Friendship Community Baptist Church
Esther: God's Providence Reverses Destinies
Pastor Robert gives us an overview of the Book of Esther and encourages us to see God's providence in our lives.
Locations & Times
Friendship Community Baptist
37 Jewell Rd, Dunkirk, MD 20754, USA
Sunday 9:00 AM
Sunday 10:45 AM
Esther
Main Point
God’s providence reverses destinies
Divine Providence: God’s governance of the world through wisdom and love, guiding and directing everything in the universe
Story: an account of past events that explains who we are
Introduction
Setting of Esther: 40 years after Daniel in the Persian Empire
Some Jews had returned, some had not (similar to Jews today)
Uniqueness of the book
No mention of God, prayer, miracles, religious observance
Morally ambiguous characters
Written to explain the feast of Purim (“feast” mentioned 19x)
Incredible “story”
Super tight “reversing” chiasm
May have taken some liberties to convey message
Interpretative Guidelines
Let the Bible speak for itself
Stay focused on the main story
Look for parallels to Jesus
In Esther, God’s people (the Jews) face death because of an evil man, but God reversed their destiny by having the evil man hung on a wooden structure and the Jews feasted
In human history, God’s people face death because of sin, but God reversed our destiny by having the Son of man hung on a wooden structure and we feast
Application
Realize we live in a morally ambiguous time
Look for God in all situations, good and bad
Know that God reverses destinies
Response
Have you asked Jesus to reverse your destiny from death to life?
Where has God placed you? What might He be calling you to?
How have you seen God’s providence in your life?
Main Point
God’s providence reverses destinies
Divine Providence: God’s governance of the world through wisdom and love, guiding and directing everything in the universe
Story: an account of past events that explains who we are
Introduction
Setting of Esther: 40 years after Daniel in the Persian Empire
Some Jews had returned, some had not (similar to Jews today)
Uniqueness of the book
No mention of God, prayer, miracles, religious observance
Morally ambiguous characters
Written to explain the feast of Purim (“feast” mentioned 19x)
Incredible “story”
Super tight “reversing” chiasm
May have taken some liberties to convey message
Interpretative Guidelines
Let the Bible speak for itself
Stay focused on the main story
Look for parallels to Jesus
In Esther, God’s people (the Jews) face death because of an evil man, but God reversed their destiny by having the evil man hung on a wooden structure and the Jews feasted
In human history, God’s people face death because of sin, but God reversed our destiny by having the Son of man hung on a wooden structure and we feast
Application
Realize we live in a morally ambiguous time
Look for God in all situations, good and bad
Know that God reverses destinies
Response
Have you asked Jesus to reverse your destiny from death to life?
Where has God placed you? What might He be calling you to?
How have you seen God’s providence in your life?