The Aquila Report

Your independent source for news and commentary from and about conservative, orthodox evangelicals in the Reformed and Presbyterian family of churches

Providence College
  • Biblical
    and Theological
  • Churches
    and Ministries
  • People
    in the News
  • World
    and Life News
  • Lifestyle
    and Reviews
    • Books
    • Movies
    • Music
  • Opinion
    and Commentary
  • General Assembly
    and Synod Reports
    • ARP General Synod
    • EPC General Assembly
    • OPC General Assembly
    • PCA General Assembly
    • PCUSA General Assembly
    • RPCNA Synod
    • URCNA Synod
  • Subscribe
    to Weekly Email
  • Biblical
    and Theological
  • Churches
    and Ministries
  • People
    in the News
  • World
    and Life News
  • Lifestyle
    and Reviews
    • Books
    • Movies
    • Music
  • Opinion
    and Commentary
  • General Assembly
    and Synod Reports
    • ARP General Synod
    • EPC General Assembly
    • OPC General Assembly
    • PCA General Assembly
    • PCUSA General Assembly
    • RPCNA Synod
    • URCNA Synod
  • Subscribe
    to Weekly Email
  • Search
Home/Biblical and Theological/The Hiddenness of God: Reading Esther Theologically

The Hiddenness of God: Reading Esther Theologically

Acknowledging God’s sovereign, guiding presence even when He appears absent.

Written by Russell L. Meek | Friday, October 2, 2020

The book of Esther teems with moral ambiguity: Esther joins the harem of a Gentile king, which is problematic enough, but readers are left to wonder whether it was of her own accord or not, and the story opens with a raucous, drunken feast and a king who objectifies his own wife then throws her out of the court when she refuses to sexualize her body for the pleasure of others.

 

Esther’s story is breathtaking and memorable, full of court intrigue, murderous plots, and sweet vengeance turned upon those who would attempt to destroy God’s people. Mordecai’s statement that Esther had become queen of Persia “for such a time as this” has made its way into our cultural vernacular as shorthand for encouraging people to seize the opportunities before them. “Haman’s gallows,” likewise, is used to warn people against devising destruction for others. And the book ends with the inaugural festival of Purim, which is still celebrated each year by Jews around the world.

A Book Teeming with Moral Ambiguity

Apart from Esther’s compelling storyline and how it had influenced modern culture through its language, imagery, and festivals, readers today may scratch their heads at why it’s in the biblical canon. The book never mentions Yahweh, Israel’s covenant God, it takes place in a foreign land, and it features people who didn’t—for whatever reason—return to Canaan when Cyrus issued his decree allowing the Jewish people to go back home. Further, the book teems with moral ambiguity: Esther joins the harem of a Gentile king, which is problematic enough, but readers are left to wonder whether it was of her own accord or not, and the story opens with a raucous, drunken feast and a king who objectifies his own wife then throws her out of the court when she refuses to sexualize her body for the pleasure of others.

Haman is clearly the bad guy in the story, but the Jewish violence against their enemies strikes an uncomfortable tone, even if their plunder is defensive in nature. After all, Esther asks for a second day to destroy the enemies of her people after five hundred were killed on the first day. Perhaps all of this is why one scholar has said, “If the book fills any useful place in the Bible, it is as a picture of unredeemed humanity.”[1] At the very least, these features of Esther warn against reading the Old Testament without a Christological lens.

There are several ways we could approach reading this book theologically, but in this article I want to focus on only one way: acknowledging God’s sovereign, guiding presence even when he appears absent and in a narrative lacking clear devotion to Yahweh. Such an approach can help modern readers see that God remains active and faithful in our current context just as he was in the biblical context, for right here in the Bible we read of his hidden work among his people in exile.

Read More

 

Related Posts:

  • Six Ways Haman’s Demise Points to the Gospel
  • The Devil Will Hang on His Own Gallows
  • Such a Time as This
  • Why Study Esther
  • The Sovereignty of Ancient Babylonian Gods

Subscribe, Follow, Listen

  • email-alt
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • apple-podcasts
  • anchor
Providence College
Northampton Press - Best of the English and American Puritans

Archives

Books

Geerhardus Vos: Reformed Biblical Theologian, Confessional Presbyterian - by Danny Olinger

Special

A Golden Chain
  • About
  • Advertise Here
  • Contact Us
  • Donations
  • Email Alerts
  • Leadership
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Principles and Practices
  • Privacy Policy

Important:

Free Subscription

Aquila Report Email Alerts

Special

5 Solas of the Reformation
  • About
  • Advertise Here
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Principles and Practices
  • RSS Feed
  • Subscribe to Weekly Email Alerts
Providence Christian College - visit

DISCLAIMER: The Aquila Report is a news and information resource. We welcome commentary from readers; for more information visit our Letters to the Editor link. All our content, including commentary and opinion, is intended to be information for our readers and does not necessarily indicate an endorsement by The Aquila Report or its governing board. In order to provide this website free of charge to our readers,  Aquila Report uses a combination of donations, advertisements and affiliate marketing links to  pay its operating costs.

Return to top of page

Website design by Five More Talents · Copyright © 2021 The Aquila Report · Log in