sovereign plot twist

So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.

Esther 7:10

Hate will turn against the hater. The sovereign hand of God assures us that no evil hatred will go unpunished for long. And for those consumed with hating other people who are created in the image of God, that hatred itself will become their undoing. This is what happened to Haman, hater of the Jews in Persia, plotter of evil against God’s people, and obsessed with hating a race because he intensely hated one man and wanted to kill Mordecai. His hatred of one man led him to plot against an entire race. And that plot severely failed by God’s providential and ironic overturning of events.

God had an eternal covenant with the Jews. Israel cannot be decimated. And no empire can stop this truth. Many have tried. It did not happen in Persia, though Israel’s doom appeared certain. God set up queen Esther to intercede and save her people. And throughout history, no evil empire has succeeded in eradicating the Jewish faith, though several have tried to over the millennia. Some want to do it even today. Yet God’s purpose for them persists.

I believe God still keeps covenant with Israel. The modern state of Israel, so improbably persistent, resilient, and strong is a powerful witness to God’s sovereign purpose… an apologetic for the legitimacy of the Old Testament! From Israel, God made possible the salvation of all people by Jesus — King of the Jews and Savior of the world. And over Israel Jesus is the legitimate Messiah and King. One day, perhaps soon, Jesus will return to fulfill all the promises God has made to set this world right, end hate on this globe, and bring about a perfect future in a new heavens and new earth. When that happens it will be an even more jaw-dropping, mind-blowing, over-the-top plot twist then when the fate of the Jews changed in one day in Persia thousands of years ago.

Looking now at a world so fractured with bitter conflict, hate, personal polarization, and evil, I see a sovereign God still orchestrating His purposes amid the human chaos. The gospel is still good news and is still being proclaimed. God’s people are safely held eternally by His great power, and God has already revealed in His Word how Jesus will turn the story forever to a just and happy ending.