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By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Americans view politics as though it’s the 11th plague! A 2023 poll will not surprise you with its findings. Sixty-five percent of Americans say that they “feel exhausted” just thinking about politics. Only 10 percent expressed hopefulness. Evangelicals are present in both camps. However, it is estimated that 25 million evangelicals who are registered to vote, do not vote in presidential election years. Valuing our freedom to vote and reviving our responsibility to vote are essential!

This column today is not designed to fuel division. May these words simply motivate you to re-read the stories of Moses and Esther from a fresh perspective, take them to heart, vote, and tell others to vote.

The stories are familiar. After Moses’ mother placed him in the bullrushes on the Nile River, he was found by and adopted into the Pharaoh’s family. Moses’s birth mother sacrificially saved his life after Pharoah ordered the murder of male Israelite babies. God then prepared Moses with a superb education and leadership capabilities, eventually placing him, at age 80, into his divine destiny to lead the Israelites from slavery to freedom. After embracing his Jewish identity, Moses laid aside his royal Egyptian credentials. Exodus regales readers with the dramatic story of Moses then appealing to Pharoah, “Let my people go.” Controversy still exists among scholars about the Pharoah’s’ identity; some say he was Ramses II and others, Seti I.

Moses (Moshe in Hebrew) and his brother Aaron (Aharon) were persistent in pleading with Pharoah throughout the Ten Plagues that God sent to unharden Pharoah’s cruel heart. In his role as an ancient lobbyist with Aaron as his chief of staff, Moses successfully carried out God’s plan with God’s empowerment. Pause to remember; because Moses obeyed God by accepting his role to lead hundreds of thousands of Jewish slaves to freedom, God’s redemptive plan through His chosen people remains a historical fact today, a symbol of God’s eternal promises.

The birth of Esther—as with Moses—was unremarkable, although her life was nevertheless transformed by God’s miracles. Esther (Hadassah) is described as an orphan protected by her kinsman Mordecai. Esther and Mordecai were among the Jews in Judah’s Southern Kingdom who were conquered by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in 597 B.C. They were exiled in Babylon from their Jewish homeland. After Persia later defeated Babylon, Esther’s political career began in an unusual and unexpected way.

Angry with his wife, Persian monarch King Ahasuerus (also known as Xerxes I) ordered his staff to find the most beautiful women in Persia (modern Iran) to compete in a royal beauty contest where he would choose his next queen. Advised by Mordecai, Esther kept her Jewish identity secret, competed in the contest, and was crowned by Xerxes as his queen. She walked on the runway of history in prayer and bravery.

Esther’s story grows perilous when Haman, one of the king’s top officials, decides to murder the Jewish exiles—all because Mordecai, a religious Jew, would not bow to him. Mordecai secretly passed Haman’s murderous plan to Esther, wisely observing that she was born “born for such a time as this” to save their Jewish people. Esther prepared herself with a prayerful strategy and fasting. The Queen not only revealed her Jewish identity to King Xerxes, but she also reported Haman’s evil plot. Xerxes acted quickly and reversed Haman’s decrees. The Queen rescued the Jewish community scattered throughout the vast Persian empire!

God used Moses and Esther, who began life in crises, yet as His obedient vessels they lobbied powerful leaders in two different eras when Jews faced both slavery and genocide. Neither Moses nor Esther could have predicted that God would use them politically with the top leaders in Egypt and Persia. Their actions and bravery embody politics at its finest.

Theologian C.S. Lewis gave us his grand observation in Mere Christianity: “Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of.”

After reading about Moses and Esther advocating politically, will you commit to advocating and voting for issues dear to you in the U.S. and those that include Israel, our spiritual homeland?

The United States remains Israel’s strongest ally after October 7. God will supernaturally keep His promises to the chosen people; however, we have an opportunity to play a pivotal role in that process. Vote and advocate with your representatives in the U.S. Congress, letting them know your positions on weighty matters. Be among Christians who are an active part of hopes for our nation and for Israel—with all men, women, and ethnicities standing together. Nearly 80 years after the Holocaust, God is giving Christians a second chance to stand with the Jewish people at a turning point in world history. 

Let us follow Jesus, our Light in the darkness and obey God like Moses and Esther. May each of us take a stand here and now in our generation and advocate for what matters to God, because we were “born for such a time as this.”

Prayer Points:

• Pray for the U.S. Congress, the U.S. administration, and Israel’s Knesset for unity on prominent issues.
• Prayerfully consider your role in U.S. political advocacy with Super Tuesday behind us.
• Pray for every Christian to register to vote and that every Christian registered will vote!
• Pray for Christians to consider whom to vote for based on biblical understanding.
• Pray for all hostages’ release, the Israeli Defense Forces, and for Prime Minister Netanyahu and his war cabinet.

Arlene Bridges Samuels pioneered Christian outreach for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). After she served nine years on AIPAC’s staff, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as Outreach Director part-time for their project, American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel and has traveled to Israel since 1990. She co-edited The Auschwitz Album Revisited and is on the board of Violins of Hope South Carolina. By invitation, Arlene attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits. She also hosts her devotionals, The Eclectic Evangelical, on her website at ArleneBridgesSamuels.com.