Esther 2023

Esther We don't know who wrote this letter, but it more than likely was Mordecai. Esther 9:29 Then Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter about Purim. The Book of Esther is the most remarkable book in the Bible in many ways. The name of God is not used in this book. There is not a pronoun or reference used in this entire book of ten chapters that refers to God. The name of the heathen king is used 192 times. Prayer is not mentioned in this book. That makes sense since God is not mentioned here. In this book, we are shown how a pagan, heathen court of a world ruler runs his kingdom and how God can use it for His plan and purpose. This is one of the two books in Holy Scripture named after a woman. Ruth is the other. Both of these books are romance books. Ruth is a book about redemption as a romance and Esther is about the romance of providence. God directs this material universe with His providence. There is not anything that happens that is not directed or allowed by God. After the Israelites were declared free by Cyrus after 70 years of captivity, only 60,000 or so out of several million returned to Jerusalem. This is recorded in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah. Those books tell us a lot about the faithful Israelites who did return to their land as commanded by God. But what about the millions of Israelites who stayed behind? What about them? The Book of Esther tells us a little about them. This little Book of Esther tells us the historic tale of how the entire race of the Jewish people were saved by the obedience of a young girl and her uncle. The Jewish people were saved by the providence of God. Let's define providence. First of all, we have a people that are against God's will in that they are not obeying God and they are staying in Babylon where the big money and comfort is. When they were first taken captive, they could not sing praises or experience joy because they were not in the land God had given them. Psalm 137:1-6 Now, however, they were fat and happy and real comfortable. They have forgotten. But what about God? Has He forgotten them? Some Christians today have the convoluted idea that God thinks the Jews were bad because they didn't follow God's Law and the Christians are all real good folks who can do whatever they like and God will just snicker. If that is your opinion, then you are terribly wrong. God has not changed. God still loved those people who disobeyed Him. This book is a record of how He used His providence to sustain them. Before we can fully understand God's providence, we must understand a couple of other things. First of all, God is our Creator. There is not another explanation of our beginnings and our present existence than to say that God created us. I firmly believe that God spoke the present universe into existence approximately 6,000 years ago, He destroyed the world that then was about 4,000 years ago, and that He literally had to slaughter His own Son as a penalty for our sins about 2,000 years ago. Those are the facts. There has NOT been ONE SHRED of true scientific evidence that disputes or calls to doubt any of those facts. God is our Creator and Redeemer. Another word to consider is preservation. It is by God's Word that all things are held together. Heb. 1:3 Col. 1:17 It is an absolutely amazing thing that we can predict the positions of the moon, planets, and stars because God made their orbits so precise. This entire universe runs like clockwork. Why? Because of the preservation of God. The word providence means to provide. This is the word so exemplified in the Book of Esther. Remember what Abraham said on top of Mount Moriah when he was on his way with his son Isaac to obey God's orders. Isaac (unknowing that he was the sacrifice) asked where is the sacrifice? Abraham's answer was one of the greatest signs of God's redemptive plan in the Old Testament (Gen. 22:7-8). He said that God would provide the sacrifice. Nineteen hundred years later, God provided that sacrifice. On the mountain ridge called Golgotha, God provided the ultimate sacrifice for man's sins. Providence means that God will provide and He is in control. Why did the baby Moses cry and touch the heart of Pharaoh's daughter when he was floating down the Nile? God pinched his little butt and made it bring tears to this powerful woman. Why did Jonathan, the son of king Saul who hated David and wanted him dead, befriend David? Because God is in ultimate control of this material universe and His will will be done. Trust Him that these things are for the best and for His glory. Things may seem sad and bleak today. Work and home may be difficult right now. We may even have a loved one (or ourselves) sick or dying. But the fact of the matter is that these things are taking place for a reason and God is in ultimate control. The hand of God is in the glove of human events.