Esther 4

This week I had the privilege to teach Esther 4. It's probably the chapter that gets the most attention from preachers and teachers as it possesses the verse with the words, "...for such a time as this."

The situation is as bad as it can be for the Jews. Mordecai's offense against Haman set off an edict to annihilate all the Jews. The whole city of Susa is in confusion while Xerxes and Haman are drinking alcohol at the end of chapter 3.

I briefly touched on our experience at Auschwitz each summer during our trip to Poland. We talked about walking through the gas chambers, seeing block 10 where the babies were experimented on, etc... I wanted to set the tone for what it must have been like to be a Jew in those days and know that Auschwitz was your destiny. Who would have drawn up dying like that? No one then and no one during the days of Esther would have dreamed this up.

The tension mounts in this chapter as Mordecai and Esther have their first extended dialogue and it is centering around whether or not Esther will go before the King to save their people.

There are a whole bunch of interesting things happening in this chapter but I landed at the end with a challenge to our students:

Do you think that where you live is an accident? Do you think that there is a purpose for why you attend the school you do? Do you think there is a purpose for why you were born into your family? Birth order? Attending this church? Getting here this morning?

Each of you were placed here "...for such a time as this" and God is looking for one of you at a time to say, along with Esther, "I will go to the king." We closed our time looking at Oscar Schindler and the power of one person to make a difference. We also looked at the final clip of the council of Elron in the Fellowship of the Ring. Oscar said, "I will not stand for the genocide." Frodo said, "I will take the ring." Esther said, "I will go to the king."

What will you say?

"I will deny myself, take up my cross and follow you, Jesus, straight to Calvary." And just like Frodo, when you realize that you were brought to this point for such a time as this, you will find 8 other people to stand with you, not to mention God! But you will never know who's standing alongside of you until your willing to lose your life and say, "I will go the King!"