📖 Wahusika wa Biblia II — Sehemu ya 4: Esta — Kwa Ajili ya Wakati Kama Huu: Maongozi ya Mungu Yaliyofichika📖 Bible Characters II — Unit 4: Esther — For Such a Time as This: The Hidden Providence of God

Kati ya vitabu vyote vya Biblia, Esta ndicho cha ajabu zaidi katika jambo moja: jina la Mungu halitajwi hata mara moja ndani yake. Tangu mstari wa kwanza hadi wa mwisho, hatajwi kamwe kwa jina — na hata hivyo yupo katika kila ukurasa. Ni kimojawapo cha vitabu viwili tu katika Maandiko yote vilivyopewa jina la mwanamke, Ruthu kikiwa kile kingine. Na kinasimulia habari ya wakati ambapo watu wote wa Mungu walisimama ukingoni mwa maangamizi, na mkono usioonekana wa Mungu ukamweka mwanamke mmoja kijana mahali hasa alipohitajika "kwa ajili ya wakati kama huu."Of all the books in the Bible, Esther is the strangest in one respect: the name of God is never once mentioned in it. From the first verse to the last, He is never named — and yet He is on every page. It is one of only two books in all of Scripture named for a woman, Ruth being the other. And it tells of a time when the whole people of God stood on the edge of destruction, and the unseen hand of God placed one young woman exactly where she was needed "for such a time as this."

Somo: Esta — "kwa ajili ya wakati kama huu": maongozi ya Mungu yaliyofichika.Subject: Esther — "for such a time as this": the hidden providence of God.

Hoja Kuu: Ingawa jina la Mungu halitajwi hata mara moja, mkono wake usioonekana huwaweka watu wake mahali hasa anapowahitaji, na huwaita kwenye imani yenye ujasiri.Proposition: Though God's name is never once mentioned, His unseen hand places His people exactly where He needs them, and calls them to courageous faith.

Habari hii haitokei Babeli bali Uajemi, Irani ya leo, chini ya Mfalme mkuu Xerxes, anayeitwa pia Ahasuero. Tutawatazama wahusika wanne wakipita katika tukio hili.The story is set not in Babylon but in Persia, modern Iran, under the great King Xerxes, also called Ahasuerus. We will watch four figures move through the drama.

I. Malkia Mwenye HofuI. A Fearful Queen

Ilianza katika karamu ya kifalme. Mfalme, akiwa amelewa divai, alimwamuru Malkia Vashti aje kuuonyesha uzuri wake mbele ya wageni wake. Alikataa, na kwa sababu ya kukataa kwake aliondolewa katika kiti cha enzi. Hivyo ukaanza msako wa dola nzima wa kumtafuta malkia mpya: maafisa walitumwa kuwakusanya wanawali wazuri wa kila jimbo katika nyumba ya wanawake ya mfalme, na miongoni mwao, akichukuliwa kama wale wengine, alikuwa binamu mdogo wa Mordekai, Esta, ambaye alikuwa amemlea kama binti yake mwenyewe. Inaonekana kwamba Esta wala Mordekai hawakuwa na uchaguzi halisi mkubwa mara amri ya mfalme ilipotolewa — hii haikuwa ndoa ya kawaida bali zaidi kama kuandikishwa kwa lazima na dola. Kwa maagizo ya Mordekai, Esta aliuficha utambulisho wake wa Kiyahudi, tahadhari inayoeleweka kwa mwanamke kijana aliyekuwa akipitia baraza la kifalme lenye hatari na la kipagani kabisa. Mungu anaweza kufanya kazi kupitia hali ngumu na zenye utata wa kimaadili ambazo watu wake hawakuzichagua, akizifuma ndani ya makusudi yake mwenyewe. Esta alichaguliwa na kutawazwa kuwa malkia wa Uajemi. Kisha ikaja hatari kuu: maisha ya watu wake yalipokuwa hatarini, njia pekee ya kuwaombea ilikuwa kumwendea mfalme bila kuitwa, na kumwendea mfalme bila kuitwa kulikuwa ni kuhatarisha kifo.It began at a royal feast. The king, drunk with wine, commanded Queen Vashti to come and display her beauty before his guests. She refused, and for her refusal she was banished from the throne. So began an empire-wide search for a new queen: officers were sent to gather the beautiful young women of every province into the king's harem, and among them, taken like the others, was Mordecai's young cousin Esther, whom he had raised as his own daughter. Neither Esther nor Mordecai appears to have had much real choice once the king's decree went out — this was less an ordinary marriage than an imperial conscription. At Mordecai's instruction, Esther kept her Jewish identity hidden, a caution understandable for a young woman navigating a dangerous and thoroughly pagan court. God can work through hard, morally complicated circumstances His people did not choose, weaving them into His own purposes. Esther was chosen and crowned queen of Persia. Then came the crisis: when the lives of her people hung in the balance, the only way to plead for them was to approach the king uninvited, and to approach the king uninvited was to risk death.

Kama Esta, sote tunakabiliwa na hali za kutisha. Lakini Neno la Mungu linanena na hofu yetu tena na tena. "Siku ya hofu yangu nitakutumaini Wewe," alisema Daudi (Zaburi 56:3). "Katika pendo hamna hofu," aliandika Yohana, "lakini pendo lililo kamili huitupa nje hofu" (1 Yohana 4:18). Kati ya amri takriban mia moja ishirini na tano ambazo Bwana Yesu alitoa, ishirini na moja ni namna fulani ya "msiogope" au "jipeni moyo." Hofu ni mwizi. Black Bart, mnyang'anyi maarufu wa magari ya farasi, aliwapooza wafanyakazi wa magari ishirini na tisa kwa hofu peke yake na hakufyatua risasi hata mara moja; hofu yake ilimfanyia kazi yake yote. Utafiti mmoja wa Johns Hopkins uliona kwamba watu wenye wasiwasi huelekea kufa mapema, na ukahitimisha kwamba tumeumbwa, katika neva na tishu na seli, kwa ajili ya imani na si kwa ajili ya hofu. Tuliumbwa ili tutumaini. Kulikuwa na mpigaji kijana wa mchezo wa besiboli aliyesimama kukabiliana na mpira wa kasi kubwa wa mrushaji mashuhuri Walter Johnson. Aliachia mpira wa kwanza upite ukahesabiwa kosa, kisha wa pili, kisha akageuka akarudi kwenye benchi. Mwamuzi alipomkumbusha kwamba bado alikuwa na nafasi nyingine, alijibu akiwa ameshaondoka, "Unaweza kubaki na kosa hilo la tatu — nimeona vya kutosha." Hofu ilikuwa imemshinda kabla hata hajapiga mpira, na hofu itatufanyia vivyo hivyo tukiiruhusu.Like Esther, we all face fearful situations. But the Word of God speaks to our fear again and again. "Whenever I am afraid," said David, "I will trust in You" (Psalm 56:3). "There is no fear in love," wrote John, "but perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). Of the roughly one hundred and twenty-five commands the Lord Jesus gave, twenty-one of them are some form of "do not be afraid" or "take heart." Fear is a thief. Black Bart, the famous stagecoach robber, paralyzed twenty-nine stagecoach crews by fear alone and never once fired a shot; the fear of him did all his work for him. A study from Johns Hopkins observed that worriers tend to die sooner, and concluded that we are built, in nerve and tissue and cell, for faith and not for fear. We were made to trust. There was a young batter who stepped up to face the blazing fastball of the great Walter Johnson. He took one called strike, then a second, then turned and walked back to the dugout. When the umpire reminded him that he still had another strike coming, he called over his shoulder, "You can keep that third strike — I've seen enough." Fear had beaten him before he ever swung the bat, and fear will do the same to us if we let it.

II. Mjaribu MwovuII. A Vile Tempter

Mhusika wa pili ni Hamani, mzao wa Waamaleki, maadui wa zamani wa Israeli. Akiwa amepandishwa cheo cha juu, Hamani alikasirika mno kwamba mtu mmoja, Mordekai, hakutaka kumsujudia. Kiburi chake kilichojeruhiwa kilivimba kuwa hila ya kutisha: hangeridhika kumuua Mordekai tu, bali angemwangamiza kila Myahudi katika majimbo yote mia moja ishirini na saba ya dola. Aliununua upendeleo wa mfalme kwa fedha, akapokea pete ya muhuri ya kifalme, na akatoa amri iliyofanya mauaji ya taifa zima kuwa halali. Nyuma ya amri hiyo kulisimama kitu cha kale zaidi na cha giza zaidi kuliko kiburi cha mtu mmoja. Lilikuwa lengo la tangu zamani la Shetani la kuwaangamiza watu wa Mungu, chuki ile ile tunayoiona ikipita katika Biblia yote na ambayo bado inapiga kelele katika vichwa vya habari vya leo. Majaribu na vishawishi vyetu vinatoka kwa Shetani na kwa watu wanaofanya kazi yake, kama vile Bwana Yesu mwenyewe alivyojaribiwa nyikani. Hata hivyo mwamini anaweza kusema pamoja na Yakobo, "Hesabuni ya kuwa ni furaha tupu, mkiangukia katika majaribu mbalimbali; mkijua ya kuwa kujaribiwa kwa imani yenu kunaleta saburi" (Yakobo 1:2-3). Mungu hutumia hata mashambulizi ya adui ili kuwasafisha na kuwaimarisha walio wake.The second figure is Haman, a descendant of the Amalekites, the ancient enemies of Israel. Promoted to high office, Haman was enraged that one man, Mordecai, would not bow down to him. His wounded pride swelled into a monstrous plot: he would not be content to kill Mordecai, but would destroy every Jew in all one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the empire. He bought the king's favor with silver, received the royal signet ring, and issued a decree making the murder of an entire people legal. Behind that decree stood something older and darker than one man's pride. It was Satan's age-old aim to destroy the people of God, the same hatred we see running all through the Bible and still screaming in today's headlines. Our trials and temptations come from Satan and from people doing his work, just as the Lord Jesus Himself was tempted in the wilderness. Yet the believer can say with James, "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience" (James 1:2-3). God uses even the assaults of the enemy to refine and strengthen His own.

III. Mshauri Mwenye HekimaIII. A Wise Counselor

Mhusika wa tatu ni Mordekai, mshauri mwenye hekima. Akiwa ameketi langoni pa mfalme, alikuwa tayari amesikia na kufichua hila dhidi ya uhai wa mfalme. Sasa, amri ya kifo ilipowaangukia watu wake, alituma ujumbe wa haraka kwa Esta ikulu: "Usidhani ya kuwa wewe utaokoka nyumbani mwa mfalme kuliko Wayahudi wengine wote. Kwa maana wewe ukinyamaza kabisa wakati huu, ndipo msaada na wokovu utakapowatokea Wayahudi kwa njia nyingine, bali wewe utaangamia pamoja na nyumba ya baba yako. Walakini ni nani ajuaye kama wewe hukuujia ufalme kwa ajili ya wakati kama huu?" (Esta 4:13-14). Ni mojawapo ya changamoto kuu katika Maandiko yote. Esta aliipima, na jibu lake ndilo linalomfanya kuwa shujaa: aliagiza mfungo wa siku tatu, akaazimia, "Na kama nikiangamia, na niangamie!" (Esta 4:16). Angefanya jambo lililo sahihi gharama yoyote ile. Angalia kwamba ujasiri wake ulikuwa ujasiri wa maombi. Hakukimbilia ndani kwa ushupavu wake mwenyewe, bali aliwaomba Wayahudi wote wa mji wafunge pamoja naye siku tatu mchana na usiku, akimtegemea Mungu asiyeonekana kabla ya kuthubutu kukikaribia kiti cha enzi. Ushujaa wa kweli si kukosekana kwa hofu bali ni imani inayotenda licha ya hofu.The third figure is Mordecai, the wise counselor. Sitting at the king's gate, he had already overheard and exposed a plot against the king's life. Now, when the death decree fell on his people, he sent an urgent message to Esther in the palace: "Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king's palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:13-14). It is one of the great challenges in all of Scripture. Esther weighed it, and her answer is what makes her a heroine: she called for a three-day fast, and resolved, "If I perish, I perish!" (Esther 4:16). She would do the right thing whatever it cost her. Notice that her courage was a praying courage. She did not rush in on her own nerve, but asked all the Jews of the city to fast with her for three days and nights, leaning on the unseen God before she dared approach the throne. True boldness is not the absence of fear but faith that acts in spite of it.

Kuna wakati katika hadithi ya Tolkien ambapo Frodo anatamani kazi ile ya hatari isingemjia kamwe, naye Gandalf anajibu kwamba hakuna hata mmoja wetu anayechagua nyakati zake, lakini "umechaguliwa, na kwa hiyo lazima utumie nguvu na moyo na akili kadiri ulivyo navyo." Ndivyo inavyotupasa sisi pia. Na tunaye Mshauri aliye mkuu kuliko Mordekai, kwa maana Bwana Yesu anaitwa "Mshauri wa Ajabu, Mungu Mwenye Nguvu" (Isaya 9:6). Daktari Mkristo niliyewahi kumsimamia katika gereza aliieleza habari yote kwa urahisi: "Bila kujali matokeo, nitajitahidi daima kufanya lililo sahihi." Hiyo ndiyo roho ya Esta, na inapaswa kuwa yetu.There is a moment in Tolkien's tale when Frodo wishes the dangerous task had never come to him, and Gandalf answers that none of us choose our times, but "you have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have." So must we. And we have a Counselor greater than Mordecai, for the Lord Jesus is named "Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God" (Isaiah 9:6). A Christian doctor I once supervised in a prison put the whole matter simply: "Regardless of the consequences, I will always try to do the right thing." That is Esther's spirit, and it should be ours.

IV. Mungu Aliye KimyaIV. A Silent God

Mhusika wa nne ndiye asiyetajwa kamwe kwa jina: Mungu mwenyewe. Kwa nini Mungu mara nyingi hukaa kimya? Maandiko yanaonyesha angalau sababu tatu. Kwanza, ukimya wake unadai imani badala ya kuona, na "heri wale wasioona, wakasadiki." Pili, ukimya wake unatufanya tujitahidi kuyatafuta mapenzi yake, na ni katika jitihada hiyo hasa ambapo mafundisho ya ndani kabisa hujifunzwa. Tatu, ukimya wake huzaa ukomavu, ukifungua kile Paulo alichokiita "macho ya mioyo yenu" (Waefeso 1:18). Lakini lazima tuwe wazi: ukimya si sawa na kutokuwepo. Kile kinachoonekana kuwa ukimya kwa kweli ni maongozi ya Mungu, kwa maana Kristo hata sasa yuko "akivihifadhi vyote kwa amri ya uweza wake" (Waebrania 1:3).The fourth figure is the one never named: God Himself. Why is God so often silent? Scripture suggests at least three reasons. First, His silence requires faith rather than sight, and "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Second, His silence makes us struggle to find His will, and it is in that very struggle that the deepest lessons are learned. Third, His silence produces maturity, opening what Paul called "the eyes of the heart" (Ephesians 1:18). But we must be clear: silence is not the same as absence. What looks like silence is in fact providence, for Christ is even now "upholding all things by the word of His power" (Hebrews 1:3).

Ona jinsi jambo hili linavyotendeka katika Esta. Usiku mmoja mfalme hapati usingizi, na ili kupitisha saa anaamuru kitabu cha kumbukumbu za kifalme kisomwe kwa sauti, na ndani yake anasikia jinsi Mordekai alivyowahi kuuokoa uhai wake wala hakupewa thawabu. Asubuhi iliyofuata Hamani anafika kuomba ruhusa ya kumtundika Mordekai juu ya mti aliouweka — na badala yake anaamriwa kumheshimu. Mwishowe mti ambao Hamani aliuweka kwa ajili ya Mordekai unakuwa mti ambao Hamani mwenyewe anatundikwa juu yake. Huu ndio mgeuko mkuu, na hakuna hata kipengele kimoja chake kinachoitwa muujiza. Tunaona tu ghorofa ya chini ya usiku usio na usingizi na hila za ikulu; Mungu anafanya kazi katika ghorofa ya juu, kwa maana "tu kazi yake, tuliumbwa katika Kristo Yesu, tutende matendo mema, ambayo tokea awali Mungu aliyatengeneza" (Waefeso 2:10).See how it works out in Esther. On a certain night the king cannot sleep, and to pass the hours he has the royal chronicles read aloud, and in them he hears how Mordecai once saved his life and was never rewarded. The very next morning Haman arrives to ask permission to hang Mordecai on the gallows he has built — and instead is ordered to honor him. In the end the gallows Haman built for Mordecai becomes the gallows on which Haman himself is hanged. It is the great reversal, and not one detail of it is labeled a miracle. We see only the lower story of sleepless nights and palace intrigue; God is at work in the upper story, for "we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand" (Ephesians 2:10).

Kama vile Mungu alivyowahi kumweka Yusufu Misri, na kuwaweka Danieli na rafiki zake watatu Babeli, ndivyo alivyowaweka Mordekai na Esta Uajemi saa ile ile walipohitajika. Hii ndiyo sababu kitabu kinaweza kusimulia habari yake yote bila kumtaja Mungu kwa jina hata mara moja: hahitaji kutajwa, kwa maana alama za vidole vyake zimebanwa katika kila ukurasa. Na hivyo ndivyo alivyokuweka wewe. Nyuma ya kila kinachoitwa bahati tu kuna mkono wa Mungu ambaye kamwe hayupo mbali kwa kweli. Huwaweka watu wake mahali hasa anapowahitaji na huwaita wapige hatua katika imani yenye ujasiri. Mungu anayeonekana kuwa kimya amekuwa akiandika habari ya ghorofa ya juu muda wote, naye anaweza kutumainiwa kuimaliza — kwa maana "katika mambo yote Mungu hufanya kazi pamoja na wale wampendao katika kuwapatia mema." Saa yako mwenyewe itakapofika, mkumbuke Esta, na ukumbuke kwamba huenda umeujia mahali pako katika ulimwengu huu "kwa ajili ya wakati kama huu."As God once placed Joseph in Egypt, and placed Daniel and his three friends in Babylon, so He placed Mordecai and Esther in Persia at the very hour they were needed. This is why the book can tell its whole story without ever naming God: He needs no mention, for His fingerprints are pressed into every page. And so He has placed you. Behind every so-called coincidence is the hand of a God who is never truly absent. He positions His people exactly where He needs them and calls them to step out in courageous faith. The God who seems silent has been writing the upper story all along, and He can be trusted to finish it — for "all things work together for good to those who love God." When your own hour comes, remember Esther, and remember that you may have come to your place in this world "for such a time as this."