Christian Living

 

Consider the following occurrences which at face value seem to be of no real significance:

 

Vashti refuses to be “displayed” at the banquet.

 

The king begins the process of “interviewing” for a new queen.

 

Esther is an orphan being raised by her uncle.

 

Mordecai “by chance” discovers a treasonous plot to kill the king.

 

Haman listens to the counsel of his wife and friends on how he may vindicate his honor..

 

The king tries to deal with his insomnia by reading the court minutes.

 

Each of these seemingly insignificant details is essential in the development and outcome of the plot, or one could say God's providential plan. 

 

Each key person has their true character increasingly revealed and solidified as they face difficult decisions (e.g., Because Haman takes offense at a single Jew who will not bow to him, he is willing to order a mass genocide against the entire Jewish nation).

 

In Esther we see God’s providence being carried out through a string of second causes. A second cause is an act or decision performed by an individual. Key to understanding second causes is that the decisions people make are usually not made by a conscious divine compulsion from the outside. That is to say the individual involved is not acting in a way akin to a programmed robot or a puppet on the end of a series of strings. The decisions made by people are decisions which are agreeable to their nature, character and wishes (I recommend studying compatibilism). Second causes brought Esther to the throne. Her selection was not like winning a lottery. Her advancement to the position of queen depended upon second causes - namely her submission, her beauty, her wisdom, her teachability, her grace and her purity were all involved.

 

God regularly accomplishes His providence through the use of ordinary means (the exception would be when He works extraordinary means by way of the supernatural and miraculous – God’s direct working through the miracles would fall under the category of first cause).

 

In 3:13, the decree to annihilate all Jews and seize their property becomes an irrevocable law, it could not be overturned. In 5:14 Haman constructs gallows to have Mordecai hung. In 6:4-9 Haman’s timing in seeking permission to hang Mordecai could not have been worse as the king wants to honor Mordecai at that very same moment. In 7:7-10, Haman’s plea for his life at the banquet is interpreted by the king as an assault upon the queen.

 

It's overwhelming to reflect on what God accomplishes in the account of Esther. Reserved little Esther pushes for a one day extension for the execution of the Gentile anti-Semites until finally 80,000 are killed. Only God could allow Medo-Persian Gentiles to pass a law which would allow captive Jews to legally kill 80,000 Gentiles who were anti-Semitic. It's incredible to think about - a pagan king allows Jews in his kingdom to legally round up and execute every one of their known enemies. 

 

The truly amazing thing is how God did it. He brought it to pass by first allowing an irrevocable law to be passed that called for a total Jewish genocide (3:13). But God flipped that around and He did so through an orphaned Jewish virgin who He brought to the throne of a world empire.

 

The first decree that called for the destruction of the Jews was necessary in order to flush out all of the enemies of the Jews. The second decree reversed the whole situation and suddenly the victims become the victors.

 

Only those who believed in the God of Scripture understood the power of God’s providential workings. Both Mordecai and Esther understood that God had ordained her rise to queen in order to rescue the Jewish nation from its embittered enemies (See 4:13,14).