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Bible Reading - Esther (Introduction)

·3 mins
Sermon Notes

Bible Reading #

Esther (Introduction) #

Notes: #

No matter where the people of God find themselves, God is still sovereign

Background: near the end of the Old Testament period. God makes a covenant that if they follow His command, they will be blessed; if they do not they will be judged. This is why the Babylonian army tore down the wall of Jerusalem, and exiled the Jewish people. When the Persians defeat the Babylonians, some Jews migrate to Persia, and some return to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall. Esther’s family migrate to Persia. The story of Esther moves within the Persian court, with all of its excesses and moral compromise. Esther contains zero religious content. God makes Himself known by the way He ordains events.

Things we learn from the Book of Esther #

  1. God keeps His promises.
  2. God can keep His promises only because He is sovereign1 2
  • God is omnipotent
  • God is omniscient
  • God is just and gracious
  • Since God is sovereign:
  • He never reacts
  • God has planned everything. That means everything even the seeds of evil men.
  • Are people, then, just puppets?
  • There is a tension between the sovereignty of God, and the responsibility of man 3
  • God used the evil and failings of those closest to Jesus, to provide forgiveness for His people through the death of Christ

Takeaway: Though God may be invisible, He is still in charge.

  1. The Lord of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand, that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains trample him underfoot; and his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden from their shoulder.” This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back? (Isaiah 14:24-27, ESV) ↩︎

  2. At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” (Daniel 4:34-35, ESV) ↩︎

  3. As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. (Genesis 50:20, ESV) ↩︎

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