For Such a Time as This

A Series on Women in the Bible

 (Use the link below to read the verses.)

Esther 4:1-17

[God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, we will look at the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]

 

During spring break of my sophomore year of college, my high school girlfriend, and fiancé, broke up with me. When I returned to school, which by the way, there were ten guys for every girl; my prospects were slim to none. I felt hopeless and depressed to the point where I almost flunked out of school.

 

The following summer, my degree program required a summer term of field work. There was a guy in the program who invited me to church with him where, low and behold, there were pretty girls everywhere. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

 

One night, my friend shared with me about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. For such a time as this, Ken Baker, had literally changed my life forever.

 

The book of Esther tells us the story about how her cousin Mordecai raised her as his only daughter because both of her parents had died. Mordecai and Esther were exiled to Persia.

 

During a festive banquet for many high officials, King Xerxes was humiliated by Queen Vashti. As a result, he deposed her, and sponsored a beauty contest to choose the next queen.

 

Scripture tells us that Esther “had a lovely figure and was beautiful”. Because of this, she was forced to participate in the contest. After a yearlong of beauty treatments, she was taken to the king’s bed. Following this, he made her his queen.

 

The situation became desperate when Haman, who was the most powerful man in the king’s service, manipulated King Xerxes to decree that all Jews be killed. 

According to my NIV study Bible, these events “threatened the continuity of God’s purposes in redemptive history. The future existence of God’s chosen people, and ultimately the appearance of the Messiah, were jeopardized by Haman’s edict to destroy the Jews.”

 

Mordecai sent this message to enlist Esther’s help.

 

¹³ “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. ¹⁴ If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”             NLT

 

Making a bad situation worse, Esther had never disclosed to King Xerxes that she was a Jew. Plus, by law, anyone who went into the king’s presence without an invitation, was subject to death.

 

For such a time as this, Mordecai told her. The Lord had placed her in just the right place, at just the right time. Esther risked her life, and faithfully submitted to the Lord, changing the lives of a whole nation. My friend, Ken Baker, faithfully followed the Lord, and changed my life.

 

Where has the Lord placed you, for such a time as this?

 

Copyright 2021 Joseph B Williams

 

 

 

The Strong Silent Type

A Series on Women in the Bible
 (Use the link below to read the verses.)
Judges 4:1-9

[God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, we will look at the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]

  

When I was growing up, TV shows and movies were filled with the strong silent type. Men like John Wayne, Randolph Scott and Gary Cooper. These men were unflappable, unafraid and undeniable. Nothing could stand in their way.

 

The ancient Middle Eastern culture was similar to this. Men, who were the strong silent type, were the norm. Among them was Moses, who led Israel to the brink of entering the Promised Land, and Joshua, who finished the job.

 

But Israel was not just to inhabit the Promised Land, they were to conquer it. You see, the Promised Land belonged to someone else. People who had their own history, culture, customs and gods that they worshiped. And, they weren’t ready to give all those things up; not without a fight!

 

And when the people of Israel lived among those who they were supposed to have conquered, they adopted their customs and culture. They intermarried and worshipped their gods. In short, they turned their backs on the God of their Fathers. In order to lead them back to Him, the Lord sent judges.

 

This is the context and the culture when Deborah became the judge, leader and prophet of Israel. It was her job to lead the people back to the Lord. But what would it take for a woman to break through a cultural wall like this? To step into the world of the “strong silent type”, and rule with authority?

 

⁴ Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. ⁵ She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided.         NIV

 

The name Deborah means “bee”; like a honey bee. According to my NIV study Bible, “Deborah dispensed the sweetness of justice as she held court, not in a city gate where male judges sat, but under the shade of a honey tree.”

 

Although she wasn’t a warrior, she called on Barak, whose name meant “thunderbolt”, to lead the battle against Sisera and the Canaanites. She even accompanied him into their victorious battle. This was a major step in defeating the Canaanites. As a result, Deborah brought peace to Israel.

 

³¹ “Lord, may all your enemies die like Sisera!
    But may those who love you rise like the sun in all its power!”

Then there was peace in the land for forty years.        NLT

 

The Lord works in unexpected ways. In a culture dominated by leaders of the strong silent male types, He chose Deborah. In a world filled with conflict and chaos, He didn’t choose a warrior, He chose Deborah. In a time when Israel had wandered from the Lord, He chose a woman to lead them back to Him.

The Lord takes ordinary people, and has them accomplish extraordinary, unexpected things. How is the Lord at work in your life in unexpected ways?

 

Copyright 2021 Joseph B Williams

 

 

 

 

Bad Things

A Series on Women in the Bible
 (Use the link below to read the verses.)
Genesis 2:23; 3:20

[God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, we will look at the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]

  

People are often defined by the “bad things” that they do.

 

In the fall, over 106,000 screaming fans cram into Ohio Stadium to worship the Ohio State football team. From 1978-81, Art Schlichter was the starting quarterback for the Buckeyes.

 

He was an All American, three time Heisman trophy candidate, and was the fourth pick in the 1982 NFL draft. He knew what it was like to have everything going his way; to enjoy the celebrity of being a football god; to be at the top of the world.

 

And yet, his life came crashing down. He had a gambling addiction that cost him his NFL career, and landed him in prison for over a decade. Despite all the good that he did while at Ohio State, some might define him only by the bad things he did.

 

The same thing could easily be said about Eve. She was living at the top of the world; in harmony with the Lord God, with nature and with Adam. She couldn’t have asked for a better life.

 

And yet, she threw it all away. She left the Garden of Eden in shame. She is only mentioned two other times in the Bible; both in reference to her being deceived, and in deceiving Adam. Eve could easily be defined by the “bad things” that she did.

 

But, she is also the same person who Adam said this about.

 

²³ “At last, here is one of my own kind—Bone taken from my bone, and flesh from my flesh. ‘Woman’ is her name because she was taken out of man.”    GNT

 

She was named Eve because the name sounds like a Hebrew term which means “to give life”. Think about it. A man can create by designing and building something, but he can’t give life. Adam couldn’t give life. Only Eve could. That’s a phenomenal gift; to give life.

 

²⁰ Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.               NIV

 

Therefore, the next time you find yourself judging someone by defining them according to the bad things they have done; think about Eve. And the next time you judge or define yourself by the bad things you have done; think about Eve. Then look for how the Lord God has worked in your life to bring life to others.

 

Copyright 2021 Joseph B Williams

 

 

An Impossible Situation

A Series on Women in the Bible
 (Use the link below to read the verses.)
1 Samuel 1

[God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, we will look at the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]

 

This past year was filled with impossible situations.

 

Parents working from home while their children were going to school at home, living together 24/7; an impossible situation. Grandparents could only see their children and grandchildren through a glass door or window; an impossible situation.

 

Maybe these situations weren’t totally impossible, because people coped and made it through them. But for sure they were difficult, and at times, no doubt felt impossible; not unlike Hanna’s situation.

 

Elkanah, had two wives: Hannah and Peninnah. Hannah was childless while Peninnah had children. Elkahah would go to Shiloh every year to worship and sacrifice to the Lord. He gave a portion of meat to Peninnah to sacrifice. But to Hannah, he gave a double portion because he loved her, and she had no children.

 

For years, Peninnah kept provoking Hannah just to irritate her. At times, she provoked her to the point where Hannah would cry so hard that she couldn’t eat. On one occasion, Hannah was in “deep anguish, crying bitterly” as she prayed.

 

¹¹ “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”          NIV

 

As they say… the rest was history. Hannah got pregnant and had a son who she named Samuel. Samuel was the prophet who led Israel for years, eventually establishing David as king. Then the Lord made an eternal covenant with David which led to the birth of Jesus, the Son of God.

 

However, it would have been very easy for Hannah to “conveniently forget” her promise to the Lord; to rationalize why the Lord wouldn’t really expect her to give up her son; to justify why it would have been the right thing to raise Samuel at home where Peninnah was constantly berating her. But she didn’t do any of these.

 

When Hannah returned with Samuel to worship and sacrifice to the Lord, she went to Eli the priest, and said to him.

 

²⁶ “Sir, do you remember me?” Hannah asked. “I am the very woman who stood here several years ago praying to the Lord. ²⁷ I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. ²⁸ Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life.” And they worshiped the Lord there.           NLT

 

Hannah faced many difficult situations which must have felt impossible at times. But she faced them with a faith that never lost hope in what the Lord could do. She believed that He could overcome her impossible situations.

 

It’s so easy to get caught up in the impossible situations in our lives; to lose hope; to lean on our own attempts of coping rather than to trust the Lord. Hannah gives us an inspiring example to follow.

 

Copyright 2021 Joseph B Williams

 

 

 

 

 

A Love Triangle

A Series on Women in the Bible
 (Use the link below to read the verses.)
Genesis 30:1-24

[God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, we will look at the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]

  

Every year at Easter, we enjoy watching our grandchildren hunt for Easter eggs. Truth be known, we enjoy hiding them too. Mostly though, it’s fun watching them as they run around the backyard, picking up eggs and putting them in their baskets. The two oldest are competitive, and always check to see who has the most.

 

A little competition is okay, even at Easter. But how would you like to grow up in a family where, as an adult, you competed with your sister to see who could have the most children. It sounds bizarre, but for Rachel and Leah, it was exactly what happened. There was a perfect storm of circumstances that led to this.

 

Rachel had been promised to Jacob in marriage, but they were tricked by Rachel’s older sister and their Father so that Leah could marry first. Adding to this problem was the fact that Jacob didn’t love Leah; he loved Rachel. Plus, Leah was somewhat homely, while Rachel was beautiful. However, Leah was able to have children, but not Rachel. At least, not at first.

 

The final outcome was that Rachel became extremely jealous to the point of being suicidal!

 

¹ When Rachel saw that she wasn’t having any children for Jacob, she became jealous of her sister. She pleaded with Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”  NLT

 

From her emotionally fragile condition, Rachel decided to ratchet up the competition, and told Jacob to take her servant and have a child with her. After two sons were conceived by her servant, Rachel made this startling comment.

 

⁸ “I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.”      NIV

 

Apparently, Leah took this as a challenge, and followed suit by giving her servant to Jacob to conceive more children. After all of this, the Lord heard Rachel’s plea.

 

²² Then God remembered Rachel’s plight and answered her prayers by enabling her to have children. ²³ She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. “God has removed my disgrace,” she said.  NLT

 

What can we learn from Rachel through her story?

 

First, the Lord is faithful. It doesn’t matter how bad our circumstances are. He is always with us; always at work; always faithful.

Second, the Lord works through broken people. People like Rachel, Leah and Jacob; people like you and me.

Finally, we are not defined by our failures. Despite the pain and shame that Rachel felt; despite her desperation and depression; despite her overzealous competition… Rachel trusted the Lord. She continued to faithfully pray until the Lord answered.

 

Copyright 2021 Joseph B Williams