“What a day to be alive! “It’s 2024, and we are living in schizophrenic times. Dickensian times: the best of times, yet the worst; times where we demand the truth while reveling in our lies; times of great material gain but of even greater moral loss; times of calling good evil and evil good; times of saying bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter; times of the “tolerant” not tolerating what they find intolerable…” writes my friend Dr. Everett Piper in the Washington Times last week.
He continues, “These are times when those who claim to champion democracy openly work to upend the democratic process; times when cultural elites no longer even attempt to hide their disdain for the self-evident truths upon which our country was founded; times when freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of association, freedom of expression, and freedom in general are now considered products of Zionist colonialism that should be discarded and replaced by the whims of a racist mob so proud of its “anti-racism.”
These are times when students at schools such as Columbia University, whose motto is the Jewish psalm “In Thy light shall we see the light,” proudly vilify Jews and align with those who deny their holocaust, rape their women, behead their babies and call for the destruction of the millenniums-old Jewish state. These are times when Karl Marx’s “useful idiots” promote intolerance under the banner of “tolerance” and fascism under the flag of “freedom.”
History often repeats itself we are told. In Israel’s case around 600 BC, they rebelled against God by serving other gods and God punished them by having them carried into captivity. The Northern Kingdom of Israel was carried into captivity by Assyria followed by Southern Kingdom, Judah, which was carried into captivity by the Babylonians.
This wasn’t the end of the story for Israel because God had a plan of salvation for them. His intention was to bring them back from captivity, The book of Esther gives us a glimpse of God’s plan of salvation. In fact, God had in mind a much larger plan of salvation than just bringing the Jews back to their homeland. God planned all along that a savior would be born in Bethlehem to a Jewish family, and that that child would grow up to be the savior of the world.
The account of Esther begins in 483 B.C. some 37 years before Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls. King Xerxes was throwing a big party that lasted 6 months. At the end of this opulent display of wealth, he had a final 7-day party/drinking binge and on the 7th day he ordered Queen Vashti to appear before him to show off her beauty. The Queen refused and this caused King Xerxes to burn with anger.
The King banished her from his presence forever and that was that until sometime later he began to miss her. His palace officials were quick to offer a solution – a beauty contest. They would round up the most beautiful and desirable virgins in his kingdom and he could have his pick of a new Queen. Well, for some reason that idea really appealed to the king, so he told them to get on it right away.
Esther’s parents died when she was young and her cousin, a Jewish noble named Mordecai from the tribe of Benjamin raised her like his own daughter. As the Miss Persia talent search progressed, Esther was selected as one of the contestants because of her beauty. When her time came to be considered by the King, he was so impressed with her that he made her the Queen. Mordecai, however told her to keep her identity as a Jewess concealed, and so she did.
Queen Esther must have helped Mordecai get a job at the palace, because the Bible tells us that while on duty at the palace, he uncovered a plot to assassinate the King. Mordecai told Queen Esther who in turn informed the King and the assassins were caught and hung. The incident was quickly forgotten. God was setting in motion the plan of salvation for the Jews, and he was using an unknown, virgin, Jewish girl to make it happen. Sound familiar?
God had Esther in just the right place at the right time to respond to a diabolical plot by one of the Kings advisors, Haman, which would have exterminated all her beloved Jewish kindred. Her obedience in standing strong in the face the impending threat, her willingness to risk everything by approaching the king and her faith in God not only brought judgement to the evil plot of Haman but brought salvation to those she loved.
It is as if God has placed us in a similar circumstance. The demonic forces of evil seem to abound and flourish all around us leaving no hope in sight. We, however, have a special relationship with the King of the Universe who will not be silent forever, but with the same mighty power, protect, defend, and deliver those who love him from the hand of the enemy once again!
Comments