“And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)
Timing is everything, and the way God works is to ensure that the right person is in the right place at the right time and in the right role. That’s very much the theme of one of the strangest books in the Bible, the book of Esther.
Strange, because God is not mentioned in the entire book, not once. Just possibly once slight allusion, but no more. It is as if the writer is wanting to show us how God works in his world, through the way things happen, and more to the point, how we as individuals like Esther may rise to the occasion, “for such a time as this. “
I’m currently working my way through this Old Testament book with BRF Guidelines. And by sheer coincidence I am also reading Tom Holland’s book, Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West, his account of the ancient Achaemenid Empire in the 5th century BC.
In both books, Xerxes the Great appears in a big way; he reigned from 486 BC until his assassination in 465 BC.
The Hebrew Bible gives him the name Ahasuerus, but I note that the NIV translation gives him the name Xerxes. Ahasuerus and Xerxes are one and the same.
Both books, Esther and Tom Holland’s, are a study in tyranny, how men (nearly always men) hold onto power and bend others to their will. And as biblical commentator, Helen Paynter, makes clear, tyrants can be found everywhere, not just heading an empire but in the workplace, anywhere in fact.
So Esther opens with Xerxes displaying his power. “For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendour and glory of his majesty.” (Esther 1:4). Holland describes in some detail the astonishing glory of Xerxes mobile palace, living in high luxury while on the move during the campaign against the Greeks.
Here we have the aesthetics of power – great monumental buildings, lavish spectacles of wealth, posh offices. All to intimidate. But as followers of a village carpenter, we learn to look through such displays as empty pomp,
Moreover, tyrannical power often would present itself as benevolent. Tyrants love being seen as magnanimous, that they love their country, their party, their firm – when in reality they are manipulative. Think Putin and his love of Russia.
But often the game is given away when tyrants are slighted. Their status is everything, as the book of Esther begins when Xerxes is ignored by his queen. He calls for her: “Just look at my beautiful queen. Look what I possess!” But she refuses and so has to be replaced for his loss of face.
And more, tyrants today often seek power over the bodies of others. It may be conscription as Putin recruits for the Ukrainian meat grinder. Or just as terrifyingly, Mohamed Al-Fayed treating the women at Harrods as his merchandise.
As Xerxes starts pulling his well-oiled levers of power those who would do the king’s bidding are as accountable. It may be Hegai in Esther who oversees the treatment of trafficked women, or Ghislaine Maxwell who supplied Jeffrey Epstein.
But that is how tyrants work, to make others complicit in the abusive networks they have created. We need to be alert when others would compromise us.
The so-called beatification of women is a key theme in Esther. In contemporary terms, Esther is sex-trafficked, a daily reality for about 35 million people today. About 20% are children.
The sad reality is that we too live in a world in which tyrants are not prevalent but often in power. And as in the book of Esther, God appears to be absent.
Except he isn’t.
Esther was raised in a devout home, where the stories of God at work in his people’s history would be told and retold. She knew of God's character, that he is a saving God. And as Paynter makes clear, “she has the reasoning capacity which God has given her, which we see her applying to the problem.”
She resolves to challenge the whole imperial apparatus, prepared to risk her own life in order to save the lives of her people, “for such a time like this.” “If I perish, I perish!” (Esther 4:16). Reading Holland’s book, you realise just what a courageous decision this was, to stand up to the ruler he describes as “the King of kings.”
But that is how Christians function, not fearing the consequences of doing the right thing in Jesus’ name. This resolve gives God the opportunity to work through us, as he worked so powerfully through Esther. On paper she had no chance. But God loves working through our weaknesses when we resolve to trust him.
So the apostle Paul rejoices: “After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God.” (Romans 6:14). Consequently, it may well be that we are the right person in the right role at the right time and in the right place.
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