Esther (Letter 17, Larry Crabb’s 66 Love Letters)
No One, No One, Can Thwart My Plan
All of my people should have seized the opportunity I provided 50 years before the story of Esther took place, the opportunity to leave Persia and travel the five month journey to Judah. Only 50,000 did. Several million did not. My grief was real. They deprived themselves of the enjoyment of my presence. Wherever my people live in this world, whether in a mansion or a tent, they will suffer, not always, but inevitably. The difference is this: when my people refuse the tent of a pilgrim for the temporary mansion of one whose treasure is in this world, I will continue to be with them, but they will not enter the rest of that reality. The loss will be theirs and mine. The story I tell in Esther makes that point.
Notice that all these events Ahasuerus’s party; Vashti’s refusal to demean herself to entertain the kings guests; Mordecai’s saving the king’s life; Haman’s murderous plot; Esther’s beauty, position, and courage; and many others were natural events that I used for my purposes. Haman was killed, my people became strong, Ahasuerus elevated Mordecai to greater prominence, and Esther reigned as queen in Vashti’s place.
ESTHER: A Queen Under Control – From Ray Stedman<-(click here for entire Bible summary)
During the days of that captivity a man arose who, as prime minister of Babylon, launched an attack on the Jews and tried to stamp out these people, just as Hitler tried in a more recent time.
God moved in a wonderful way to deliver his people through Esther, who became the queen of this foreign kingdom.
Esther pictures the renewed spirit that is given to man when he becomes a Christian, when he is regenerated, when his spirit is made alive in Jesus Christ. She is under the influence and control of her cousin, Mordecai, who throughout this book is a picture for us of the Holy
Spirit and his activity in our lives. This man’s name means “little man” – man in his humility –
and he is thus a picture of Christ.
Esther – David Jeremiah (Understanding the 66 Books of the Bible)
Key thought: With his hidden hand of providence, God purposely guides and protects His people, even when they’re unaware of it and even when, as in the days of Mordecai and Esther, disaster looms.
Key Verse: Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 4:14
Key Action: Trust the hidden resolutions of God’s providence when you can’t see visible solutions to life’s dilemmas.