrach, Meshach and Abendego in the book of Daniel who refused to bow down and pay homage to the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar set up (Daniel 3:14-18)

• the King says to Esther, "What is your request? It shall be given to you, even to the half of my kingdom"  (5:3) which reminds me of Herod, who loved and respected John the Baptist, and said the same thing to Herodias, "I will give you whatever you ask, up to half of my kingdom" (Mk 6:23). In Mark, Herodias (unlike Esther) used it for a chance for evil, but in Esther, she uses it as a chance for good 

• Before Esther decides to risk her life to ask the king to save her people (the Jews), she has the Jews of Susa, herself, and young women with her, fast and pray over the decision (4:15-16) which reminds me of the first Christ-followers who fervently prayed and fasted before making big decisions (Acts 14:23). 

• And finally, we have the most famous statement from Mordecai's lips to encourage Esther to risk her life to save her people as he says, "who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (4:14) which of course reminds me of Romans 5:6 which similarly proclaims, "When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners." Esther was appointed by God, at just the right time, to save her people from Haman's evil edict. Jesus Christ was likewise appointed by God, at just the right time, to save His people from their sins (Mt 1:21). 

Lesson? 

The Gospel is laden within all the words of Scripture, even controversial books like Esther, Revelation and Songs of Solomon, and even in books that vastly differentiate from our current culture like Leviticus and Corinthians. No book should be ignored because when it all comes down to it, the Gospel is what the Bible is all about. The Gospel is the weaving, uniting thread that brings together a book written over thousands of years by over 40 different authors in multiple languages yet inspired by the one living, breathing, true God.