“This is what happened during the time of Xerxes … who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia: At that time King Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa.”

Esther 1:1-2
Where were God’s people in the Esther 1 passage you just read? That’s right … nowhere. If anything, they were just one of the 127 provinces under King Xerxes. At that time they were so irrelevant in the eyes of the world that they are not even mentioned. How did they handle life at the margins? Answering this question comes as we now plunge into the book of Esther. 

At the head of the greatest empire in the known world, King Xerxes was revered as a god. Notice how the nations gather to pay him homage. But at the same time, his own wife regularly defied him. In fact, Xerxes was so worried about his wife’s rebellion that he mandated wives throughout his empire to obey their husbands (an edict which reveals weakness, not strength). 

The book of Esther is about the hidden hand of God and the hidden power of His people, of how the mighty are humbled and the humble are made mighty. We realize anew that appearances are deceiving. Life at the margins leads us to seek out the hidden, strong hand of God, revealed in His Word. 

 



Scripture Focus

Esther 1

Insight

Our power is not found in earthly kingdoms, but in God through Christ Jesus.

Bible In A Year

  • 1 Samuel 20-21
  • Psalm 130
  • 2 Corinthians 12

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