Providence and Your Circumstances

If you would, please open in your Bibles to the book of Esther. We’ll be starting in Esther chapter 1. We’re gonna do things a little bit differently because of the amount of text we’re gonna cover today. So we’re not going to read our text before the message, but we will read it throughout. So please turn to Esther chapter 1. And let’s pray.

God, it is because of your strength that we stand here today, or sit. It’s because of your grace, as Pastor Ron had mentioned, that we’re all here today. Apart from you, we can do nothing. We thank you that you care so much for your church, that nothing can prevail against your plans, that, Lord, your purposes and promises for your people cannot be thwarted, because they’re based upon your character, which never changes. Lord, we all in here change so much. Our circumstances change so much. Lord, our world changes so much, and yet in the midst of all the change, you never change.

We thank you for this great comfort and pray, Lord, that you would show us more of yourself. Lord, we pray that we would not only have an intellectual knowledge, but one that informs our hearts and our hands, as James has mentioned before. Use this today to glorify your name in edifying your people and saving the lost. It’s in your name we pray these things. Amen.

Esther is the only book in your entire Bible where the name of God isn’t mentioned. There’s no recorded miracles, no prophecies, no prayer, though there is fasting. And the omission of God’s name in the book of Esther has led to several conclusions among those who have studied Esther.

Some view Esther as more of a secular historical narrative about the Jews that was a call to political action. While acknowledging that the presence of God is presupposed in the story, John Edgar McFadden wrote the following words in his introduction to the Old Testament. He was an early 20th century biblical scholar. He said, quote, what we regretfully miss in the book of Esther is a truly religious note. It is national to the core, but for once in the Old Testament, nationality is not wedded to a worthy conception of God.

Adele Berlin, another Esther scholar, author of the JPS Bible commentary on Esther, noted that while Esther is recognized as religious in the sense of instituting Purim, the Jewish religious festival, it still, quote, is the most secular of the biblical books, making no reference to God’s name, to the temple, to prayer, or to distinctive Jewish practices such as kishrut, which just means keeping kosher.

Now, the omission of God’s name in the book of Esther has even led some of our heroes, titans of church history and theologians, to omit it from their understanding of the canon. Athanasius included Esther alongside the wisdom of Solomon, wisdom of Serac, Judith, Tobit, the teaching of the apostles, and the shepherd of Hermas as helpful for Christian instruction, yet still apocryphal. Gregory of Nazianzus, another hero of mine, and probably of some of yours as well, omitted Esther from his poem on the canonical books as well.

And in honor of yesterday being Reformation Day, what would This sermon would be without a quote from Martin Luther. Martin Luther, though he didn’t omit Esther from the canonical list, did not mince words as to his disapproval of it as a book as a whole. He said, quote, I am so hostile to 2 Maccabees and to Esther that I would wish they did not exist at all, for they Judaize too greatly and have much pagan rubbish. I love how honest Luther was, but sometimes that got him in some serious trouble. especially here with Esther. Don’t look up what he said about James either.

There’s debate in this perspective of Esther being a secular book concerned only about humans and not about God as to who the main character is. Naturally, you would probably assume Esther, most people would think is the main character of the Book of Esther. But it’s interesting, even in these circles that don’t view God as the main character of Esther, there still is debate. Dame Silverstein argues for Mordecai as the main character, assuming that Mordecai is based off the Mesopotamian god Marduk and Esther Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess.

Others claim that it doesn’t really matter because of their unbelief in the authority of scripture. But what’s so fascinating is that people without a worldview interpret the Book of Esther and its composition so creatively. And ironically, with their creativity, they approve the very God that they seek to disprove, the authority of His Word, when they think of these fantastical interpretations of Scripture. They testify to the imago Dei, that they have been created by our Creator and are creative in His image.

But even though people have different opinions as to who the main character of Esther is, I believe upon further study, deep study of Esther, and faithful study, it is very clear that though He isn’t mentioned, God is the main character. In fact, I would argue that precisely because his name isn’t mentioned, the book of Esther is one of the most obvious examples in the Old Testament of God being the main character. Esther is a story of God’s providence, God protecting his people and his promises.

What is providence? Well, it’s the capital of Rhode Island, Right? Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts colony for several disagreements, including the authority of the magistrate to punish people for religious offenses. And after a tumultuous travel through the wilderness in the winter of 1635 and 36, was taken in by natives and given land, as he recorded, quote, Having made a covenant of peaceful neighborhood with the Sakim’s and natives round about us and having in a sense of God’s merciful Providence unto me in my distress called the place Providence I desired it might be a shelter for persons distressed for conscience now many of you might not know but Providence is also our state motto interestingly enough There’s a Latin phrase that is our state motto that can be translated, nothing apart from providence.

Now, historically speaking, it likely didn’t carry the same weight of the Christian understanding of providence, likely originated from Roman classical works. It was a Latin phrase, but the natural translation of it is nothing without providence. Others have translated nothing apart from the deity. Back in the, a while ago, Because of Colorado being known for mining, the Latin phrase ends in numine, and so people would say nothing apart from a new mine, which was kind of funny. But it’s our state motto, which is quite ironic considering what our state is becoming increasingly known for.

It’s also the name of our church, right? This isn’t Coincidence Bible Church. This is Providence Bible Church, right? Around 2001, church leadership decided to change the name of the church from Community Bible Church to Providence Bible Church, citing the amazing ways that God had moved in the history of providing for this church plan here in northern Colorado.

But if we were to think of a concrete definition for Providence, the Heidelberg Catechism is incredibly helpful, which says, the providence of God is the almighty and everywhere present power of God, whereby, as it were, by his hand, he upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures, so that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, and all things come, not by chance, but by his fatherly hand. You see, providence, if you think about it, providence is God providing.

That word even comes from the Latin of a translation of Genesis 22, where Abraham is about to sacrifice Isaac, and God provides the ram and the thicket, and Abraham calls the place what? The Lord provides, Jehovah Jireh, right? And what’s interesting about that verb there is Jireh, or literally Jireh, the Y’s are pronounced as J’s, and it’s kind of a little bit confusing, not important for the sermon.

It means the Lord sees, literally. The Lord sees. But you see, God’s seeing is not like your seeing and not like my seeing, where it’s sort of a passive experience of the senses, something that happens to us because we are dependent creatures and constantly being impacted by the things around us. No, God’s seeing is God seeing to it that it’s done. God’s seeing his promises and his plan through. So literally, providence is God seeing his purposes through. seeing his promises, his plan, and the protection of his people through. I really love the book of Esther because it gives raw divine insight into the human perspective and experience. It’s honest about real life. It’s just like real life.

Sometimes it’s often tempting to think that God is absent in our lives. Whether we’re going through the motions in the busyness of life or a trying season of life, whether it’s us being tempted to think that our successes are the result of ourselves rather than God’s grace.

The book of Esther here is a redirect for us all and is here to tell us all that God is not absent and that God is sovereign. Though historical and personal circumstances seem random, they most certainly are not. Esther is telling you today that though God is quiet, he is present with you. Silence does not mean solitude. God is not distant in your life, nor is he surprised by your circumstances, but it has ordained them for his glory and the good of his people.

So when we come to the book of Esther, there’s really two principles that I think can be drawn from this narrative in Esther 1 and 2. We’re going to save the last three verses of chapter 2 for next week. But when we come to the book of Esther today, the first principle that we find is that God reigns over the earth’s corporate history. God reigns over the earth’s corporate history.

We’ll read verses one through nine. Now it took place in the days of King Ahasuerus, which, pause, I apologize, I think I pronounce that name differently every time I read it, so for our Old Testament people, I apologize. In the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia, over 127 provinces. How many of you wanted to read it providences? Anyone? No? Just me, okay.

In those days, as King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne, which was at the citadel in Susa, In the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet for all his princes in attendance, the army officers of Persia and Media, the nobles and the princes of his provinces being in his presence.

And he displayed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor of his great majesty for many days, 180 days. When these days were completed, the king gave a banquet lasting seven days for all the people who were present at the citadel in Susa, from the greatest to the least, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace.

There were hangings of fine white and violet linen held by cords of fine purple linen on silver rings and marble columns, and couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry marble, mother of pearl and precious stones. Drinks were served in golden vessels of various kinds, and the royal wine was plentiful, according to the king’s bounty. The drinking was done according to the law. There was no compulsion, for so the king had given orders to each official of his household that he should do according to the desires of each person. Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus.

That’s a lot of text. We step back for a second, take a quick breather. What this is saying is Xerxes, which by the way is Ahasuerus. Ahasuerus is the transliteration of the Persian name for the same king. And Xerxes is the Greek name for the same king. He’s big time. Verses one through nine, he’s huge. He’s a powerful leader. Xerxes here has 180 days where he’s assembled the royal leaders of the Persian Empire to prepare for their campaign against Greece.

Now, I don’t normally think about the Persian Empire that much, but it was insane by historical proportions. If you were to look at its size, in terms of land mass, it probably would be about 20th in terms of the biggest world empires. But if you were to look at world population, it’s the biggest. It holds the Guinness World Record for being the biggest global empire by boasting 44% of the world’s global population. So when it says that he reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces, he is huge. Let’s continue reading verses 10 through 22.

On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mahuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abiktha, Zethar, and Karkis, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king with a royal crown in order to display her beauty to the people and the princes, for she was beautiful.

But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs. Then the king became very angry, and his wrath burned within him. Then the king said to the wise man who understood the times, for it was the custom of the king, so to speak, before all who knew law and justice and were close to him, Darshana, Shathar, Admatha, Tarshish, Merez, Marcena, and Mamuken, the seven princes of Persia and Media who had access to the king’s presence and sat in the first place in the kingdom, According to the law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti? Because she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs. In the presence of the king and the princes, Mamukun said, Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king, but also all the princes and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, causing them to look with contempt on their husbands by saying, King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought into his presence, but she did not come.

This day, the ladies of Persia and Media, who have heard of the queen’s conduct, will speak in the same way to all the king’s princes, and there will be plenty of contempt and anger. If it pleases the king, let a royal edict be issued by him, and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, so that it cannot be repealed, that Vashti may no longer come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal position to another, who is more worthy than she. When the king’s edict which he will make is heard throughout all his kingdom, great as it is, then all women will give honor to their husbands, great and small. This word pleased the king and the princess, and the king did as Mamucan proposed.

So he sent letters to all the king’s provinces, to each province according to its script, and to every people according to their language, that every man should be the master in his own house, and the one who speaks in the language of his own people. Massive text again. Let’s take a step back again But this is showing is that God uses imperfect people. He uses imperfect motives He uses wicked rulers to protect and preserve his people and his promises The text makes it clear that he was King Xerxes was married with wine.

He was very likely drunk but the reason for the refusal of Vashti is not given and Some people have suggested that it was because Vashti appearing before a bunch of drunk men would be inappropriate. Others thinking that Vashti was Queen Amestris, which I think she was as well. She could have been pregnant with Artaxerxes, the next ruler of the Persian Empire, and did not want to come. But the specific point for her refusal is not included, because it’s not relevant to the author’s main point.

You have to understand that biblical narrative is not comprehensive, but is selective. Each author and recorder or compiler has a specific point they’re making. The author of Esther wrote about real events but did not give a comprehensive history because the point of the author of Esther is to show God preserves his people. Now, some have argued that symmetry in narrative or selectiveness indicates that somehow it’s forged, it’s myth, it’s legend. But that’s to totally overlook the way we communicate as humans. Think about it. Imagine two people talking. One person asks someone else, how’s your day going? Is that other person going to give a comprehensive account of their day?

I woke up, my alarm went off at 5.30, I hit the snooze button at 5.38. Got up eventually around 5.45, put on the slippers, went downstairs, yada, yada, yada, TMI, right? No, of course not. We’re not going to talk like that. No, instead, someone’s going to answer that question selectively. They’re going to say, my day was good because I did this, I did this, this happened, whatever. Or my day was poor, it was bad, this happened, this happened.

Just because they’re selecting and ordering the events to make a point does not mean those events are not accurate. If anything, it means there’s a main point that that person’s trying to make. And it’s the same with narrative throughout the whole Bible, Old and New Testament. It’s fascinating, too, taking a step back and looking at Xerxes and Vashti, that the king of the largest empire in the world with regards to population, having all those people subjugated under his authority, did not even keep his queen under control.

Think about what circumstances here had to take place for Vashti’s removal. She had to rebel. The king was angry. Mamuk and the eunuch recommended the removal of Vashti from her royal position. The king agreed. And because of all of those things, a vacancy opened up for a new queen. What would it take for Vashti to be replaced? Well, like I said, Vashti was very likely the mother of Artaxerxes. And so the next ruling king of the Persian dynasty would come from Vashti very likely.

So removing her would not be a small feat. Artaxerxes, for biblical context, was the one that Nehemiah pleaded with to go back to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls. So he was big time as well. And also, political marriages back then were very likely tied to political alliances. And so it wasn’t just like a no-fault divorce thing, that since he was the king, he could send her off. There was very likely complications with sending her away, hence him looking for counsel from these wise men.

But again, the difficulty and the unlikelihood of the circumstances shows this isn’t coincidence. This is providence. And the timing was perfect because the need for this successor and the successor that we will see that comes came before Haman’s decree or plead for the decree against the Jews. Now, again, speaking of something that isn’t particularly important, because it’s not mentioned in the narrative, but still is informative, is the context of what happens between chapters 1 and chapters 2 in the Book of Esther.

Xerxes goes on the campaign with Persia, and is successful in Thermopylae against Leonidas and the 300 Spartans of fame and other Greek soldiers, and eventually capture Athens. But they eventually lose and could not successfully conquer Greece. This would pave the way for 150 years later, the Greek Empire to expand through Alexander the Great, initiating a conquest that conquered the Persian Empire and spread from Greece to Babylon and India.

Later successors of Alexander would bring Greek culture to all those different places in this process called Hellenization, which many of you probably have heard of, which would get all those people speaking in Greek and being able to understand and read Greek, which was fertile soil for the spread of the gospel, and the New Testament Greek when the church was born. In the fullness of time, God sent forth his son, and it all pointed to Christ. God was orchestrating all of the history of even these very pagan nations to work towards Christ’s coming. In the 400 silent years, God was still present, still preserving his people, and preparing the way for Christ and the coming of the church age. Persia would fall. Greece would fall. Rome would fall. History consists of the Lord raising up and throwing down empires, orchestrating all events towards his purposes, which cannot be thwarted.

I was thinking about a personal application for this, and what an amazing comfort with this upcoming election. We can vote our values, and we should, but also rest assured that the Lord reigns. Our hope is not in the constantly changing outcome of elections, or even in our own life’s personal circumstances. Ours is in the unshakable throne of our God, who is in the heavens, does whatever he pleases, works all things according to the counsel of his will, will do all his good pleasure for his glory and the good of his people. The outcome of this upcoming election will most certainly result in the good of the church. It must be because God has promised it. Regardless of whatever passes or fails, whoever wins or loses, Christ will build his church. And we as Christians have an unshakable hope.

The world doesn’t. So the world politics will save. Man is naturally good, but because of constraints of policies cannot live to his full potential. So in this worldview, the greatest need is a change of policy to free and liberate the oppressed from the oppressor. But for those of us who have been born again, we know this is not the case. We know that politics will not solve this dilemma.

Man is spiritually dead and the greatest need of the hour is not a change of policy, but instead regeneration by work of the Holy Spirit, mass revival. to open the eyes of a generation that believes we are what we feel and can do whatever we want in our own eyes, and instead show them that we are sinners, wholly deserving of divine condemnation, and cause them to mourn over their rebellion against an infinitely good God who causes the sun to shine on both believer and unbeliever, gives the gift of food, family, friends, beautiful scenery, and much more, even to those who take this opportunity to mock Him and their continual rebellion against Him. Our culture needs mass regeneration to see that that is exactly why Christ came to save sinners. That though we as humans are hopeless by ourselves, that Christ came to deliver us not only from the penalty, but also the slavery of sin, and to grant eternal life to all who trust in Him, to give His righteousness, and to take on the punishment of their sin to be raised to newness of life. Now all that to say, divine sovereignty does not rule out human responsibility. It’s not an either or, but a both and in the biblical worldview. God is sovereign and we are responsible.

And because of that, we should vote our values. But our response to the outcome should be different from the world, because our hope is one that is unshakable. We are not responsible for our circumstances, but are responsible for our response to our circumstances. Think about that. You are responsible for your response to your circumstances. God ordains our circumstances. We can’t control our circumstances. We must submit to him and do the best that we can and trust him with them. Your responsibility is how will you respond?

Will you see him in it? Even when it seems like he’s very quiet, will you recognize that he’s worth serving and that he is still present and that his promises have not failed you? And all of us in the room would admit his promises haven’t failed you yet, There’s no one in here that I could guarantee that I could talk to that would say, oh man, I regret following Christ. No. He has sustained us through every season.

Remember that, especially in times where God is quiet, because God is certainly present. God is sovereign over the circumstances. You are responsible to trust and obey. So the first principle that we draw from Esther 1 and 2 is that God is sovereign over the earth’s circumstances corporately, world history. But secondly, we see that God also reigns over your individual history. God reigns over the earth’s corporate history, but also your individual history. And we see this in chapter 2. We read in verse 1.

After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had subsided, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what had been decreed against her. Then the king’s attendants, who served him, said, Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king. Let the king appoint overseers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather every beautiful young virgin to the citadel of Susa, to the harem, and to the custody of Haggai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women, and let their cosmetics be given them. Then the young lady who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti. And the matter pleased the king, and he did so accordingly.

Now, there was at the citadel in Susa a Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jer, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish of Benjaminite, who had been taken into exile from Jerusalem with the captives who had been exiled with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had exiled. He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the lady was beautiful of form and face. And when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

Take a step back again. God is still preserving his people. That’s the point of this. God is sovereign over the exilic and post-exilic periods of time. The Abrahamic covenant has not been annulled. It is an everlasting covenant. The term Jew here is significant. They have not lost their identity post-exile. Even though they were part of Babylon and part of Persia, they still are identified as Jews. If you think about it, the term Jew comes from the word Judah. And this traces back to Israel’s history at the division of the United Kingdom of Israel, not of England. During Solomon’s reign, he was disobedient to the Lord.

He took many wives. They brought in pagan religion, polytheism, false worship into Israel. And because of the Mosaic Covenant that promised curses for disobedience, God promised that the kingdom would be divided. Solomon’s foolish son Rehoboam reigned after him. And because of his foolishness, the kingdom split. Jeroboam took most of the tribes up north, and that northern kingdom was known as Israel. And Rehoboam settled where he was at in the southern kingdom area with primarily Judah and Benjamin and eventually Levites and some of the other tribes came, but smaller, where Jerusalem was their capital.

The northern kingdom was taken into exile first because they had no good kings. They were wicked. They were known for their false worship and for removing the proper worship, their worship in Jerusalem, to other places in the northern kingdom with golden calves. They were taken into captivity by the Assyrians before Judah was taken into captivity by the Babylonians later.

And so, when Judah was taken into captivity by Babylon, the people from Judah were known as Jews. So Jews are the people that come from this period of time or trace their descent or their ethnicity and where they dwelled from that time of the split of the kingdoms when Judah went into Babylon. And then, of course, eventually after 70 years to fulfill the word of the Lord, Babylon was conquered by Persia. Cyrus, the first king of Persia, came and decreed and allowed the Jews to go back into the land. to build the foundation for the temple, and eventually, with subsequent rulers, to finish the temple, to build Jerusalem’s walls in fulfillment of God’s word.

If we take a step back again, I love how the Bible uses coincidental language almost as a euphemism for divine providence. So if we look here, it’s like, it’s now, there was at a citadel in Susa, there just so happened to be a Jew that was near Xerxes, and he just so happened to be raising this girl named Hadassah, Esther.

I think of the other places in the Bible, like I was reading in Judges recently about Gideon’s son, Abimelech, and about him sieging this fortress, and the text literally says, a certain woman, not even named, it’s just random detail, crushed Abimelech’s skull with a rock. showing that even though it seems random, it’s not.

It’s like, oh, you see what’s going on here? You see the invisible hand of providence back here? Look at what God is doing. I think of Ruth, where Ruth, the text, Ruth 2, 3, literally says, she, Ruth, happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz. Just happened by accident. Sure. You know? Right. 1 Samuel. when David’s hiding from Saul, and Saul needs to relieve himself. And he happens to go to the cave that David and his men are staying at. Just happens. Everything’s ordained, even Saul having to relieve himself.

1 Kings 22 is probably my favorite, though, and it’s on the death of Ahab. Ahab, the wicked king of the north, him and the king of Judah went out to battle, I believe, against the Arameans, their enemies. And Ahab knows that God has promised that Ahab’s gonna fall. And so what Ahab decides to do is he decides to dress up in some armor to disguise himself. And the enemies think that the king of Judah is the wicked king of Israel, Ahab. So they go after him and then they realize like, this isn’t Ahab. And then the text says this, it says, now a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel and the joint of the armor. Yeah, that was by accident. Not a chance. The invisible hand of providence, not coincidence, providence.

The Abrahamic covenant has not been nullified, like I said, because it’s an everlasting covenant. And even though Israel is receiving curses for disobedience because of their worship of false gods and allowing the nations to mix with them, God still is faithful to his people. Because the covenant ultimately depends not on them, but on God. And does God change? No, he doesn’t change and neither do his promises. The Jewish identity is not destroyed. Mordecai and Esther here are described as Jews. Look at the lengths that God will go to protect his people and his promises.

Nothing in history is by accident. And that’s why I love studying history. You know, when you’re in high school, you cram the night before your exam and hope you remember all the key terms and names and dates and everything and forget about it. But when you have an understanding of the biblical worldview in history, it becomes an amazing thing to study because nothing is by accident.

If history were by accident, the church would most certainly have perished, been annihilated by persecution or false teaching or heresy. And yet in every era, we see the Lord building the church. If history were by accident, we would not have the scriptures preserved like we do. That’s why we celebrated Reformation Day yesterday, not because of the reformers themselves, but because of God’s providence orchestrating all of the events to bring the church back to the biblical foundation of the church, to be Catholic, not Roman, to be Orthodox, not Greek. We’ll continue reading. Verses 8 through 20.

So it came about when the command and decree of the king were heard, and many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the custody of Haggai, that Esther was taken to the king’s palace into the custody of Haggai, who was in charge of the women. Now the young lady pleased him and found favor with him, so he quickly provided her cosmetics and food, and gave her seven choice maids from the king’s palace, and transferred her and her maids to the best place in the harem.

Esther did not make known her people or her kindred, for Mordecai had instructed her that she should not make them known. Every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and how she fared. Now when the turn of each young lady came in to go into King Ahasuerus, after the end of her 12 months under the regulations for the women, the days of their beautification were completed as follows. Six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and cosmetics for women, the young lady would go into the king this way. Anything that she desired was given her to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. And in the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second harem, to the custody of Shashgas, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not again go to the king unless the king delighted in her, and she was summoned by name.

Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abahel, the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter, came in to go to the king, she did not request anything except what Haggai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the women, advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of all who saw her. So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus to his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Ashti. Then the king gave a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his princes and his servants. He also made a holiday for the provinces and gave gifts according to the king’s bounty.

When the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. Esther had not yet made known her kindred or her people, even as Mordecai commanded her. For Esther did what Mordecai told her, as she had done when under his care.

I look at this, and Esther replacing Vashti, and all the favor that she had, and the unlikelihood of it, and think of Proverbs 21.1.

The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord. He turns it wherever he wishes. The heart of the most powerful rulers in the world is nothing more than a ditch that God can divert a different way to orchestrate his plan. The Lord reigns over wicked kings, but the Lord also reigns over flawed individuals such as Esther.

Though portrayed as a hero later in the narrative, Esther should not be the quintessential moral role model. And this goes to show that sometimes God works not because of us, but in spite of us. We’re still called to obey, we’re still responsible, but look at what the Lord still did. The natural conclusion of God’s sovereignty over all things is that he’s also sovereign in your life individually. Like Esther, God was directing the history of the world corporately in the history of Esther individually. The doctrine of God’s providence, however, does not make God out to be distant, quite the opposite.

I know Pastor Ron has counseled me before, and I’ve heard him counsel other people, that God cares more about your circumstances than you do. Think about that. The doctrine of the providence of God also changes how we view mistakes of the past. Perhaps you have regrets on the way you parented, or maybe on former relationships you had, or maybe a former church you went to, or bad doctrine you used to espouse. But what we see with God’s providence and his sovereignty is that those mistakes were redeemed by God for his glory and your good. The doctrine of the providence of God shows that nothing in our life was by accident.

I mean, consider your following Christ. For those of you who were raised in a Christian home, God worked through that. And who put you in a Christian home? God did. And if you weren’t, if you were saved in spite of that, consider the lengths that God went to draw you to him. Not by accident. Certainly part of his plan.

The doctrine of the providence of God does not guarantee an answer, however. Sometimes we suffer for our good. Sometimes we suffer for the good of others. We aren’t promised answers. We must submit to God’s sovereign and benevolent hand. I think about many things going on in our world, like the mass persecution in Nigeria, or all the false teaching surrounding us, or much hypocrisy among those who espouse good doctrine, who deny it by their own lives, even pastors. Why? I don’t have the answers to the particulars, but because of God’s promises, we must refuse to believe it is for another reason than for his glory. It’s no other reason than for his glory and the good of his people.

As we’ll see in Sunday school today, Job wasn’t given an answer for his suffering, but God is still worthy of being worshiped because of who he is. His orchestrating of circumstances is so complex that we are luckier and blessed whenever we can look back on life and see a possible reason for why he brought about a circumstance. Flaval, the Puritan, is famously known by saying that the providence of God is like a Hebrew word.

It is best read backwards. And how true is that? Where you can look back in your life and in the moment, it seemed like, where are you, God? I feel like I’m drowning. And you look back and you see his invisible hand of providence directing all of your circumstances to where you are today. We are blessed if we can make even one connection.

I’m no music expert, but I love Bach. I don’t know if any of you like listening to classical composers, which technically, I don’t know if that’s the classical era. That’s besides the point. But Bach was known for one of his kinds of pieces. It was called a fugue. Which, again, you’re not going to be tested on that. And fugues have something called polyphonic texture, which is, again, something you’re not going to be tested on.

But what it means is what Bach was the master of is he was the master of orchestrating multiple melodies at once to create a magnificent sound. It wasn’t just one melody. It was a sequence of many. And I feel like God’s providence is very much like an infinitely complex polyphonic texture, a magnificent sound, that we’re very lucky and blessed if we can hear even one melody. And when we do, that is certainly warrant to praise him. And even when we don’t hear it, we know he is orchestrating it. The doctrine of the providence of God means God is not absence in his silence. Are you exhausted? Overwhelmed? Taken over by conflict or stressed? Know this. Esther is here to tell you today that God may be silent, but he hasn’t left you. Your circumstances may seem random or incredibly difficult, but they are divinely ordained.

Xerxes’ feast was no accident, for without that, there would have been no invitation of Ashti. No invitation of Ashti, no refusal. No refusal, no conflict and counsel from the Persian princes about removing Vashti. No conflict and counsel, no Vashti removal. No Vashti removal, no need for a successor. No defeat against the Greeks, no later Hellenization spreading Greek across the Middle East. No spreading Greek across the Middle East, no wide readability of the New Testament message of the gospel in Greek.

Esther being in Susa was no accident. Her advancing in the favor with the king’s eunuch and everyone around her was no accident. Xerxes’ choice of Esther was no accident. Esther’s circumstances were no accident and neither are yours. for advancing all of the many things that we see in the text that seems so unlikely are part of God’s sovereign plan. God has not forgotten his promises to the Jews. He hasn’t forgotten his promises to you because his character never changes.

And if you only remember one thing from me today, remember this. You must always remember to judge your circumstances by the character of God and not the character of God by your circumstances. I think of the words that were written a while back in a wonderful poem called Light Shining Out of Darkness by William Cowper, where he said, judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace.

Behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face. Let’s pray. Almighty God, director of all providence, we come to you rejoicing, knowing that you have drawn us to yourself by your grace. We know our own inability, we know our own sin, we know how lost we were, Lord, because your word tells us and by personal experience. But Lord, it is because of your goodness and your grace, because of you preserving your people, protecting your promises, building your church that we stand here today. Lord, let us never forget in the busyness of our weeks, Lord, even in the chaos of life with many things going on, May we instead remember that you’re working together a magnificent plan that brings about your glory and the good of your people. And Lord, when we’re restless, especially with the election or our own circumstances, may we remember that our deepest longing is for when you come back, when the wolf will lay down with the lamb and there will be perfect peace.

There won’t be so much flux. There will be no more sin that you, the one who shed tears for us, will wipe away the tears from our eyes. Help us to persevere, to continually look to you in our circumstances. We love you and praise you. It’s in your name we pray these things. Amen.