Readings for today: Esther 6-10
God specializes in reversing the fortunes of His people. Right when it seems like all hope is lost and the odds are impossibly stacked against them, God turns the tables on His enemies. Haman had everything set up. He had the gallows prepared. The decree had been issued. He had put all the pieces into place. His goal was genocide. The systematic destruction of the Jewish people. He wanted to wipe them from the face of the earth as payback for the way his honor had been threatened by Mordecai. But God was once again working behind the scenes. He put Esther into place. He gave Mordecai an opportunity to save the king. He disturbed the king’s sleep and made sure he read about what Mordecai had done. The result was the unraveling of all Haman’s carefully laid plans. Mordecai is honored. Esther’s accusations are taken seriously. Haman is hanged on his own gallows along with his sons. The Jewish people are given the right to defend themselves. Those who sought to destroy them were killed. Mordecai ends up second to only the king in the empire. It’s a powerful story that illustrates how God often works.
Of course, one of the things that bothers us about it all is the violence. The killing. How could God be involved in such things? We tend to forget that though the Bible was written for us, it was not written to us. The events of the Book of Esther take place at a much different time and in a much different culture than the one we live in today. Honor was everything in the Persian Empire. To lose honor was not just to lose status but to actually have one’s place in society threatened. It was taken very seriously. Any affront to honor is met with immediate violence to make sure one retains their place. This is why Haman reacts so strongly to Mordecai’s insult. He not only wants to punish Mordecai but anyone associated with Mordecai. These kinds of tribal, honor killings were quite common at the time and it’s one of the reasons why the Bible’s “eye for an eye” doctrine is so advanced for its time. It limits this kind of unrestrained violence. It’s also why the king reacts so strongly when he sees Haman assault Esther. Now it is his honor that’s at stake so he hangs Haman and his sons on the gallows and gives the Jewish people the right to defend themselves. He can’t take back his original decree because that would result in dishonor to his royal name and authority so he circumvents it. Once again, we can see God’s sovereign hand working in and through broken, sinful, violent human culture to bring about His will.
God is still at work today. In our time. In our culture. In our nation. In our world. Yes, God still chooses to work through broken, sinful, often violent human beings to accomplish His will. Why? Because He is committed to the original commandment He gave humanity to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and exercise dominion over all He has made. God has never revoked this decree. In fact, He recommits Himself to it in the Person of Jesus Christ. The Word made flesh. The Eternal Son of God becoming human. Jesus becomes human in order to fulfill the creation mandate and demonstrate for us what a life lived in complete submission to the Father’s will looks like. And God worked through Him to bring about salvation for all humanity. This was God’s plan from eternity and it remains God’s plan even today. To reverse the evils of this world through His chosen people. To use you and me to repair the broken world in which we live.
Readings for tomorrow: Malachi 1-4, Psalm 50