Lessons From Esther – Lesson 9
So many great lessons to be learned from the book of Esther. It shows God’s hand working in the circumstances of life.
The plot to assassinate the king, and that being found out by Mordecai, and then Esther certifying it in Mordecai’s name, and that it was recorded in the official scrolls, and then at the exact right time the king could not sleep and a servant who knows nothing about what is going on just happens to grab the right scroll and read about Mordecai.
Haman being outside and ready to ask permission to kill Mordecai just at the time when the reading is complete and the king wants to honor Mordecai.
That is God using His almighty power in the circumstances of life. God worked so that when those evil men cast lots to see when they should kill every Jew that the lot fell on 12 months away.
God worked to have Haman hanged on the gallows he made for Mordecai. God worked to see Mordecai raised up to a high position. God gave Mordecai the solution.
Even after Haman was dead the law to kill all of the Jews was still on the books. The king did not know how to fix this. He tells them write a new law as you see fit and I will put my authority behind it.
The solution was that on the same day the Jews could stand and fight.
The book of Esther shows us one of the Biblical reasons when war is justified. In this case it was genocide. They were going to murder every Jew in cold blood. God arraigned everything so they could on that day defend themselves.
When the news went out about the new law, there was joy and gladness and the Jews held a feast. This happened in town after town. It was an open display of faith and trust in their God. These people are still under a death sentence and they are joyful.
This display of faith got the attention of many unbelievers. And a wonderful thing happened. Many came to faith in the true God. The Jews put their faith on display and God moved in the hearts of men. And many people decided to make their God their own God. Many people became Jews. The goal of Haman was that all Jews be killed, but instead God worked it around so that the number of Jews actually increased.
When the day came the battle was all one sided. God moved in a such a way that only the enemy was destroyed. Great sorrow was turned into gladness. What looked like certain defeat was turned into victory.
Mordecai then institutes a holiday to be observed every year to remember and celebrate what God did. And it is still celebrated to this day. The feast of Purim.
Throughout the story we see God’s hand moving. We also see all throughout the story Esther and Mordecai handle themselves the way God would have them. With faith and trust, and in the way they treated others.
If you remember when we started our look at Esther we made note of the timing of it.
The current king’s father years ago gave the Jews permission to go back to Jerusalem and a few did. So at the time of Esther there are Jews again living in Jerusalem. They have returned but things are not well. They have done some work on the Temple but it is not finished. And they have no protection. The walls have not been rebuilt. Many of the streets are not passable. Things are a mess in Esther’s day.
The Jews in Jerusalem are going to need major help. Of course God knows this and is working ahead. Just like God had the assassination plot revealed ahead of time and recorded so that years later it would be there ready to be used the night when the king could not sleep.
Just like that, God was preparing things during Esther’s time to be used later to send the Jews in Jerusalem the help they need.
One thing God did was clean out Shushan the palace of those who hated the Jews so much that they wanted to kill every one of them. On the day that the Jews could defend themselves they killed 500 of the enemy in the palace. Esther asked the king for one more day in Shushan and the next day they killed 300 more.
So you see it was not just Haman. There were 800 more just like him that loved their hatred more than life itself. That much hatred left to fester in the palace for a few decades I have no doubt would have changed things. So instead of letting that hatred fester in the palace where a new young king was to be raised, God cleaned house.
God also put Esther in as queen and stepmom to a little boy who would be the next king.
I think that both of those things had a major impact on the future king. Raised in an environment where there was now respect for the Jews instead of hatred and in part raised under the influence of such a godly woman as Esther was.
We see this in the book of Nehemiah. Without the background of the book of Esther we would not understand the reaction of the king to Nehemiah.
Now that we have looked at the book of Esther we can see how God was working ahead of time to prepare for the time of Nehemiah. Since Esther and Nehemiah are so closely connected we are going to take a look at Nehemiah next.
That God has a plan and that He is all powerful, and that He is always working ahead. That is a good truth to really get ahold of. Yes things are dark today in many areas. We should not be surprised. He told us that things will wax worse and worse. How things are does not catch God by surprise. He is still working. In America for the most part it is a famine in hearing the Word of God. But not for everyone. Individuals can and still do get saved.
But on the whole in America there is a coldness to the true God.
But at the same time we see many places in the world where God is moving. Where He has created a hunger for the word of God. Places where God is moving in the hearts of men and many people are getting saved.
God is still working. He is all knowing and is always working ahead. His work will be done.