the unseen hand of God

I have just reached the book of Esther in my Old Testament reading. I have a nifty Bible called the MacArthur Daily Bible, which is set up for 365 days with readings from the Old Testament, then the Psalms, the Proverbs and the New Testament for each day. I had never been successful in reading through the Bible, though I had tried. But with the Daily Bible, I am now reading through it for the 6th year in a row & it gets more wonderful each year!!

So back to Esther, a book in which God is not mentioned specifically. It is a short, very readable, exciting book to read, so if you have not read it, you should do so. The book takes place in the Persian capital of Sushan and Ahasuerus (486 BC to 465 BC) is the king. The Jews have been scattered far and wide by the Assyrians, the Babylonians and the Medo-Persians.

Ahasuerus had a Queen, Vashti, who...well read it and find out.

While God is not mentioned in the book there are a number of places where we see that His providential hand is a work:

1) Esther 2:8b ...the care of Hagai [a eunuch] the custodian of the women.
9 Now the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor;

2) 2:25b And Esther gained favor in the sight of all who saw her.

3) 4:14b Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.

4) 5:2 [the kings sees Esther] ...that she found favor in his sight and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand.

Here are four instances of God's providential intervention on behalf of the Jews, there are several others in the following chapters of the book. Comment me with them if you find them.