Tonight we look plainly into one of the central themes of the book of Esther: when the chips are down, Esther does not simply pray and ask God to intervene.
No, Esther herself goes to the king and puts her life on the line. She certainly prayed. She spent three days fasting – which, in Jewish culture, meant prayer as well. But due to the author's decision to leave the name of God out of this book, we are left with a striking impression that when God is silent, it is human action that "saves the day."
Because sometimes it appears that God is about as involved in day-to-day life as Xerxes.
Is God really paying attention? Is he really doing anything? In the middle of the book of Esther, you would be pardoned for wondering, is God really going to let his people perish?
Some Christians have thought that we should form a Christian ghetto and passively endure the troubles of this age. That's not Esther.
Other Christians have said that we need to oppose, protest, and fight the cultural decline. That's not Esther, either.
Still other Christians have assimilated to the "spirit of the age" – and look just like the culture. That's not Esther – although until four days ago, she sure looked like it!!
(That's why some commentators think that Esther compromised her Jewishness by marrying a Gentile and eating unclean foods…)
But as we have seen, she didn't really marry a Gentile. She was forced into the harem.
This is not "assimilation" – this is called doing your best in a very awful situation... |
