The Jewish community in Persia is in a very dangerous situation. The king has issued a decree for their slaughter, at the instigation of Haman, as he raged over the refusal of Mordecai the Jew to bow down before him.
Mordecai’s reaction to the decree of the king is, understandably, one of shock and horror. We’re told that he “tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly” (v.1). We can’t say for sure but perhaps his reaction was deepened by a realisation that his actions have contributed to the crisis coming upon his people.
In addition to that, we’re also told “there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing” (v.3). That isn’t an unexpected response but what is noticeable, in Biblical terms, is how closely this resembles the words of Joel 2:12ff.
That correspondence between the description of the Jews in v.3 and the words of Joel helps us to see what is going on here. In Joel, the problem is the people’s sin; they brought judgement on themselves and are being encouraged to turn back to the Lord and to discover his mercy.
Here, in Persia, the Jews are in exile because of their sin (although many have, by now, returned to Judah). And we hold in mind the possibility that both Esther and Mordecai have made bad decisions – certainly, Mordecai could have been more peaceable in his response to Haman.
So the allusion to Joel 2 is reminding us that, when we are opposed because the world is hostile to God and to his people, when we ourselves may well have exacerbated the situation and failed the Lord, we are not without hope. This is what the Lord says: “Return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning”. And why? “For he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love” (Joel 2:12f).
Situations that may seem hopeless to us, that seem to have spiralled well beyond our control, are not hopeless for this reason: God is merciful and invites us to turn to him in our need, to return to him from our sin. His invitation is as genuine as his grace.
But when we do that, when we return to the Lord and depend on him, looking to him for mercy, we’re not necessarily to be passive in waiting to be delivered. Mordecai clearly casts himself upon the Lord for help but at the same time, when his state of mind becomes known to Esther, he takes the opportunity to ask her to help. God’s mercy and our actions are not incompatible
Who knows…?
Mordecai is trusting God for help but that doesn’t mean he is going to be passive. When Esther tries to find out what the problem is, he urges her to ask the king for mercy. The exchange between them at this point makes some very important points that we must grasp.
Mordecai urges her to go to the king but Esther is reluctant to do so. Anyone who did that without being asked by the king was in great danger. And Esther has not seen the king for 30 days now – a suggestion that maybe she is no longer flavour of the month, at least not as strongly as before.
Esther reticence is quite understandable. If she just bursts into the king’s presence, she’s likely to anger him, perhaps leading to her losing her life and certainly not delivering the Jews. Common sense tells you to look for another way.
But Mordecai isn’t having any of that. If she doesn’t speak up, her family will be lost but “relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place” (v.14). Quite what Mordecai means by the other Jews being saved but Esther and her family lost is not immediately clear. What we can say is that his hope is in God to deliver his people, one way or another.
Esther can choose to sit back if that’s what she wants but she will lose out if she does so, at least in how Mordecai understands the situation. The future of the people is not in doubt, but Esther’s is.
Whether Mordecai is right in that last aspect is a moot point but what is certain is that the Lord will always be with his people, to deliver them, although not necessarily as we might think he ought to do so at times. His care for us is undeniable and his wisdom unsearchable; so we can and must trust him to keep his word to us.
But notice what Mordecai says next – words that for many people are the most famous in this book – “And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” (v.14) Mordecai is urging Esther to act; some even suggest he threatens her when he says she and her family are at risk (hardly likely). But as well as urging her to act for that reason, he is also laying before her the possibility that it’s for this very reason, for this exact situation, that God has placed her in the position she’s in.
Notice what Mordecai is saying. He isn’t claiming to have a complete handle on the situation; he isn’t saying, ‘God has told me what you must do.’ Rather, he is encouraging Esther to consider the possibility that God is in this, that this is how his providence is working out.
We can learn a lesson from the way he couches the suggestion. Too often perhaps we think we know just what God is up to, that we know just how to read the signs of his providence, that we are in the know, that we’ve got him sussed. That just isn’t so. We need to be more humble than that; we need to think of emulating David in Psalm 131 when he adopts a position of humility and trust in the Lord.
It’s interesting to compare his words here with Joel 2 again – the same “Who knows?” is found there in v.14 – Mordecai is not saying he knows for certain what will take place but there is a strength in his hope which is borne out of knowledge of God’s character and his promises in scripture.
But as well as learning from how Mordecai speaks here, what he says is also of great importance. he is affirming that God is always at work and is doing things we may not see the reason for at the time. Nothing is wasted with him – even the mistakes and wrong choices we make (if that is true of Esther).
This is a powerful point and made all the more so by the fact that the Lord is nowhere mentioned in this book. When he seems to be absent, we can trust that he is still at work; when we can’t see what he may be doing, we can rest in his all-wise providence.
If I die, I die
The point has been powerfully put to Esther that her royal position may have been decreed by the Lord for just this time and for just this purpose, the rescue of her people. She is the only person in the book with 2 names – she is Esther and she is Hadassah; she is the Persian Queen and she is the Jewish girl. Whose side will she take?
Esther faces one of the most crucial moments in her life. This choice is going to define the rest of her days. Such moments do come along for each one of us – perhaps many times in the course of our walk of faith. Maybe the issue seems small or maybe it seems larger – but either way, it will significantly affect our future. Such times, if we’re aware of their significance, can be scary!
What should we do? What can we learn from Esther? Just this: Esther stood up to be counted; she took her place with the Lord’s people; she refused to hide away and pretend it had nothing to do with her. And she does so without knowing what the outcome will be for her personally – “If I die, I die” (v.16). She may well lose her life but that is not going to deter her. Some things are simply right, whatever the cost, and Esther was determined to do the right.
Up to this point in the story, Esther has been passive; others have taken decisions that affected her, whether Xerxes as the king or Mordecai as her guardian. But now the time has come for her to be proactive, to make decisions – and, interestingly, the roles are reversed with Mordecai – he now does what she says. And Esther knows she needs others to help her so she asks that they fast (& therefore pray) for and with her.
Do you want to be encouraged to take your stand like Esther? Listen to these words of one writer:
“The decision to be identified with Christ energises our lives. It gives us a purpose bigger than our own concerns and problems and a hope that goes beyond our own death. It transforms us into people loved by the Holy Spirit, human agents of God’s grace and love in the world…By sustained obedience to God’s Word, which the apostle Paul calls ‘the renewing of your mind’ (Rom 12:2), God’s promise of his transforming work in our own lives is realised and touches the lives of others in ways we can neither control nor predict.” (Jobes, Esther, NIVAC, p.141).
Take your stand, in whatever situation God has placed you. Previous failures and sin do not debar you from honouring God today. So why not do so?
