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 4:14)

In 2002 shortly after the war in Iraq had begun, I believe the Lord showed me a link between the United States and Israel that is illustrated in the Book of Esther.

As a Christian, it’s easy to look back historically and see God’s fingerprints on our country’s founding as well as how God has used the U.S. to bless the world. While we are far from perfect, there are times when we have been used to defeat evil and bring peace. It certainly is important to recognize God’s hand in our country’s history, but it’s also vital to ask what the U.S. should be doing to fulfill God’s purposes today. I believe the story of  Esther has prophetic significance that is relevant to our current role as a global superpower.

The Book of Esther describes how God delivered the Jewish people in fifth century BC Persia and is interesting for several reasons. It is one of two books of the Bible  named after women. (The Book of Ruth is the other.) Also, God is not mentioned in this book, though Esther’s access to and relationship with King Xerxes I, foreshadows the relationship we can have with God through Jesus Christ.

The Book of Esther is a biblical Cinderella story. It is about a young, secretly-Jewish woman who attains favor and influence with the king and a position of great power and influence in the palace.

Esther is the young cousin of Mordecai, who raised Esther after the death of her parents. Mordecai, who had previously uncovered a plot to kill the king, became a target of the king’s top prince, Haman, who hated the Jews and obtained the king’s authorization to kill them.

Mordecai then asked Esther to petition the king to help the Jews. Esther was hesitant to go before the king because for anyone to do so without being summoned, could mean death. In Esther 4:14, Mordecai replied to his Jewish cousin by saying, “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

After the Jews fasted for three days, Esther goes before the king, risking her life to intercede on behalf of her people. The Bible says Esther found favor favor in the sight of the king when he saw her standing in the inner court of the palace. That is how Haman’s plan began to unravel and the Jewish people were delivered.

I believe the Book of Esther is a parallel of the relationship between the United States and Israel. It is a warning to the U.S. to stand with Israel against its enemies.

As a superpower, the U.S. and its citizens have prospered like no other country in recent history. This standing–this position in the palace, so to speak–was granted by God as part of His plan to protect His people, the Jews and the land He gave them. Unknowingly at the time, the U.S. fulfilled this responsibility in the 1940s. Led by the U.S., the Allies defeated Germany and the other Axis powers in World War II. This ended the Jewish Holocaust and facilitated the re-creation of the Jewish state of Israel in 1948.

The Book of Esther, I believe, provides a warning about what will happen if the U.S. uses its palace position solely for its own interests and fails to support and intercede on behalf of Israel. In the same vein as the question Mordecai asks, who knows if God established the U.S. as a world power for such a time as this? I believe He did.