Speaking out of the silence
If I Perish
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“Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast on my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. If I perish, I perish.”
Esther 4:16 (NET)
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Esther is a strange book in the Bible.
Yet here we have this wonderful verse showing us such bravery in this woman.
For one thing, it’s a book where God seems to be silent.
We get that in a very real sense in that God’s name is never mentioned in the book.
How can it be that a book in the canon of Scripture can be there without mentioning Him?
…
Strange.
Esther’s faithfulness in the midst of un-ideal circumstances is also strange.
I don’t want to get too graphically specific here, suffice it to say that she shows remarkable character in the face of probably some of the most heartbreaking circumstances of her young life.
Even with all the evil that happened to put her in this situation, she chooses to be faithful.
Placing her life on the line to save her people.
Throughout the Old Testament we have precursors to Christ — Esther is one of them.
A ram is substituted for Abraham’s son. Boaz is a redeemer for Ruth. David fights Goliath on behalf of Israel.
Esther lays her life down so the Jews might live.
Even in His silence, God is working.
I suspect we’ve all been in seasons of life when we can’t seem to hear or feel God.
I know in my mind he hasn’t left. Yet I struggle when I can’t seem to see what He’s doing or what my role should be.
Esther reminds me to remain faithful.
To do the right thing in the face of doom.
If I perish, I perish.
— Ricky Ketchum
Copyright © 2026 by Ricky Ketchum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.
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