The Sovereignty of God:

Rom. 8:28 - - - Esther is an example of God’s sovereignty.  God has a divine plan and is constantly working out the details so His plan works out in His time perfectly.  God can and does use believers, non-believers, good, and evil people to carry out His purposes.  He even uses those who rebel and sin against Him to work toward the goal.  God is in control – at all times and in all circumstances.  We can only see the immediate situation, but God sees all situations in perspective to His overall plan.  We might never do or allow what needs to be done to accomplish God’s overall plan, so He must use the rebellious and defiant to move things along to get to a critical place.  (see.  Prov. 21:1;  Ezra 6:22;  Ezra 7:27).  King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) was the most powerful man in the known world.  He could change the course of material and human history by his decisions.  Yet his actions were all divinely arranged by God to accomplish a greater purpose.  Xerxes, acting on his own power, still did nothing except that which served God’s purposes.

 

The Providence of God:

God’s sovereignty is shown by His ability to achieve His purposes through all men, saved, lost, obedient, or disobedient.  God’s providence refers to the way in which God works.  It is His invisible hand working to accomplish His purposes and promises.  One unique thing about His providence is that the results are not recognized as God’s work (eg. artist, skilled worker, science, etc.).  God’s work can only be seen through the eyes of faith (Heb. 11:6).  In our story, we see God’s hand at work because we are people of faith trained to view things from a spiritual point of view.  Esther, Mordecai, and he Jews of the story missed God’s providence completely.  They are not good examples of people of faith.  Those without faith do not see His handiwork, but view all events as results of natural forces, or great human skill at best.  Was the great deliverance of the Jews divine providence or merely the clever work of Esther manipulating the king to get what she wanted?  When we fail to trust and obey, our life seems to be controlled by circumstances rather than by God.  He is still at work, but we fail to recognize it (eg. Jacob – wrestled with God – held protectively to sons – famine and provision by God’s providence – Gen. 42:36 – everything is going bad).  This is what happens when we do not have faith in God and see His hand by faith at work in every area.  We are fortunate to see by faith God’s providence rather than experience the blessings and not know who the source is.

 

God does what we cannot do:

He can use our actions to accomplish His supernatural purposes.  Mordecai was unrewarded for saving the king’s life.  The king had a sleepless night.   He called for the chronicles to be read and read about Mordecai.  This happened exactly at the time Haman was coming to the king to accuse Mordecai.  Haman falls upon Esther just as the king re-enters the room.  Harbonah suggests to the king that Haman be hanged on the gallows Haman built for Mordecai.  Esther appealed to the king and was accepted by him.  All these things were done outside of Esther and Mordecai’s control.  God who is in control of all circumstances orchestrated these events.  His timing is perfect and His ways of carrying out His plan is perfect.  God caused the negative as well as the positive conditions in order to carry out the overall plan.   His ways went far beyond what Esther and Mordecai would have concocted, schemed or contrived.  God goes beyond our capabilities and supernaturally intervenes so that supernatural events occur as part of His supernatural plan.  Think of sharing the Gospel with others.  We have no power, no control to accomplish salvation or any change in the lives of those we share with.  It is God’s Holy Spirit that works a supernatural plan  and purpose in the life of the unbeliever.  We are to just be obedient to share the Message with everyone we can.

 

God’s Timing is Perfect:

The book of Esther is a book of perfect timing.  While God is not mentioned, we can see the criticality of the timing of every event and sequence in the story.  God’s timing is perfect in our lives as well.  Don’t we think that God has not heard our prayers sometimes?  Is it because we have not received the answer we wanted in the time we were expecting?  All things take place in God’s time, which is always perfect.

 

Divine Retribution:

Look at the change in circumstances from one day to the next in our story.  We may not experience changes as fast as they are recorded in Esther, but the facts are still the same.  Esther, one day a peasant girl, the next day taken into the harem of the king.  Mordecai, one day a regular Jew at the king’s gate, the next day highly exalted on a horse.  Haman, one day the prime minister of Persia with all authority, the next day stripped of his power and hanged on a gallows.  God still brings about retribution to those who sin again Him.  We see other examples in Scripture where people had things come back to them that they had done to others.  In some cases it’s ironic, but it is always divine retribution that takes place (see: Judges 1:5-7).  God is a God of retribution – Jer. 51:56.  He deals with men so they receive what they deserve (not what we think they deserve).  Gal. 6:7; 2 Cor. 9:6 – men reap what they sow.  Retribution is part of God’s justice and is always fair and perfect.  Think of Haman having to give honor to his enemy Mordecai.  Think of all those who despise Jesus and the honor they will eventually give to Him (Phil. 2:9-11).  One day every person will give Jesus the honor and glory He deserves, willingly or begrudgingly, but it will happen.

 

Salvation is of the Lord:

God does not joy in punishment, but in deliverance of those whom He loves.   Whether the Jews, including Esther and Mordecai, deserved punishment or not, God delivered them from the hand of Haman to preserve for Himself his people of choice.  God loves us and wants to see repentance so He can deliver rather that punish.  He is merciful as well as just.  The Jews were spared because God is faithful to His covenant and not because Esther or Mordecai were righteous.  It is God who delivered and not Esther, Mordecai or King Xerxes.  God often brings about deliverance by a way that seems to lead to destruction.  He allowed Haman’s plan to be put into motion to bring deliverance for the Jews.  He allowed Jonah to be swallowed by the great fish in order to deliver him from death.   He allowed Israel to be led away captive to Babylon in order to preserver a remnant.  Even our salvation comes from God allowing the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  He had to allow His son to die for us in order that we might live.  We have to die in Christ in order to live in Him.  We have to lose our life in order to find it in Him.   Salvation comes through apparent destruction.

 

We would not be able to come before our God without it meaning our death.  However, by God’s grace through the sacrifice of Jesus, we can boldly approach the Throne of Grace without fear of death.  God has extended the royal scepter to us showing His mercy.  As anyone who took it upon themselves to approach King Xerxes would be put to death if he did not extend the scepter showing mercy and acceptance, we too, can only approach God because we stand in the righteousness of Christ by grace and receive His mercy.   The king spared Esther’s life because he loved her, and he granted her petition of intercession for the people because of that love for her.  God loves His Son and raised Him from the dead.  He also grants Jesus’ petition of intercession for us to be granted life in Him, our deliverance because of that Love.