Without Esther, Would We Have No Jesus?
Ben Fallon: Paul, in the last episode, Jim challenged you on your use of the word idol and how many interpret the Bible literally or metaphorically. Today's question is similar, and it comes from Sandy who's reading Everyday Gospel. Both Jim and Sandy were very respectful in their challenge and appreciative of your ministry and writing, but they firmly disagree with you.
Sandy's disagreement comes out of Everyday Gospel, in the May 24th entry, where you wrote:
Without Esther, the Jewish people would have been destroyed and there would have been no birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem, no righteous life of Jesus, no substitutionary death, no victorious resurrection, and no ascension to the Father to intercede for his own. The world would have been trapped in sin and doomed with no hope.
Sandy says:
Yes, you did explain it in the next paragraph, but as you know, that comment is definitely not true. What if somebody walks away with this as their last sentence? What if they think, “Thanks to Esther, we have Jesus?” We know that without Esther, God would have made another way. Then could someone say, “Without Mary, there would be no birth of Jesus? Without Judas, Jesus wouldn't have died?” I always appreciate your writing and love the way you teach biblical truths, but this one baffled me, so I would love to hear your thoughts.”
Paul Tripp: When you are writing and you are speaking, you say things to get attention and you say things to make people think. And I'm glad that I did that for this person who asked this question because it's my intention, in those moments, to give you pause. I don't mean that to be inflammatory, but I think at times that's important. When I said that without Esther, the Jewish people would have been destroyed and there would have been no birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem, no righteous life in Jesus, no substitution, no death, and so on, the point being made here is that God accomplishes his unalterable, redemptive plan through the vehicle of the choices, decisions, and actions of the secondary agent.
Now, let me explain that. It is God's choice to raise up people of faith, people of hope, people of perseverance, people encouraged through which he accomplishes what he preordained to do. I mean, come on, God is God. He could have moved His redemptive plan along until the coming of Jesus without employing people at all. But he chose not to. He chose that the vehicle for moving his plan along would be the choices and actions of people who he called to participate in his work. God is completely and unalterably sovereign, and people are completely and unalterably responsible. It's not an either-or, it's a both-and.
So, it is biblically right to say that God's plan is never dependent on human choices or actions because his will will always be done, don't quit listening, but it is also biblically right to say that God's plan depended on the choices and actions of Esther, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Daniel, etc., because God chose to move his plan along through their choices and decisions. God's will is secure and human choices are valid and essential. It's important to hold on to both of these because that's exactly what the Bible says.
I want to go to a passage that I find very helpful because it holds both of those together. It's Acts 13:48. The occasion here is Paul and Barnabas are preaching the gospel in Antioch of Pisidia, ”And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.” Let me read that again, “And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.” You could argue that God had chosen these Gentiles as his own, and they would be saved no matter what. But that's not what happened, and that’s not how God works. Paul and Barnabas had to give their lives to the ministry of the gospel. They had to travel to Antioch and Pisidia even though they would face persecution. They had to be willing to preach a clear gospel message. The Gentiles had to go to that place and be willing to listen and believe. And all of this was a result of God's preordained will. Here's the point. God is not only sovereign over the result, but over the means and the process that produced the result. God not only chooses what will be done, but how it will be done and through whom it will be done.
And so, Esther is an absolutely essential part of God's plan because God had chosen not only to save his people from extermination, but he had chosen to do that through the vehicle of Esther's courage and her willingness. And so, it's right to say, “God's will will be done no matter what.” But it's right to say, “It's essential that the instruments that God has chosen willingly do what he has chosen for them to do.” It's not an either-or, it's a both-and because the God who is sovereign over the result is sovereign over the process and the people that he chooses to advance his plan!
BF: Well, as you heard in this episode and last, Paul doesn't mind getting challenged, and he even appreciates it. So please, keep your difficult questions coming. You can submit them online anonymously at paultripp.com/ask, or you can email us directly using ask@paultripp.com. When you take the time to submit a question for Ask Paul Tripp, you're giving Paul an opportunity to connect the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life. And it might just introduce this “right here, right now” gospel message to someone new for the very first time. So please, do send us your questions.