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.

Two in Two

Two posts in two days...don't know how long I can keep this up! heh

Psalm Psalm 11:1-7 (NKJV)

1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
In the Lord I put my trust;
How can you say to my soul,
"Flee as a bird to your mountain"?
2 For look! The wicked bend their bow,
They make ready their arrow on the string,
That they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart.
3 If the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?

This is a Psalm written by King David of Israel (c.1037 - 970 BC, his reign over Judah c.1007 - 1000 BC, and over Judah and Israel c.1000 - 970 BC.) (Wikipedia)

The first 3 verses are spoken by the counsellors of King David, who are experiencing a panic attack as they observe the crumbling of society around them.

They say:
Put my trust in the Lord?
Flee?
Look at the wicked!
They are about to attack and destroy us!

Don't we today see our foundations destroyed?
Don't we ask what the righteous can do?

David calmly answers his trembling counsellors...

4 The Lord is in His holy temple,
The Lord’s throne is in heaven;
His eyes behold,
His eyelids test the sons of men.
5 The Lord tests the righteous,
But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.
6 Upon the wicked He will rain coals;
Fire and brimstone and a burning wind
Shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the Lord is righteous,
He loves righteousness;
His countenance beholds the upright.

David says:
Hey, God is sovereign, He is in control.
He is omnipetent, He sees everything, He subjects all to His perfect scrutiny, He misses nothing!
His tests His saints (James 1:2-4)
He is angry with the wicked everyday.

In fact...
Psalm 7:11-13 (NKJV)
11 God is a just judge,
And God is angry with the wicked every day.
12 If he does not turn back,
He will sharpen His sword;
He bends His bow and makes it ready.
13 He also prepares for Himself instruments of death;
He makes His arrows into fiery shafts.

God is just, He loves His saints.
He keeps and eye on them and cares for them.

In fact...
Malachi 3:16-17 (NKJV)
16 Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another,
And the Lord listened and heard them;
So a book of remembrance was written before Him
For those who fear the Lord
And who meditate on His name.
17 "They shall be Mine," says the Lord of hosts,
"On the day that I make them My jewels.
And I will spare them
As a man spares his own son who serves him."

In fact...
Revelation 19:11-16 (NKJV)
11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse.And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

We Feasted!!

The teachers in our ESL program and the senior adult fellowship of our church host a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for our ESL students and their families and friends. This year we had a full house - and a feast not of just the turkey/ trimmings but of sharing faith stories and praying in many tongues. Four students from our class, which is pre-beginner, came with their families: our Tanzanian lady brought her son and his family; the dental hygienist from So. America came with her brother; the family from Burma and single Mom from Mexico came with friends.
There was the usual laugher over trying to explain "dressing", sweet potato fluff, and the funny looking orange stuff in the pie. The first highlight of the evening was the sharing of what we all were thankful for and the ESLers all said their thanks for our classes, the church that hosted the program, families and the USA.
The second highlight was the testimony of the Indian minister, PraDeep, who is in one of our advanced classes and is the pastor of the Indian church in our area. He told of the missionary that had given a Christian tract to his grandfather without a word, how that tract had changed the life of his grandfather, how his grandfather raised his children to become Christians and how that father raised his children, including PraDeep, in the Christian faith. And now this third generation is on the mission field. He brought the house down when he said that his family feasted on white bread (the Word brought by the American missionary 70 years ago) and now he was bringing brown bread back to the country that had first fed him. Not a dry eye in the room.
" 'Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.' They said to him, 'Lord give us this bread always.' " Jesus said to them, "I AM the Bread of Life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst." John 6:32-35

I must add that his story reminded me of a dear sister in the Lord, who is in her 80's and is a faithful minister through the use of tracts, to everyone she meets and anywhere she goes.