The Book of Ecclesiastes says: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. Everyone knows the importance of opportunity and seeks their own in this vast world, but what exactly is opportunity? Who can obtain it? This chapter will give you the answer.
Questions to Consider:
Everyone wants good opportunities, but who can obtain them?
When it rains, it pours. How should we face such a situation?
The theme of this chapter is that God is preparing opportunities for us. If you are a Ph.D. graduate looking for a job, God prepares an opportunity for you, and you happen to get a position. If you need an accounting position, God prepares an opportunity for you, and someone just happens to leave the position for you. How wonderful! These are things closely related to us; we need them, right? Our God often does these things, so do you still need to worry? No. Need to be concerned? No. Because God is a God who prepares opportunities for you. Today, through Chapter 1, let's look at how God works.
God Had Already Prepared a Wealthy Persian Kingdom
Before God prepared an opportunity for Esther, He first prepared an abundant Persian kingdom. In the days of King Ahasuerus, he could feast the entire city for one hundred and eighty days; he was very wealthy. But that wealth was not created by Ahasuerus; rather, it was his grandfather Cyrus, who also had another name, Cyrus. This King Cyrus was remarkable. More than a hundred years earlier, when Babylon was still a small country, the prophet Isaiah prophesied about a man named Cyrus:
Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron (Isaiah 45:1-2).
This King Cyrus was amazing. After he became king, someone opened the Book of Isaiah and said, The Lord God has long prophesied that you would rule the nations! He also saw in Isaiah 44:28, That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. So King Cyrus began to send the Jews back to Jerusalem to build God's temple, and the wealth he created extended to his grandson King Ahasuerus. Today, we must know that God has His will for each of us. If you are a person in God's will, if you can obey God's will and act according to His will, the abundance that God has prepared for you can extend to your descendants!
In this generation we live in, many wealthy people are very clear about this principle. The largest real estate developer in Singapore is a Christian family. After the death of the elder in the family, the two sons are still devout Christians, continuing to serve God, dedicating themselves and serving many people. They are very clear where their wealth comes from. The Bible says:
Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations (Deuteronomy 7:9).
If your descendants are blessed for a thousand generations, how many times is the seed of blessing you sow today multiplied? Not once, not a hundred times, not a thousand times, but millions of times!
Feasting Presages Decline
King Ahasuerus was living in a time of abundance and loved feasting. Although it is not recorded here, King Ahasuerus was later assassinated by his ministers. Looking back at history, we know that feasting can foreshadow some future events. I encourage everyone not to indulge in feasting and wild revelry. Although King Ahasuerus inherited the abundant wealth from God through his grandfather, his constant squandering and wild revelry foreshadowed a bad future for him. The New Testament also mentions not to indulge in wild revelry. What does wild revelry foreshadow? It foreshadows disaster coming upon some people, those who are haughty and complacent because of their wealth. If a person indulges in their desires and happily embarks on the path of wild revelry, there will be no way to clean up when the tragic ending comes.
Today, we Christians must understand that wild revelry is not a good thing. Ahasuerus was a man of wild revelry and was later assassinated by his ministers. Vashti was deposed later. In the Old Testament Book of Job, Job had a very wealthy family, but the people in his family took turns feasting, and as a result, disaster came, and in the end, only Job and his wife were left. If you have abundant wealth given by God, be careful! Do not squander it, nor feast, but start living a simple life, using your wealth for God's kingdom or caring for and supporting those whom God wants us to have mercy on. Many people are surprised that Bill Gates, the world's richest man, drives a very ordinary car, but some people drive cars worth millions with just a little money. Little do they know that arrogance and squandering money are very deadly.
Today, I give you a suggestion: save as much as you can. God has a particularly wonderful will for me and my whole family. If I take my family out for pleasure and travel, there will be disaster when we return. Later, I didn't dare to travel. I think this is a wonderful work God is doing in me, making me start to be careful. I think we will go to many places in the future, but it will be to preach the gospel and bring the gospel of God there, not for pleasure.
God Will Prepare Opportunities for Those He Pleases
This is today's focus: God will prepare opportunities for those He pleases. Anyone who has read the Book of Esther knows that Esther became queen. If Esther was to sit in this position, then the person currently sitting in this position had to step down. God's work is so wonderful! First, He caused King Ahasuerus to become intoxicated and send someone to invite the queen over, and then Vashti stubbornly hardened herself at that time. Her queen's position was abolished. I think if Vashti knew she would be deposed, she would never have rebelled against the king, but it was God who hardened her. In fact, the queen did nothing wrong; it was the king who did wrong, because he should not have made his wife show her beauty in public. You will find that things are so coincidental! If the king realized he was wrong at this point, things would not have happened this way. But God hardened the king's heart, and his heart burned like fire, unable to swallow this breath, and then he asked his counsellors and surrounding ministers.
If they advised him, King, you shouldn't have done this. It is possible that the queen's position would have been preserved. But this is not what God wanted. God wanted to remove Vashti and let the one He pleased sit in the queen's position, becoming the salvation of the nation of Israel. Don't think that God suddenly arises to do something. In fact, God had already made arrangements for this matter long ago. As soon as these counsellors came up with an idea, the queen's position became vacant, and then Esther's appearance was prepared. If God wants to create opportunities for you, He will make someone in a certain position hardened, and then they will be removed or leave, and as a result, you can sit in that position. You must thank God! In my past life, I have experienced this wonderful will. I am a person who loves to learn, but my love of learning does not mean that I have opportunities. When I was an engineer, if my boss above me did not resign, I would not be able to sit in his position.
But wonderfully, when I felt that his work, I could completely handle, he resigned, and then I smoothly sat in his position. After a period of time, the leader above him resigned again, and then I took his position again. How good are the opportunities that God creates! When I am competent, God prepares a higher position for me, allowing me to experience His abundant blessings. So amazing! Wealth is not the problem; the problem is not following and obeying God's way. If a person can be a blessing to many people, God will surely make you rich. But don't keep your eyes on money; that is not God's will. Our eyes must be fixed on the throne of God.
God is a God who creates opportunities. In the Bible, we can often read about it, such as Isaac's marriage. God had prepared Rebekah for Isaac long ago. Rebekah had heard very early on that there was a chosen Abraham in their family, that God had given him wonderful promises, and that he had a son named Isaac in his old age. Then she was there waiting every day for someone to call her to marry Isaac. So when Abraham's servant walked step by step to that place, met Rebekah, and told her, the next day she left with the servant.
In fact, God has long prepared, and all we need is to enter into God's will. If you can enter into God's will, you will find that God is doing many wonderful things! If you pursue God's will more, you will find that when you don't want to do business, the person who wants to do business comes to you to do business with him; when you don't want money, someone says I want to invest money in you and has to stuff money into your hands. Everyone must know that doing business is not a sin. I hope that everyone will experience that wonderful abundance in Jesus Christ. May everyone experience the opportunities that God has prepared in eternity—the opportunity for us to be a blessing to many people!
Believe God Has Prepared the Best Opportunities for Us
This chapter foreshadows the appearance of Esther and Mordecai, for they were to be the salvation of the house of Israel. God can raise you up to be the salvation of people, and He can also remove you from that position. If all you see is the position of the queen, then that is a problem. You must see God's plan for you.
You and I must both know that God is a God who prepares opportunities. Today, whether you are studying IT, accounting, or finance, there is no need to worry. God has long prepared for you; you only need to move forward in faith. What is that feeling? It is that I do not need to carry that burden at all, because God carries it for you. Today I can boast a little, God is testing our brothers and sisters! When we thought we had finally found a job and were preparing to return home, we were notified after returning home: you cannot come. We thought the opportunity was lost forever, but thank God, God often tests our faith, even if our faith is on its last breath, God still accomplishes His plan for you, preparing better jobs for us.
Among us, there are also some brothers and sisters who, along the way, were about to have children, but then lost their jobs. This seems like adding insult to injury! But in fact, that is God preparing a better opportunity for you, and surely a better job came along. But today I want to remind you, only when God wants to use you, is that valuable. When we walk step by step, experiencing disaster again, experiencing crisis again, the faith within us is not so easily weakened. Because you believe that God has a preparation, God is a God who prepares opportunities for me! So today, if you and I read this passage, knowing that even if there is a queen sitting there, if God wants to prepare you to sit in that position, that queen will also be removed. Even when you are looking for a job, and there is no job to be found, and there is no job in the whole world that is suitable for you, God will create a suitable job for you. But God's purpose for you is not a job, but to make you a blessing to many people. Amen!
Original Text:
Est 1:1 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia,) over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)
Est 1:2 That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,
Est 1:3 In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him:
Est 1:4 When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days.
Est 1:5 And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace;
Est 1:6 Where were white, green, and blue, hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble.
Est 1:7 And they gave them drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels being diverse one from another,) and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king.
Est 1:8 And the drinking was according to the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure.
Est 1:9 Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus.
Est 1:10 On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king,
Est 1:11 To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on.
Est 1:12 But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.
Est 1:13 Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times, (for so was the king's manner toward all that knew law and judgment:
Est 1:14 And the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, which saw the king's face, and which sat the first in the kingdom;)
Est 1:15 What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?
Est 1:16 And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus.
Est 1:17 For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.
Est 1:18 Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king's princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath.
Est 1:19 If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she.
Est 1:20 And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small.
Est 1:21 And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan:
Est 1:22 For he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language, that every man should bear rule in his own house, and that it should be published according to the language of every people.