When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” [Esther 4: 12:14 NIV]
The last Day Share looked at the theme of God's providence - God sees everything in advance and he knows absolutely everything and he takes action to fulfil his will and to preserve and protect His people. But God uses us humans to carry out His plans. He had plans to protect the Jews resident in Persia at a time when Haman, a powerful official with an anti-Semitic agenda, was seeking to exterminate the Jews in the Persian empire (Esther 3). And God's providential plan for preservation and protection for the Jewish people involved a beautiful young Jewess called Esther. She was one of Xerxes' many wives, but he chose her to be the replacement for Vashti and elevated her to the status of Queen. This did not mean that they shared their lives together. From our modern perspective, this seems a strange relationship - she was only allowed to speak to her husband when he gave her permission. For a whole month, Xerxes did not come anywhere near her - not even to speak to her (Esther 4:11). This is not a very mutual relationship. Esther is clearly terrified of her husband - and in our 21st century world there are many wives who are also very afraid of their husbands (or more likely they are part of an unmarried relationship).
Esther is reluctant to become involved in this whole matter - even though her own people are in grave danger from Haman's malicious plotting . Esther's husband has sanctioned the destruction of the Jewish people at the request of Haman (Esther 3:10-11). Esther has kept her nationality and race a closely guarded secret (Esther 2:7). She would never have been chosen to be part of Xerxes' harem had her true identity been known. Esther's cousin (who had adopted Esther as his own daughter) is making a powerful case that she needs to intervene on behalf of the Jewish people. This is her time to do something important that will preserve the lives of many Jewish people. Notice the implication of what Mordecai is saying to Esther - "And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” You have not been given this important position by accident and it is not just because you are exceptionally beautiful and attractive to Xerxes. "God has a purpose for you, Esther," Mordecai was telling her without actually mentioning God.
Esther was clearly afraid firstly to declare that she was a Jewess and secondly to call for mercy on her threatened people. It is clear that Xerxes was impulsive and could have decided that this called for another change of Queen. Sidlow Baxter recounts that the same monarch once ordered his son to be cut into two pieces and for the Persian army to march between the two body parts. He was unpredictable and volatile. On another occasion, he had been so angry that the bridge which he had ordered to be constructed over the Hellespont had been destroyed by a storm just after its completion. Xerxes did a strange thing. He is reputed to have ordered some of his servants to take a whip and lash the sea three hundred times to punish it for destroying this vital bridge. He also instructed that a pair of fetters should be thrown into the Hellespont. This seems weird conduct. But it gives us some idea of the whimsical and even mad behaviour of this despotic monarch. His command to Vashti to appear before his drunken courtiers and his reaction to her refusal gives us an idea of his character. When Haman makes an outrageous request to exterminate the Jews in the kingdom, Xerxes immediately sanctions this drastic action which would have dire consequences. So humanly speaking, we can understand why Esther was afraid.
But the unnamed God was on her side and she was accomplishing His will. Little did she know that she was perfectly safe. God used this situation to remove Haman, the enemy of the Jews and to preserve His own people, despite their reluctance to leave Persia and to return to their homeland. God was in control of this unpredictable and powerful despot and his mood was calm and cooperative.
Are there lessons to be learned from this incident? I am reflecting on my life and I have never been in Esther's situation but there have been times when God has clearly used me, in all my weakness, to carry out His plans. Sometimes, this has been painful and accompanied by suffering, but I am convinced that God can use us all if we are willing to surrender to His will. I am humbled as I reflect on this - and I am wondering if there have been times when I acted like Jonah and ran off in the other direction. We do not need to be a Queen or in a position of influence for God to use us. Remember the young lad who handed over his picnic lunch to the Lord Jesus and it fed a multitude. He was not considered important by his neighbours. He remains anonymous - there is no record of his name. This does not matter. This young fellow must have been gobsmacked when he saw that his bread and fish stretched to feeding 5,000 men plus women and children. God can do great things with a life that has been surrendered to Him completely.
The lesson is that it is God's timing - such a time as this. So often we like to do it our way and in our timing. God's timing is perfect because He is omniscient. In His providence, there is no past, present and future. He knows what is about to happen before it does and He is all powerful. God can do anything, anything but fail. Some theologians will dispute this last line, but let us remember that there are no limits to God's knowledge and His power. It is amazing that he chooses to save sinners by His grace and use them in his service. We need to be pliable and malleable in the hands of the divine potter as he moulds us in the image of His dear Son and equips us for service for Him.
Picture by Ivana Cujina on Unsplash
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