Bob Deffinbaugh comments: A slight shift in the events recorded in Esther would have doomed the Jews, except as Mordecai said, “help would come from someplace else.” Nevertheless, success in the small details mattered. As an Agagite, Haman may well have used his position against the Jews at the first provocation, whether it came from … More Seeing God’s hand moving behind the scenes
“The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.”— Proverbs 16:33 “God’s dice always have a lucky roll,” said Sophocles, one of classical Athens’ three great tragic playwrights. Here’s what Charles H. Spurgeon has to say, in Morning and Evening: If the disposal of the lot is the … More The events of our lives are in His hands
On that night the king could not sleep. And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to … More Divine Insomnia
In Nehemiah 4, we come to two statements which contain elements of God’s awesome power and sovereignty, and also elements of our responsibility. The setting is the rebuilding of the wall and the fierce opposition from the enemies of the Jews. In verse 9 we read: And we prayed to our God and set a … More Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight …
John Piper, in “A Hunger for God” p 166: Israel had been taken into Babylonian exile. They had been there for decades. Now the time had come, in God’s reckoning, for their restoration. But how could this happen? They were a tiny, obscure ethnic minority in the massive Persian empire. The answer is that God rules empires. And when … More Piper on Ezra: “Massively hope-giving”
2 Chronicles 22:7 “But it was ordained by God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram.” Ahaziah decided to join Joram, king of Israel, in order to try to recapture Ramoth-gilead from Hazael, king of Syria. He had advisors that encouraged him to do this. A few years prior to this, Jehoshaphat had … More Ahaziah and Ahab. Both corrupt. Both under God’s ultimate rule.
And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court,and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.Did you … More For we are powerless but our eyes are on you
From the ESV Study Bible: 2 Chron. 18:28–34 Ahab is enticed into battle, as the spirit had promised (v. 20). His decision to disguise himself, while rather cynically directing Jehoshaphat to wear his royal robes, indicates his dominant role in the alliance and perhaps also represents a contrived attempt to evade Micaiah’s word of doom. But events turn out … More Checkmate: Ahab, Jehoshaphat and God’s sovereignty
Psalm 127:2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. Charles Spurgeon wrote in Treasury of David: God is sure to give the best thing to his beloved, and we here see that he gives them … More Spurgeon: Sleep like Jesus
In 2 Kings 8, we read of the Shunammite woman‘s obedience to Elisha to sojourn “wherever you can, for the Lord has called for a famine.” Elisha knew good and well who causes famines. God does.Leviticus 26:3–4 says, If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you … More Sovereign over famine and restoration
Knowing God through His Word ... Day by Day 