Thursday, April 17, 2014

"Esther"


    The book of Esther holds a special place in the pages of Scripture, serving as the only book that does not directly mention the fact or person of God.  The Lord and His truth fill Esther nonetheless in spiritual metaphor, along with prophetic foreshadowings concerning Israel and the Gentiles, the intercessory ministries of Mordecai and Esther that point to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Divine providence whereby God protects and delivers His people.

    The question that always comes to mind when reading Esther involves the wonder of what kind of God would inspire an entire book of the Bible that does not reference His existence?   Just as the Lord Jesus lived most of His earthly lifetime with little fanfare, so does the writer of Esther avoid direct mention of God in order to shine the spotlight upon Him even more beautifully.

    “He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2).

    To the trusting heart, the Lord Jesus glimmers forth in all the more beauty because He possessed “no beauty” during His earthly sojourn.   His veiled glory serves as sublime backdrop for the glory of His character, nature, and way.  Indeed, consider that the Savior willingly “made Himself of no reputation” in order to save us from sin (Philippians 2:7).  He lived so inauspiciously that His own brethren did not know who He was (John 7:5).  Most importantly, He died in shame and rejection by both God and man as one apparently worthy of regard from neither.  Yes, considering such lack of beauty convinces our hearts even more of how beautiful the Lord Jesus truly is.

    No book of Scripture feels more God-saturated that the book of Esther.  Our Lord requires no mention in order to shine forth in glory and vivid revelation from this blessed portion of God’s Word.  The same is true in us as our Heavenly Father works in ways that can only be recognized by those who possess eyes of “seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27).  Rarely does the Lord herald His arrival, presence, and working in our lives.  Most of what He does occurs behind the scenes, as it were, and under the surface.  Just as Esther required Mordecai to open her eyes to the realization that God placed her in the king’s palace “for such a time as this,” so must He frequently encourage and challenge us to believe the truth of His dynamic presence (Esther 4:14).  As we frequently suggest, we may not know what God is doing, but we can know that He is doing.  “God… worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Ephesians 1: 3;11).

     The presence and working of our Heavenly Father often exists in direct proportion to the appearance of His absence.  “We walk by faith, not by sight” (II Corinthians 5:7).  The book of Esther illuminates such truth by veiling the God who fills its holy pages.  Let us expect such in our own lives as our Lord most often moves upon and within us quietly for the glory of His name, our benefit, and the benefit of those in our sphere of influence.  What is He doing?  We may not know.  That He is doing.  Of this we can be sure.

“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”
(John 7:24)

Weekly Memory Verse
    For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
(Ephesians 2:18)

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