Those following the Bible-reading calendar for this year are reading – or have just read – the Old Testament book of Esther. The story is fast-moving and captivating: Esther is a Jewish girl, born in Persia, where Jews are essentially second-class citizens. But in a stunning turn of events, she is elevated to a place of great influence, as queen to King Xerxes (aka Ahasuerus). Her family had stayed behind when tens of thousands of Jews returned to their homeland 60 years earlier, and now they are living in an idolatrous culture, with people who neither know or worship Yahweh. A crisis arises when a powerful politician, Haman, enacts a one-day “holocaust” of Jews to ‘ethnically cleanse’ their land. Will this Jewish girl, born in anonymity and thrust into a position of influence, be able to bring salvation to her people? To reveal that she is a Jew, and confront both the king and a powerful politician, could lead to her death. To remain silent could lead to a genocide of her people. An older cousin, Mordecai, living a faithful life in a pagan land, advises her in words that are today famous (Esther 4.14):
“If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place… And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”
You can read the riveting events for yourself, but the Feast of Purim, celebrated to this day in Israel, reflects the trust in God, and God’s faithfulness to His people, which ensued. And there is a lesson for us in this.
America has long since abandoned its strong Christian roots – we are living in a post-post-Christian society. That means we have not only lost our Christian moral moorings, we’ve lost any memory of that culture! We are adrift on a sea of relativism, where faith in ourselves has replaced faith in God (despite the motto which still appears on our money). Our cultural evolution is spelled out in Romans 1.18-32, which reads like a history of our spiritual decline. Like Esther in Persia, Christians today are living in an idolatrous culture, with people who neither know or worship God.
One reflection of this (among many) was recently brought to my attention. A spate of celebrities (cultural icons) have recently taken to celebrating their abortions. In less than a generation, we have devolved from viewing the killing of unborn babies being a bad thing that we wanted to be rare, to something applauded. In this regard, we have joined with numerous ancient cultures – Canaanite, Mesopotamian, Greek, and Roman – in losing sight of the intrinsic value of human life.
Satan has no new schemes: Like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5.8), he goes after the most vulnerable. The easiest prey is the unborn – and with the SCOTUS providing moral justification in 1973, the bloodbath ensued. But Satan hasn’t stopped: Exposing little children to sexually perverse displays, morality-numbing practices, gender confusion, and gender-manipulative surgery, is all an attack on this vulnerable group. Euthanasia of the elderly, who in godly cultures are respected and honored, is another conquest of a vulnerable group.
To borrow from Mordecai, we might all ask ourselves: Who knows whether I have not attained my place in American society for such a time as this? In Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, there is a conversation between Gandalf and Frodo:
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
Living in these times is our privilege, and our responsibility. We can see – with spiritual eyes – the onslaught of sin and its awful results on our society, in a way which those who do not know God, or those who intentionally spurn Him, cannot perceive (see 1 Corinthians 2.6-16). What is the antidote to those all around us who are spiritually and morally blind? We carry it in our hearts and minds: The liberating truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, God’s revelation of grace and mercy and forgiveness and new life (eternal life!) for fallen humanity. Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved! (Acts 16.31) We have been born for a time like this. We just need to follow Esther’s example.