A Hidden God in a Hostile World

The Book of Esther

The book of Esther is about the hiddenness of God. Even though God is never explicitly mentioned in the book, his hand is implicitly present across every page. So it’s written to reflect the way we encounter God working in the world and in our lives: through his unseen, yet every present providence. 

But it’s also about the hiddenness of God in a hostile world. We live in a world that is hostile toward God and his people. Sometimes the hostility of the world can cripple our faith. But the book of Esther, in a very subversive way, persuades us to see that appearances are not always as they seem. It reminds us that those who we often fear, who seem to have the power to inflict great harm, are not ultimately in control. And so it is written to turn us from the fear of visible powers to embrace the fear the Lord. Just as the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7), so the fear of the Lord is the beginning of true perception—the ability to see things as they really are, under the control of the God who is invisible.  

Sermons by Jared Keath