For such a time as this

By Rev SEIK PITOI
IN which book of the Bible does God choose to remain anonymous?
He does not even get a mention, yet can be seen actively ‘behind the scenes’. It is the Old Testament book of Esther, one of two books in the Bible that bears a woman’s name – the other being Ruth!
Over the past couple of weeks, we walked through the book of Ruth, seeing how this gentile woman, who become an ancestor of the Messiah, portrays the end-time church that stands with the nation of Israel. In this piece, we will look at Esther and see how the power of fasting and humble intercession averted the annihilation of the Jewish people. There are lessons we can glean from this book to teach us about intercession and about the God we worship!
In 586 BC, the people of Israel (Judah) were captured by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and marched off for a 70-year long exile in Babylonia. Partway through their captivity, the Medo-Persians, under King Cyrus II, conquered Babylon and took away the captives. They later released them to go back to their homes and cities. Many Jewish people made the long trek back to their ransacked city of Jerusalem under Ezra and others to begin the rebuilding process.
However, some chose to remain. They were comfortable living in the beautiful Persian city of Susa. The king of Persia at the time was King Ahasuerus (Xerxes 1) and he “reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces” (Esther 1: 1). One of the Jews who decided to stay on was the protagonist in the story, Mordechai.
Mordechai was from the tribe of Benjamin. “He had a cousin, Esther, whose Hebrew name was Hadassah”. She was a beautiful young woman who, after her parents died, was adopted by Mordecai who “brought her up as his own daughter” (2: 5-7).
The story of Esther also introduces us to another Jewish feast that is observed to this day. It is the Feast of Purim. Purim means ‘lots’ which is what they drew to determine the date when they would exterminate the Jews (3: 7). Throughout the story, one will see God set up divine coincidences as He steers His captive people safely through very dangerous times.

Enter the new queen
Esther is a story of banquets and parties! In one of those parties, after a week of binge drinking, the king wanted to show off his beautiful queen to his guests. The servants went with the request to Queen Vashti who had been hosting a banquet for the women in the royal palace. When she heard of the request, she flatly declined.
The king was furious. He turned to his wise men for advice and they told him that the queen’s refusal was tantamount to disrespect. They feared that “every woman in the empire will start looking down on her husband as soon as she hears what the queen has done” (1: 17). They further advised the king to depose of Vashti and seek a new queen (1: 18-22). That plan was promptly put into action!
Having dethroned Vashti, the search was on in all the provinces of the kingdom for a young virgin to become the future queen. Amongst the girls who responded was the beautiful young Jewess, Esther. The contestants all received beauty treatment, a special diet and pampering that lasted a whole year. Through it all, Esther kept her Jewish identity hidden (2: 10).
When it was time to bring Esther before the king, the Bible says “the king liked her more than any of the other women … and she won his favour and affection. He placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen” (2: 17). The young orphaned Jewish girl was now the most powerful woman in the land.
However, even after being crowned queen, Esther continued to keep her Jewish identity hidden (2: 20).
Esther’s uncle and adoptive father, Mordechai, was also elevated to become an administrator in the royal palace. It was in that role that Mordechai exposed an assassination plot against the king. He overheard two of the king’s guards conspiring and immediately reported it to Queen Esther, who passed the information on to the king. The two would-be assassins were caught and duly hanged. The account was recorded in the official records of the kingdom. God would use this record in His divine plan at a future time (2: 21-23)!
Esther chapter 3 introduces us to Haman, the antagonist in the story. He was an Amalekite and Amelekites were among the enemies of Israel. Haman was a descendant of the Amalekite King, Agag, who was murdered by King Saul years before.
This explains the hostility Haman had for all things Jewish. As prime minister, Haman expected everyone to bow before him when he approached. All obeyed – except for Mordechai who said, “I am a Jew, and I cannot bow to Haman” (3: 4). This act of defiance enraged Haman. He immediately began to make plans for revenge. By casting lots (purim), he established the date of execution as 13th of Adar which corresponds to our March or April.
However, his plan was not just to kill Mordechai, but the entire Jewish race. He wanted them exterminated (3: 6-7)!
Haman hatched a plot accusing the Jews of being different and of not obeying the king (3: 8). He bribed the king by promising to pay ten thousand talents of silver into the treasury. Then he convinced him to sign a decree ordering the death of all Jews.
The message was spread throughout the land that on the 13th day of Adar, all Jewish men, women and children were to be put to death (3: 13). As the news spread, there was great mourning throughout the land. Mordechai too put on sackcloth and mourned. When a messenger from the queen asked why he mourned, he explained by giving a copy of the edict. He asked Esther to see the king to change his mind.
However, there was one problem: to walk in uninvited into the king’s inner chamber meant certain death! The only way around was to have him extend his golden sceptre so she will be spared.
Mordechai charged his niece with a warning: “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (4: 13-14 ESV).
Esther responded by asking Mordechai and all the Jews in Susa to join her and her young women on a three-day total fast. Afterwards, she would approach the throne, adding “if I perish; I perish”! (4: 16).

The King’s favour
After the fast, Esther was beautifully adorned and stood where she could be seen. When the king saw her, “she won favour in his sight” and he extended the golden sceptre to her.
“Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the sceptre” (5: 2). She was now free to make her requests. What followed were two feasts with Haman included. At the second feast, Esther revealed her Jewishness to the king and also exposed the evil scheme to annihilate her and her people.
The good deed by Mordechai earlier in exposing the assassination plot came into play here. He was rewarded by being led around on a horse, dressed in royal clothes – with Haman leading the way on foot, praising him. This humiliation got worse when he was exposed as the culprit who planned the annihilation. He was duly hung on the gallows he had purposely built to hang Mordechai. God had turned it all around!
But the king was now in a dilemma. He couldn’t repeal his decision as it was already law. So he issued a counter decree giving Jews the right to take up arms and defend themselves when attacked on the said date. This they did, killing thousands of Persians who tried to attack them. Haman’s 10 sons were also killed and later their corpses hung on gallows (9:13-14)!
Today, the feast of Purim is celebrated by the Jews to commemorate God’s deliverance upon His people. It is a time for feasting, partying and giving gifts to the poor (9: 22). It is also a time to reflect upon the faithfulness of God to protect His own.

Application
We are seeing history repeat itself. Today’s Persia, Iran, has made its intention clear about wiping Israel off the map. Her proxies in Lebanon, Syria and even in Gaza are bases which are used to prepare for their onslaught against the Jewish state.
Iran/Persia is one of the nations in Ezekiel 38 that will attack Israel. The ‘Hamans’ are all out doing their thing to see this happens. However, the church (Esther) is called upon to approach the throne of grace with favour extended to her. She is ordered by the King to come “boldly to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10: 19), and make intercession. Just as the story in Esther sees the devil’s plans fail, so will all attempts to destroy God’s covenant people today fail! God’s will stands in the end!
Prayer with fasting is the key to revival. The Ruth bride is also called to be Esther, the interceding bride. The charge by Mordechai (the Holy Spirit) to Esther (the Church) is this: Don’t think being a Christian in a peaceful country absolves you of any responsibility towards those facing danger. Israel is staring down at Armageddon when she will be attacked by many nations (Rev 16:16).
What will the church do? What about the others suffering persecution such as those fighting for democracy in Myanmar, Hong Kong, North Korea and other Islamic and communist nations? Do we cry out to God for the nations or are our church prayer meetings just focused on ourselves and our own denominations?
Let’s change that and put ourselves last. Pray for Israel and the Arab peoples. Pray for Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Pray for the Pacific. And finally zero in on our nation and our churches.
Pray with Joy – Jesus first; others next, and yourself last! Like Esther, we too were called to be in God’s Kingdom for such a time as this!

• Rev Seik Pitoi is a freelance writer.