Est. 3-5
I marvel at Mordecai’s confidence. God is never mentioned in the book of Esther, but His presence in the story, and especially in Mordecai, is evident. Mordecai was obviously aware of God’s promise through the prophets to restore His people. He trusted that the Jews would somehow not be destroyed. And certainly not because he had chosen to be faithful to God by not bowing down and paying homage to Haman. Mordecai told Esther, “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews form another place” (Est. 4:14a). That’s what I call confidence in God’s promise!! And Esther ultimately understood, as Mordecai did, that her obedience was more important than her life.
Haman, on the other hand, is a perfect picture of unrestrained human nature. What kind of pride hates so deeply that it desires to annihilate an entire people because one man refuses to bow to you? Haman plotted for the better part of a year to come up with a plan! At the end of chapter 5, he was reveling in all of his perceived greatness, bragging to his friends and his wife. Talk about the antithesis of a Spirit filled life!
Rev. 12
To be honest, I can’t tell if this imagery with the woman and the dragon is a glimpse into the future or a glimpse into the past. Time is a funny thing – we are bound to it, but God is not. Therefore, I am certain that His perspective of our story – of His story – is quite different than ours. In any case, I couldn’t help but see some correlation in this story to what we just read in Esther.
First thing I notice is that the brothers, who I would guess are believers in Christ, “conquered [the dragon] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Rev. 12:11). This shows the same understanding that we saw in Esther and Mordecai. This life we have on earth is not the real thing. True life is found through obedience to God.
The other thing I notice is the hateful rage of the dragon. Much like Haman did with Mordecai, when the dragon felt spited by the woman he “went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus” (Rev. 12:17). Just like in Esther, we have a story that reveals the stark contrast between those who belong to God and those who don’t. This is what Jesus meant when He said, “You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matt. 7:16). Those who are of God reveal God’s character. Those who aren’t reveal their own hopeless human nature. The contrast is not always as obvious as in these two stories, but it is always there.