What's Really Happening in the Story of Esther?

     Hatred, an evil plot, and a gallows all come together to weave a tale of intrigue in the book of Esther. It may be hard to believe with all those sinister elements that this is a story in the Bible. But it actually did happen during the time of the Jews' captivity in Babylon. 

 I learned by reading the Life-Study of Esther that although we can't see God right now, He was definitely on His throne ruling over everything happening, just as He is now. 

    And the book of Esther shows us this includes the good, the bad, and the ugly.  This is important because when bad things happen to God's people, sometimes it can shake our faith. That's why I liked this explanation Witness Lee gives on page 1 of the Life-Study of Esther about God being hidden in the book of Esther:

During the years of captivity God was hiding, and He is still hiding. Even today, in the church age, God is hiding Himself.  Both for the children of Israel and for us today, it seems that there is no God in the universe. We need to realize that God is living and real, but He is hiding. He is a God who hides Himself (Isa. 45:15)....While the people of Israel were in dispersion and captivity, God was taking care of them in a hidden way, and at the right time He came in openly to save them....Eventually God used the Medo-Persian Empire to overthrow the Babylonian Empire....From this we see that the hiding God did many things for Israel in a secret way (Lee, Witness. Life-study of Esther.  Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1995 Print).

      You can really see the hiding God when you see His sovereignty in how King Ahasuerus chose Esther out of all the women in his kingdom to be the new queen. Before Esther had been chosen, Mordecai told her not to tell anyone that she was a Jew. For some reason when Haman was promoted above all the other princes in the kingdom, he despised Mordecai because he was the only one who wouldn't bow down when he walked by.


My youngest grandson enjoying the beach

   
    This rankled Haman, and he devised an evil plot to get rid of all the Jews in the kingdom.  Mordecai hears of this plot and relays to Esther that she needs to plead with the king for the lives of her people. The long and short of this story is that Esther gains favor with the king and at the second banquet for the king and Haman she exposes Haman's wicked intentions. 

    Ironically the gallows that Haman built for Mordecai become his own punishment.  Over and over in the book of Esther you can see God's footprints hiding in so many situations to preserve and protect His people. Only God knew that eventually He would raise up Cyrus another Gentile king to release the Jewish captives so they could return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple. 

     Maybe in your story right now it seems like God is hiding.  You pray and He doesn't seem to answer.  This word about the hiding God has touched me for many years. The story of Esther encourages me to trust in the God who is always working out His will behind the scenes.  And some day just like in this story, we will  be able to see like the Jewish captives that God was there all along. 

 You can listen to excerpts of Witness Lee's speaking the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther on Life Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.   You can also read the online Life-Studies of these books and check out other resources available to enhance your study of the Bible on Living Stream Ministry's website.

Other Posts from the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther:

From the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles - How did Watchman Nee & Witness Lee Take a Stand For the Truth?
From the Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles - Why Did God Make Man in His Image?
From the Life-Study of Ezra - How God Used a Gentile King to Fulfill His Purpose
From the Life-Study of Ezra - Why Did Ezra Return to Jerusalem?
How Did God Use Nehemiah's Aggressiveness in Nehemiah 2:20?
Why Did Nehemiah Charge Ezra to Read the Bible to the People in Nehemiah 8:1-8?