The Hidden Hand of God in Deliverance
The Hidden Hand in the Eleventh Hour
Well, church, it is good to be with you guys today. How are we doing? Good! I love to hear that. My name is Mike, and I’m one of the teaching pastors here. If I haven’t had the privilege of meeting you yet, it’s great to stand up here and enjoy some time in God’s Word together. For those of you joining us online, we are super grateful you’re here. As always, if you’re able, boy, we would love to have you here in person. We’d love to hug your necks, say hello, and just have you join us live if you can.
I hope you’re enjoying our journey through the book of Esther. I pray that, maybe like me, it’s doing a work in your life. I found myself this week, specifically in our life group, reflecting on this concept of God’s “hidden hand” and His providence. I had a couple of minor situations pop up—nothing major—but my immediate response was, “God, where are you? What are you doing? Why is this going on?” My flesh wanted to say this was just circumstantial and that God wasn’t even involved. But this series is causing me to lift my eyes a little bit. I have to remind myself: “No, Mike, God is still sovereign. He’s not asleep. He knows what’s going on. He wasn’t surprised by this—you were, but He’s not.”
He is smarter than I am, and He allows things to transpire just the way they do. It’s caused me to be more aware of God’s hand when my flesh doesn’t want to see it. Maybe for you, it’s been the same. Last week in chapter eight, we watched Esther rise to her position with a courageous, other-centered boldness. The Jews were under the threat of annihilation. A decree had been issued through Haman and King Xerxes to kill, destroy, and annihilate all Jews—men, women, and children. Esther went to Xerxes and said, “We need to undo this.” Because the original decree couldn’t be revoked, they issued a counter-decree allowing the Jews to defend themselves.
As we walk into chapter nine, battle is looming. The threat is literally on the doorstep. God, in His infinite wisdom, doesn’t just take the threat away. He allows the Jews to walk through it. We are going to see a battle, and we are going to see the hidden hand of God in deliverance.
Esther 9:1 (NASB)
Now in the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar), on the thirteenth day when the king’s command and edict were about to be executed, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, it was turned to the contrary so that the Jews themselves gained the mastery over those who hated them.
It’s been eleven months since Haman rolled the dice to pick the day the Jews would be annihilated. But God is sovereign even over the roll of the dice. Now, the day is finally here. What’s interesting about verse one is that the outcome has already been determined. We haven’t even seen the battle yet, but we’re told it was “turned to the contrary.” The tables were turned. God reversed it. We know how the battle ends before we even get there, which tells us to pay attention to the hidden hand involved.
A Generational Conflict
We have seen so many reversals in Esther: from Queen Vashti being deposed to Esther rising; from Haman being exalted in hate to his death; from the threat of annihilation to Mordecai’s rise to power. To the world, this looks like fate or happenstance. But as we raise our eyes, we recognize it is providence. God doesn’t simply remove the situation; He allows the Jews to walk through it. On the very day the enemies hoped to gain mastery, God flipped everything.
Esther 9:2 (NASB)
The Jews assembled in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm; and no one could stand before them, for the dread of them had fallen on all the peoples.
In chapter eight, the Jews were given the right to defend themselves. What we see now is war, bloodshed, and violence. But notice this: none of the people attacking the Jews were forced to be there. Xerxes didn’t draft them into a campaign against their will. He simply said, “If you hate these people, I’ll give you a green light for one day to execute your wrath.” They are doing this out of their own free will, driven by anger, hatred, and greed.
This group is described as “those who hated them” and “the enemies of the Jews.” It begs the question: where does this animosity stem from? It seems disproportionate. Haman’s reaction to Mordecai not bowing was to want a million-plus people wiped off the face of the planet. To understand this, we have to go backward. We have to look at the history of the Amalekites.
Deuteronomy 25:17-19 (NASB)
’Remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from Egypt, how he met you along the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were faint and weary; and he did not fear God. ’Therefore it shall come about when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies, in the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget.
When Israel left Egypt, the Amalekites attacked them unprovoked. And they didn’t attack the front of the line; they attacked from the rear—the children, the elderly, the sick, and the weak. God took great offense to this and told Moses that one day, He would deal with it. Four hundred years later, God told King Saul that the time had come to execute justice. But Saul disobeyed. He spared the king, Agag, and kept the best of the plunder. Because of that disobedience, Saul lost his throne, and the Amalekites remained a thorn in Israel’s side.
Now, fast forward hundreds of years to the book of Esther. Haman is described as “the Agagite.” We are meant to remember the history. The same hatred that lived in King Agag is alive and well in Haman. These people are simply waiting for the green light to finish what started centuries ago. If you were a Jew in this situation—if it was your wife, your husband, or your grandchildren facing annihilation—what would you do? War is horrible, and we don’t wish for it, but there is a time to take up arms in defense. In this unique moment, God is leading them to do just that.
The Turning of the Tables
As the battle begins, God’s hand turns the tide. He causes a dread of the Jews to fall on the people. Even the government officials—the satraps and governors—begin assisting the Jews because they see the rise of Mordecai. Mordecai understood that he wasn’t in his position for selfish gain; he was there to serve others “for such a time as this.”
Esther 9:5-6 (NASB)
Thus the Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying; and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. At the citadel in Susa the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men,
At the citadel in Susa, 500 men who had the green light to kill the Jews went on the attack and lost their lives. Not one Jew is recorded to have died in this battle. Then we see ten additional names—the sons of Haman. Now, I had three numbers in my SAT score, but I’m going to do my best with these names. We have Parshendatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. I feel like I nailed that! Thank you.
These ten sons of Haman apparently carried on the generational hate of their father. They are counted among the enemies. By the end of the first day, the threat in the citadel was neutralized. The king reports the numbers to Esther and asks her if she has any further requests.
Esther’s Bold Request
Esther’s response has gotten her into a ton of hot water with commentators over the centuries. Some call her bloodthirsty or vindictive because of what she asks for next.
Esther 9:13-14 (NASB)
Then said Esther, ‘If it pleases the king, let tomorrow also be granted to the Jews who are in Susa to do according to the edict of today; and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.’ So the king commanded that it should be done so; and an edict was issued in Susa, and Haman’s ten sons were hanged.
She asks for two things: an additional day of battle in Susa and for Haman’s ten dead sons to be hanged on the gallows. Why ask for more war? Some say she was just being aggressive, but I believe Esther knew the threat wasn’t fully gone. There was a lingering danger, and she recognized that if they didn’t deal with it now, they would just be handing a “hot mess” to the next generation. She wanted to cut the cancer out completely.
As for hanging the sons, remember that Persian “hanging” meant impaling bodies on a stake. It was a public statement. It was the Persians who actually invented this form of execution before passing it to the Romans. Esther was making a public declaration: “If you share this ideology of hate, this is what you can expect.” She wasn’t crossing a line; she was ending the evil.
Obedience in the Spoils
On the second day, the Jews in Susa killed another 300 men. Throughout the rest of the provinces, 75,000 enemies were killed. Esther’s intuition was spot on—the threat was far larger than just the 500 in the citadel. But notice the phrase that is repeated three times in this chapter: “but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.”
This is a massive detail. To the victor go the spoils, and Xerxes had explicitly given them the right to take the plunder. Yet, they took absolutely nothing. Why? Because they were doing what Saul failed to do centuries earlier. They were recognizing that this was God’s battle. By refusing the plunder, they were walking in obedience and showing that this wasn’t about greed—it was about survival and the glory of God.
Esther 9:17-18 (NASB)
[This was done] on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing. But the Jews who were in Susa assembled on the thirteenth and the fourteenth of the same month, and they rested on the fifteenth day and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing.
As chapter nine opens, the Jews are on the brink of annihilation. By the middle of the chapter, the threat is gone. The tables were turned. God’s hidden hand of deliverance providentially reversed their course, and the people stopped to celebrate. They would remember this day for the rest of their history.
Where Are You Waiting for the Turn?
So, what does this have to do with us? How do we handle a text about war and vengeance? I want to ask you two questions as we close. First, where are you waiting on God to turn things around in your life? Are there circumstances outside of your control where you are begging God to move? Maybe it’s your health, your job, or a relationship that is driving you bonkers.
It is good for us to read history like this to remind ourselves that God has been working behind the scenes a lot longer than we’ve been on this earth. Are you begging Him to show up? And as you wait, have you lost hope? Some of you have been praying for a long time and don’t see Him moving. You might feel a sense of despair, like the Psalmist.
Psalms 42:5 (NASB)
Why are you in despair, O my soul? And [why] have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him [For] the help of His presence.
The Psalmist cried out to God and reminded himself to hope in God even when he didn’t feel it. I’ll be honest with you—I have one specific area in my life right now where I feel that. It feels like it’s 11:55 PM. If God doesn’t show up this week, it’s over. I’ve been begging Him to reverse course, and it doesn’t seem like He’s doing anything. But through this series, God is telling me, “Mike, I’m still here. I know what’s going on. I love you. But I am bigger and smarter and more sovereign than you. Will you trust me even if I’m not a genie who gives you everything you want?”
The War Within
Secondly, I want to probe a little deeper. How do we apply a text about war when Jesus tells us to love our enemies? The war in Esther was external, but for the Christian, the primary war is internal. We aren’t called to go to battle with people we disagree with in self-righteousness. But make no mistake: as Christians, we are at war.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NASB)
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. [We are] destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and [we are] taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,
Paul says the battleground is internal. There is a battle for our thoughts and our obedience. There are parts of us that refuse to submit to the will of God—that “flesh residue” or gunk left over even after we embrace the Gospel. Paul says if you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live. We need a wartime mentality, not toward people “out there,” but toward the sin “in here.”
We should have a tenacity and zeal for our own holiness. I’m going to battle my gossip, my slander, my envy, and my selfishness. I’m not going to give up until the Lord comes back. That is why we have things like ReGen on Monday nights or our Life Groups—to create environments where we can be honest about the battle inside of us. If you aren’t in one of those environments, I lovingly invite you in. Let’s wage war on the things that honor God by looking inward.
Father, thank you for the passion to wage war internally on the parts of us that refuse to submit. Would you continue to cause us to remember where You are in our story? Help us not to lose hope or despair, but to remember that Your hidden hand is at work today just as it was in Esther’s day. Help us to cling to You and trust You even when You don’t give us the answers we want. We love You for our Savior, Jesus. Our hope is in the Gospel and His finished work on the cross. In His name we pray, Amen.