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1ST THURSDAY CONNECT

If we were meeting in person this evening for 1st Thursday CONNECT, we would be celebrating our reading in Esther with a Persian feast. Did you notice how everything seemed to warrant a feast in Esther? If we were together, we would be having some Persian tea with our feast. You probably don’t have Persian, but you could at least make yourself a cup of tea as together we take some time to finish up Esther and prepare for Philippians in April.

ESTHER

Reversals

The word “reverse” occurs only once in the ESV version of the Bible. That occurrence is in Esther. You probably saw a number of reversals, though, in the story of Esther. In place of Vashti, Esther, an exile, is made queen. Vashti refuses to come to the king when she is called; Esther comes when she isn’t called. The honor Haman thought the king was going to bestow on him goes to Mordecai. Instead of sending Mordecai to the gallows, Haman must honor him by parading him about the streets. Haman is hanged on the gallows he himself prepared for Mordecai. After his death, Haman’s house goes to Esther and Mordecai, the very people he tried to destroy. The king’s signet ring also goes from Haman to Mordecai who uses it to reverse the edit of Haman. When the second edict is signed, Mordecai trades his sackcloth for royal robes from the king. Many people, out of fear of the Jews, go from being an enemy of the Jews to calling themselves Jews. Then there is the great reversal in chapter 9 when the enemies of God’s people hoped to gain mastery over them, but God’s people gain mastery over those who hated them instead.

“Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's command and edict were about to be carried out, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them” (Esther 9:1 ESV).

In the end, Haman, who was second in rank to the king, is dead. Haman’s evil plans “return on his own head.” The Jews turn from sorrow to gladness, from mourning to a feast. Mordecai, a foreign servant at the gate of the king, grows in fame and power and is elevated to the high honor of second in rank to the king.

Much like the reversals we see in Esther, the Bible, without using the word, is full of reversals from beginning to end. The upside down nature of God’s Kingdom is everywhere—the first becoming last, the last becoming first. We see it when younger brothers are given the birthright over older (Genesis 4, 25, 48). Servants, like Joseph, become masters (Genesis 39-41). Gideon, timid and weak, becomes a warrior and leader (Judges 6-8). How many can you think of?

But even more significant than the reversals in individual stories, the one all the smaller ones point to, is the overarching reversal of the whole Bible. It is the big story of the Bible, the grandest reversal of all—the gospel. The story begins with rebellious Adam and Eve being banished from the Garden into a cursed world (Genesis 2-3) and ends with God’s people being restored into fellowship with Him in a new Creation, forever free from the curse of sin and death (Romans 8, Revelation 21). The Hero of the story, of course, is Jesus Christ who willingly accepts the most humiliating reversal imaginable when he leaves the glories of heaven to take on human flesh in order to die for his enemies, you and me (you could read the whole Bible here, but look at Philippians 2 and Romans 5). As we repent of our rebellion against God, another reversal, and trust Jesus Christ to rescue us (1 John 1, Romans 8), we are declared righteous instead of rebellious, justified rather than condemned, forgiven in place of guilty, a child and friend of God instead of an enemy. What other reversals happen for those who put their faith in Jesus?

If this story is new to you, if you have questions, if you don’t understand how this could happen for you, we would love to show you what the Bible has to say about how this reversal can be true for you. Please contact us.

Maybe you know many Bible stories, but you need to better understand how they all fit together. There are so many ways to do this. Best way, read the Bible! Read it over and over again. Start at the beginning and study until you begin to see how all the pieces fit together. That is a lifelong endeavor, so if you need a little help to speed up the process, here are a few ideas. YouVersion offers a condensed Bible reading plan that will help you discover the big story of the Bible chronologically with Bible Project videos interspersed for help. Gay Haugen teaches a Panorama study of the Bible. You can find videos on New Life Church West Linn Women’s Ministry Facebook group or take the class next time it is offered. There are also free classes and so many good books. Here are just a few.

Perhaps you know the story and you really do believe it in general, but somehow it doesn’t seem to connect to your everyday life. It’s hard to see what in the world God might be up to when it feels you are just one of many characters in a comic strip that isn’t all that funny most of the time. I imagine Esther and Mordecai felt the same as they wrestled with decisions. Should I or shouldn’t I bow to Haman? Will I live or die if I approach the king uninvited? What will happen to all of God’s covenant people because of this horrible edict? Their sackcloth and fasting were real. They didn’t know the outcome. But we do get a glimpse of the gospel in Esther, a peak at their faith in God, when Mordecai preaches to Esther. He says, "Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:13-14 ESV).

Mordecai must have known some of the promises of God, promises that had been given to Abraham and passed down through Isaac and Jacob and all the way to this exiled Jew in Persia (Genesis 17). He knew deliverance would come one way or another. It had to. The question was, how did God intend to use them? What was their role? Would they play their part? They didn’t know what the outcome would be, but the reversal that made Esther queen gave her an opportunity. She took it. No doubt, God has put us in positions and places with opportunities to be used by Him for the saving of His people, too. We also have promises from God, and we find them as we read the big story of God’s Word. Just as it was for Esther, even when we can’t see, God is here. Though God’s name isn’t mentioned in the book of Esther and often isn’t today either, God is active. God will save His people. He has a plan, and just as He carried it through in Esther’s time, He is doing it in ours. Do you believe it? Will you trust Him? Will you, like Esther, let Him use you?

You might like to finish Esther with this Bible Project video.

Here are some tidbits about Purim and how the Jews celebrate it today to remember God’s deliverance in the days of Esther.

PHILIPPIANS

Our book of the month for April is Philippians. Here is Layna Fullington with an introduction.

ONE-TO-ONE SIGN UP

As usual, we would love to know how your One-to-One Bible Reading went last month and ask you to let us know who you will be partnering with this month. Please fill out the sign up form. This might be a good time to reach out to a new partner, to ask someone who might not have participated before, to seek out someone new. You can meet by phone or try a Zoom video call. If you want help finding a partner, let us know on the form. Thank you!

Resources for Philippians are on the church website. There is a prayer page on Joy, a reading schedule for Philippians, and One-to-One Bible Reading questions for 4 weeks in Philippians. Print or open it as needed.

Though we miss being physically together right now, there is much we can do to continue to “strive side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27.) To that end, enjoy Philippians!

Marcia ReavelyComment