Jews reading Esther found great encouragement to know that although the name of God may not be heard frequently, or at all, He is still at work for His people wherever they are. Although some question whether Haman was descended from Agag the Amalekite, 1 Chron 4:43, the lesson remains true: I must root out all sin from my heart lest it find me one day in the grips of a weak moment and the battle could be lost. But again, God knows those that are His, 2 Tim. 2:19. The celebration of Purim to this day marks the victory and preservation given by God to His people in exile to a foreign homeland. Their passport may have read “Persian” but their souls were imprinted with “people of the covenant.” Deut. 7:6-9; 2 Chron. 6:36-40. There are no earthly boundaries of the kingdom of Heaven.
Theophilus reads of Paul in Philippi, a major, enfranchised city. Only citizens of the city of Rome could vote, receive protection of law and freedom. Other cities became “enfranchised” and participated in the citizenship of Rome. Philippi, too, was an old soldiers’ home, praetorian guard retirees, and some soldiers of Mark Anthony’s defeated at Actium, 31 BC, and other folks. The church starts with a few women and slaves. Then its proponents are jailed. Where is God? Moving walls, breaking down barriers, opening hearts. The jailer is saved from suicide by God’s intervention by Paul and Silas, and becomes a citizen of the true kingdom. Then the surprise: a citizen of Rome, Paul of Tarsus, was jailed and held without due process! And they will not “disappear” quietly! What is God doing? He demonstrates that Christians are good citizens, follow the law of the land insofar as it is in harmony with the God of heaven and earth, Phil. 3:17-21. There is no place where God cannot see or help His people when it is time. There are no earthly boundaries of the kingdom of Heaven, and so much so that “Jesus is king” becomes the mob’s warrant for a riot in Thessalonica.
When I left home after college, way back in 19 hundred and none-of-your-business (as a teacher of mine used to say) I looked for the church in central Missouri. Due to some mishaps and misunderstandings I went back to my apartment and nearly wept, depressed that I could not find my people in this “foreign” place. To make a long story short, God blessed me with one of the more dynamic and wonderful Christian families I have known. They helped me to build my faith as I began to build my life. Things are not as I think they are, things are as God has created and prepared them. We need only to look for God, His people, and His blessing. There are no boundaries to the kingdom of God.
Prayer: Holy Father, Righteous and True, open my eyes to see Your rule and reign around me today, and by Your Spirit may I glorify Your name as a citizen of Your Heavenly Kingdom. Thank You in Jesus’ name.
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