Creator, Father, King #119

Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?

DID YOU KNOW THERE’s a book in the Bible that never mentions God at all?

It’s true!

It’s the book of Esther, a beautiful work of Old Testament prose. Even though Esther never mentions God explicitly, his presence and sovereignty are felt throughout the book.

The story begins in the Persian capital of Susa, during the third year (483 BC) of King Ahasuerus’s reign. When Queen Vashti disobeyed Ahasuerus’s orders, he divorced her and eventually replaced her with a young exiled Jewish girl named Esther after a yearlong search.

Through her cousin, Mordecai, Esther learned of a plot by the wicked Haman, one of Ahasuerus’s powerful officials, to destroy all the Jews in the empire. Fueled largely by his hateful jealousy of Mordecai, Haman had tricked Ahasuerus into ordering the ethnic cleansing.

Esther was deeply troubled, but she was in a tricky position. Ahasuerus didn’t know she was Jewish, and to reveal her heritage or displease the king could prove fatal. But to remain quiet and betray her own people was unthinkable.

So Esther cleverly invited the king and Haman to a great feast. There, she risked her life by revealing her ethnicity and Haman’s plot. Ahasuerus was enraged and—in an ironic twist of justice—ordered Haman to be hanged on the gallows that Haman had built for Mordecai.

The Jews were saved, and Esther and Mordecai became national heroes!

What’s It Mean?

Although God is never mentioned explicitly in Esther, his fingerprints are obvious throughout her story and the Jews’ deliverance. If Haman had succeeded in wiping out the Jews, God’s eternal plan of salvation would have failed. Of course, God wasn’t going to let that happen. But he used the courageous efforts of Esther and Mordecai to further his plans.

Maybe, like Esther’s story, God is working quietly in your life, almost to the point where you’re questioning his presence. Make no mistake—he is always there!

God is completely sovereign over both the affairs of nations and individual lives. But we have a responsibility to stand up for righteousness and God’s truth, too, just like Esther did.

As God directs your life, where can you courageously take a stand for righteousness? How can you accomplish his purposes? Is there a situation in your life where God is calling you to stand for just such a time as this?

Now What?

Read the book of Esther for a wonderful example of how to take a stand for righteousness amid difficult circumstances.

Did You Know?

Jews still observe the annual festival of Purim to celebrate their deliverance from Haman’s plot (Esther 9:20-32).