Psalms 16:2; add 31:1-3a

My Shepherd met me in His green pastures and laid me down in Esther. I ranged through most of that pasture, and the thought that the Mind of the Spirit used to engage the spirit of my mind is not adequately captured in any single verse. Esther 4:3 comes nearest:

Esther 4:3 And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

God was angry at Solomon’s vile sins, and so the kingdom of Israel was divided (c. 975 BC) into north (Israel) and south (Judah) about 500 years before Haman used the king’s ring to order the genocide of the Jews (Esther 3:12-15, c. 474 BC). At that time, the kingdom remained with Judah.

God was disappointed with Israel for their consent to Jeroboam’s idolatry and the corruption that followed, peaking with the wicked reign of Ahab and his pagan wife, Jezebel, till God scattered them to the four winds. This happened in c. 721 BC, almost 250 years after the kingdom was divided, and about 250 years before Haman penned the royal edict that would end Judah. One insight that emerged is the 250-year cycle. Happy 250th anniversary, America.

Near the end of the second cycle, Haman, having deceived the king, secured his “ring of power” and used it to command the complete genocide of the Jews.

Along the still waters, I reflected on these things.

First, I thought of the great mercy of our God. God endured the near-constant offenses of Israel during their entire 250-years of the first cycle. Israel provoked God by turning their worship to the gods of the heathen—something He called adultery. Indeed, this spiritual whoredom brought into the kingdom of Israel the governing system of the heathen—concentration of power in the government, abandonment of the principles of liberty God taught them, and a government that abused the rights of the people (e.g., Ahab illegally confiscates the property of Naboth).

Judah did much better, having at least some kings who, by David as the standard, earned God’s approval and enjoyed periodic revivals. Nevertheless, Manasseh turned the hearts of the people fully to the gods of the heathen by introducing the customs of the idol-worshipping nations into Israel, diluting their culture of freedom and liberty under God to the full realization of their first break from God, when the people said, “Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations” (2 Samuel 8:5, 7; see Deuteronomy 17:14).

The second insight that emerged is that we find in Esther, a book that never mentions the name of GOD (LORD: יְהוָֹה Yhwh), their merciful GOD continuing to watch over the children of Abraham, only invisibly, in the background, in a way our founders called Providence.

The invisible hand of God is clearly displayed for all who read Esther with a heart that by faith “sees.”

And finally, God pitied and delivered the children of Abraham during the days of their exile, even when they were delivered over to the power of the Gentile nations for their sin. Remember, Daniel and his three famous friends were delivered during the period that the kingdom was removed from Judah and delivered to the Babylonians. In Esther, we see GOD’s deliverance of the Jews during the time of the second Gentile kingdom to possess “the kingdom,” and there is witness to God’s providential intervention on their behalf during the Grecian possession of the kingdom: the Maccabees.

Israel rejected their opportunity to have the kingdom restored to them at the appearing of their Messiah (Matthew 21:15-23; Acts 1:6; 28:28; Romans 11:17; etc.). Only those whose minds are controlled by the Serpent’s lies imagine God has utterly abandoned the children of Abraham (Romans 11:1). Rebuke, with me, that spirit that tells modern-day Hamans they can curse Abraham’s children according to the flesh and use God’s disfavor against that nation as their excuse. During the entire period of God’s putting away of His wife, Israel (Jeremiah 3:8), He continues to Providentially protect her; He mercifully sustains her during her chastisement, and fiercely judges the modern-day hands of Haman. Let every wicked Haman beware the complaint of Christ’s bride (Esther 7:6; Ephesians 1:21-23 with Revelation 19:7 and Ephesians 5:25-27)!

In the valley, I knelt to worship at the feet of the great King. Esther feared her king might not extend the golden scepter to grant her entrance into his presence (Ephesians 4:11). Jesus is the Father’s “golden scepter” and it is extended to us perpetually: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16; see John 14:13-14; 15:16; 16:23-27—how often must He say it before we will believe and do it?).

At the table, He anointed my head with His oil and filled my cup with the day’s service, mingled with His sufficient grace.

He arose; I followed. He moved to the harvest; I followed with only a quick glance over my shoulder to check for goodness and mercy who hurriedly gathered behind me.

Praying for revival! 🙏