The events in the book of Esther take place between the sixth and seventh chapters of Ezra, between the reign of Darius I and the reign of Artaxerxes. The gap between these two reigns is filled by the reign of Ahasuerus (otherwise known as Xerxes, 485-474 B. C.), the son of Darius and the father of Artaxerxes.
However, it is important to remember that the history of the world scarcely counts for anything in the inspired book. God does not mention such events unless they intervene in one way or another in the history of His people, or when they prefigure prophetic events, or disputes between peoples, of which Israel will be the object. The book of Esther confirms this principle. The Median wars which shook the world of that day are passed over in silence, as is the victory of Greece over the Persians during the reign of Ahasuerus. Such events prepared the ground for the ruin of Persia, the second universal empire, but they do not concern the people of God.
There is one very unique feature of the book of Esther—the name of God is absent in it. In order to explain this omission, let us first look at the circumstances in which the Jews found themselves in the book of Esther. At the time of the decree issued by Cyrus at the end of the 70 years of captivity, a number of Jews returned to the land under the leadership of Zerubbabel. But the greater part of Judah and Benjamin remained in the Persian provinces where they had established themselves. Those who returned, without being acknowledged by God as a nation (they had no sovereign king), had relations with the Lord individually and even collectively, despite the complete absence of national relations with Him. It pleased Him to support them, bringing them into the understanding of His thoughts through their leaders, teachers and prophets, so as to maintain their faith and encourage them.
Life Among the Gentiles
The condition of the people who had preferred to remain in the land of their captivity was on the contrary most unfortunate. Although they enjoyed an outward prosperity, they were deprived of any communication whatsoever between themselves and God. God was hidden from them, and this explains why, religiously, in the book of Esther everything is plunged into a mysterious shadow. Daily life continues, but the spring of this life is weakened. The Scriptures, the feasts, the sacrifices, the priesthood, the service of God—everything had disappeared. Prayer is not mentioned even once. In their distress they wear sackcloth, and fasting is ordained, but never a word of prayer or supplication. These things might have taken place individually among believers, but they are never reported. The people are left in servitude, outwardly without God, and with nothing else but a weak hope. They are despised and hated by most of the population, keeping a low profile in order to escape hostile attention, unhappy, but accustomed to the yoke they bear.
Thus God is hidden, and if God is hidden, everything else is hidden as well; the light of the world has disappeared. This light may shine to some extent in the midst of the ruins of Jerusalem, but it shines there where the conscience is active—where souls like Ezra confess the sin of the people, and humble themselves. Here we find nothing of the kind. The world may shine in all its earthly splendor, but Israel is seated in darkness. In the days of Esther, the people hide themselves. Mordecai, a servant of the king, does not reveal his race until forced to explain his attitude toward Haman. Esther, under Mordecai's orders, hides her origin and does not dare declare it.
God’s Hidden Providence
In the midst of this scene, a hidden Providence watches over the captives. God is faithful and even if He is obliged to hide His face, He cannot deny Himself. He does not repent Himself of His promises; He remembers them perfectly, although He cannot declare this character as long as the people bear the effects of their governmental judgment. If He acts differently toward the people returned to Jerusalem, it is in view of the coming of Christ into their midst, as the last three Old Testament prophets witness. But in this silence God remains the same, and God is love. He remains what He has always been, a God whose bowels are moved with compassion toward this guilty people. This is the reason for the unceasing care of His providence.
We may consider the providence of God in two ways. In the first aspect, men have the public spectacle before their eyes every day. As Paul says: "[God] left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness" (Acts 14:1717Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. (Acts 14:17)). The second aspect is of a providence which is hidden in such a way that men can discern it only through its final result. At every turn we find this second character of providence in the book of Esther. Remaining hidden, it directs events, and only faith knows that it is at work and counts on it.
Moral Principles
There is another important feature of the book of Esther. One of the most marvelous traits of the Old Testament is that it either presents moral principles which are valid at all times, or it prefigures events yet to come. The One who is at work sovereignly shapes events and personalities which are types of what is to come in the future. A certain allusion, a certain name which would not be remarkable to a casual reader, suddenly takes on unexpected significance, and becomes clear in a burst of light. Such is the case with the book of Esther. When we tune our ears, what mysteries we discover! Divine power concentrated in one person; the deliverer, elevated to royalty and crowned; the sworn enemy of the man who represents the people, judged and condemned; the Gentile wife repudiated; the Jewish wife come out of her captivity and become the wife of the great king; the remnant passing through great tribulation, until the intervention of the Deliverer; then peace and joy succeeding this deliverance!
Character
Here in Esther, when we come in type on the scene of the great tribulation, the character of those who go through it is very different from that which we usually meet in the Psalms and the prophets. We do not have the spectacle of a repenting, upright remnant, who acknowledge that they have merited their chastisement, and who cry out to God. On the contrary, every link with God having been broken, the people see no possibility of deliverance. Only one man, Mordecai, who will be the instrument of that deliverance, is sure that it will come. And so, in the book of Esther, the distress is more anguishing, and provokes "a loud and bitter cry" (Esther 4:11When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; (Esther 4:1)), for their condition is that of the woman pursued by the dragon in Revelation 12:1616And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. (Revelation 12:16). The situation of those remaining in Judea and Jerusalem is indicated to us in verse 17 of this same chapter, where we find active faith, a deep sense of sin, repentance, and hope of the Messiah's appearance.
Two Situations
The Word does not present here two remnants of Judah, but rather the remnant of Judah in two different situations. The one corresponds to the faith and obedience that the people had shown in returning to their inheritance and rebuilding the temple; the other corresponds to their indifference and unfaithfulness. Only God uses the circumstances of the people who remained in Persia, in order to give here an idea of the extreme distress of Israel in the future. And during this time a mysterious hand prepares deliverance through an event which calms the furious waves and "bringeth them unto their desired haven" (Psa. 107:3030Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. (Psalm 107:30)). Thus, the entire prophetical history of Israel is summarized, in type, in these few passages of the book of Esther: the nation is rejected and brought into servitude; the Jewish wife is a slave at first, then received in grace, and becomes the queen of the nations; the great tribulation, during which not a hair of their heads shall fall in a foreign land; judgment overcomes their adversaries, and the reign of peace is introduced!
In type we see the history of the remnant of Judah, scattered in a future day among the nations, whereas part of them will continue their testimony at Jerusalem. All will be deeply tested in their conscience, but the Word does not mention this moral work in the book of Esther, in order to concentrate our attention on the interrupted relationship between the people and God, the depth of their distress, and the greatness of the grace which effectuates their deliverance.
Adapted from H. L. Rossier