God often moves silently. Sometimes, it seems as if He does not move at all. While God is nowhere named in the entire book of Esther, the Holy Spirit reveals His intentional activity to the discerning reader. This message teaches us to look for the invisible hand of God who is frequently planting the seeds of His providence in the normal, unspectacular moments of our lives. On any typical day of the believer’s life, God is silently, invisibly working on countless levels to accomplish His designs for us.
SCRIPTURE FOCUS (Esther 2:19-23) – “Now when the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. 20 Esther had not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him. 21 In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 22 And this came to the knowledge of Mordecai, and he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai. 23 When the affair was investigated and found to be so, the men were both hanged on the gallows. And it was recorded in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.”
I. Providential Location: the right place (Esther 2:19)
“Now when the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate.”
II. Providential Oil: trusting obedience (Esther 2:20)
“Esther had not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him.”
Obedience and faithfulness tend to facilitate the work which God sovereignly ordains.
III. Providential Timing: God ordains an important moment (Esther 2:21)
“In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.”
IV. Providential Connection: God brings the right people together (Esther 2:22)
“And this came to the knowledge of Mordecai, and he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai.”
V. Providential Detail: God plants something that later grows (Esther 2:23)
“When the affair was investigated and found to be so, the men were both hanged on the gallows. And it was recorded in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.”
This little record-keeping entry would prove to be a major factor in events that followed!