Tables Turned: To Bless A Nation

The book of Esther explicitly does not have the name of Yahweh written in it. But the implicit content of the book is the power of the Yahweh God.  What I am undertaking here is a puny perspective of a gold mine and treasury of God’s wisdom in the whole of the book of Esther. There were three prime characters involved in this powerful story most of us are familiar with. One was not alive when the climax scene happened.  It is he who I am going to bring out first because it was he, who gave a supreme climax to the story!

Problematical Haman

Though superficially the problem brought forth by Haman looked like it was against a man at the gate of the place named Mordecai, intrinsically it was against a nation, a people group. (3:5-6, 4:1-3). Even today our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. This month we celebrate the independence our nation enjoys from foreign rulers. But truly there is an upper-hand attitude of the majority-faith-believers of our nation against the minorities. The Christian minority still remains foreign to the present rulers of our nation.  Like Paul, how are we going to fight a ‘good’ fight for our faith in the Indian context?

Resourceful Mordecai

The resourceful person for bringing freedom for the Jews was Mordecai. His counsel at the right time to Esther was like golden apples in settings of silver (Proverbs 25:11). He told Queen Esther, his adopted daughter (who had come to that position by obeying his counsel), “Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"  (4:13-14). When people faces crisis with regard to faith, we need to listen to the counsel of God. Out of the many, one counsel is supreme, yet, simple: “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14) Interestingly Esther did exactly this.

Prayerful Esther

 If at all there could be one word for the turn of events in the struggle for lives in this historic Jewish event, it was “prayer.” Read her reply to Mordecai:  “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish." Esther initiated a prayer movement. She mobilised a prayer cell in her women’s domain.  She could do this boldly in a place, a palace, where Yahweh’s name was prohibited. Esther believed in prayer and that too corporate prayer.

The spiritual culture of fasting for nation is slowly weaning in the Christian context today and that is why we have an upheaval of problems in our churches and in our country. To fight a good fight for our faith, to turn the tables, we need to turn to the Bible and increase our prayer initiatives. Powered by prayer, Esther received favour in the eyes of the King. We too will receive favour in the eyes of our King of kings and our local rulers and authorities through our prayers. In Esther’s story, not only the problematical Haman, even his family, his supporters paid the cost for scheming against the people of Yahweh-faith. They had a tragic end. Haman fell into the same pit which he had dug for the Yahweh-worshippers. The stone rolled back on him (Proverbs 26:27).  He was hanged to death on the same pole which he had erected to execute Mordecai.

The key is our dependence on God through prayer. The wailing of the Yahwistic Jews turned into dancing; HE removed their sackcloth and clothed them with joy (Psalm 30:11), HE gave Esther and Mordecai crowns of beauty instead of ashes, oil of gladness instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair (Isaiah 61:3). God still can turn the tables upside down in our situations. Let us bless our families, churches and nation through our upright living and prayers. Happy Independence Day!