Today you should read: Esther 9:1-19
If Esther were a movie this would be the ending climax to the story. When all of a sudden, the tables turned for the underdog heroes and they end up defeating their enemy after some scary, close calls throughout the story. You know that God’s people were not just acting out of bitterness and vengeance, but obedience, as it is mentioned that they were faithful in not plundering in their victories, unlike other times in conquests. What sticks out the most to me in these passages is found in the very first verse of ch. 9:
…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.
What Satan intended for evil, God used for good and His glory. The reverse occurred. This verse reminds me of the cross. How Satan had worked so hard leading up to the crucifixion and how many around Jesus believed this was the end to this great man, his great works and the future. But instead, the reverse occurred and Jesus used this humiliating, hard event to rescue, redeem and save those who were separated from the God they were originally created for. Jesus had mastery over Satan when Satan thought he finally had Jesus.
God uses these events in chapter 19 to finally deliver God’s people and in the same way Jesus used the cross to finally deliver us.
By: Erik Koliser — West Campus Pastor
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