The Book of Esther has been a favorite of mine since I watched the 2006 screen adaptation “One Night with the King”.
After recently rereading the story of Esther I now understand that it’s deeper than a Jewish girl simply being favored and loved by a King.
It’s the story of how God calls and creates us for a specific purpose and how nothing and no one can come against his plan for our lives. It is my belief that everyone can learn important lessons about life and faith in the book of Esther. Below are three lessons that stood out to me in my recent read of the book.
We Live a Favored and Purposeful Life
'“He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.
All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”
When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 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?” “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.” '
Chapter 4 is the preface for the deliverance of God’s people. Haman set a plan in motion to eradicate the Jews because of his hatred. When Mordecai caught wind of Haman’s plan the Bible tells us that he “tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went into the city wailing loudly and bitterly”; in other words, Mordecai was extremely distraught. So he went to Esther to deliver the news of her people’s impending demise. When Mordecai’s message was relayed to Esther her initial response was:
“Mordecai, I know you’re my uncle but are you crazy? The King has not wanted to see me for the last month. If I stroll into the inner court unsummoned it will literally be an off with my head moment and I am not ready to die”.
To which Mordecai responded:
“Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 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?”.
Esther then tells Mordecai to have her people pray and fast because she’s clearly going to need all the prayer and grace she can get. Esther’s request to have her people fast and pray reminds of Ephesians 6:12.
'For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. '
Esther prepared for battle through fasting and prayer because she realized what would later be taught by Paul which is that our warfare is never natural, it’s spiritual.
Favor comes from God alone, not man. It is God who gives us favor with man.
Esther may have at one time found favor with the King, but she needed to be reminded that God is the one who put her in the position she was in, and that God alone could save her and her people.
2. God’s purpose will be fulfilled whether we do our part or not.
Mordecai reminds Esther that if she refuses to be obedient to the will of God, deliverance would arise from somewhere else. That statement teaches us that if we are not obedient to God’s purpose for our lives he will use someone else to establish his kingdom and fulfill his plan. We are all positioned for God’s purpose. We are not anywhere “by accident”, God is strategically moving us like a game of chess to manifest his will on the earth.
3. The Enemy is Always Plotting BUT GOD will make our enemy our footstool.
God told us that we would crush the head of the serpent, but that does not stop the enemy from constantly trying to stand against us. Haman hated the Jews so much that he made it his life’s mission to rise in station and destroy them.
Personally, Haman’s entire rise and fall is funny to me. He gossiped, plotted and planned to slay the Jews just for his legacy to be demolished and all of his possessions and titles to be given to Mordecai the Jew he hated most of all.
Weapons Will Form BUT They Won’t Prosper
'So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them. For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur (that is, the lot) for their ruin and destruction. But when the plot came to the king’s attention, he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back onto his own head, and that he and his sons should be impaled on poles. '
Haman planned, plotted, schemed, and came within arms reach of fulfilling his plan. He had his weapons all lined up and ready to go, but instead of impaling Mordecai on the pole he had erected he was impaled and his legacy was destroyed.
Esther is a beautiful story about how God will use who he pleases to achieve his will, how we are each called for a specific reason, and how God will fight our battles and prepare a table for us right in front of those who sought our demise. It’s one of my favorite books of the Bible and I love how every time I read it, God reveals something different to me.
