28 Oct Recap | Esther | Esther’s Emergence
This past weekend we were led through our second week of teaching in the book of Esther. The story of Esther is one that mirrors our own normal lives in terms of seeming randomness, logic, and complexity. What is helpful for us to recognize is that without directly acknowledging it in word, it is very clear to see how a sovereign God has His divine hand of authority on every little detail. What may at times seem frustrating is that we do not actually have any real control over our world. As much as we would like to be in the driver’s seat (and often we may think we are), God dictates even the smallest occurrence.
In chapter two of Esther’s story we get to see a staggering and unlikely meeting of unparalleled power and unsuspecting weakness. Following his abrupt and harsh dismissal of Queen Vashti, King Xerxes began a search for a new queen that would better suit him. Meanwhile, there was a man named Mordecai who was living amongst his fellow exiled Jews. He took in his niece as his own, adopting her after her parents had died. This girl’s name was Hadassah, but she also went by Esther. Esther, along with many other young women, was selected and taken captive to be in the King’s harem, awaiting his summoning. At this point, Esther had been exiled twice – from her homeland and now from even her family.
Even among a great number of other women Esther stood out. Her beauty and character drew much attention, and she was elevated for this. There is, however, a building tension. The passage mentions more than once that she kept her identity a secret. Her status as an exiled Jewish orphan was quickly being reversed. If things did not go well after being summoned by the king, she would actually be put into a third level of exile as a concubine in the king’s harem. Through God’s divine ordination, Esther wins the favor of Xerxes and is declared the queen.
God used Esther’s humble life in exile to bring about this great reversal. The original readers of the book were intended to see this. We are left with another reminder that Esther’s new status has created an even greater tension and rift between her two identities, which makes her elevated status even more remarkable. God has a track record of using weak and broken people to accomplish His will. His coming to earth as a man reflects the ultimate reversal: a story where the greatest becomes the least and uses the worst crime in human history to enact the greatest act of redemption. This is a story that only an all-knowing God with a perfect perspective could write. As we look on the improbable rise of fortune for Esther, it is important to recognize that no matter how weak or strong we are, nothing is truly within our grasp or as it seems. This is a challenging idea that we often acknowledge as true on a surface level but something we rarely allow to influence and shape our day to day.
If we really believe that God is sovereign and in control, what will that change about how we feel, think, spend time, respond, and act?
-Nate Emery
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