God is able to work His Plan even in the midst of the madness of mankind.
Esther 3:12-4:3
There are some remarkable parallels between the Christmas season that we are entering and the Book of Esther. To be sure, there are significant differences, however, the parallels are too striking to be ignored.
The overarching purpose of God WILL be accomplished through His people. In spite of the ferocity and viciousness of their enemies, the Sovereign Lord is always working, sometimes in anonymity, as in the Book of Esther where God’s Name and Presence are not specifically mentioned, and sometimes openly.
Because He is Sovereign, the events of Esther’s life were completely known to God before they unfolded themselves into human history. In the same way, because He is Sovereign, Christ’s birth was completely foreknown to Him before the foundation of the world as well as being the subject of multiple preparatory prophecies about Christ’s birth that only a Sovereign God could know about and fulfill.
The plight of the Israelites in the Book of Esther parallels the plight of the Jewish people prior to the coming of the Messiah. A morally bankrupt political system founded upon violent conquest subjugated both groups. The inability of either group to deliver themselves from disastrous circumstances, barring a divine intervention of God, characterized both situations. And the seeming absence of God, coupled with a worsening situation, caused much consternation.
In the Book of Esther, the Jews were experiencing the torture of knowing about and anticipating with horror their upcoming extinction. Prior to the birth of Christ, four hundred years of silence from God had elapsed since the prophetic utterances of Malachi, thus creating a similar horror of hopelessness among the Hebrew people.
Non-Jews were oppressing the people of God as both the time of Esther and the time immediately prior to the birth of Christ were times of foreign occupation and oppression, yet, God was working whether He was recognized or not.
How reassuring it is to know that though our world seems at times to be out of control and hope seems to be mocked by the viciousness of ours and His enemies, God STILL reigns in human history! How wonderful it is to know that though we are vulnerable to injustices by human systems that are intended to defeat, demoralize and destroy us, the birth of Christ reveals that the power, and persistent purposes of our loving God WILL prevail!
When we are confronted by our own impotence, let us remember that God is ALWAYS working and let us by faith in His heart even when we can not see His hand, determine that regardless of what opposition we encounter or what difficulties we experience, God IS working in all things for those who love Him and IS working even through the struggles of life to conform us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:28,29)! Let us determine that we will recognize and admit our own impotence, thus driving us into an ever deepening trust in His OMNIPOTENCE!
The Book of Esther and the birth of Christ remind us that even power mad and pleasure crazed murderous kings, evil enemies and death decrees of political systems can not stop the relentless, loving missional march of God through human history in bringing about reconciliation between Himself and humanity through the eternal life dispensing Gospel of Christ. Both the book of Esther and the birth of Christ point to the Lord’s faithfulness in fulfilling His Promise to provide the Deliverer and Deliverance that we need!