Bible Character Explorer
Persian Exile • c. 5th century BC
Esther
For Such a Time as ThisThe Jewish queen whose courage saved her people from annihilation in Persia
"And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
Esther 4:14 (KJV)
Overview
Esther was a Jewish orphan raised by her cousin Mordecai in Persia who became queen to King Ahasuerus (likely Xerxes I) after Queen Vashti was deposed. When the royal official Haman plotted to annihilate all the Jews in the empire, Esther risked her life by approaching the king uninvited to expose the plot, resulting in the deliverance of her people. Her book is unique in the Bible for never explicitly mentioning God's name, yet his providence saturates every scene.
Gospel Connection
Esther's willingness to risk her own life to save her condemned people is a picture, though imperfect, of the far greater rescue accomplished by Jesus Christ. Where Esther risked death and was spared, Jesus did not merely risk death, he embraced it fully, so that people condemned by sin could be saved. The reversal at the heart of Esther, where the plot for destruction becomes the means of deliverance and the enemy's own gallows becomes his downfall, echoes the greater reversal of the cross, where the very instrument of Jesus's death became the means of salvation for all who believe.
Discover More
See how this life points to Christ in the Gospel Connection section above.