Why is the book of Esther in the Bible, since it doesn’t mention God even once?
Dear Samantha,
God works in many different ways. In the book of Exodus, God worked through Moses to part the Red Sea and turn a rod into a snake. During the times of the New Testament, God gave Jesus power to heal sickness, raise the dead, and cure blindness.
But miracles were only one way in which God worked; He also works through providence. Providence means that God uses natural laws to accomplish His purposes. For instance, in Acts 14:17 the apostle Paul told his listeners that God gave them “rain from heaven and fruitful seasons” filling their hearts “with food and gladness.” How had God given them food and fruit? Did He miraculously drop apples out of the sky or turn stones to bread? No, God used the natural forces of the world to accomplish His purpose. God is always at work “behind the scenes” to make sure that good defeats evil in the end.
When we read the book of Esther, we never read God’s name. But many of the things that happened in the book could not be “just luck.” Take, for instance, the time that King Ahasuerus could not sleep, and his servant “just happened” to read the records of the time that Mordecai saved the king’s life (Esther 6:1-3). In fact, the entire book of Esther shows that God’s guiding hand was behind the scenes to save the Jewish nation. Esther’s guardian, Mordecai, once said to her: “Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). His statement showed that he was seeing God’s possible plan for Esther.
In your life, you will not be given the power to raise the dead or turn sticks into snakes. But you can know that, even though God does not part the skies and talk directly to you, He is with you every step of the way. The book of Esther reminds us that we do not need to see God (or even read His name) to know that He is “not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27).
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