This is a third day story (5:1). God loves “third day” stories, “third day” problems. The Bible is filled with them.
Abraham was stopped from offering Isaac by an angel on the third day (Gen. 22:4-19). Laban was stopped from harming Jacob by a divine word in a dream on the third day (Gen. 31:22-32). On the third day, Jonah was delivered from the belly of a fish (Jonah 1:17, 2:10). Hosea will proclaim of the LORD “after two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. Let us acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear” (Hosea 6:2-3). And who can forget, who can forget!, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:40; 1 Cor. 15:4). Which day do you find yourself in today? Take a moment – on which of the three days do you find yourself now. What do you want to say to God about it? What might you need to remember? Listen. It’s easy to be glib. It’s easy to say “third day problems” and “God is good” and skip along, all the while shoving down the pain in our stomach, the scream in our throat. It’s easy to be glib when it’s someone else’s “third day” problem.
So 2 quick remarks:
1) First, Jesus – the faithful one, the one who lived perfectly and loved God fully - cried, wept, shouted, wailed – about “third day” problems. When his friend Lazarus died, Jesus even as he expressed faith in the goodness of God, the promise of life, wept (John 11:35). On the cross, Jesus – the faithful one, who lived perfectly and loved God fully - cried, wept, shouted and wailed - Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). (Matt 27:46). He shouted these things at God and you can too. You can be faithful and cry about three day problems.
2) You can still be afraid, still be upset, still ask questions, and trust in faith that God determines your end. This isn’t the same thing as knowing exactly what will happen. This is not saying that, this side of heaven, everything will work out. But, it gives us courage to inhabit our story, to do what is right apart from immediate circumstances, because God is good. That’s why we need stories like Esther. It’s recognizing that the story always reads differently when you know the end. Clip from Free Solo from 2:26-3:27 . When you look at that how do you feel? Does it help to know that he doesn’t fall?
That’s what the Bible does for us. It doesn’t tell us every thing that’s going to happen. It tells us that God is good and determines our end.
That’s the context. What about the characters? Let’s look at Esther, Haman, and then carefully for God.
1. Esther the bravely prayerful, well-dressed, and strategic advocate.
Esther dangerously enters, unbidden into Xerxes’ presence. There is an ancient Persian relief in the city of Persepolis which depicts this danger showing an enthroned Persian king holding a long gold scepter and guarded by a soldier brandishing a large axe. Courage, Brene Brown says, “starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.” The NIV, like most English translations, renders the Hebrew as “Esther put on her royal robes,” but the more literal translation feels more appropriate: “She wore a kingdom.” Esther dressed to challenge Persian law as well as the king who upheld it and who supported Haman. Her bold act was symbolized by her putting on that which would help her be brave. What is that for you? What helps you be brave? My wife had a brave outfit for a certain season of her life when she needed a physical reminder of courage and strength. As Esther gets ready for battle take a moment and be reminded of your own. As she dresses for her challenge – take a breath and consider how you want to dress for your own. Though we don’t know what she’s thinking, can you imagine it?
Vs. 2 reflects a powerful change in the story. Before taking this courageous step she was referred to as Esther. But now she is “Queen Esther.” Now we find the repeated use of Esther’s name together with her royal title from this time forward as she takes up her title and role as deliverer of her people (5:3, 12; 7:1, 2, 3, 5, 7; 8:1, 7; 9:12). It’s courage that makes us Queens and Kings not marriage, money, family, or education.
Esther does more than break the law and barge into the throne room unbidden. She also strategically communicates and shifts the center of power toward herself. In vs. 8 she uses deferential clauses, which seemingly place the power the king had given her by reminding him of what he had said: “If the king regards me with favor and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request” (5:8) and shifts the confrontation with Haman to her own quarters. She carefully crafts a plan to bolster the egos of both the king and Haman before blindsiding them by exposing the malevolent plot to kill all of the Jews. Esther, in other words, is more than a pretty face or an off-the-cuff-rabble-rouser. She thinks carefully about what she needs to do. She prayerfully uses her brain. Friends, it is a godly, spiritual thing to use your brain. It is a godly, spiritual thing to have a plan. It’s a godly, spiritual thing to think about how you communicate something and not simply what you communicate. Esther’s courage and tactics should inspire us to take risk in order to do what is right but nevertheless to not act haphazardly but strategically. The story suggests that those, who like Esther find themselves in situations of power and gender imbalance, need to be wise and strategic in order to bring about the good. To recognize that we don’t control outcomes is not the same thing as simply leaving things up to chance. Those who participated in civil disobedience in the 1960s did more than pray- they also trained.
2. Haman, the prideful, ego-centric, successful, fool.
Unlike Esther, Haman doesn’t fast, pray, or even think too strategically. Haman brags and thinks only of himself. In vss. 5:9-13, Haman enumerates his many accomplishments before his inner circle – the glory of his riches; his large family; his personal achievements, and his recent invitation to hob-knob with the Queen. But notice – he is not godly – that is, he doesn’t in any way care for others nor do they care for him and he has no satisfaction (vs. 13). Haman doesn’t enjoy these things for the pleasure that they give but more for the way they make him look. By the way, it’s not lost on me that Haman’s successes are often used by people, even in the church, to speak of God’s favor or an upstanding life. Friends, your character is not revealed by what you have or don’t have but rather by what you do – or even what you’re willing to lose in order to do what is right. The revelation of things that Haman truly cares about and values – wealth, recognition, and glory don’t necessarily make one a better person. In fact, sometimes good things have the allure of making one believe that he or she is good. Rather than a deferential vision of himself, like Esther, Haman’s own pride becomes the very source of his shame as he must do for Mordecai what he longed to do for himself.
3. God, the silent, Gubernatorial actor.
As in the whole book, God, in chs. 5 & 6, is strangely absent and yet feels very much a part of this story. For everything seems providential – or coincidental, which is the author’s own sneaky way of introducing God into the story. What are these coincidences? How many do you count?
· The sleeplessness of the king
· His decision to have the records of his reign read to him (in order to fall asleep)
· The reading of the account of Mordecai thwarting the assassination attempt on his life
· The timing of Haman’s entrance
· Haman’s prideful attempt to name how he should be honored, which becomes how Mordecai will be honored
Esther chapter six describes a series of seeming coincidences that together provoke a momentous reversal of fortunes, suggesting that God is present, though perhaps unseen. Theologians often speak of three forms of such providence: Conservatio – the power of God to uphold actual existence and the natural order of the universe; Concursus – God acting directly in the lives of individuals; Gubernatio – God’s use of people as agents in the larger story of God bring about God’s final purposes.
Trusting in God’s providence doesn’t take away the pain and trauma of life. Esther experienced terrible suffering in losing her parents, being separated from her uncle, being trafficked and denied dreams of a future as a Jewish woman, wife, and mother. She did not have the big picture that we as readers of Scripture do to see the whole picture. If you had less than twenty seconds to grab her before chapter 5:2, right before she was to risk it all and enter before the king, what would you say to her?
And we don’t know our story fully either. We can’t see everything. We don’t know what God is doing. Which part of the Esther story are you currently in? What might you hear God whispering to you? By the way, if what you hear is accusatory, hurtful, alienating, shaming, that’s not God. I want to invite you to bring your story to God and ask to be brave.
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