For Such a Time as This
If it has been a while since you have read the story of Esther, try to take the time to do so now. (Esther 1 – 10) Otherwise read Esther 4:1 – 17.
We have said that Esther is one of “God’s unlikely people” that He uses to bring about His will. The story tells how a Jewish girl became the queen of Persia and saved her people from a plot to destroy them. The time period is during the reign of the Persian king, Ahasuerus (485-464 BC), better known by his Greek name, Xerxes who reigned over an empire of 127 provinces from Ethiopia to India. This empire was so vast that, had Haman succeeded in his plan to kill all the Jews in the empire, it would have wiped out the entire Jewish race (including those Jews who had returned to Jerusalem under Ezra and Nehemiah). Esther is part of a much larger story that runs from Abraham to Christ and, through Him to the church. If Esther had failed to act and Haman had succeeded then the story of God’s saving work in and through the descendants of Abraham would have come to an end. There would have been no fulfillment in Christ, and therefore no gospel and no Christian church.
So what do we learn from the book of Esther about sharing the Gospel?
First we see that Esther was no wonder woman. She was an ordinary person who was fearful like anyone might be, put in her circumstances. She was afraid to risk her life by approaching the king. But when she realized the consequences of her inaction and saw her people as “lost,” she embraced the courage necessary to step up and do what she needed to do.
We can apply this story to our own condition and search our hearts for the compassion to see all who are “lost” around us. We too need to dig deep and come up with the courage necessary to speak the truth of the Gospel.
We also need to see those opportunities that God orchestrates for us to share Christ with others around us. The name of God is never mentioned in the book of Esther. But there are many hints of His presence. What we do see is all the events and encounters that God makes happen in His providence to bring about the final outcome. The downfall of Vashti (1:10-22), the decision to hold an elaborate “beauty contest” as a way of replacing her (2:1-18), and Mordecai’s overhearing of a plot against the king (2:19-23) are all factors to move Esther and Mordecai into positions of power before the threat posed by Haman emerges (3:1-3). Once it does, the perfect timing of apparently fortuitous events again and again tips the balance in favor of the Jews and against their enemies. The king’s insomnia on the night before Mordecai’s execution (6:1-3), Haman’s entry at the moment Ahasuerus is wondering how to reward Mordecai (6:6), and the king’s return just when Haman is falling on Esther’s couch (7:8) all significantly affect the eventual outcome, but none is knowingly caused by any of the human characters. Moreover, the characters themselves seem to be sure that something more than chance is shaping the events. Mordecai is sure the Jews will be delivered in some way or other and suspects that Esther has “come to the kingdom for such a time as this” (4:14).
God is at work all around us preparing the hearts of people to be receptive of the Gospel and you and I “have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.”
As you pray, again ask that the Lord might give you a heart that is “broken for the lost.”