The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: Because he's doing something bigger than you can see. You need to trust him where you are.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans says God knows how to pull the right strings in our lives, even when our own way has gotten us into trouble.

Dr. Tony Evans: Because God, the puppet master, knows how to take a mess and create a miracle.

Guest (Male): This is The Alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Today, Dr. Evans talks about the ultimate biblical example of being in the right place at the right time as he shares valuable lessons for us from the life of Esther. Let's join him for this compelling look at how to recognize the invisible hand of God in our own lives.

Dr. Tony Evans: If the truth be told, sometimes if you were confident enough to admit it, it just doesn't look like God knows what he's doing. Because if you were God, you wouldn't be doing what appears to be happening to you.

The Book of Esther is a lot like that. It's really a Cinderella story. What makes the Book of Esther unique and unlike every other book in the Bible is that it is the only book in the Bible which does not reference God. That is because God wanted to use this Cinderella story and this book to teach you something about him that is critical for your life and mine, because there are many times in our lives when God is nowhere to be found.

There are many times in our circumstances when you look for God and he is unlocatable. There are many times when it seems like God is letting things happen to you and me and us that if he cared about us and loved us, why would he let that happen? It is the providence of God. And when you're able to know this truth about God and how he providentially works in history, you're able to move through life even when it's quiet spiritually, because you know even though you don't see him, feel him, or hear from him, he's pulling the strings behind the scene.

We begin in the days, verse 1, of Ahasuerus. Ahasuerus is the head of the Medo-Persian Empire. His kingdom goes from Ethiopia to India and involves 127 provinces, according to verse 1. It's a huge kingdom. He calls together in the third year of his reign, verse 3, a banquet, a party, and it's a whopper because it lasts six months.

The people from different parts of the land would come inside and meet with the king, and they would party and have a good time. At the party, it says there were hangings of fine wine, verse 6. He says in verse 7, drinks were served in golden vessels of various kinds. So we don't have to go too deep in knowing that if you're going to really party in a secular environment, you’ve got to have your juice. It says they had plenty of juice.

Ahasuerus's wife named Vashti, verse 9, also gave a banquet for the women in the palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus. So Queen Vashti took all the ladies while Ahasuerus, Xerxes, took all the men and then he decided that he wants to have a real conclusion to his six-month gathering. So he calls for a seven-day conclusion to his big party.

On the seventh day, verse 10, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded his leaders, verse 11, to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown in order to display her beauty to the people and to the princesses, for she was beautiful. Verse 12, but Queen Vashti refused to come. She said, "I'm not going to do that, I don't care who you are."

Houston, we have a problem, because now the king says to the wise men who understood the times, so it is the custom of the king to speak before all who knew the law and justice. He said, "According to the law, verse 15, what is to be done with Queen Vashti because she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs? What are we going to do with this woman because she disrespected you in public?"

Verse 22, at the end of chapter 1, he sent letters to all the king's provinces, to each province according to the script, to every people according to their language, that every man should be the master in his own house. Amen! So we've got a family crisis that's now morphed into a potential social crisis, all setting the stage for the providential hand of God.

Chapter 2, verse 3. "Let us gather together every beautiful young virgin to the citadel of Susa, to the harem into the custody of Hegai, the king's eunuch, who is in charge of the women, and let their cosmetics be given to them." We're going to have the biggest beauty contest in the history of mankind. Every beautiful virgin we're going to bring for you to scout out who should be your next wife. Verse 4, "Let the young lady who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti." And the matter pleased the king and he did accordingly.

Let's watch this. We've got a family conflict, that's got nothing to do with God. We've got a cultural battle between the sexes, that's got nothing to do with God. We've got a law that can't be changed in a secular government, that's got nothing to do with God. We've got a call for a beauty contest involving the virgins in the land, that's got nothing to do with God.

But does it? Because now beginning in verse 5, there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew whose name was Mordecai, who had been, verse 6, taken into exile from Jerusalem with the captives who had been exiled with Jeconiah king of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had exiled.

And he was bringing up Hadassah, which means Myrtle, that is Esther, which means Star, his uncle's daughter, his cousin, for she had no father or mother. Now the young lady was beautiful in form and in face. And when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

We've gone from a Gentile king and a Gentile chaos and a Gentile party and a Gentile drunkenness and a Gentile divorce into Mordecai. And the only reason Mordecai enters the picture is he's got a pretty cousin. And this pretty cousin in form and in face is now brought to the king's palace because of something she had absolutely no control over, her beauty. That came from her mother and her father.

But her beauty got her sent into a secular world and into the king's harem. It wasn't her fault directly, but you have to understand the only reason any of this is happening is because those Jews didn't go back to Jerusalem. They are still in the place that they were no longer to stay.

Because the reality is you can be so comfortable in a secular society, you can get so used to the comfort of being there and under the influence of someone that has the authority to keep you there, that you wind up having to adapt to things you don't agree with because that was where they were living. So the plot thickens.

Verse 6, so it came about when the decree came from the king and many young ladies had gathered, now the young lady pleased him and found favor with him. So he quickly provided her with cosmetics and food and gave her seven choice maids from the king's palace and transferred her and her maids to the best places in the harem.

Esther did not, verse 10, make herself known or her people or her kindred, for Mordecai had instructed her she should not make them known. Don't tell them you're Jewish. You don't tell them you're Jewish, he's not going to fool with no Jewish woman because you're a slave girl. You're Cinderella. You're a slave girl and if he finds out... Why would he give her that advice? Why would he tell her not to tell them you're Jewish so he doesn't keep you in the harem?

Remember what I said about providence? That's why he allowed Satan to tempt Job. God doesn't agree with Satan, but Satan never got to do it without God's permission. So God permits things that he doesn't agree with when what he permits will achieve something greater in his sovereign purpose.

Guest (Male): We'll see how the pieces of God's plan come together when Dr. Evans returns in a moment. Stay with us. The circumstances of your life may feel like random chance or luck, but in his book Pathways, Dr. Tony Evans says even if that's how it feels, that's not how it is.

Dr. Tony Evans: I know the score may be against you, but I know a quarterback who can turn defeat into victory. I know if you just let him have your life, he can throw a touchdown with your existence. He's operating behind the scenes, even using bad, evil people and situations to move things forward in order to accomplish his will. He's doing something bigger than you can see. You need to trust him where you are.

Guest (Male): Pathways: From Providence to Purpose from Dr. Tony Evans. We depend completely on your generosity to keep this program on the air. So we'd like to support you as you support us. We'll send you a copy of this popular book as our thank-you gift when you make a donation to partner with Tony's ministry.

Along with the Pathways book, we'll also include a special bonus gift, all six lessons in Tony's current series on the Book of Esther, including one complete message we won't be able to present on the air this time around. Make the arrangements online at tonyevans.org or give us a call at 1-800-800-3222 where resource team members are standing by day and night to help you. That's 1-800-800-3222. Well, Dr. Evans is back now with more of today's message. Let's join him.

Dr. Tony Evans: Every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and how she fared. Now when the turn of each young lady, verse 17, came to go into King Ahasuerus, anything she desired was given to her to take with her from the harem to the king's palace.

Now when it was Esther's turn, verse 15, she did not request anything except Hegai, the king's eunuch who was in charge of the women, advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of all who saw her. So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus to his royal palace in the tenth month in the seventh year of the reign.

Then the king loved Esther and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the other virgins. So he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. Wait a minute. What was it about her that a man would fall in love with her one night? You see, when you're the king, you don't know who to trust. When you're the king, you don't know who's for real. You don't know who wants you or who wants your money.

So you always got these question marks of who's for real. But the thing that the author points out is Esther didn't ask for anything. Esther was unlike all the other women. She was not trying to be a grifter. She was not trying to play on the king. She was not trying to get all she could get. She was different than all the rest and he recognized that difference.

And he made her his wife. Although there are imperfections here, in God's providence he often allows what he does not agree with. He does not excuse it, mind you, but he often allows it in order to achieve his purposes. The Scripture says that over and over again, that Judas betrayed Jesus by the will of God. God allows what he doesn't agree with when there is something bigger that he is after.

And even when he can't put his name on it, God in providence is pushing buttons. Not causing everything, but allowing the things he does not cause when he sees that the thing he does not cause is going to work toward his end, because he does all things after the counsel of his own will.

And so we come now to the concluding part. Girlfriend is now queen. The devil shows up. His name is Haman. And so, in those days, while all this is happening, while Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate—now that means he worked for the king; to sit at the king's gate means to be employed by the king in some level position.

Two of the king's officials, verse 21, from those who gathered at the door became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. It was an assassination plot. But the plot became known to Mordecai. Mordecai is sitting in the king's court, he overhears a conversation, he tapped their phones. He overheard what they were saying.

And he told Queen Esther. And Esther informed the king in Mordecai's name. "My uncle Mordecai just told me two of your boys getting ready to kill you, hubby." Now when the plot was investigated and found to be so, they were both hanged on the gallows and it was written in the book of the Chronicles in the king's presence. That is a big deal. It was written down in the king's presence. That's going to show up again.

Rewind. Can't find God's name. We've been through two chapters and we're going to go through eight more and you will not find his name. His name is not there. He promised, "I am going to cover the Jews. I am going to protect the Jews. Even when I judge the Jews for their disobedience, I'm still going to fulfill my covenant with the Jews."

Jews, I want y'all to go back to Jerusalem now that they've given you the freedom from Persia to go back. For whatever reason, Mordecai stays. Esther, being raised by Mordecai, has to stay as well. You're going to see Satan show up. Because he wants to destroy the Jews, because God has promised not to have the Jews destroyed, he has to have a plan in place to keep his promise even to the Jews who didn't go.

So what the puppet master does is he sits back behind the strings and he allows King Ahasuerus to call a party. He allows them to drink till they get drunk. He allows the king to call his wife in to show her self off. He allows his wife to get rebellious. He allows the leaders to say, "You can't have this happen, Oh King, in your country, because it's going to mess up the social standing of men and women in the kingdom."

The king then has to pass a law for the respect of all the husbands by the wives. Then God, the puppet master, sits behind the scenes in order to pull the string, so the king becomes lonely for a wife. All of a sudden it dawns in the minds of the servants of the king, "Why don't we have a beauty contest so that we can show you the pretty girls in the kingdom so that you can find a pretty wife for yourself?"

It just by chance, luck, happenstance, and fate happened to be a Jewish girl who is pretty as she want to be. This Jewish girl named Esther, this beautiful child in her 20s, is now snatched from Mordecai and taken into the palace. It just so happens that among the hundreds of beautiful virgins there, that this one virgin decides, "I'm not going to ask the king for anything."

I don't know that that's going to matter. I'm just different from all these other girls. The puppet master pulling the strings lets the king notice, "This child is not like all the other girls who took something, because she didn't want nothing." So this is who I'm looking for. I don't need somebody who just wants what I have. I need somebody who's comfortable with just me.

And even though she had sex before marriage, which was outside of God's will, and even though she married a Gentile, which was outside of God's will, because the whole state of the situation still being in Persia was outside of God's will, God had to keep his promise with people not operating inside of his will. Not because he agreed with what they were doing, it was just he had to use what he had to get what he wanted, and that was to fulfill his promise to his people.

And so when all of this happens, at just the time when the two guys were plotting against Ahasuerus, it just so happened by chance, by luck, by fate, by happenstance that Mordecai just happened to be in the nearby room. Mordecai just happened to overhear the conversation.

It just so happened when Mordecai overheard the conversation, his cousin Esther was already situated to get a hearing with the king. So he said, "Girl, these two boys out here want to kill your husband. I think you ought to protect your husband." So she goes in and says, "My uncle Mordecai told me to tell you that there are two guys who work for you who want to depose you."

They investigated, found it's true, and wrote down in the book: Mordecai. Because you're going to find out later, it's during the night when the king can't sleep. He opens up the book and finds the name Mordecai. His name is only in the book because he was situated at the gate and had a cousin in the palace who had married the king because she was captured as a virgin and was recognized to be the one.

Because you see when the puppet master moves, he's behind the scenes. And even though you don't see his name, even though he can't identify with the situation, because he's doing something bigger than you can see, you need to trust him where you are. And if you're in a situation you shouldn't be in, you need to start following God where you are.

Because God, the puppet master, knows how to take a mess and create a miracle. He knows how to take repentance and bring about a change. Because he is the puppet master. So from now on, you should no longer say "the devil's in the details," because now that you know about the providence of God, you need to now say "God is in the details."

Guest (Male): A confidence-building conclusion today from Dr. Tony Evans as he wraps up a message called "Seeing the Invisible Hand." This is the first installment in a powerful collection of messages titled Esther: Pathways to Purpose. And as I mentioned earlier, you can receive this entire six-part series as our thank-you gift when you visit tonyevans.org and make a contribution to help support the ministry of The Alternative.

And as a special bonus, along with the audio collection, you'll also receive a copy of Tony's popular book that perfectly complements this series. It's titled Pathways. Just visit tonyevans.org to get all the details and make the arrangements. That's tonyevans.org. Or make the arrangements with the help of one of our resource team members when you call 1-800-800-3222 any time of the day or night. That number again: 1-800-800-3222. Well, I'll let you know what's in store for next time right after this.

Guest (Female): What if Jesus had spent the night before his crucifixion in the park down the street from your house? Or changed water into wine at a wedding in your neighbor's backyard? These stories wouldn't just be stories anymore, they'd be memories because you were there.

Tony Evans wants you to have that kind of experience every time you read scripture. That's why he's hosting the Israel tour. You'll visit the site of the Sermon on the Mount, tour the old city including the Temple Mount, the Western Wall, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Upper Room where Jesus washed his disciples' feet.

You'll overlook Nazareth, stand on the Mount of Olives, and walk the road where Jesus made his triumphal entry. You'll gather as a group for great music and worship, and Tony will have messages that will give you new insight into familiar Bible stories. There's a lot more on the itinerary. Check it out at tonyevans.org and make your reservation before spaces run out. Don't miss this chance to add a whole new dimension to your faith. Visit tonyevans.org today.

Guest (Male): Tomorrow, Dr. Evans takes us further into the Book of Esther to show us why wherever we are in life, we didn't get there by accident. It's a look at God's intricate planning and perfect timing. You won't want to miss it.