Rev. Don Campbell
Esther 1-5
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, September 23, 2019
“A QUEEN WHOSE TIME HAD COME”
The book of Esther is unique in that the name of God is not mentioned in it. His power, presence, and providence fill the book, however. As “The Soul Care Bible,” comments: “If you like mystery, suspense, romance, and intrigue, you’ll love Esther.” The book tells of a plot to exterminate the entire Jewish nation in the days of Ahasuerus (Xerxes I), king of Persia. Esther’s Jewish name was “Hadassah,” and she was chosen as queen from among all eligible virgins in the kingdom, although her identity was kept a secret, an important fact as the story unfolds. Haman’s plot to rid the world of the Jews begins to unfold in chapter three and ends in chapter seven when he is hanged on the gallows he had erected. Mordecai was Esther’s uncle and had reared the orphaned girl. His warning to her (Esther 4:12-14), ending with the words “Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” have provided the title for numerous sermons on this story.
Many generations before this young virgin became the Queen of Persia, Joseph had risen to power in Egypt and through him, the fledgling nation of Israel was protected under the wing Pharaoh. In the story of Joseph, the miraculous is sometimes mixed with the providential, but the stories of Esther and Joseph teach us that God’s purposes for us in life often come to light only after much conflict with others. They are not aware of God’s purposes nor are we, but God works through it all to accomplish his purposes. At the end of the story, Joseph said to his brothers, “You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). Esther said, “And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16). One is faith in retrospect as to what God has done and the other is faith in the prospect of what God will do. The two work together in our lives to help give us that “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7)?
CONNECTIONS
1. God’s providence, which may be described as God’s working behind the scenes in contrast to his miraculous workings when he enters, as it were, onto the stage of human history, is remarkable in the number of “coincidences” that must occur in order for the ultimate outcome to be achieved. How many behind-the-scenes events take place in Esther, in order to achieve the outcome of deliverance for God’s people?
2. In his excellent work on providence, Cecil May, Jr. says that we cannot say that something is providential unless the Bible says that it is. This means for us that providence is always “perhaps,” as it was with Philemon and Onesimus (Philemon 1:15). What are some of the “perhaps” events in your life?
