Skip to content For Such a Time as This: Esther's Call to Courage May 23 · 15 min ...more
For Such a Time as This: Esther's Call to Courage
May 23, 2025 · 15 min
Dive into Esther 4:14, understanding our God-given role to speak and act in pivotal moments, as God weaves history for His glory.
Series Stand on the Word - Video On Demand May 23, 2025 · 15 min · Stand on the Word - Video On Demand
Dive into Esther 4:14, understanding our God-given role to speak and act in pivotal moments, as God weaves history for His glory. ...more Show the full description Show less Dive into Esther 4:14, understanding our God-given role to speak and act in pivotal moments, as God weaves history for His glory.
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The Providence of God in Esther 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Thanks for joining me this morning. Today, we're beginning the book of Esther. And really kind of a theme verse for the entire book is 1 that you're very familiar with if0:21 you've heard of the book of Esther, and that's chapter 4 verse 14. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place. But you and your father's house will perish,0:33 and who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Now the book of Esther is unique and that the name of god does not appear in the book nor is it quoted0:45 anywhere else in the bible. So that kinda raises the question, how did it make it into the canon of scripture? Now the acceptance of Esther was a subject,0:57 subject of much debate in the early Christian church. However, it was fully accepted in the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, without question. Though god is not named, he's not mentioned,1:09 his guiding hand of providence is seen clearly throughout the entire book. Now some scholars have suggested that the reason God is not mentioned is because it reflects the spiritual condition of the Jewish1:20 people who remained in Babylon instead of obeying God and returning to Jerusalem about a half century earlier when Cyrus issued his decree that they could return. Now the book1:32 of Esther is about the remarkable providence of god. God is not removed from his creation. He sustains it and directs it toward his1:44 plans and his purposes no matter what. Now may I say this, do I, completely understand the intersection2:01 created in his image, I don't think we should be passive either. So God is involved in the affairs of men, and we're to be passive either. So god is involved in the affairs of men, and we're to be involved as well. We2:09 have choices. We've been given choices to make choices whether to follow him or not. We see this from the very beginning of the bible in Genesis where man was given a choice. So we have a free will, and we exercise2:21 it. Now we see the providence of God even in the darkest times of human history. It is, manifested not necessarily in supernatural miracles. All it can be,2:33 but it's most suddenly seen in divinely orchestrated events and his favor upon his yielded vessels that opens doors that change the course of human history.2:45 As we will see here in the book of Esther. Bible teacher doctor J. Vernon McGee describes providence as this, as the hand of God operating in the glove of human history.2:57 And I think that's a pretty good description. So we, as followers of Jesus Christ, can take encouragement from the account of Esther knowing that even when god is not acknowledged,3:09 his hand is upon his people, those called by his name. As we read in this short book, god orchestrates the affairs of man for the purposes of his kingdom. The lives of3:21 Mordecai and Esther marked by wisdom, diligence, and faithfulness, along with obedience to god, are inseparable from the preservation of the preservation of the Jewish people and,3:33 therefore, the advent of the Messiah. God used them in his providence. Now the events of the book of Esther most likely occurred between 4 83 and 4 73 BC. It really covers a3:44 period of about 10 years. Now in the timeline of events, this would fit between, and it is in our chronological reading, between Ezra chapter 6 when the temple was rebuilt in3:56 5 15 BC and chapter 7 when Ezra himself returns to Jerusalem in 4 57 BC. Now in case I forget,4:08 to mention this when we turn to the book of Nehemiah very soon. Esther, her rising to a place of influence in the Persian kingdom,4:20 no doubt, gained favor for the Jewish people and set the stage for the favorable treatment and provision that was given to Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Again,4:32 the providence of God. The book's writer is not specifically identified. However, many scholars suggest it was Mordecai as it's recorded in chapter 9 that he wrote to all the Jews in the kingdom.4:45 And because of his instruction, Purim became an annual observance of the Jewish people. Now that's a lot of introduction, but understanding where and how the book of Esther Esther fits4:56 in is essential in our journey through the bible. So with that, let's look at some of the key points of the first 3 chapters that sometimes may be overlooked in a story that's very familiar to a lot of people.5:08 So let's begin in verse 1, chapter 1. Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, that was the Ahasuerus who reigned over 1275:20 provinces from India to Ethiopia, a very expansive kingdom. In those days, when king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom and was in Shushan, the citadel,5:33 that in the third year of his reign, he made a feast for all his officials and servants, the powers of Persia and Media, the nobles and the princes of the provinces being before5:45 him, when he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty for many days, 180 days in all. And when these days were complete, the king made a5:56 feast lasting 7 days for all the people who were present in Shushan, the citadel, from great to small in the court of the garden of the king's palace. Alright. So the setting of6:08 the book is this, Ahasuerus, then which is the Hebrew name for the king. The Greek name is Xerxes. He calls his leaders to Sushen for a 66:20 month meeting in which he wines and dines them, as history tells us, for the purpose of selling them on a military campaign against Greece. That's very clear that he does not spare any expense.6:33 However, as we get down to the end of the time, we read that his anger driven by pride, wine, or a combination of both is what sets the stage for the6:44 unfolding events of the amazing book of Esther. So drop down to verse 10. On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mahuman6:57 to bring queen Vasti before the king with her royal crown in order to show the people and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at.7:09 But queen but queen Vasti refused to come to the king's command at the king's command and delivered by as delivered by the eunuchs. And at this, the king7:20 became enraged, and his anger burned within him. Then the king said to the wise men who knew the times, for this was the king's procedure toward all who were versed in the law and judgment. Drop to7:32 verse Then Miuken said in the presence of the king and the officials, not only against the king, has the queen done wrong, but also7:43 against all the officials and all the people who are in the provinces of king Ahasuerus. Apparently, there was concern that there might be a women's lib7:55 movement if the queen is, not removed and it's and and that the action taken communicated to the entire kingdom. So look at verse 22.8:07 He sent letters to all the royal provinces, to every province in his own script, and to every people in his own language. So they wrote I mean, they had such a a vast empire. They wrote it into the language that people8:19 could read. That every master be every man be the master in his own household and speak according to the language of his people. Alright. Let's go to chapter 2 verse 1. After these things,8:31 when the anger of king Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered Vasti and and what she had done and what he had been and what had been decreed against her.8:43 Now after these things was about 3 years later, right, in 4 80 BC. I hope you know your history. 4 80 BC is8:54 when the 300 Spartans delayed Xerxes' invasion of Greece. Now this was not a military victory for the Greeks, but it was a moral victory for them. And9:06 it did eventually, it allowed them to rally and eventually defeat a great Persian army in 4 79 BC at Plataea. So he turned9:19 after all this happened, this was 3 years later. I mean, he's he's kind of, licking his wounds. And he turns for a bit of comfort, and he realized he had booted out his wife. So verse 2. Then the king's young men who9:30 attended him said, let beautiful young virgins be brought out for the king. So a young woman named Esther, who was orphaned, was ray and was raised by her cousin Mordecai as a daughter came onto the scene. This9:42 is where we begin to see the province of God in the favor, that was in the favor that was granted and and also just being at the right place at9:54 the right time. We see this throughout the book of Esther. Alright. Verse 16. And when Esther was taken to king Ahasuerus into his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth.10:06 In the seventh year of his reign, the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins so that he set the royal10:18 crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vasti. Verse 21, in those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, Bigthon and Teresh,10:31 2 of the king's eunuchs who guarded the threshold became angry and sought to lay hands on king Ahasuerus. Now alright. So you get this. Mordecai just happened to be sitting10:43 there, and he hears what's going on. Verse 22. And this came to the knowledge of Mordecai, and he he told it to queen Esther.10:55 And Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai. So he he said, look. Mordecai told me this. When the affair was investigated and found to be so, the men were both hanged on the gallows,11:07 and it was recorded in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king. So it was written down. That's important. We're gonna see that later. Chapter 3. After these things. Alright? After what things? This is11:18 about another 5 years. This is 5 years later. King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with11:30 him. And when Haman saw that Mordecai, verse 5, did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury. But he disdained to lay hands on11:41 Mordecai alone. So as they had made known to him, the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the11:53 whole kingdom of Ahasuerus. So he didn't wanna just take out Mordecai. He wanted to eliminate all the Jewish people. I mean, how do you explain 112:05 guy refusing to bow and kiss Haman's ring and so that now Haman wants to kill all the Jewish people? I mean, how can, I mean, how can such hatred for a12:17 race of people grip someone? Well, apart from God and evil, you can't. I mean, there's here's the deal. Alright? Antisemitism at its core12:29 is a hatred of God. It's what it is. I mean, we just saw that this week in our nation's capital where 2 young Jewish staffers at the embassy were shot and killed by a gunman12:41 associated with a radical Palestinian group yelling free Palestine. How can you kill people just because they're associated with a race? It's evil.12:53 Right. Verse 8, then Haman said to king Ahasuerus, there is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples and all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different13:05 from those of every other place, and they do not keep the king's laws so that it is not to the king's prophet to tolerate them. Now this is how you do it. You make them scary. Alright? Make them13:17 sound like they're insurrectionist. And to sweeten the pot, add a little financial bribe. Look at verse 9. If it pleases the king, let it be decreed that they be13:29 destroyed, and I will pay 10000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king's businesses that they may put it into the king's treasury.13:42 Alright. That sets the stage for what we're going to see in terms of the providence of God throughout the book of Esther. Father, we thank you for your word.13:54 And, again, we pray for the Holy Spirit to guide us on this journey, open our eyes and our hearts to your word, and that we might glean the principles and the truths, lord, that are here14:05 for us to apply to our own lives in this world in which we're living. So we thank you. And, lord, we just pray that you would be lifted up and glorified, father, in all the14:17 earth. For we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning. And until next time, keep standing on the word.14:28 Today's study comes from the stand on the word bible reading plan available for free at frc dot org slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day,14:39 you can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 The Providence of God in Esther16:48
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