When we read or watch the news these days, it can feel like

we live in an overwhelmingly wicked world. In the battle of good versus evil, which one is really

winning? How can we be sure that God is still in control? We'll hear the answers to those questions

today on Truth for Life. Alistair Begg is teaching from the Book of Esther, we're in chapter 2.

I want to say three things concerning the underlying doctrine here in this

book. It is the doctrine of providence. I want to give you three words in relationship to it.

Now the first word is clarity, the second word is mystery, and the third word is security.

So let us be clear that this is clear. That's our first word clarity. In other words,

there's nothing sketchy or vague about this in the Bible. And it is the very fact that it isn't sketchy

or vague that causes men and women to react to it so strongly. So when we go out to our friends and

we say, you know, we were studying the Book of Esther, it's a very Jewish book, it's about a

lady and some of our friends may say, I know about that. We say, well, what the real thing about

this book is that God, the Creator, sustains everything by his power. There's clarity in it.

But secondly and quickly, there is also mystery in it. There is mystery in it. In that God directs

all things. He directs the heart of the king, if we stay with Proverbs 21-1. He directs the heart

of the king without violating the nature of things. Okay? Without impinging upon causality.

What does that mean? In the case of Ahasuerus, it means this. Vashdi was banished because of a

free decision made by Ahasuerus. And when you read on in the story, which I hope, as I've suggested

to you, you will do, you discover that there are these amazing little coincidences that somehow or

another appear to be evidence of the overruling activity of God. So if your Bible is open, you can

just flip forward to Esther chapter 6 and look at verse 1, where it says, on that night, the king could

not sleep. Why couldn't he sleep? I don't know. It doesn't say why he couldn't sleep. He couldn't

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