The Providence of God # 9

Book of Esther 

In this last Message of this Series, we see the Providence of God at work in the Persian people and learn that God ordains our salvation 

In the Conclusion of the previous Message about the Providence of God at work in Israel, we were saying that Haman’s plot to mass genocide the Jews in Persia had failed but the problem remained – the King’s Decree to kill the Jews could not be revoked Esther 3: 8-15; Esther 8: 5-8    

But by the Providence of God, Xerxes authorized Queen Esther and Mordecai to write a new Decree in his name which would save the Jews and preserve Israel’s witness in the Persian Empire 

The new Decree was sent from the King to all the provinces of the Persian Empire including the capital Susa  

Esther 8: 9-14  

The new Decree said that the Jews could take pre-emptive action against their enemies, Esther 8: 11b ‘to unite to defend their lives. They were allowed to kill, slaughter, and annihilate anyone of any nationality or province who might attack them or their children and wives, and to take the property of their enemies.’  

When the new Decree was sent out the people celebrated and something amazing happened, the Jews were honored everywhere and in fear of what the Jews might do to them, many Persians turned to the Lord (‘became Jews)  

Esther 8: 15-17

Earlier, when Haman decided the day to slaughter all the Jews, he caste ‘lots’ to determine the best day to attack them, Esther 3: 7 ‘So in the month of April, during the twelfth year of King Xerxes’ reign, lots were cast in Haman’s presence (the lots were called purim) to determine the best day and month to take action. And the day selected was March 7, nearly a year later.’ 

As a result of Haman’s plot failing and in celebration of the King’s new Decree, the Jews ‘declared a public festival and holiday’ and called it Purim  

Esther 9: 19-32 

Today in modern Israel the Feast of Purim is still celebrated every year on the 14^th of March with family time, special food and the reading of the Book of Esther 

Now back to our text, when the day came for the King’s 2 Decrees to be put into effect the enemies of the Jews put up no resistance and 75, 000 of them were killed  

Esther 9: 1-5, 16

Exodus 15: 16; Deuteronomy 2: 25; Deuteronomy 11: 25; Esther 8: 17,  

Esther 9: 27 

You will also remember that earlier in this Message Series I said that by the Providence of God the King’s of Persia showed favor to the Jews  

• They did this by supporting their return to Judah and Jerusalem 

• They also supported the rebuilding of the walls of the Old City  

• And they supported the restoration of worship in the rebuilt temple 

2 Chronicles 36: 22-23 ‘In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the Lord fulfilled the prophecy He had given through Jeremiah. He stirred the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation in writing and to send it throughout his kingdom: This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build Him a Temple in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Any of you who are His people may go there for this task. And may the Lord your God be with you!’ 

Nehemiah 2: 1-8; Ezra 1: 1-8 

And now by the Providence of God the Lord showed His favor to the Persian people in fulfillment of the promise He declared through Abraham and his descendants that said, Genesis 12: 3b ‘All the families on earth will be blessed through you’   

(The Persians believers and their descendants could claim the promise of God that said, Deuteronomy 30: 6 ‘The Lord your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love Him with all your heart and soul and so you may live!’ 

John 6: 44; Malachi 1: 2-3a; John 1: 12-13 ^NKJV; John 10: 27-30; Acts 13: 48b;  

2 Timothy 1: 9; Romans 8: 29-30) 

And of course, we also find evidence in the New Testament that the Lord was faithful to fulfill His promise to generations of believing Persians  

In Matthew 2: 1-12 we find the narrative about the ‘wise men from eastern lands’ who arrived in Israel looking for the Messiah - we also know them as the Magi; they were the descendants of the original Persian believers that are referred to in Esther 8: 17 

These Persian believers ‘from eastern lands’ were familiar with the Old Testament prophecies which eventually would guide them to the Promised Land in search of the Messiah 

Numbers 24: 17a; Daniel 9: 25b; Micah 5: 2 

These wise men from the ‘eastern lands’ of Persia teach us several lessons about what it means to be true believers - According to Matthew 2: 1-12 

• They studied, believed and acted on God’s Word 

• They searched for Jesus the Messiah and found Him! 

• They humbled themselves and worshiped the Christ Child 

• And they obeyed God rather than man 

And on the day of the Jewish Festival of Pentecost there were Persian believers among the crowds in Jerusalem who heard the Apostle Peter’s preaching about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the promise of God to every believer of the baptism with the Holy Spirit and power - By that time the Persians were known as, Acts 2: 9a ‘Parthians, Medes, (and) Elamites’ 

Acts 2: 36-41  

And when those believers returned to their homeland, they became the founders of the new Christian Churches in Persia 

In 1501 AD the ancient kingdom of the Persia became known as Iran and today, despite great persecution, the promise of God to generations of Persian believers is still bearing fruit, Genesis 12: 3b ‘All the families on earth will be blessed through you’   

(It is estimated that there are 1, 000, 000 Christians in Iran) 

The Book of Esther contains some of the most profound examples of the Providence of God found anywhere in Scripture, Esther 1: 1 ‘these events happened in the days of King Xerxes’ 

These ‘events’ have revealed to us:  

The Providence of God at work in the Persian Empire to ordain the rise and fall of nations 

The Providence of God at work in King Xerxes to ordain the decisions and actions of kings 

The Providence of God at work in Queen Vashti to ordain the direction of our lives   

The Providence of God at work in Mordecai to ordain His prevailing purposes  

The Providence of God at work in Hadassah to ordain our ministry 

The Providence of God at work in Haman to ordain the destiny of the unbeliever          

The Providence of God at work in Israel to ordain His choice and purposes for them  

And finally, the Providence of God at work in the Persian people to ordain our salvation 

The Book of Esther concludes by recording the greatness of Mordecai who, ‘continued to work for the good of his people and to speak up for the welfare of all their descendants.’ 

Esther 10: 1-3 

How should we respond? 

Let me leave you with a quote from the great theologian R.C Sproul 

“If God is the Creator of the entire universe, then it must follow that He is the Lord of the whole universe. No part of the world is outside of His Lordship. That means that no part of my life must be outside of His Lordship.”  

Let’s respond by fully surrendering to the Providence of God in our lives 

AMEN!