Come to Know God’s Sovereignty From Esther’s Story

By Xiangshang

The biblical account of Esther is one of the familiar stories for people who read the Bible. She risked her life to save the Jewish people from destruction when the court official Haman had plotted to completely destroy them. So, during the turning point of the destiny of the Jews, how did God dominate and care for them?

Let’s recall how everything happened. Queen Esther was also a Jew. When she learned that all the Jewish people would be killed, she responded by instructing all Jews to join her in fasting for three days and three nights, then she would approach King Ahasuerus with her request.

Then, risking her own life, brave young Esther went before the king to plead for her people. The king was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter. “Then said the king to her, What will you, queen Esther? and what is your request? it shall be even given you to the half of the kingdom. (Esther 5:3). Unexpectedly, when Esther asked for two banquets, the king said yes and asked Esther to let her request be known at the banquet; he even didn’t blame her for going to the king without being summoned.

During the first banquet, Esther didn’t tell her request, and she was waiting for God’s time, but she promised to reveal her petition at a second banquet on the next day. That evening, the king, unable to sleep, asked that the Annals of the Kingdom be read to him so that he would become drowsy. And at that time, the king just found that Mordecai, who saved his life, hadn’t received a reward. Haman was trying to come up with a trickery to have Mordecai hanged, but on the contrary, the king intended to reward him. We can find that the fate of the Jews was changing quietly.

Then, during the second banquet, Esther uncovered the plot of Haman, a vile courtier. And Haman, who deserved to be under a curse, was hanged from gallows that had originally been built by himself. Maybe no one anticipated the result. People who worship God can be cared for and protected by God, while there will be retribution for evil people. This is God’s righteousness. Nobody can fathom God’s actions.

When the king first went to the banquet Esther had prepared, she didn’t reveal Haman’s plot. She revealed it at the second banquet. Before the second one, the king was reminded of rewarding Mordecai. It can be seen that everything was controlled by God. All was because of God’s wondrous arrangement, which changed the fate of the Jews. Consequently, Ahasuerus allows Esther and Mordecai to draft another order, with the seal of the king and in the name of the king, to allow the Jewish people to defend themselves and fight with their oppressors when they are attacked. After that, the Jews defend themselves in all parts of the kingdom. The king also agreed to Esther’s request, so that the Jews of the capital were given another day to kill their oppressors. Thus, instead of being destroyed, the Jews overcame their enemies, and many of the people of the land became Jews for the fear of the Jews. Thereafter, the Jews escaped from extermination, and became prosperous.

The whole story allowed us to see God’s sovereignty, and that God’s disposition is good and kind. The Jewish people were almost annihilated, but when they truly fast and prayed to God, and asked for His mercy, God then raised up the people, things, events to help them through the hardships. In the end, they gained God’s concern and survived. Meanwhile, we can see that everyone’s thought was in God’s hands. Even the thoughts of King Ahasuerus moved and changed according to God’s plan. It’s just as the Bible says, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1). Clearly, only by truly worshiping God can we obtain God’s care and blessing, and have a good fate.