Our pastor recently began a series in the book of Esther. Despite having been written so many years ago it resonates strongly with many situations that people face in the modern world. The book is set in a country run by a ruthless autocrat who has amassed vast wealth. He and his forebears have built luxurious palaces, temples, and awe-inspiring fortifications whilst their people suffered. Despite all our advances in democracy, the activities of men like Kim Jong Il, Saddam Hussain and Bashar al Assad show that nothing has really changed that much. We then read about ethnic cleansing, mass deportation and enforced conversion of whole people groups. We hear about a drunken king who demands the appearance of his wife, so he can parade her before his political guests as a sexual object for them to leer at. We see a young girl snatched from her family and forced to participate in a deadly beauty pageant where the 'prize' is to become the latest possession of this king. who will expect to have his way with her however and whenever he pleased. Then we learn that the country is run by 'oligarchs' like Haman, men of vanity and ruthless ambition, who show no compunction in bumping off anyone who opposes them.
How could Esther, sucked unwillingly into such a world of idolatry and debauchery, possibly survive or maintain her integrity as a devout Jew ? Yet the book shows that the most godless situations, like a beauty contest, the ruthless and misogynistic behaviour of a pagan king or the hubris of a nasty little man like Haman, can be used by God to further his ends. God enabled Esther, Mordecai, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednigo and probably many others to stand firm in a culture that was hostile to everything they held dear.
Do you sometimes feel trapped in today's society and want to flee from the impurity and ungodliness that surrounds you every day? Do you despair of your labours for God bearing any fruit in such an environment? Do you wonder how you and your family can survive and maintain a Christian witness when aggressive secularism seems to be everywhere gaining ground? The message of the book of Esther is that there is no situation too evil for God to work in, no environment too dark for the gospel light to shine in and no limit to what he can use to bring about his ends. His purposes will prevail. To quote Luther's great hymn:
And were this world all devils o'er
And watching to devour us,
We'll lay it not to heart so sore;
Not they can overpower us.
And let that prince of ill
Look grim as e'er he will;
He harms us not a whit
For why? His doom is writ:
A word shall quickly slay him!
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