So maybe you’ve heard it said, ‘read your bible’ so you tried and failed. Our hope as leaders is that all of us will pick up God’s word and come to understand the true nature of God. After all, the bible is God’s Word curated over centuries detailing His nature, His will, the meaning of life and humanity’s historical interactions with Him. The Bible details the hidden keys to the Kingdom. Hence, the reason we are reviewing a new book each week.
Last Sunday, we learned how the book of Ezra and Nehemiah was once a single book. We also came to understand three truths:
First, All Holy Movements come from
yearning to be in God’s presence,
connecting with Him
and agreeing to do his bidding.
Second, when we are sent to a person, group or place, our role is to help others by understanding the need and getting to work.
Third and most importantly, through Nehemiah we learned we are but a tool in God’s plan. We are His instruments in His hand to complete the mission at hand.
This last point is where we will begin in the book of Esther. God’s will is always accomplished. While the book of Esther never mentions God, or His role in the unfolding drama of saving the Jews from a threatened massacre during the Persian period (539-330 BCE), the story is a miracle of epic proportions. A fact the Jewish nation recognizes and still celebrates joyfully annually.
For many a Christian leader and scholar, the book’s lack of reference to God is troubling. However, for Jewish leaders the story strengthens their belief in being the chosen ones of God. God’s promises are forever and we need only participate in what is unveiled before us to be considered faithful. God does not need human recognition or acknowledgement or even Humanity’s willful participation to accomplish His plan.
A number of years ago, a friend and I had a discussion about the words: luck and coincidences. The discussion started when a Christian leader used the word, “lucky.” My friend was upset. She kept saying, “Luck does not exist!” She went on to say the word presupposes a randomness to our world and an all knowing, all powerful God is not random. It also tends to classify our life events as either important or not important. However, all of life is important and our God cares about all of it. He does not need to conserve His strength because His power is limitless. His attention is never divided. If God knows where every sparrow is (Matthew 10:29), then nothing is too small for His attention. He is often referred to as the Almighty (Genesis 17:1; Exodus 6:3; Job 13:3), a name denoting unrestricted power and absolute dominion.
Jesus never said the word “lucky" and he only used the word translated “coincidence” once. In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:31) Jesus said, “And by a coincidence a certain priest was going down in that way, and having seen him, he passed over on the opposite side.” The word coincidence is translated from the Greek word “synkyrian", which is a combination of two words: sun and kurios. Sun means “together with,” and kurios means “supreme in authority.” So a biblical definition of coincidence might be better translated as “what occurs together by God’s providential arrangement of circumstances.”
When we are taken by surprise, it doesn’t mean God is surprised. Scripture is clear that God allows sinful humans to make mistakes and reap the consequences of those mistakes. However, God also promises He will make “all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). God takes even our mistakes and unplanned events and weaves them together to fulfill His purposes.
Let’s face the truth, Coincidences and Luck are nothing more than words which fail to give credit to God, or words to justify our unwillingness to glorify God in our everyday experiences of our life.
Esther and Mordecai were there as agents of God to save the Jewish people from an ethnic cleansing. My favorite exchange from the book comes in chapter 4:14-17. It’s a moment in which Esther is afraid of going to the King and Mordecai lets her know, if she doesn’t speak up, everyone is doomed. Take a listen,
14 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?”
15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.
Those words in verse 14 are powerful “from another place.” Mordecai is stating a belief that God will intercede. If she decides against standing up to represent, there will be consequences and God’s will be done. Her response and subsequent commitment shows her faith and wisdom as well.
The scripture also is a great reminder that it’s wise that when you think you know the best course of action, its best to pause to get wisdom from the Lord. Also, by pausing the process for a specific period, there is an opportunity for intercession to strengthen the community (v16), provide group resolve and allow the Lord multiple ways to confirm the best course of action. The call to fast comes with the idea of prayer and meditation. The scriptures demonstrate:
Ester was courageous and faithful.
Mordecai was wise and faithful
The Lord was gracious and faithful to those who call him ‘God.’
The question is never “Is God in control of the world?” BUT “Is God in control of my life?” Let me repeat that. Ask someone in the room, is God in control of your life?
Are we cooperating with Him so that we are part of the solution, not the problem?
Dr. AW Tozer said in his book The Knowledge of the Holy (p228), “In the moral conflict now raging around us, whoever is on God’s side is on the winning side and cannot lose; whoever is on the other side is on the losing side and cannot win.”
Esther shares the same level of faith and the apostle Paul does hundreds of years later. In the letter Paul sent to the Ephesians elders he said, “In the same way, God’s use of a young minority woman and an older Jewish man in a male dominated culture to spare the lives of thousands, Jesus wants to save you and those who are part of your clan.” (Acts 20:24)
Esther had to deal with:
the law being against her,
the government against her,
the high command against her,
her nationality against her,
her gender was against her,
her spirituality was against her,
the patriarchal society was against her
and yet, she had a faith that reminded everyone, “if God be for us, who can be against us? (Rom 8:31)
I know some of the battles going on in this room today…financial, relational, physical, mental, addiction, marital, professional, spiritual, parental, business…we all are battling something but the war has been won.
Will you live as such this week? Will you be a witness to this fact this week?
Creative: https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/esther/ 9 min
References: Quest Bible Overviews 697-702, Warren Wiersbe Commentary p726-727, https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-coincidence.html
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