Explore: Deliverance Is Needed

• The Explore the Bible lesson for Dec. 7 focuses on Esther 3:1-9.

There are always two sides to a story. Ask two preschoolers why they’re fighting, and you’ll get two vastly different perspectives. File a police report from an accident, and you’ll find different witnesses perceived the event in different ways. Read two Gospel accounts of a story from the Bible, and you’ll see the picture through two different lenses. So it is with the book of Esther. The way you approach the book determines what you get out of it.

Scholars and religious leaders question the value of Esther. Because the book never mentions God and because of seemingly indefensible moral conduct, many—not least Martin Luther—claim it doesn’t even belong in the Bible. Others view its biblical status as a mandate to revere Esther and Mordecai and to whitewash their actions so we can emulate them despite the two-sided nature of their decisions.

Complex characters

Because the book of Esther does have a place in our Bible and all Scripture is God-breathed and useful (2 Timothy 3:16), Esther is perhaps best evaluated as a literary work with complex characters who can teach us through both positive and negative examples.

Steeped in the politics, culture and language of the Persian empire during the reign of King Xerxes, the writing contains just enough historical improbabilities to render it more of a historical novella. The author moves swiftly through the action, focusing more on plot development than character development. The book also contains many elements of Jewish wisdom literature, as can be seen in its evaluation of the king’s leadership, addiction to excess and foolishness.

To drive home the point of Xerxes’ foolish ways, the author employs overt exaggeration—a feast that lasts six months (1:4), the opulence of the palace and even place settings for the banquet (1:5-8), and the claim that Vashti’s disobedience could revoke the submission of every wife in the empire (1:16-18).

Although the book’s worth is debated among Christians, it is highly valued within Judaism, often ranked second in importance only behind the Torah. It explains the origins of the Jewish festival of Purim.

The Purim celebration

To this day, Purim centers on a public reading of the book of Esther, with exuberant participation from those listening. Congregants cheer on Mordecai and the story of redemption, but the children make loud protests when they hear Haman’s name. Purim is not a religious holiday, but Jews annually celebrate this deliverance from unjust oppression with lots of wine and merriment.

In some ways, Esther and Mordecai serve as role models for us. Mordecai has taken in an orphaned relative and raised her as his own daughter (2:7). He demonstrates responsibility and loyalty to Esther (2:10) and to the king (2:21-22). Esther is winsome (2:9, 15b, 17), she is prudent and shows restraint (2:10, 15, 20), and she is obedient and submissive to Mordecai (2:10, 20), just as the Bible commands us to “honor your father and mother” (Exodus 20:12). In these ways, Esther’s and Mordecai’s lives and character are worthy of imitation.

However, if we take a close, honest look at their characters, we also see Esther and Mordecai through the lens of real life. Mordecai and Esther show no qualms about marriage outside of the Jewish faith, although other biblical works from the same period show abhorrence to interracial and interfaith marriage and go to the extremes to eradicate it (Ezra 9-10; Nehemiah 10:30; 13:3, 23-27).

Not satisfied with the deliverance of the Jewish people, Esther and Mordecai persuaded the king to allow the Jews to annihilate and plunder their enemies (8:11). Esther and Mordecai are truly two-sided characters, as their noble qualities also bear the shadow of sin.

‘Pride goeth before destruction’

Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” This is perhaps Mordecai’s greatest shortcoming. His refusal to bow before Haman (3:2) is likely not religious zeal, for the Bible shows many other examples of God’s people bowing before their superiors.

The refusal may be better explained by an ancestral enmity that traces back to King Saul and the Amalekite king Agag (1 Samuel 15:8-33). The author specifically points out Haman’s descent from Agag (3:1) and Mordecai’s related disclosure of his Jewish heritage (3:4).

In pride resulting from this ancient feud, Mordecai refuses to bow down to Haman as instructed by the king. And in pride, Haman responds by ordering the destruction of not only Mordecai but of all of the Jews throughout the Persian empire (3:6). This ancestral rivalry and pride also explains the nationalistic fervor associated from then until now with the festival of Purim.

Chapter 3 ends with this execution order being dispatched throughout the kingdom, and we are left with the heavy weight of this impending doom. The people of God are oppressed and sentenced to death.

The tension rises

A beloved and beautiful queen’s ethnic identity risks disclosure, and the fate of her people hangs in the balance. It is as if an entire race of people are holding their breath, expecting destruction, but in desperate need of deliverance. Although we know how the story ends, this fulcrum in the plot makes our blood pressure rise, as we feel the tension plaguing Esther and her people.

And even though the book of Esther never mentions God, much less points explicitly toward Jesus, it is this same sense of anticipation that marks the season of Advent. We too—the entire human race—are a people in need of deliverance. We are helpless to save ourselves, and our Photoshopped Christmas pictures and sparkly Christmas décor can’t mask our inability to achieve perfection on our own.

Like Mordecai, we are beset by pride and discord, and like Xerxes, we celebrate this season with as much conspicuous consumption as we do joyful expectation. During this season, we feel more acutely the grief of lost loved ones, and we “groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for … the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23).

Deliverance is coming

As the days and weeks march toward Christmas, may we feel the tension of Esther 3, as we cultivate a sense of anticipation, a longing heart.

Deliverance is coming. Redemption awaits. A Savior is preparing his birth. And so we can sing: “Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free; from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee. Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art; dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart. Born thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a King, born to reign in us forever, now thy gracious kingdom bring. By thine own eternal spirit rule in all our hearts alone; by thine all sufficient merit, raise us to thy glorious throne.”