Read Esther
4-6 & Acts
5:17-42
To discover:
As you read note the qualities
displayed by Mordecai and Esther.
To ponder:
In response to the terrible decree,
there was very public mourning by Mordecai and the Jews in every province.
Esther was however ignorant. Only when distressed by her adopted father’s grief
did she find out the situation by sending Hathach to discover why he was so
upset. Mordecai displayed wisdom, telling every detail and showing the edict to
prove the truth of what he said. He asked Hathach not only to relay this to
Esther, but urge her to intercede with the King for the people – as Christ does
with his father for us.
Esther
was reluctant, sending Hathach back to explain that if she approached the king
and he didn’t hold out his sceptre to her, she would be killed. The suggestion
is that as she had only seen him recently it is unlikely he would welcome her.
Moredecai’s response is the theological centre of the book (4v13-14), and
although God is never mentioned, he is assumed. Mordecai is confident that as
God is sovereign he will deliver the people anyway. But Esther is still
responsible to play her part, recognising that she may have gained her position
“for such a time as this.” Indeed, if she does nothing, she should not assume
that she or Mordecai’s family will escape. It’s a reminder that in putting us
in our own particular circumstances, God gives us opportunities with which we
can serve him. Indeed, at times, this may mean trusting him to put our position
or lives on the line. Here we might consider our responsibility to speak up for
God’s people to government.
Esther’s
reply models wisdom when faced with any difficulty. Like Christ in Gethsemane,
she ask others to pray, and determines to do the right thing even if it means
she perishes. So after all the Jews in the city pray and fast, she dresses
rightly and goes and stands in the king’s court. As with previous key events,
this takes place on the “third day” building the tension. With relief, the king
extends his sceptre, saying he will give Esther up to half his kingdom (a
figure of speech). She is too wise to accuse his right hand man immediately, so
she invites the king and Haman to a banquet, and there, to another the next
day. No doubt this increased the king’s anticipation and softening him into an
accepting mood. Esther is as shrewd as a snake whilst being as innocent as a
dove (Matt 10v16).
During
the twenty four hour delay, we see the signs of God’s hand at work. Haman went
home joyful, boasting of his wealth, family, and honour before the king and his
Queen. Yet at the suggestion of his wife and friends, he also built a gallows
to hang Mordecai, against whom he continued to rage. Yet that very night, being
unable to sleep, the king read of how Mordecai saved him from the assassins.
And “just” when he was pondering the fact that Mordecai hadn’t been honoured,
Haman walked into the court. So it turned out that the king asked Haman what he
should do for the man “the king delights to honour,” and, assuming this was
about him, Haman suggested the sort of honour that would make a man almost
equal to the king (6v8-9). Suddenly Haman’s fortunes therefore reverse
dramatically. Not aware that the decree he had allowed Haman to authorise was
against the Jews (3v8), the king commanded that Haman honour Mordecai in the
way he just outlined! Haman may have realised what this could mean if the king
found out what he had done, and so rushed home in grief. His wife and advisors
were cold in their response, suggesting he stood alone. They declared his
“downfall” had “started” and that he couldn’t stand against Mordecai because he
was a Jew. Perhaps they had heard of God acts for Israel.
Whether they had or not, their words signal to the reader that these
circumstances stemmed from God’s protection of his chosen people. The one who
had sought to curse Mordecai not only inadvertently blessed him, but might now
have to face God himself for his actions (Gen 12v3). It is at this timely
moment, that Haman was taken to Esther’s banquet.
Praying it home:
Praise God for how delivering his
people through Christ from all evil. Pray that you would have faith to do what
is right whatever the consequences.
Thinking further:
None today.
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