Bible Study Series - 2 Corinthians 2:12
2 Corinthians 2:12 - Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, a door was open to me by the Lord
This verse is an account by Paul of how God opened doors (created opportunities) for him to continue preaching the Gospel in Troas (modern-day Turkey). God has a plan and purpose for each one of us and equips us with the necessary talents and skills to achieve that purpose. He also places us into positions and situations where we can showcase God’s glory in our lives and fulfill His purpose. There are many examples of how God has opened doors for believers to complete His mission for them.
ESTHER - QUEEN FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS
God prepared Esther, a young Jewish woman, to take over as Queen for the Persian empire. He created opportunities for her to learn and act in accordance with His plan and purpose. We’ll look in detail of how Esther achieved the necessary skills and behaviors fitting of a daughter of God.
God set the stage for Esther, by first creating an opportunity for her to become Queen. This occurred in the first chapter of the book with Queen Vashti refusing a direct order from her husband, King Ahasuerus to appear before him and his court. This was unheard of at the time. Though women of the Persian Empire, particularly the Achaemenid Empire, were treated as equal to men, it was still a practice to be submissive to one’s husband. Considering that Vashti was royalty, she should have known that and acted accordingly especially since she was holding a banquet within the King’s palace at the same time. But, God orchestrated the events so that Ahasuerus demanded the attendance of his wife while he was intoxicated, Vashti refuses, Ahasuerus is angry and is advised by his counselors to depose her as queen immediately. Therefore, the slot of the queen became vacant for Esther to eventually take over.
The next part of God’s plan took place when King Ahasuerus’ anger was cooled and he began missing Vashti. He was again advised by his counselors to select a new queen more worthy of the role than Vashti. Now came the ultimate beauty pageant where all the young women of the Persian Empire came to the capital for extensive beauty treatments before being presented to the King to make his choice. Esther was one of the women chosen to take part. She was advised by her cousin Mordecai not to reveal that she was a Jew. This may be strange for us to think that she was told to hide her identity. But God had a plan in that too. In the Persian Empire, it was not unheard of to have mixed racial marriages, especially among the royal family. But, it was more common that the sisters and daughters of royalty were married to gain political advantages. Jewish people were being persecuted even at that time and Mordecai may have hoped to spare his cousin the hardships, so she was told not to reveal her identity.
Esther followed that rule and continued with her preparations. God granted her divine favor with the eunuchs and servants of King Ahasuerus' harem. They provided her with additional beauty treatments, outside of what was already given to all the women, and advised her of what to bring when being presented to the King. Moreover, God also granted her favor in the eyes of the King. Immediately after seeing her, King Ahasuerus was lovestruck and made her his queen (Esther 2:17).
God allowed Esther to become royalty so that she would be in a position to later come to the aid of her people. She remained in contact with Mordecai and advised the King of a plot against his life. She ensured that Mordecai’s name was written in the book of the chronicles of King Ahasuerus. God put all of this into place even before Haman started his plot against the Jewish people. Esther was already in a position of power and authority, though nobody knew that she was a Jew. She acted in their interests.
When Haman’s plot against the Jews was brought to light, Mordecai informed Esther and advised her of how she should respond to this new crisis. Esther could have decided not to come to the Jews’ aid. She could have valued her life and her position more, but she did not. As Mordecai mentioned, Esther was brought to the palace for such a time as this (Esther 4:13,14).
From our perspectives, we may think that Esther going to speak to her husband should not be that big of a deal. After all, they were married to one another. But, we forget the customs of the Persian Empire. While Esther was the Queen, Ahasuerus had to summon her for her to appear at his throne in his royal house. Nobody, not even the queen, could show up uninvited. They were to receive an invitation and have the King raise his scepter to them acknowledging their invitation before they could appear before him. This was at the penalty of death. Esther prayed and asked for the prayers of her people so that this act of obedience would result in their deliverance rather than her death. And God was faithful. God’s plans were in action. Again, God granted her favor so that when the King saw her hovering in the court he extended his scepter in invitation even though Esther had not been invited (Esther 5:1,2).
God also placed a burden in the King’s heart that he should ask Esther what she required and be ready to give her even half his kingdom. In the meantime, we see that Haman is preparing a gallows to hang his least favorite Jew, Mordecai. Little did he know that God’s plans were in motion. God made it so that Ahasuerus could not sleep that night and was read to from the book of his chronicles. God allowed it that the portion that should be read to the King was the part regarding Mordecai’s help when dealing with a plot against his life. And then we see that the King honors Mordecai instead of his right-hand Haman.
God made King Ahasuerus’ heart malleable to the words of his wife, Queen Esther, so that when she revealed Haman’s plot and her own heritage the King was receptive. He could have been furious with his wife for hiding something from him. But, instead, he had Haman killed, ordered a new decree that allowed the Jews to defend themselves from attack, and placed Mordecai in a position of authority within his kingdom.
God’s plans are wonderful and He opens the doors for His children to fulfill His purposes. In the book of Esther, the word ‘God’ is not mentioned even once, yet you see His provision and grace over the whole story. In Esther’s case, God did not need to endow her with special skills but allowed her to be given favor by all those who were around her. She was beautiful, yes, but God allowed her beauty to be used not for her own glory, but to save her people.
