The Doctrine of Divine Providence or Bloom Where You Are Planted - part three
The Doctrine of Divine Providence
or
Bloom Where You Are Planted - Part Three
This is not the first time that God has positioned one of His own in a place of great power and influence in another country. Genesis 39 tells us the story of Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers and God brings him to the house of Potiphar, one of the King’s officers in Egypt, and the scriptures tell us that Potiphar put Joseph in charge of his house and everything he owned, being, eventually in the right place at the right time to save his own people from famine.
Daniel was carried into captivity, and we are told, God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials. God’s emissary in the right place and the right time, do you think they wanted to be there? NO! But they were there, and they served God there.
Esther’s older cousin, Mordecai who raised her after her parents died, was in a little different situation, he had come to be right where he wanted to be. He had a political position - prestige and power - no wonder he didn’t want to go back to Israel. However, he was still a Jewish man living in an anti-Semitic world. He warned Esther not to reveal her Jewish background, but the times and circumstances come when Mordecai himself can no longer keep it a secret. He is a proud Jewish man, and when faced with the situation of having to bow down to another man, he refuses. Mordecai may not have been a devout Jew, but there were still some things that he wouldn’t do - and bowing to anyone or anything but God, was one of them.
The man he refuses to bow down to is Haman, Ahasuerus’ right hand man. Haman was a scheming and conniving man, and when he found out why Mordecai wouldn’t bow to him, that Mordecai was a Jew, he was insane with anger. Haman’s ancestry had been enemies of the Jews for over 600 years. He wasn’t content with the thought of just destroying Mordecai; he sought to destroy all of the Jewish people throughout the kingdom. And there were Jews in every province.
So Haman went to Ahasuerus and told him this wild story, that there was this people scattered throughout the provinces who wouldn’t keep the king’s laws, and that it was not in the king’s good interest that they should live. And not only that, but that Haman, himself, would pay 10,000 talents of silver (about 20 million dollars) into the king’s treasury when they were destroyed. Now, he had the king’s attention. Remember that battle against Greece that the king had planned? They did indeed attack Greece and were soundly defeated, and were mightily in debt, so as we say, money talks! The problem is, Haman didn’t know that Esther was Jewish. He didn’t know that Esther was Mordecai’s cousin.
The king didn’t ask who the people were. He didn’t know and didn’t care that they were Jews. It simply didn’t matter to him. But it DID matter to God. God made a promise to Abraham that He would make of him a great nation; that all the peoples of the earth would be blessed through him; and that God would bless those who bless the Jews and curse those who curse the Jews. And you only have to look at history to see that the Jew has seen the downfall of every nation that has tried to exterminate them. The Assyrians couldn’t do it, the Babylonians couldn’t do it, Rome couldn’t do it, Hitler couldn’t do it, Stalin couldn’t do it and the Arab nations won’t do it either! The Children of Israel may be out of the will of God, but they will never be out of the hand of God.
or
Bloom Where You Are Planted - Part Three
This is not the first time that God has positioned one of His own in a place of great power and influence in another country. Genesis 39 tells us the story of Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers and God brings him to the house of Potiphar, one of the King’s officers in Egypt, and the scriptures tell us that Potiphar put Joseph in charge of his house and everything he owned, being, eventually in the right place at the right time to save his own people from famine.
Daniel was carried into captivity, and we are told, God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials. God’s emissary in the right place and the right time, do you think they wanted to be there? NO! But they were there, and they served God there.
Esther’s older cousin, Mordecai who raised her after her parents died, was in a little different situation, he had come to be right where he wanted to be. He had a political position - prestige and power - no wonder he didn’t want to go back to Israel. However, he was still a Jewish man living in an anti-Semitic world. He warned Esther not to reveal her Jewish background, but the times and circumstances come when Mordecai himself can no longer keep it a secret. He is a proud Jewish man, and when faced with the situation of having to bow down to another man, he refuses. Mordecai may not have been a devout Jew, but there were still some things that he wouldn’t do - and bowing to anyone or anything but God, was one of them.
The man he refuses to bow down to is Haman, Ahasuerus’ right hand man. Haman was a scheming and conniving man, and when he found out why Mordecai wouldn’t bow to him, that Mordecai was a Jew, he was insane with anger. Haman’s ancestry had been enemies of the Jews for over 600 years. He wasn’t content with the thought of just destroying Mordecai; he sought to destroy all of the Jewish people throughout the kingdom. And there were Jews in every province.
So Haman went to Ahasuerus and told him this wild story, that there was this people scattered throughout the provinces who wouldn’t keep the king’s laws, and that it was not in the king’s good interest that they should live. And not only that, but that Haman, himself, would pay 10,000 talents of silver (about 20 million dollars) into the king’s treasury when they were destroyed. Now, he had the king’s attention. Remember that battle against Greece that the king had planned? They did indeed attack Greece and were soundly defeated, and were mightily in debt, so as we say, money talks! The problem is, Haman didn’t know that Esther was Jewish. He didn’t know that Esther was Mordecai’s cousin.
The king didn’t ask who the people were. He didn’t know and didn’t care that they were Jews. It simply didn’t matter to him. But it DID matter to God. God made a promise to Abraham that He would make of him a great nation; that all the peoples of the earth would be blessed through him; and that God would bless those who bless the Jews and curse those who curse the Jews. And you only have to look at history to see that the Jew has seen the downfall of every nation that has tried to exterminate them. The Assyrians couldn’t do it, the Babylonians couldn’t do it, Rome couldn’t do it, Hitler couldn’t do it, Stalin couldn’t do it and the Arab nations won’t do it either! The Children of Israel may be out of the will of God, but they will never be out of the hand of God.
posted by Betty Newman at 9:40 PM
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