Hope Against All Odds — Hope of Advent

  • December 2, 2024
  • /
  • John Tillman

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Esther 3 Listen: (3:12)
Read: Hebrews 13 Listen: (3:31)

Scripture Focus: Esther 3.13-15

13 Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. 14 A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so they would be ready for that day.

15 The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.

Luke 2.34-35

34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Reflection: Hope Against All Odds — Hope of Advent

By John Tillman

Every year we wait for Christmas, birthdays, or other pleasant days which are joyous to experience and anticipate. But what about future days of loss?

We wait for some losses with no specific date, such as our deaths or the deaths of loved ones. Some losses are more precisely scheduled. You might have the misfortune of knowing when you will lose your job, when your savings or retirement will run out, when your insurance policy will expire or be canceled, or when your pension or other benefits will be reduced or eliminated. There is no joy in anticipating these days.

But imagine for a moment waiting a year for a day of wrath, destruction, and robbery decreed against you, your family, and your people. That’s what Esther, Mordecai, and the Jews experienced.

Purim takes its name from the Hebrew word for “lots.” This refers to the lots Haman cast to choose the month he would destroy the Jews. The lot was cast in the first month and fell on the twelfth. A year of waiting for destruction.

The odds fell against the Jews of Esther’s day and they frequently fall against us. Jesus told us trouble was coming and we believe him. Our world bears a curse. Our dice are loaded by sin to lose. We are more likely to roll snake eyes than sevens.

We know how to wait for presents and parties but how do we wait for pain and persecution?

We can wait with hope even when disaster looms. We can have hope when the odds fall against us. In Esther’s case, God’s providence turned the coming day of disaster and loss into a day of victory. Their enemies died instead of them.

As we wait for Advent, we join with the faithful who have waited in the dark hoping for light and waited under a curse hoping to become a blessing. Waiting with hope is a spiritual discipline. Perhaps, like Daniel, we must pray prophetically for a restoration we won’t live to see. Perhaps, like Esther, we must lend our voice to bring God’s salvation today. Perhaps, like Mary, we must accept a scandalous task and a future day of loss.

In whatever way the Spirit directs, wait in hope. Jesus is the reverser of fortune who changes lots with us and redefines our fate. He is why we can wait in hope against all odds.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

This is the Lord’s doing and it is wonderful in our eyes. — Psalm 118.23

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more about Mercy Seat and Manger

David met an angel, made a sacrifice, and prepared a place to welcome God’s presence. Generations later, David’s daughter, Mary, did the same to welcome Jesus.

Mercy Seat and Manger — Hope of Advent

Read more about Supporting Our Work

Year end giving is a huge part of our ministry’s support. Please consider a gift to support our ad-free biblical content.

Supporting our Work

Finding Blessings In Chaos

  • January 26, 2016
  • /
  • Park Forum
And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion. — Esther 3.15
The word tragedy is used to describe the chance-events which permanently reshape normal life. From a costly professional error, the death of a loved one, or the horrors of terrorism, tragedy leaves its scars on both soul and culture.

The story of Esther chronicles Haman’s attempt to exterminate the Jewish people exiled in Persia during the fourth century B.C.E. Haman believed he was divining the will of Persian gods when he set the date of the massacre by casting lots. The very thought of genocide occurring by such happenstance sent Susa, the town where many exiled Jewish families lived, into chaos.

The Hebrew word translated as confusion is also used for wandering—the state of Israel’s lostness in the wilderness. The similarities between the stories of Exodus and Esther are remarkable. In both stories Israel is held captive in a pagan land, an adopted child with a concealed identity is empowered by God, and the enemy is slaughtered as Israel is redeemed. Esther is the story of a new exodus, Exodus a story of a new creation.

The overt lesson of the creation account in Genesis 1 is that God enters chaos and makes beauty. God’s creative act is generative—formlessness is structured under his will, void is filled by his grace, darkness driven out by light, and the depths of evil brought into submission by his Spirit.

Faithfulness in Esther’s story might be understood as providence (Esther and Mordecai both rose in power); but we cannot miss that Israel’s deepest longing—to return home—went unmet. Remarkably, this reality did not shake their faith. God’s presence with them in suffering became something cherished.

For thousands of years Jews have celebrated Purim, a holiday which is named after the Hebrew word for “lots.” It is a reminder of God’s faithfulness when the lots of the world fall against his people. Even when things seem haphazard, when the world looks like it is likely to be overcome by evil, when the innocent suffer, God is faithful.

God’s faithfulness didn’t result in an attitude of escapism among his people. When the Babylonian exiles cried out to God he instructed them to invest where they were—for though their pain was immense and their longings unmet, the eternal weight of glory awaited.

Today’s Reading
Esther 3 (Listen – 3:12)
Acts 26 (Listen – 5:17)