I WILL HIDE

November 8 

And he was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle’s daughter... Mordecai took her as his own daughter. Esther 2:7

Names in the Bible have meaning, whether a person, place or circumstance. Esther’s birth name was Hadassah. Yet, throughout the book she was “Esther.” BDB (64) suggests her name was “star” in Persian. Yet, her Hebrew name, seter means “to hide” (add Alephprefix):  ‘seter’“I will hide” is what God did, hiding her Jewish identity while she was in Persia.  

      “Esther did not tell anyone about her people or her kinsmen, for Mordecai had commanded her that she should not tell anyone about them” (2:10, 20). Mordecia’s Jewish heritage surfaced in 3:4 when he refused to bow to Haman, which would have been sacrilege. Mordecai was a godly man, holding fast to Divine Laws. He represented the Jews to Haman, through whom Haman instigated a Jewish holocaust. Haman, who viewed Mordecai as a representative of the Jews, convinced the king that this people should be exterminated because “their laws are different from those of all other people” (3:8). 

      Mordecai warned Esther that if she remained silent, not telling the king that she was a Jew, God would work relief for His people in another way besides her. She would not be able to save herself (4:13-14) but would perish along with all her nation.  Esther’s godly character shines when she calls for a fast among all Jews in Susa (4:15-16). She would even die for the cause if necessary.  

      Esther’s Jewish lineage was no longer “hidden” when she claimed “my people” to the king (8:1-6). She disclosed her kinsmen to the king even while Haman’s edict was enforced. The Jews defeated the Persians and subsequently established Purim to make it a national holiday of victory for the Jews. 

      Although there is no direct mention of God’s name in Esther, nevertheless, “Jew(s)” is cited 40 times out of 67 times in the OT. God hid Esther up to a point, yet He hid her for the purpose that God worked through her. 

DeLane Miller