에스더
Summary The book of Esther shows how God, by His providence, preserved the Jewish people in the midst of a threat of annihilation. Through Esther it leads us to look to the true Mediator, Jesus Christ, who sacrificed Himself for His people.
- Date written
- c. 5th–4th century BC (estimated)
- Historical period
- Era of the Persian Empire
Background
The book of Esther is set in the diaspora after the Babylonian exile, when many of the Jewish people did not return to their homeland but lived scattered throughout the Persian Empire. The story unfolds in the capital, Susa, during the reign of the Persian king Ahasuerus. This book has the unique feature of being a book of the Bible in which the name of God is not directly mentioned, but this does not mean that God is absent. Rather, it emphasizes that even where He cannot be seen, God sovereignly directs history, power, and human choices. The book of Esther goes beyond the story of one people’s survival to show how the history of redemption, which would be completed through the Messiah, was protected and carried forward in history. The preservation of the Jewish people is directly connected to the preservation of the messianic line, and this stands within the flow of the whole Bible toward Jesus Christ.
Content
The book of Esther records how the Jewish people, scattered under the Persian Empire, were preserved from a threat of total annihilation. Haman’s plan to wipe out the Jewish people is understood as more than a political plot; it was an attempt to cut off the covenant God had promised to Abraham and the history of redemption that would continue through him. In this crisis, although Esther held the position of queen, at first she hid her identity and remained silent. This is a picture of a human being caught in fear and practical calculation. But faced with Mordecai’s exhortation and his question, “Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther realizes that she can no longer remain neutral. In the end, prepared to die, she goes before the king, and by choosing to lay down her life she stands as a mediator for her people. Through Esther’s resolve God overturns the king’s heart and the course of events, and Haman’s plan comes back upon his own head. As a result the Jewish people escape annihilation and their lives are preserved, and through the Feast of Purim they keep this deliverance in the memory of the community. This unfolding of the story leads us to see the book of Esther not merely as a record of a people’s survival but as history that bears witness to Christ. Esther, who went forward prepared to die in order to save her people, foreshadows Jesus Christ, the true Mediator, who gave His own life for a people facing the crisis of sin and death. The book of Esther shows that even in an age when the name of God is not revealed, God invisibly guards the history of redemption and ultimately leads all of history toward Christ.