Esther 16:15-16. Part of King Artaxerxes letter to his people to stop the planned slaughter of the Jews. He writes that he finds the Jews, whose annihilation has been plotted three times by his former adviser Haman, are not the evildoers that Haman has convinced so many that they are. The Jews are, rather, "governed by most righteous laws," and our children of the "most high, the most mighty living God" who has himself directed Artaxerxes' kingdom "in the most excellent order."

Artaxerxes was not a Jew, but he was fortunate enough to have chosen one for his queen. (This is part of the "excellent direction" that God has given to his kingdom.) Queen Esther found out about Haman's plot, prayed, fasted, and was incredibly brave in presenting it to her husband. Artaxerxes would have trusted and gone along with his advisor Haman and allowed the Jews to be slaughtered were it not for Esther's brave actions. He would have been deceived by evil into killing a good portion of his people, something that would have indeed had dire consequences for both him and his kingdom. But Artaxerxes had an open heart and mind and listened to his wife without prejudice. Thus he realized that God had intervened, he saw the blessings given to him through his wife, and he recognized that this God of the Jews is the "most mighty and living God."

God often lets things get pretty dire before he sends us a rescuer. The direness of the situation is often what compels the brave actions of the people who are sent to save us, and if we are willing to listen to them, it is what makes us realize that God intervened to wake us up. When we are stopped from doing something truly horrible, even if we were going to do it unwittingly, we would be wise to be like Artaxerxes and see God's hand in that salvation and in the people who spoke up and acted to stop us.