God's Providence in Action - The Story of Esther
The namesake for this book of the bible is Esther -- a Persian name that means “star”. But her Jewish name was Hadassah, which means myrtle. In prophetic symbolism the myrtle would replace the briars and thorns of the desert, so depicting the Lord’s forgiveness and acceptance of his people. (Isaiah 41:19; 55:13; cf. Zechariah 1:8)” (Baldwin)
God works providentially in our lives even if we are not aware or even not in good standing with the Lord. Mordecai should have returned to Jerusalem when Cyrus allowed them to return to Judah, but he chose to stay among the pagans. In the book of Ezra, we learn only 42,000 decided to return to the Promised Land. As such, the danger that besets them occurs in part due to their original decision to stay in Babylon where they chose to live in prosperity in the Persian empire instead of fulfilling their God given purpose.
Pride and Half-truths
Satan's primary line of attack is to lie, with just enough of the truth painted over it to make it believable. The more prideful a person is the more susceptible they are to be ensnared by these lies and become a tool for the Adversary -- in this case Haman who is the villain of this story. The Adversary also is dedicated to destroying the Jewish people and is the accuser of the saints. His goal is our annihilation. God's defense is often subtle and counter intuitive, for He is never fooled or surprised, but works for His Glory - and we can take great comfort in that fact.
Romans 8:27-28 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
As this story unfolds, we learn of a string of coincidences. Mordecai had 'coincidentally' saved the kings life some years back. Mordecai also 'coincidentally' was related as a great uncle to Esther, who 'coincidentally' was in the royal harem. Queen Vashti had fallen out of favor, and now Esther coincidentally caught the eye of king Ahasuerus.
Haman, our villain in the story, was seduced by pride. Now from pride he becomes fully complicit as a tool for fulfilling the evil desires of the devil himself.
Esther 3:1-6 ...King Ahasuerus honored Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite. He promoted him in rank and gave him a higher position than all the other officials. The entire royal staff at the King’s Gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, because the king had commanded this to be done for him. But Mordecai would not bow down or pay homage...When Haman saw that Mordecai was not bowing down or paying him homage, he was filled with rage. And when he learned of Mordecai’s ethnic identity, it seemed repugnant to Haman to do away with Mordecai alone. He planned to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout Ahasuerus' kingdom.
Haman looked for a moment to whisper a half-truth in the ear of the king, a suggestion that the Jews were not loyal subjects. Here we see when temptation is first conceived bears the fruit of the sin of pride (James 1:15) demonstrated on a horrific scale.
Esther 3:8-9 Then Haman informed King Ahasuerus, “There is one ethnic group, scattered throughout the peoples in every province of your kingdom, keeping themselves separate. Their laws are different from everyone else’s, and they do not obey the king’s laws. It is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. If the king approves, let an order be drawn up authorizing their destruction, and I will pay 375 tons of silver to the officials for deposit in the royal treasury.”
Likewise, the devil tempts Ahasuerus into thinking he could collect the wealth of a group of people who were his enemy anyway. His pride was used to further the goals of Satan. When we are prideful, we are not glorifying God or in harmony with God's will. This story literally embodies the proverb:
Proverbs 16:18 Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.
Haman goes about his plan to exploit the pride of the king by using a 'half-truth' to hatch his dastardly plan; all the while blind to his own pride.
Esther and Mordecai's response
After grieving about the king's announcement, Mordecai asked for Esther's support. She responds with the law of Persia. Mordecai then realizes Esther was put in a position of influence for this very purpose. Esther then asks Mordecai to fast. Sometimes we are put in a great trial to test and grow our faith. Have you ever felt that you were placed somewhere at just the right time to fulfill a mission from God?
For such a time as this....
Esther 4:13-14 Don’t think that you will escape the fate of all the Jews because you are in the king’s palace. If you keep silent at this time, liberation and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father’s house will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.”
Mordecai’s trust was in the faithfulness of God, not in the faithfulness of Esther. He knew that God would not let His people down, even if individuals let God down. Mordecai reminded Esther that though the fate of God’s people rested in God and not in her, her own fate depended on her own faithfulness to God. Taking the determination of the Lord, Esther decided that she would go and make a bold appearance before the king, but only if she was supported by prayer and fasting.
Jesus reminded us that especially difficult spiritual battles sometime require special preparation with prayer and fasting.
Matthew 17:18-21 Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and from that moment the boy was healed. Then the disciples approached Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” “Because of your little faith,” He told them. “For I assure you: If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting.
And so, our heroine resolves to go to the king, on penalty of death for breaking the law, resigned to her fate! Esther carried a bold attitude towards her mission. She was determined to be obedient, no matter what the cost. Jesus exhorted us to have the same attitude:
Matthew 10:28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul
The Plot is Revealed
Esther has a banquet but cannot yet reveal her secret to the king. This was in God's timing, because Haman had yet to build the gallows on which he was to hang! God loves to use the evil plots of men to turn the tables for His Glory.
- The Pharaoh had the Jews cornered and planned to drive them into the sea. He ended up drowning with his army.
- Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery so they would not have to submit to his authority, and God raised him up to rule the world as Prime Minister of Egypt.
- Nebuchadnezzar raised a statue of gold and demanded everyone worship his image – then he saw the image of one “like the Son of God” instead.
- The world declares war on the Jews, and empires fail, yet God's people remain.
Now Haman's own arrogance and pride creates his own demise. God then arranges for the King to be reminded of Mordecai's loyalty and the royal chronicles are read. Haman, who had the gallows built now appears in the morning to ask for Mordecai to be hung, only to discover to his humiliation that he must recognize Mordecai as a hero of the kingdom. God allows evil men to set their own trap!
When the time was right, Esther identifies the evil culprit. Evil always is found out.
Proverbs 11:27 “Whoever seeks good finds favor, but evil comes to the one who searches for it”.Proverbs 11:19 “...whoever pursues evil finds death.”
The Jews (and Gentiles) are saved. The pride of the Adversary let him believe he could annihilate the Jews and thus prevent the coming of the Messiah. God has a different plan...
Haman is hanged, Esther is given his household, Mordecai is promoted to Prime Minister, and the Jewish people are respected in the entire Persian empire. Not a bad day's work....
Esther 8:17: “Then many of the people of the land became Jews, because fear of the Jews fell upon them.”
The Feast of Purim is celebrated each Spring to this day to commemorate the salvation of the Jewish people.
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Scripture citations are from: Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) © 2009 Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville TN or New King James Version®. (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson
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