"For Such A Time As This"
1. Esther 4:14
Michael and I were so excited to drive down to South Carolina over the weekend to be at church with Christopher, our grandson, as he was baptized. Watching our grandchildren being brought up in church is one of our greatest blessings. We stopped and did a little shopping on the way Saturday morning, and I got a shirt for the summer that reads, "For such a time as this" Esther 4:14. As much as I enjoy reading the book of Esther, I can't believe that I have not used this as a theme for one of my past devotionals. It is not in my archives, so here we go, "For Such A Time As This". Esther was living in a very troublesome time, and so are we. If you have not read the book of Esther recently, I highly recommend it.
"13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.
14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:13-14)
2. Keep Doing Right In Troublesome Times
What we know about Esther...
"5 Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;
6 Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.
7 And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter." (Esther 2:5-7)
Esther was an orphan, who was carried to a far country, by the enemies of Judah. Her cousin, Mordecai, brought her up as his own daughter. She was chosen by the king to be the new queen. We see that not only was she beautiful on the outside, but she was beautiful on the inside, as she listened and did as Mordecai taught her. "Esther had not yet shewed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him." (Esther 2:20) So, for our first "For Such A Time As This" we see that even in difficult times, we need to do what is right. So many focus on beauty on the outside, but what is on the inside is what counts. "Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." (I Peter 3:3-4)
3. Don't Bow To The World
Moving to chapter three, our story shifts to Mordecai. And we see that "For Such A Time As This" we should not bow to the world. Jesus is the only One worthy of our worship. Not everyone in the world today makes little statues of their idols, or demands people to bow down to them, but many lift up people in the sports world, or entertainment world, and idolize them. Some even put themselves before God. "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." (Romans 12:3) Anything we put before God is wrong, whether it is our job, our car, our home, or another person.
"1 After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.
2 And all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence.
3 Then the king's servants, which were in the king's gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's commandment?
4 Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew.
5 And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.
6 And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai." (Esther 3:1-6)
Mordecai didn't bow or give Haman reverence. God will deliver the Jews in the book of Esther, just as He delivered the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace in the book of Daniel.
4. Sometimes It Is A Risk To Do The Right Thing
Haman went before the king and told him that the Jews should be killed.
"12 Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring.
13 And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey." (Esther 3:12-13)
Mordecai told Queen Esther to go to the king and plead for her people. Esther returned word to him that she had not been called for and if she went to him without being called she could be killed. That is where our verse comes in.
"10 Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai;
11 All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.
12 And they told to Mordecai Esther's words.
13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.
14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:10-14)
What will Queen Esther do? Will she risk her life to go before the king? Will Haman's wicked plot destroy the Jewish nation? Even in our troubled times today we may have to take a risk to do what is right.
5. It Takes Courage To Do The Right Thing In Troublesome Times
We left the lives of the Jews hanging in the balance. If Queen Esther went before the king without being called, she could be killed. It took courage for her to do the right thing, as we see in her answer to Mordecai. "Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish." (Esther 4:16) When Moses knew that his time had come to die he told the Children of Israel, "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." (Deuteronomy 31:6) He repeats the challenge to Joshua who would be the new leader. The Lord also said to Joshua, "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." (Joshua 1:9) It takes courage to follow the Lord, but when we realize that God is with us, then it helps us not be afraid. Before King David died, he charged Solomon to build the house of the Lord. "And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD." (I Chronicles 28:20) As we see the world going in the wrong direction we need to help the younger generation by encouraging them to be strong and of good courage, and not to be afraid. We need to give them examples in our own lives of how the Lord our God has been with us and never failed us. It is so important that we build up our faith in the Lord, and encourage others to follow Jesus in these troublesome times.
6. Queen Esther Took A Stand For Her People
Queen Esther invited the king to a banquet, and she also invited Haman.
"1 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.
2 And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.
3 Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:
4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage.
5 Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?
6 And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen." (Esther 7:1-6)
The queen didn't forsake her people. She realized that she was, indeed, sent to the kingdom "for such a time as this." She made her petition to the king and the Jews were saved from wicked Haman and his wicked cohorts. As we see the wickedness all around us, we need to stand with each other. Don't give up when it seems like immorality is taking a stronger hold. Take a stand for righteousness.
"13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;" (Ephesians 6:13-18)
7. Be Kind
When I first began thinking about writing on "For Such A Time As This" I immediately thought of Ephesians 4:32. "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." We are living in troubled times and people are hurting... financially, physically, mentally, and spiritually. I have come to expect the harsh language and hateful words from the world, but Christians should be kind. We are reminded of this several times in the Bible. I am tired of reading hateful posts from church-going people complaining about going places and being around people who are not wearing masks. If you want to wear a mask, then wear one. You don't have to show such antagonism towards others. I wore masks in the hospital when I was there with Michael because I had to. I developed a terrible rash from them which took a long time to heal. I also have breathing problems, so I do not wear one unless I have to wear one. I am not convinced that wearing a mask is healthful. I am not trying to start a discussion about it, but I am trying to remind you that there are pros and cons and whether you choose to wear one, or choose not to, be kind. Proverbs 31 describes a virtuous woman. Verse 26 spoke to me many years ago, "She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness." Sometimes people believe that they are opening their mouth with wisdom, but they are forgetting to speak with the law of kindness. "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." (Colossians 3:12-13)
8. Keep On Praying!
We are not the first people to come to a time of trouble "for such a time as this". Because the Israelites turned away from God, they were carried into Babylon. We have the story of Daniel being thrown into a den of lions in the 6th chapter of Daniel. Daniel was a man of great character and the king raised him up in his kingdom which made the other leaders jealous and they decided to get rid of Daniel.
"1 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom;
2 And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.
3 Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
4 Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.
5 Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God." (Daniel 6:1-5)
They devised a plan to have the king make a law that nobody could pray to anything other than him. Even in this time of trouble, Daniel continued to pray. "Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime." (Daniel 6:10) The men reported it to the king and Daniel was thrown into a den of lions. The king rose up early the next morning.
"20 And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?
21 Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.
22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.
23 Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God." (Daniel 6:20-23)
Because this is recorded so early in the book of Daniel, I used to think it happened early in the prophet's life. But, Daniel was under four different kings in Babylon; Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius, and Cyrus. When Daniel was taken into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar he was old enough to purpose in his heart not to defile himself (Daniel 1:8) so he may have been in his 80's when he was thrown into the den of lions. Even in his troubled times he kept on praying, just as he had always done. Be like Daniel. Keep on praying!
9. Keep On Serving The Lord!
Today we are looking at Joshua. The first time he is mentioned we find him leading the fight against Amalek in Exodus 17. Next we see him in Exodus 24:13. "And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God." Then, as a servant... "And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle." (Exodus 33:11) In the book of Numbers Joshua and Caleb were the only two spies who had faith in God to give them the Promised Land. After they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, and Moses died, God appointed Joshua to lead the Children of Israel into the Promised Land. God used Joshua in many types of service. When he came to the end of his life, after all those years of serving God, he was still able to say, "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15) He started out serving God in whatever place God put him, and he finished, still serving God. Be like Joshua. Keep on serving the Lord!
10. Keep The Faith!
We can find many examples of those who kept the faith in Hebrews 11, but I am choosing Noah. "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." (Hebrews 11:7) Most of all, I chose him because Noah is the example Jesus used of how it would be in the last days. "And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all." (Luke 17:26-27) So, how bad was it in the days of Noah? "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:5) God decided to destroy the earth, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." (Genesis 6:8) Let's look at some of the ways Noah kept the faith.
Noah walked with God - "These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." (Genesis 6:9)
Noah worked for God - "Make thee an ark of gopher wood;... Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he." (Genesis 6:14 & 22)
Noah watched over his family - "And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation." (Genesis 7:1) Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water." (I Peter 3:20)
Noah waited on God - "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened." (Genesis 7:11) "And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried." (Genesis 8:13-14)
Noah warned and witnessed for God - "And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;" (II Peter 2:5)
Noah worshiped God - "And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar." (Genesis 8:20)
Be like Noah. Be faithful in your walk, your work, your wataching, your waiting, your witnessing, and your worship!
11. Keep Looking For His Appearing!
Each of our entries "For Such A Time As This" have been leading up to the end of time. Revelation 10:5-6 tells us when there will be no more time. "And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:" In the last chapter John tells us, "And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever." (Revelation 22:5) John got a glimpse of heaven and he kept looking for the Lord. "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." (Revelation 22:20-21) Let's be like John. Keep looking for Jesus. "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."
