I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Esther 1-3.

Today, I am going to look at the unwritten backstory to the story told in the Book of Esther.  Perhaps I am seeing something which is not there, but I will let you be the judge.  Apparently the Jews throughout Persia were already subject to some level of persecution.  Otherwise, why would Mordecai have told Esther to keep her nationality and family background a secret when she was taken into the palace?  When Haman petitioned the king to allow him to kill the Jews, his petition suggests that this persecution resulted from the Jews sticking to the commands of God.  Finally, we see that Xerxes was a corrupt king.  He sold the lives of a large number of people (which unknown to him includes his queen) to Haman for a large sum of money.  Looking at this we see that God arranged for Esther to be Queen at this time for more than just to stop Haman’s evil plan.  In fact, while Haman’s plan would likely have never come about if Esther had not become Queen, sooner or later, someone else would have made a similar plot.  Esther becoming Queen allowed her to prevent Haman’s evil plot from coming to fruition, but it also brought the animosity to the Jews into the open where it could be addressed.