Throughout the book of Esther, we do not see God specifically mentioned, but we can clearly see God moving. In the first three chapters that we are reading today, the plot sets by Queen Vashti being sent away as a result of her refusal to be paraded around as a trophy wife, another demonstration of Xerxes’ wealth and power.
Esther is then chosen, amongst all of the other virgins in the kingdom, to replace Vashti and Mordecai, Esther’s cousin who raised her after her parents had passed away, uncovers a plot to kill the king, only to report the plot through Esther and have his loyalty recognized, written down in the annals of the king.
Now, the table is set for the primary conflict of the story to come forward and be presented. Haman is honored by the king and all of the people at the gate, except for Mordecai, bow down to Haman as he passed by them. Haman, therefore, hated Mordecai, but he also learned that Mordecai was a Jew, so he made a plan to not only kill Mordecai but in fact all of the Jews throughout the Persian empire:
When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.
Esther 3:5-6
Haman becomes, within this story, a type of Satan or Antichrist figure in that he hopes to not only destroy one of the Jews, but their entire race. Despite the fact that the Jewish people had broken the covenant that God had made with them, no longer obeying God and thus being punished for their disobedience by being destroyed as a nation, God still intended to fulfill his promise to Abraham that a blessing would come from God, through their nation, to be a blessing to all nations.
Yet if Haman were to have his way and the Jewish people were to be destroyed as a whole as he had desired, the Messiah could not come through the Jews as God had planned. Not only is Haman threatening Mordecai, not only is he threatening the rest of the Jewish people, but he is even threatening the Messiah. Without the Jews, there would be no Messiah. And without the Messiah, there would be no relationship with God, neither for the Jews nor for the rest of the Gentiles around the world.
God’s hand continues to be visible within the story of Esther as he guides the people such that his plan will not be thwarted. God will carry his plan to completion, both in that time and even today.