“Esther And God’s
SI: We’ve come to the end of the book of
Esther.
The exciting action and drama is over—
Esther ends with an
explanation of the origins of the Jewish feast of Purim—
which
commemorated God’s deliverance and the victory of the Jews over Haman.
INTRO: I saw a billboard with a playing cards,
poker chips, and pair of dice.
What do you think it was advertising?
It was advertising
a casino in Tunica,
Those objects on the billboard, cards, chips, especially the
dice
are
symbols of gambling, games of chance.
You probably don’t think of dice as a biblical symbol—
but
that’s exactly what we find in this chapter.
Book of Esther ends with an explanation of
the origin of the Jewish feast of Purim.
Says that the name
comes from the Persian word for lot or die—pur.
Then the Jews added
the Hebrew plural ending im to make it Purim, dice.
Why was this name chosen for this feast of the Old Testament
church?
Because Haman, the enemy of the Jews had cast the lot,
he
had rolled the dice, to pick the luckiest day for the destruction of the Jews.
Remember that? Back in chapter 3.
But the Lord
reversed fortunes that day.
He destroyed Haman and all the enemies of Jews.
And He lifted his
people to positions of honor and power.
How did the Lord accomplish that reversal?
He didn’t do
miracles like he did in
Didn’t send 10
plagues and part the
Instead, he worked
through a series of events to accomplish his purposes.
Think of those events in the story of Esther.
Some unusual, like
Xerxes getting drunk, deposing queen, choosing another.
Some ordinary, like
night Xerxes couldn’t sleep, so read record of his reign,
Some were people
making bad decisions—like Esther hiding her identity,
and
others were people making good decisions, like Esther speaking to the king.
None of them were miracles.
They were just the stuff of life.
But all of those events were orchestrated by God,
to
accomplish his purposes—to raise his people and to glorify his name.
That’s why the Jews called this feast Purim—not just because
Haman threw dice—
but
as a way of saying—our Lord controls the throw of the dice.
This way of God working not through miracles,
but
through the events of life is called his providence.
God’s providence is his sovereign direction of everything,
for
his own glory and for the good of his people.
Every event, big and small, unusual and ordinary—
even
the decisions and actions of people, good and bad
even
your decisions and actions, are planned,
guided,
and used by the Lord.
The book of Esther is a great illustration of providence.
Charles Spurgeon, great 19th century Baptist
preacher said this:
“The Lord intended,
by the narrative of Esther’s history,
to
set before us a wonderful instance of His Providence . . .
Then Spurgeon tells us why—what’s the spiritual benefit?
so
that when we had viewed it with interest and pleasure, we might praise His name
and then
go
on to acquire the habit of observing His hand in other histories, and especially in our own
lives.”
I hope you have viewed the story of Esther with interest and
pleasure—I have.
So on this last
study, let’s look at the big lessons about God’s providence,
so
that we can praise him and learn how this applies to our own lives.
I have three points—will give them to you as we go.
MP#1 God’s providence can only be seen with
eyes of faith.
One of the distinctive features of the book of Esther is
that God’s name
is
never mentioned. There is not a single
theological comment.
Never told, and the
Lord was angry with Haman.
Or, and the Spirit
of the Lord was on Esther.
And the Lord is not even referred to indirectly.
Not told that the
Jews prayed or worshipped or gave thanks.
Even in this last chapter as they are celebrating Purim,
not
told that they gave praise to God for this deliverance.
It’s all about the
feasting and arrangements to celebrate in the future.
One commentator I read said that when you first read this
chapter
you
can almost imagine the Jews with t-shirts that say:
“Esther is the
Reason for the Season.”
She and Mordecai get all the attention, even at the end.
But we know this is not a secular book.
The Old Testament church recognized it as inspired.
That means the Holy
Spirit himself directed the writer of Esther.
So the omission of
God is intentional.
Why?
Because this is what life really looks like.
You can’t see
God. He is invisible to you.
All you can see are
things happening in your life and in the world—
and
everything that happens has a natural cause or explanation.
Esther just looks like a political story.
It’s exciting, it has some twists and turns—
but
it’s no more dramatic than political stuff that has happened before or sense.
Everything that happens can be explained in ordinary terms.
What does it take to see the Lord at work in this
story? Eyes of faith.
That’s what Esther does for believers when
they read it—
it
trains you to see God’s providence in Esther’s life and in yours.
And that is absolutely essential for growth and happiness as
a believer.
I have a friend who told me about a time when he and his family
just
scraping the bottom of the barrel financially.
They had no money, the checkbook was empty, bills were due,
and
he felt this crushing weight. There was
nowhere to turn.
He and his wife sat down, and looked at everything and it
seemed impossible.
They prayed, they
asked the Lord for help.
Then, later that day, the checkbook statement came in the
mail,
his
wife sat down to balance their checkbook—
she
came out with tears in her eyes and said, “I made a mistake last month.”
He said, “Oh, no.”
But she said, “No, it’s not what you think, we’re $600
dollars to the good.”
And then he began
to weep with gratitude.
You can easily explain the causes of that event.
It was not a
miracle. It wasn’t even unusual—
like
if he had walked outside and found $600 in the street.
It was just a simple mistake she had made and
the
bank statement set it right, that’s what bank statements are for.
But as believers, they saw God’s providence, began to trace
it back.
They saw that it
was the Lord who had them at this financial place in life.
It was the Lord who
directed her mistake.
It was the Lord who
sent the bills that made them panic.
It was the Lord who
led them to pray on that day.
It was the Lord who
sent the bank statement that afternoon.
It was the Lord who
let her to find the $600 mistake to the good.
And seeing his providence led them to praise him more, trust
him more,
face
future crises with greater calm and assurance,
and
become stronger in their faith.
Could they have missed those things? Of course they could.
Even as Christians,
might have had blinders on eyes so that they just said—
“Whew! Glad that worked out.”
But because their eyes were open, they saw the Lord, and got
greater blessing.
How do you learn to see God’s providence in your life?
Obviously you have
to pray. If don’t pray, won’t see when
Lord works.
But another huge thing, it’s being around Christians
who see God’s hand,
talk
about it, it’s the fellowship of believers, life of the church, stories of
lives.
Purim
feast a time to talk about God’s providence. You must too.
MP#2 God’s providence even includes your
sins and failures.
Esther ends with Esther and Mordecai serving the Lord in the
Persian government.
Esther is queen in
the full sense of the word.
She is no longer
just a pretty plaything for King Xerxes.
She comes and goes to court, she
helps her cousin write laws.
And an interesting
little detail, easy to miss, verse 29,
she
is identified for the first time as Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail.
No longer is she in any way trying to hide her identity,
but
she claims her heritage, and this is more than ethnic,
she
is claiming her identity as one of the people of God.
This is amazing considering our first introduction to Esther
back in chapter 2.
Back then she was
doing everything she could to hide her identity.
Esther was not even her real name,
it was Hadassah, her Hebrew name.
She took the
Persian name Esther, probably variation of Persian goddess Ishtar.
She followed her
cousin Mordecai’s advice to a fault—tell no one who
you are.
She did everything to fit in to the values and culture of
the palace.
Essentially
won a beauty and sex contest to get the attention of the king.
Just contrast Esther with Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.
They were also
Jewish exiles in a pagan court.
But remember their
stand?
Made it clear, we will faithfully serve the king of
only
as far as our consciences and the law of God allows.
Esther did the exact opposite.
And for five years she settled into a life of pagan luxury
in the palace,
all
the while denying her identity.
But you remember the turning point—the crisis of Haman’s edict.
Mordecai came to
her and said, you have to do something, have to go to
the king.
She didn’t want
to. Too many risks. Liked her life.
But the issue was forced.
She had to make a decision.
Mordecai said:
Who knows but that
you have come to royal position for such a time as this?
And he was right. Esther
came to royal position through sinful choices,
and
yet, through God’s providence he used her where she was,
in
ways that she never could have imagined.
What this shows us is that for believers, there is no Plan B
for your life.
It is impossible for you to mess up so much that God cannot
use you
in
the very places your sinful choices have taken you.
He doesn’t do that by excusing your sin,
or
by making it good, or by removing the consequences.
He does it by providentially working through the
consequences
to
bring about his purposes, and use you in ways you could never imagine.
In my first sermon, back in June, told you about a man I
knew in
Grew up in a
Christian home, had a godly father, professed faith.
But told his dad he
was going to law school, because wanted to get rich.
Do you remember? Dad
told him, Son, you can serve Christ in any calling.
But getting rich is
not a worthy life goal for a Christian.
If
you go into law for that reason, will lead to a lot of unhappiness.
Son didn’t listen. Went to law school to get rich.
Got out, did very
well—but at some point God got his attention.
Saw the foolishness
of chasing wealth.
Repented of the
years he had wasted.
But the Lord in his providence began to use him where he
was—
he
didn’t leave law, stayed in it, made it his goal to serve Christ, not money.
Lord took that
rebellious, ungodly decision, used for good in his life.
He can do the same for you.
No matter what you have done.
Think of how often we get to see this in the church.
Believers who say,
I hate what I did, I would give anything to go back
and
change the past, I’ve got scars for life—but oh, how he Lord has used this.
The people I’ve been able to minister to who are in the same
boat,
the
conversations that have opened, the experiences of grace.
Truly, it is
impossible for me to see my life any other way.
God has providentially used even this sin to bring be close
to Christ
in
ways that I could never have imagined.
Be comforted by this.
But also be warned. This is no
excuse for sin.
For
committing it or staying in it.
God’s providence also means that there
are
points of decision—just like Esther—where God forces the issue.
Decision you make will have eternal consequences.
Do not ignore him
if he is calling you back, if you do ignore him,
can
have no confidence that all things will work for your good.
MP#3 God’s providence has a purpose—the
good of his covenant people.
One of the most loved verses in the whole Bible is Romans
8:28.
“And we know that
in all things, God works for the good of those who love him
who
have been called according to his purpose.”
In one word, what is that verse about?
All things—good
things and bad things, big things and little things,
ordinary
things and unusual things—God works for the good not of everyone—
this
is not a promise for all people that things will work out—
but
for those who love him, who he loved first by calling them.
At the end of Esther, we see things working out for the good
of the Jews.
Enemies are defeated, they are celebrating, joyful, honored.
Esther and Mordecai
are working for them in the palace.
In fact, things are better for the Jews than they were
before.
The terrible
threats of Haman were not only removed,
but
God’s people were lifted up—and their faith increased.
But in one very significant way, the situation for the Jews
had not changed.
They were still in
the
He was just as
erratic and cruel as ever.
What was there to
keep him from deposing Esther and Mordecai just like others?
Or what would happen to the Jews when Esther and Mordecai
die?
When you ask those questions, you realize that the end of
the story of Esther—
as
good as it is, is not really the end—it’s pointing to something else.
Think the key is in verse 22, when the good the Jews
experienced is described
as
“relief from their enemies.” That is the
word “rest.”
Many Bibles
translate it that way, “rest from their enemies.”
That’s a very significant word—it’s a loaded word in the
Bible.
Rest is shorthand
for the final goal of salvation that God has planned
for
his people. What rest means is that we
fully partake of everything
that
Jesus Christ has done for us through death and resurection.
We will rest completely from all of our work,
and we enjoy the blessings of his
work.
We will rest from
the fight against sin.
We will rest from
the attacks of the devil.
We will rest from
struggle of living in a fallen world.
Rest is another way of saying heaven, the consummation of
our salvation.
So the purpose of God’s providence—
the
good that he is working for us in all things is that final good.
It is our
glorification—our full rest in Christ and then end of all sin.
That’s very significant because it means that in the short
term,
the
good providences that you experience are just appetizers
for
the ultimate good—the real rest in Jesus Christ.
They aren’t the final banquet—the Lord is still working that
out.
If you don’t understand this, will never
truly grasp doctrine of providence.
Will think that it
is just about this life, just about things we can see.
Lord is working things out in the here and now—finances,
relationships—
but
that’s not where his providence is heading—
it’s
heading toward the ultimate good of his covenant people.
I’ve told you many times of man who had great influence on
me during
our
time in
He was a man who delighted in God’s providence—
spent
hours with him, told me stories of his life, God worked things out.
But he always looked beyond the good providences, to the
greater good
that
God was doing for his people.
Told me story of time purchased orange
grove in central
Around
same time, approached about counseling ministry.
Will
commit the profits from grove to this ministry.
Year by year, God’s providence in the
orange grove.
One year, ministry
needed more money—a freeze, but his grove spared—
so
there was a big profit that year.
And then, this is how it ended, a terrible freeze, the grove
destroyed.
That was the same year, church decided ministry had run its course, closed
doors.
Al was just as delighted in telling me that story about the
destruction
of
his orange grove as he was telling me about the year they made a killing.
For Al, God’s providence had an even bigger purpose
that
reached beyond the immediate ups and downs of finances,
and
success of his orange grove—it was the good of his covenant people.
Reason he was certain of that, knew behind all things, Jesus
Christ,
lived
and died and rose again, interceding, and preparing great things.