Summary: Esther is a facinating book in the Old Testament, it does not mention God in any obvious way but His hand of preservation over the Jewish people is seen in a very dramatic way. In a historical sense the events in Esther took place between Ezra chapter 6 & 7. It starts with king Xeres of Persia in his winter palace preparing for a huge 180 day long feast just prior to him going to war with the Greek empire. During the feat the king commands that the queen be brought before him and all his noble men who are there, the queen however refuses to come for reasons which are unknown, this angers the king greatly as it sets a very bad example to his lords and also to everyone in the empire, so the king decides to find a replacement for the her. After a search is conducted he chooses Esther, a Jewess who was the niece of Mordecai one of the kings lords, and a descendant of Kish, king Saul's father. Mordecai discoveries a plot to kill the king and informs Esther the queen who tells king and the conspirators were killed probably by impaling, but Mordecai received no reward.. yet.
