Esther 10
1 King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores. 2 And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.
The book of Esther ends with an understanding of how Mordecai excelled to second in command to King Xerxes. He became a man of true respect, integrity, and cared for the Jews as a shepherd cares for his flock.
In the great scheme of how God operates, we don’t always understand why God does certain things, or allows certain things into a life. We may look at it singularly and wonder why it is happening to us. Why would God be so cruel? Why would He allow such devastation?
But as we see in this book, the adversity that visits individual characters have a long-range effect.
Esther - she is taken from her place of safety and thrown into a king’s harem. She did not want this, yet she excelled to queen for a singular purpose: to save the Jewish people from annihilation.
Mordecai - He follows Esther to the harem to learn how she is, to care for her from afar. Yet when he sees the prideful Haman rise to power, he will not bow to him. This sets the annihilation of the Jews in motion. His one act of defiance potentially damned all his people. Yet ultimately, because he was loyal to the king and to God, he was exalted to the second highest position in Persia.
Haman - His pride brought him to a place of power, but was not content until all people bowed to him. His pride was challenged and he decided to not only teach Mordecai a lesson, but all of the Jews. But it didn’t work. Through the intertwining stories, Haman was discovered as an oppositional force and lost everything he strove for.
God plays a long game to act out His will. When we are in the clutches of a problem or concern, we must always understand that God is allowing adversity in our lives not only to teach us a lesson, but to help us to trust a plan that is at best blurry to us. To trust that the God of love and mercy is acting in our best interest. Through adversity we learn and grow, and part of that is learning to stand up in situations God calls us to stand up in.
1 King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores. 2 And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.
The book of Esther ends with an understanding of how Mordecai excelled to second in command to King Xerxes. He became a man of true respect, integrity, and cared for the Jews as a shepherd cares for his flock.
In the great scheme of how God operates, we don’t always understand why God does certain things, or allows certain things into a life. We may look at it singularly and wonder why it is happening to us. Why would God be so cruel? Why would He allow such devastation?
But as we see in this book, the adversity that visits individual characters have a long-range effect.
Esther - she is taken from her place of safety and thrown into a king’s harem. She did not want this, yet she excelled to queen for a singular purpose: to save the Jewish people from annihilation.
Mordecai - He follows Esther to the harem to learn how she is, to care for her from afar. Yet when he sees the prideful Haman rise to power, he will not bow to him. This sets the annihilation of the Jews in motion. His one act of defiance potentially damned all his people. Yet ultimately, because he was loyal to the king and to God, he was exalted to the second highest position in Persia.
Haman - His pride brought him to a place of power, but was not content until all people bowed to him. His pride was challenged and he decided to not only teach Mordecai a lesson, but all of the Jews. But it didn’t work. Through the intertwining stories, Haman was discovered as an oppositional force and lost everything he strove for.
God plays a long game to act out His will. When we are in the clutches of a problem or concern, we must always understand that God is allowing adversity in our lives not only to teach us a lesson, but to help us to trust a plan that is at best blurry to us. To trust that the God of love and mercy is acting in our best interest. Through adversity we learn and grow, and part of that is learning to stand up in situations God calls us to stand up in.