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"For we live by faith, not by sight."
(2 Corinthians 5:7)
The weather has finally begun to warm up here in Germany, and we are hard at work preparing summer activities for the children in our church. My husband and I have been working on preparing the theme and lessons for our church's kids camp that we will put on later this summer. We landed on centering the camp lessons around the book of Esther, with the ultimate goal in mind that the kids would learn this central truth: God is always working, even when you don't see Him or hear Him.
Did you know that God is never directly mentioned in the entire book of Esther? Seems pretty odd for a book in the Bible, huh? The Bible is in fact a book about God, isn't it? However, a closer study of the text makes it clear that God is absolutely at work throughout the entire book. In fact, one could even view the book of Esther as an invitation to put on your sleuth's hat and seek out the ways that the Lord is working and being faithful to His promises throughout the entire story. This week, let's consider some of the ways the Lord is at work in the book of Esther and how we can identify the ways God is working in us and around us, even if we don't directly see Him.
The story of Esther takes place within the ancient Persian context. As a short summary, the king of Persia becomes angry with his wife, Queen Vashti, when she refuses to come to his party so he can show her off. In his drunken rage and with poor counsel, he decides to cast off his wife and begins seeking another beautiful young woman to make into his new queen. Esther, a Jewish woman living in the kingdom, is taken as a prospect, gains favor with those in the king's inner circle, and catches the eye of the king. He makes her his wife, and thus, the new queen. However, under the guidance of her cousin, she keeps her Jewish identity a secret. This same cousin, Mordecai, informs Esther of a plot he overheard from two men seeking to harm the king. Esther, in turn, tells the king, saving him. Having done this, Mordecai's deeds are recorded in the king's books. However, things take a turn when Mordecai refuses to bow down to the king's appointed leader Haman who chooses to react in an extreme way. The evil Haman seeks to kill all of the Jews out of prideful anger, but Queen Esther courageously risks her own life to go to the king and plead on behalf of her people. Then, the Lord completely turns the story on its head.
Haman, who sought to impale Mordecai and have all Jews killed, is himself impaled on the very pole he erected for Moredaci's death, and Haman's ten sons are killed by the Jews.
Mordecai is placed in the position of power once held by Haman.
The plot that Haman set up to wipe out the Jews is met with a counter decree from the now powerful Mordecai which allows the Jews to defend themselves, and the Jews rise up to defeat those who seek to kill them. In turn, many of the enemies of the Jews are killed. This is the grounds for the Jewish festival of Purim, which celebrates how God rescued His people through the position and courage of Queen Esther.
We know that God is faithful to keep His promises. We know that God is always at work. There is so much irony in this story; it is sure that the Lord's hand can be traced through every twist and turn of Esther's story to preserve His people and make His glory known. It reminds me of 2 Corinthians 5:7 which says, "For we live by faith, not by sight."
Do you trust that God is at work even when you cannot feel or see Him? We can have faith that the Lord never takes a break from being God. He is always at work. This week, we will continue to look deeper into the book of Esther to trace God's hand throughout the story.
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