Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:) Esther 1:1
The slaughter of some six million Jews by the German Nazis and their collaborators was by no means the first nor the last attempt to exterminate God’s earthly people. Down through the millennia since Abraham and his grandson Israel, the attacks have been almost constant, from the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt to today’s Iranian ayatollahs and their proxies Hamas and Hezbollah. You cannot possibly study the history of the Jewish people and not believe in God’s miraculous preservation of them. The book of Esther contains just one of those many miracles.
The king identified in our text was the most powerful in the world at that time; 127 provinces was no mean realm. And yet this great king and those around him moved in accordance with God’s purpose to preserve His own people, even though they’d not know it. The story of Esther’s heroism and the wisdom of her uncle Mordecai are honoured by the Jewish people even until today in the annual feast of Purim. Although God is not directly mentioned in the book, His purposes in preserving His beloved people are wonderfully obvious throughout it.
Today there are some people, even some who call themselves Christians, who insist that God has ceased His dealings with Israel and has replaced them with the believing Gentiles. They can reach that conclusion only by misinterpreting the plain text of Scripture, and by erroneously explaining away the host of promises God has made concerning Israel’s future. If God has cut off Israel from the glorious future He has promised them, why did He preserve their identity as a people through 1900 years of absence from their homeland? And why did He enable them to win wars against impossible odds, including the Six-Day War of 1967 and the Yom Kippur War of 1973?
Psalm 122:6 reminds us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Did you do that today? If not, shame on you! If so, bless you, and keep praying. – Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/mOWRtZnB6_c