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By: Blake Hiemstra
You may listen to this devotion in audio form via podcast here.
When Mordecai left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration. For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor. In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them.
- Esther 8:15-17
Our God is one who writes in story, who lives in story. A God who’s telling a great, grand, riveting, fascinating story of redemption, of a ransom of his people from the clutches of sin and the swirling forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
The story of Esther is a microcosm of this grander, wilder narrative, in which God saves his people in ways astonishing and yet predictable. It also gives us a glimpse into the heart and the M.O. of our heavenly father.
Here are a few things we can glean from the story of Esther to help us understand our great God a little better:
1. God saves his people. If there’s a unifying theme that weaves its way through both the Old and New Testaments, it’s the idea that God saves his people That’s what he does. That’s who he is. Born out of immense love for a people that he rejoices over with singing, God saves his people. In this story, the Jews face certain peril. Destruction looms. The forces of evil circle overhead, ready to swoop and pounce at Haman’s nod, and yet, in the end, God saved not only Mordecai, but also a whole nation of Jews.
2. God flips the script. Rescuing his people from the clutches of evil in the midst of seemingly inevitable tragedy, God works magic. Think the Red Sea. When the space between a menacing army bent on killing the Jews and a raging sea harrowingly shrinks by the minute, God makes a way when no way seems to exist, splitting a sea in two and leading his people to safety.
In the story of Esther, tragedy looms. The gallows are built to size, just waiting for Mordecai’s meager frame to hang on it. Death crouches at Mordecai’s door, and the fate of a nation hangs on what unfolds. In the midst of seemingly inevitable destruction, God intervenes and turns everything upside down, showing both his power and his grace. Perhaps the following chapter says it appropriately, once the royal edict is handed down: “On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them.” Delightfully, God continues to turn the tables in our lives.
3. God works for the good of those who love him. We know Romans 8:28 by heart, but it shouldn’t surprise us how much God showers blessings on his people. By the end of this story, look what God has doled out. The king gives Esther the estate of Haman. Mordecai gets the king’s signet ring. And the fate of the Jews? Look at this verse: “11 The king’s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children, and to plunder the property of their enemies.” It’s quite astonishing to see not just that things work out, but that things work out remarkably, incredibly, with favor and heaps of blessings. It’s indicative of our God - he doesn’t just eke out a sliver of a win for his people; his people triumph amazingly. Is it any wonder that the end of this chapter describes it this way: “For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor. In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating.”
4. God works through his people. Check that. God works through his faithful people. That’s the simple fact in this story. Sometimes we like to imagine our great God divinely rolling up his sleeves and working in huge and powerful ways, but the truth is that God displays his power through the faithful obedience of his children. This fact should make us weak in our knees.
Yes, we pray fervently for God to intervene in our world, for him to right wrongs and help the hurting, but we need to remember that God’s power is manifested in the words and actions of simple people devotedly wholeheartedly to him. Though fearful, Esther had to be obedient to the opportunity to speak to Xerxes in order to save Mordecai and the Jews. Her obedience allowed the story to shift from one of destruction to of ransom.
Maybe our prayers for God to work need to be just as fervent, but also tinged with the awareness and the openness that he wants to use us . . . for such a time as this.