Esther: Providence of Place

So What?

As we get started this evening, why don’t you go ahead open your Bibles up to the book of Esther chapter 2. We will be starting our new series this week on Esther and Ruth, particularly looking at the providence of God.

But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, how many of you have ever felt you were in the wrong place? And I mean, like whether you felt it was the wrong place because it made you afraid, or it was the wrong place because you did not feel like you fit in, or maybe it was the wrong place because it was where you thought you were going, but it was not anything like you had thought it would be?

And that’s probably the most common “wrong places” that we experience. We thought it was going to be one thing and turned out completely different and we all would probably really want to get out of there.

I remember one of those times really really well. Right before I graduates with my associates degree during my sophomore year of college, I really felt like the Lord lead me in a different direction to pursue my bachelors degree.

And by different direction, I mean, I thought I was going to be staying close to home and instead I found myself heading west to California. And as I got out there, I felt like nothing was right. I did not belong in that culture, with those people, at that school.

I felt completely out of place. Surely, being in California is not what God had in mind. Surely, going to California is not the place that I would grow in my faith, a place where God would see the good for me, a place where God would get glory for me being there.

Sometimes, each of us will find ourselves in unimaginable places. In places none of us expected to go. And surely places none of us expect for God to be there.

Scripture

In today’s passage from Esther, we find one of those kinds of places. You see, the book of Esther takes place during one of the exiles. Exile means to be forced away from your homeland. For the Israelites, that meant to be removed from Canaan, to be taken out of the promised land.

And the in this case, the people of Israel are exiled in Persia. away from their homes, their land, their place of worship: everything they knew, they no longer had access too.

Now, none of us have probably ever experienced exile before. But maybe you can relate or you will one day relate when you move. Maybe some of you have moved before and Marietta isn’t your first home? And there will be a day that some of you, many of you, move away from Marietta. And when you leave for the first time, you will feel as if you have left a part of yourself that you might never get back. There might be a hollowness as if your friends, family, favorite hangout spot, church, are all taken away. Take a second to imagine that and what that might feel like and you might be getting close to what the people of Israel are feeling in Persia.

So, that is where the story begins. A people displaced from their home, in a strange new place and no clue about what is going on or going to happen to them:

And then we read that the King of Persia, Ahasuerus is look for a new queen. And in this search for a new queen, a man by the name of Mordecai sends his uncle’s daughter (that’s his cousin by the way, it took me drawing this out on a sticky note to understand what that meant), whom he adopted as his own daughter, to essentially audition for the spot.

And that’s where we find ourselves in the passage today: so let’s read :

15 When the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what Hegai the king’s eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her. 16 And when Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign, 17 the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. 18 Then the king gave a great feast for all his officials and servants; it was Esther’s feast. He also granted a remission of taxes to the provinces and gave gifts with royal generosity.

Providence of God

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

In order to better understand today’s passage, I first think I need to explain what Providence means.

The easiest answer comes from Merriam-Websters dictionary, which states, “divine guidance or care; God conceived as the power sustaining and guiding human destiny.”

You see, providence according to this definition is simply, God is the author of, sustainer of, and director of all of creation. There is nothing that is beyond or outside of God’s control. And everything He does is in the direction of His providence is that He will receive glory for it.

But we can draw this definition out a little bit more. You see, the root of providence comes from two words, Pro- Vide-, pro in latin meaning “before, according to, on behalf of, in front of” and vide latin meaning “vision, to see, to refer to.” Put those two words together and you find the word “PROVIDE”

So, not only is providence about God’s divine will being exerted into creation, it is God’s care to see ahead and in accordance with what He sees and knows, He GIVES to the care and destiny of His people.

All that is to say, that your life, my life, our lives, are under the providential care of God. And if it is under God’s providential care, than we are in pretty good hands.

Back to Esther

So you might be asking yourself, what does that have to do with Esther? And I can tell you that it has EVERYTHING to do with Esther.

Here the rest of the story, the people of Israel are in a strange land, far from home and away from everything they know. Not only are they in a strange land, but one who was appointed to the King’s court started to plot against the Jewish people and was making plans to destroy them.

But, God!

Right? God in his providence foresaw and knew the plans of this courtier to the the King. He knew the plans that he had against the Jews as they were in Persia.

And in God’s providence, he made a plan and before their destruction ever happened.

You see, the people of Israel ended up in exile because of their disobedience to God. He removed them from the Promised land for their choosing of Idols and turning away from Him. But part of being the people of God means that just because you turn away from Him does not mean He also turns away from you.

God brought the people of Israel into Persia. He had a plan for them while they were there. It was always His intention for the people of Israel to remember what God has done for them.

Then, while they were in Persia, in the most unlikely of circumstances, in the most unlikely place, God raises a Jew to be Queen of the Persian Empire. And as Queen of the Persian Empire, Esther was able to save and rescue her people from the destruction coming to them by an evil plot.

Back to California

I started tonight by telling you about the time I went to California to continue my education. And how hard and difficult that time was for me. I was so far away from home, from people, both friends and family, and the church that I loved.

When I moved to that place, I though that I for sure had made a mistake, that there was nothing redeemable about moving there.

But, God knew. God knew that in that place I would experience some of my largest strides in faith. It was in California that I learned more about what it means to live by faith and not by sight. I had to trust that God was moving and working in California for my good and for His glory.

Throughout the gospels, place matters for what the plan of God. Tonight you will be looking at the Woman at the Well in small groups. What Jesus did in that place opened up the chance for the gospel to go into all the world because it was in a place that Jews don’t go. In fact, Jews did everything they could to avoid, even if it meant adding miles and miles to their journey.

God uses specific places to make specific plans to bring you and carry you into what He has established as good, and He has set apart for His glory.

Lets pray