Again (as throughout the book), God’s name is not mentioned. Yet Esther’s reply testifies to faith in God.
Esther put no trust in her own courage or beauty. She humbled herself in dependence on God and asked her fellow Jews in Susa to do the same. Their humble dependence was to be shown through fasting. In the Old Testament, fasting is always accompanied by prayer (for example, Judges 20:26; 1 Samuel 7:6; Ezra 8:23).
Esther also told her maids to fast with her. While in one part of the palace the coming massacre was celebrated with wine and feasting (Esther 3:15), in another part of the palace there was mourning, fasting, and praying.
The Jews were only commanded to fast one day in a year, on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29–31). When a Jew fasted on other occasions, he would break the fast by evening time (1 Samuel 14:24; 2 Samuel 1:12). Esther, however, gave orders to fast for three days, without eating or drinking anything. (This does not mean that the Jews were to fast for three whole days. Esther would already go to the king on the third day, inviting him to a banquet.)
Esther’s last words, If I perish, I perish,
indicate her complete submission to God’s will. As in the case of Daniel’s friends (Daniel 3:17–18), she had no promise that God would spare her life. However, she agreed with Mordecai that the cause was worth more than her own life.
16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”