When was esther written

God was at work. God is also the great Promise Keeper. Life can be hard. Difficult times happen, and pain cannot be avoided. Let the book of Esther encourage you that God is always present. Trust and obey, as Esther did. And watch God silently weave all events for His glory. View Chuck Swindoll's chart of Esther , which divides the book into major sections and highlights themes and key verses.

The writer of Esther seems to have known the story of Joseph and Pharaoh: he uses many of the same words. But while the story of Esther could be based on the story of Joseph, it also bears a close relationship to the story of King Saul.

It might even be seen as a kind of sequel, a theory supported by the way the author introduces the characters. Mordechai is introduced as a descendant of Saul, while Haman is introduced as a descendant of Agag the Amalekite king. This parentage is no trivial fact. In 1 Samuel, Saul loses his kingship to David because he defied the will of God and did not kill Agag. Why would a Jewish scribe writing in Shushan in the 4th century B. Jona Schellekens, a sociologist at the Hebrew University, came up with a theory for this, which he published in a paper in This is also the main weakness of this theory.

How do we know they ever existed? It could be that the family did exist, but that its fortunes changed soon after Esther was written. Alexander the Great deposed the Achaemenid Dynasty in B. Esther 1—2 King Ahasuerus is displeased by the conduct of Queen Vashti and deposes her. Many of the beautiful young virgins in the empire are presented to the king so he can choose a new queen.

Ahasuerus selects Esther as his new queen. In response, Haman crafts a plan to destroy all of the Jews in the kingdom. The Jews mourn, weep, and fast for deliverance. Esther was written to explain the origin of the Feast of Purim and to ensure that it would be observed by all future generations of the Jewish people It has clearly achieved this purpose, since Jews have continued to observe Purim to the present day. The book of Esther is read as part of the celebration of Purim.

Esther is part of a much larger story that runs all the way from Abraham to Christ and, through him, to the church. There would have been no fulfillment in Christ, and therefore no gospel and no Christian church.