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“For Such A Time As This”

by Micky Galloway

Mordecai asks Esther, the queen of Persia, “Who knoweth whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). The history prompting this question is most interesting and the lessons learned are profitable.

King Ahasuerus, known as Xerxes the Great, was the king of Persia from 486 BC - 465 BC. His empire was made up of 127 provinces, over which the Jews had been scattered as a result of the Babylonian captivity (2:5-6). Haman was the king’s Prime Minister, so favored by the king that he decreed that all bow in obeisance when Haman passed by (3:1-2). Mordecai was a Jew who would not bow before Haman (3:2). When this was brought to Haman's attention, he devised a plot to kill ALL Jews because of the insult of Mordecai (3:6-9). King Ahasuerus consented to Haman's plot and decreed the death of all Jews (3:10-15). Mordecai, because of his faith in God, knew there would not be an annihilation of the Jews (4:14). Nonetheless, the king’s decree would mean disaster to the Jews if something was not done. Esther, a young Jewess, had been personally chosen to be queen. Upon the insistence of Mordecai, Esther risked her life to go before the king to make request for the people of God. Mordecai asked, “Who knoweth whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). The significance of this question is remarkable. Perhaps God in His providence had brought Esther to be queen of the Persian Empire for the purpose of sparing this people. However, if she appeared before the king without having been sent for, perhaps she would lose her life. Her noble response to Mordecai was, “and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16).

Esther invited the king and Haman to a banquet (5:4). The king knew that she had not risked her life by approaching him just to invite him to a banquet. At the banquet, when the king asked what her request was, she again could not bring herself to tell him. She invited both Haman and the king to another banquet the next day.

Haman encounters Mordecai on his way home; he is obsessed to deal with Mordecai and his wife's suggestion of hanging him (5:9-14). The king could not sleep and asked that the chronicles of his kingdom be given him. He then learned, for the first time, how Mordecai had revealed a plot to murder the king, ultimately saving the king’s life (6:1-3; cf. 2:21-23). Eventually, Haman comes before the king to request Mordecai be hanged. The king asked him what should be done for a man the king wants to honor (6:4ff). Thinking the king referred to him, Haman gives his thoughts on the matter. “For the man whom the king delighteth to honor, let royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and on the head of which a crown royal is set: and let the apparel and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man therewith whom the king delighteth to honor, and cause him to ride on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honor” (6:7-9). Haman is forced to honor Mordecai (6:10-14). Haman's wife told him, “If Mordecai, before whom thou hast begun to fall, be of the seed of the Jews, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him” (6:13).

At Esther’s second banquet, she finally revealed her request and Haman's wicked plan to destroy the Jews (7:3-6). The king became angry and Haman was hanged on his own gallows (7:9-10). Mordecai was exalted to Haman’s position, but what can he do to save his people? The king's former decree could not be canceled (8:8).

Esther, at the risk of her life, again appealed to the king (8:4-6). The king instructed them to write a decree for the Jews; this decree gave the Jews the right to fight and annihilate their enemies on the same specified day of Haman's decree to have the Jews killed (8:11-12). In the 12th month, and on the 13th day all those who sought to kill Jews, were killed.

Can we see the providence of God in all of this?

How was it that Mordecai sent out the decree that averted the effects of Haman's decree? This was because the king extended the scepter to Esther the second time (cf. 4:11; 8:3-4). If he had not, the decree would never have been given.

How did Mordecai happen to be the man of wisdom and intelligence involved in this plan? Because he had saved the king's life revealing that two chamberlains had a secret plan to kill the king, therefore he had been highly honored by the king and put in Haman's high position after he had been hanged.

How did Mordecai happen to even be alive at the time to be appointed to Prime Minister? Because Haman approached the king at the time he did, AFTER the chronicles had been read. A few minutes earlier and the king may have sentenced Mordecai to hang.

How did the king happen to hear that night about Mordecai saving his life? It was because he just happened to be restless and couldn't sleep.

How did it happen that Mordecai's good deed had been overlooked until now?

How did it happen that a young Jewish orphan became queen over a world empire, who with her charm and ingenuity, brought the king's wrath on Haman? It was because of the modesty of Vashti, the former queen (1:9-12). How honorable was that woman, to be willing to make such a sacrifice on the basis of her good principles (cf. I Timothy 2:9-10; I Peter 3:1-4) unlike many today that sacrifice modesty on the altar of fashion. Had she not been true to her principles, Esther would never have become queen and the story would have been much different.

Many Jews eventually returned to their homeland and much was done to reestablish their place of dignity and righteousness during the life of Esther. Strangely enough, though never named in the book, God is there. His providence is in every chapter and every verse; in every event we have looked at, all to the bringing about of good for His people.

When the crisis came to the Jews, Mordecai asked Esther, “Who knoweth whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Perhaps her elevation to queen might have been for this very purpose. The three days of fasting before Esther went into the king's presence was evidently a season of prayer offered by the people who believed their petitions would be heard.

God has proven his ability to exercise his providence in our lives. Let us learn from all those intricate circumstances that help to mold and shape us to this point that we may be … “conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29). God uses us all if we will let Him.

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