Of all the books in the Bible, Esther seems to have the
least to do with 21st century Christianity. It is basically a book of
Jewish-centric history which tells how the nation of Israel (for the umpteenth time) survived
extermination at the hands of its enemies. God is not even mentioned in its
pages. The national feast inspired by the events in Esther (Purim)
is nothing like the God-ordained celebrations of Leviticus 23. Purim
commemorates the “days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies”, and is
(or at least originally was) more like today’s secularized Christmas
celebrations than any of the seven
feasts of Jehovah, all of which were rife with rich spiritual symbolism,
speaking to generations about the meaning of the death of Christ
and its consequences for mankind.
So why is Esther in our Bibles?
