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Many analyses have been given to the book of Esther. It is quite impossible to come up with a totally original one. Perhaps, that is really the point - that no matter how many angles or theories you have about it, you will always go back to the core. You may pick up new side insights but you will always fall back to the central, recurring theme.
So, it deems proper we examine the facts again:
Haman was really enraged at Mordecai because the latter won’t bow down to him. The reason why Mordecai won’t was not clear. Did he do it out of reverence to God?
Maybe.
He told them he is a Jew. If he won’t bow down to Haman because He will only bow down to God, then why did it seem that he had no problem being a subject of King Xerxes? He even saved the king’s life once and was rewarded for it. Moreover, he told Hadassah to take up the name Esther and allowed her to become the queen, King Xerxes’ wife. He directed her to lie and hide her Jewish identity. Her marriage to the king, a pagan, was also a violation of their laws.
Yet, let us remember that they were exiles. As they were living in a foreign land, they would have to follow its laws and customs. They have to adapt. For their survival and security, they cannot strictly follow the law 100%. As many other biblical scholars have pointed out, they were compromised. As they already compromised too much, it may be that Mordecai was already full of it and he couldn’t bend to the whims of Haman anymore.
Haman was prideful and he couldn’t accept what Mordecai has done. He hated him. So, he persuaded King Xerxes to kill all Jews. Mordecai then asked Esther help for the survival of all Jews.
It was not stated there that they prayed for God’s intervention - no mention of God at all. Mordecai only told Esther that if she wouldn’t act, deliverance for the Jews will come in another way. He did not even mention God intervening for them.
But it is striking that Mordecai had such great faith and hope that in one way or another, they will be spared. Could it be that he had no close relationship with God but he knew that God is faithful and merciful? I imagine he was frightened and amazed upon hearing tales from the elders such as Exodus, of how God extraordinarily rescued them with great power and wonder. He knew who God is from a distance but I doubt if he knew Him intimately. He may have felt separated from God because they were exiles. God had banished them and their fathers from the promised land. They may have felt unworthy of God.
Yet, despite this separation from the Lord, Mordecai suggested that He was behind the scenes, placing Esther on royal throne “for such a time as this”. Like her uncle, she had presumably heard stories of how God calls men to action to save His people and this compelled her to act.
She requested all Jews to fast with her for 3 days and 3 nights. I believe that she used that time to ask God for wisdom on how to approach the king and courage to do so. When she said “If I perish, I perish”, she was ready to accept the consequences of speaking up. I think she had also realized that she has been chosen by God to save the Jews this time.
Unlike the Israel leaders and kings before, she had no judges, prophets or priests to explicitly made God’s will known to her. Only her uncle came and he did not even mention God. However, the timing was not just a coincidence. It just couldn’t be chance God knew what would happen and He made her queen because of it. Overcoming grave danger with God’s invisible works on the king’s heart, Esther was able to defeat Haman and save all the Jews. Mordecai, Esther and the exiles thought that God was far away, yet He is omnipresent. His powers knows no boundaries, His grace overflowing.
Lastly, you might wonder why the book is called Esther and not Hadassah, her original Jewish name. Well, it might be her better known name and it will match with historical records. More than that though, it teaches us a lesson. We may change names, disguise our identity as God’s people or worse, give it up. We might feel that we are separated from Him or that He abandoned us. But He is still with us and wants to have an intimate, loving relationship with us. He is still the same faithful, merciful God.