Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Feb/86

Contributor - Freda Witteveen

Title - Courage and Cunning

Topic - Women

As you read this we are in the middle of our famous Canadian winter, and what better activity than to curl up in a cosy easy chair by a crackling fire with a good book when the wind whistles around the corners of the buildings, piling the snow into drifts. if this appeals to you, don't race down to the corner store for a pocket novel; you need only to look at the book of Esther in the Old Testament to find a story that embodies all the elements of a good novel. It is dramatic, suspenseful, romantic and historical. The book contains lots of action rising to a climax as well as providing us with a classic struggle between good and evil.

The purpose of the book was to illustrate how the Jews, while in oppression in a pagan land, rise up and overcome their enemies with cunning and force. On its simplest level the story was written to explain the Jewish celebration of the Feast of Purim. The pertinent question must then be: of what significance is this book to the Christians of today?

We can find in the story of Esther certain truths which are especially relevant to Christian women today. Notice that the name of God is never specifically mentioned in the entire book, yet we are at all times aware of His action in the developing of the story. So too, is God at work in our lives today, even if we are not always aware of His presence or have not called upon Him for a specific request.

Esther is revealed to us by the writer as a women of courage and wisdom, and is@t courage something we all need in this turbulent world? We have many fears, fears of terrorism, fears of growing old, of being poor, fears of living alone, of dealing daily with physical infirmities, fears when we make untraditional career choices or advance within our chosen fields. We all have inherent courage but from the story of Esther we learn that God will add to this His courage so that we may know we can face and deal with any circumstance.

Through Esther's dealings with the King, her husband, and the wicked Haman, we admire her wisdom and cunning as she tries to achieve the salvation of her people from the decree of death. She did not stridently make demands but patiently designed the circumstances so that her goals might be realized.

The story illustrates that in the end evil will be overcome by good, and this moral is something we need to hear more often in a world where the Devil and those who work for him seem to be more and more in control. By the end of the story the positions of Mordecai and the evil Haman are reversed and the enduring Mordecai exchanges this sackcloth and ashes for royal garments. Haman is presented as the typical 'bad guy, the selfish egotistical bully who by counterfoil makes Mordecai look very good.

In the development of the action we see that Esther is obedient, first to her guardian, Mordecai, and also to her God, and that she is loyal to her people, even when, to acknowledge hey heritage, may mean death. She is not swayed from her course by the luxury and prestige of the royal court.

The book of Esther, while a complete story on its own, contains two themes which link it to other parts of the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments. The first is the saving of the remnant, where God's chosen people have been scattered but they will prevail and be drawn back to God because of the covenant He had established with their ancestors. In Isaiah I 1: I 1 we read, "In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant which is left of his people from Assyria, from Egypt... " Also we find in Micah 2:12, " I will surely gather all of you, 0 Jacob, I will gather the remnant of Israel: I will set them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture, a noisy multitude of men." This theme is linked to the New Testament in Romans 11:5, "So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace."

In the story of Esther the day of sorrow when the Jews were to be destroyed became a day of joy when they overcame their oppressors, because of the courage and cunning of one person. This is another theme that forms a link in the parts of the Bible. In Isaiah 13, we read of the day of sorrow, "wail, for the day of the Lord is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come", verse 6, and in verse 9, "behold the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the earth a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it." (See also Joel 2:1, 2)

In the New Testament through the intervention of God's Holy Son our day of sorrow will become a day of joy, for we find in Acts 2:20, "the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and manifest day. And it shall be that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (See also 11 Peter 3:12, 13)

Thus we may see that our study of the Book of Esther will reveal to us truths that have endured through time and are still applicable in our lives today, how God uses individuals to His plan, how He gives to us patience, courage and wisdom to use in our battles with evil, and that the day of salvation and joy will come to those who believe in His plan.

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