Esther 9:1 Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them.
All of us probably know the feeling of instant regret. You do something or choose something and instantly you wish you had not. This may be closely related to second guessing. All of us know people, or maybe we are this person at times, who is constantly saying, “Oh, I should have, would have, could have.” You know, the guy that sold the ’68 Chevelle in ’73 and wishes he had it back, or the guy who ordered the fish sandwich but wishes he had ordered a hamburger. Then, there is the guy who turned left when he should have turned right, or said yes and should have said no. Maybe you should have made a different choice, but you didn’t. You may regret the past, but you cannot change the past.
Could God change the past? God can do anything He wants to do, but is God going to do that? No. Can God change the future? Yes, and though God does not change the past, God does change the future. In Esther 9:1 you have a summary of the entire story of Esther and the background for the celebration of Purim in one phrase. It says, “In the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them.)”
The words it was turned to the contrary basically sum up the entire story of Esther. God does not change the past, but God does change the future. What you have here is very obviously a set context of what we call the law of the Medes and the Persians, law that cannot be broken, changed, or altered. By trickery or chicanery Haman compelled the king to pronounce this judgment of death on the Jewish people. Now, that was a law of the Medes and Persians; it was not changed. What happened was even better. You can see the providence and power of God. You see that one law was greater than the other law, and the law that spared the Jewish people was greater than the law that condemned them. In short, it was turned to the contrary.
You see this in several ways. In Esther 7:9-10 the gallows Haman had built for Mordecai was used to hang Haman himself. In Esther 8:1 the king gave Haman’s house to Mordecai. In Esther 8:2 the king gave Haman’s ring to Mordecai. Esther 8:11 says that though the king sent a letter to condemn the Jews, he later sent a letter with a law that protected the Jewish people; it countermanded the first law. In Esther 8:15 the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. That is in contrast to Esther 3:15 where the city of Shushan was perplexed. In short, in Esther 8:17 the day of destruction became the day of deliverance, the day of Purim. Purim means dice or chance, and the day of chance was really a day of providence.
You may regret the past or fear the future, but one takes care of the other. If you know of God’s provision for the future, then you need not worry about it, and you don’t need to dwell in regret on the past. Providence takes care of both, the retrospect and regret of the past and the fear of the future. One thing that is obvious and encouraging is that providence is always forward facing. God’s looking ahead and taking care of things even when we don’t know that He is doing so is always forward facing. It is pointless to be absorbed by the past or fearful of the future. God’s provision is always forward facing.
Purim is celebrated to this day. It is a look back at what God did and a reminder that God did, God can, and therefore God will. Sometimes we look at history and are discouraged. We might look at great revivals in the past, usually thousands of miles from here and many years ago. Well, we can be encouraged that God did, so God can. If He can, then we need to pray that way. We might think God doesn’t work that way now, but the past reminds us of who God is, and who God is does not change. Providence is always forward facing, so remember what God has done.
Also, face forward. That is what God is doing and that is what we should do. So, our prayer should be timely. Not to be picky, but we should not say, “Dear God, we pray that you will have blessed Mrs. Smith in her surgery yesterday.” No, if I care enough to pray, then I should care enough to know when the surgery is and when to pray. If the surgery is done, I need to pray in a different way that is related. So, there is timely prayer, and then courageous action. There came a time when Esther said, “I’m going to do something about this wicked command of Haman through the king, and if I perish, I perish.” She faced forward with courage because God provides.
Look in the direction of God’s provision. That is not the past; it is right now looking toward the future because providence is forward facing and we should be too.