Sermon Tone Analysis

“When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.

He went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth.

And in every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.

“When Esther’s young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed.

She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.

Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was.

Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate, and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.

Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people.

And Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said.

Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, ‘All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live.

But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.’

“And they told Mordecai what Esther had said.

Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, ‘Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews.

For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish.

And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?’ Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, ‘Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day.

I and my young women will also fast as you do.

Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.’

Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.”

[1], [2]

The story is told of a corrupt politician who successfully lobbied the head of state to introduce a law endorsing genocide.

The targeted victims were essentially voiceless; no one in the halls of power would dare plead their case.

It appeared that an entire race would be slaughtered; the people despaired, until one lone woman broke her silence and changed history.

For those conversant with the Old Testament accounts, the story is familiar; it is the account provided in the Book of Esther.

We should familiarise ourselves with this story, because it is often repeated for God’s people, even in this day.

I encourage each follower of Christ to familiarise himself or herself with Esther’s story.

The Book named after this brave woman is the account of God working through one courageous woman.

Esther can hardly be considered a paragon of righteousness; and yet, God used her to His glory.

That knowledge alone should encourage each Christian.

Though we recognise our proclivity toward sin, we also know the grace of God and His power to work in the most hopeless situations.

Moreover, we know that He is able to use the poorest example of humanity to the praise of His glory.

Even when people oppose the Living God, He works to bring glory to His Name.

Demonstrating insight that benefits each one following Master, the Psalmist has said, “Surely the wrath of man shall praise you” [PSALM 76:10a].

One reason to familiarise yourself with the account of Esther’s life is because this same storyline—a group of people are victimised by wicked ideas; then, God calls His people to speak up—is repeated over and over again throughout history.

The divine call we have received today is the same as that given in the days of Esther.

Much of what Christians hold dear—life, marriage and religious freedom—is coming under pressure in ways we could never have predicted a generation past.

Nevertheless, men and women who voice their convictions—doing so winsomely, courageously, even when speaking might prove costly—change history.

Let me rephrase that concept in order to stress the point—it is minorities, not majorities, who change history and rescue the vulnerable.

Whereas the mass of humanity seems always to rush headlong in oblivion, it is a courageous few who stand athwart the road to destruction, seeking to halt humanity’s unheeding stampede.

Motivated by love for Christ and deep concern for their friends and families, these few stalwart individuals labour mightily to warn of the coming destruction.

They peer into the future and see with eyes of faith the consequences of foolish choices, warning against playing fast and loose with the commands of God.

Join me as together we explore the decision this young woman made and the consequences of her choice.

BACKGROUND TO THE ACCOUNT — It was a drunken party that ended with the king demanding that his queen disrobe before his guests so they could see how beautiful she was.

The queen had enough character that she refused his request.

The result was that she was deposed as queen—the royal counsellors were fearful that wives would no longer obey their husbands.

In fact, the queen is the sole person in this portion of the story that demonstrates any character.

Soon after removing the queen, the king began to feel lonely.

Those paragons of worldly wisdom—his advisors—advised him to begin a search, sleeping with the most beautiful women in the country, until he found one he liked.

People imagine that the penchant for loose morals witnessed among people in this day is something new and novel.

However, immorality is as old as sin; it was evident long years before this present sinful day.

One of the young women selected was an orphan of perhaps fourteen or fifteen years of age named Hadassah, or Myrtle in our tongue.

Hadassah had been raised by her cousin after the death of her parents.

She was not Persian, and one must wonder if her exotic appearance enhanced her desirability.

Whatever the case, the king enjoyed his night with her, and chose her to be his queen.

So the young girl was deemed the prettiest girl in the land.

At this point the story is interrupted.

Hadassah’s uncle overhears a cabal plotting to kill the king.

He informed his niece, who in turn told the king of the plot, telling him that Mordecai, her cousin, had acted to save the king, though she did not disclose her relationship to him.

The attempt on the king was foiled, an entry was made in the archives and the plotters were hanged.

It is almost as if this event was entered as a parenthesis—an event that, however interesting, was unimportant to the account we are reading.

However, great doors turn on little hinges.

Other than her physical attributes, there wasn’t much to distinguish Hadassah to this point in the story.

However, things would shortly change and she would be compelled to respond to challenges that must have seemed unimaginable to her.

A proud man was enraged because Hadassah’s cousin—the man who had raised her—would not bow before him.

In that day, refusal to bow before wealthy or self-important men was a slight that could not be ignored.

It generated something like the disrespect felt by wealthy or powerful people in this day when they fail to receive the honour and acclaim they imagine to be their due.

That little man was the corrupt politician mentioned in the introduction.

He was continually irritated by one man’s failure to recognise his importance.

So, he plotted a way that would permit him to show his power, ridding himself of this man in the process—he would lobby the king, manipulating him into ordering the death of the entire race from which that one man came.

The people in question were a minority, generally despised, weak and powerless within the nation.

And this vile little toad was successful, in part because the king, as has been true of many political leaders throughout all history, was easily manipulated.

At last, word of the evil machinations reached even Mordecai, cousin of Hadassah.

On a given day, all the Jews living in Persian territories were to be exterminated.

Mordecai wandered up to the king’s gate where he began a very public fast.

As he fasted, he lamented, crying aloud with wrenching, bitter cries.

Throughout the kingdom, Jews were fasting and weeping, Mordecai being but one of the many lamenting because they faced extirpation.

When Hadassah became aware of Mordecai’s fast, she attempted to intervene.

I suppose it is possible that like modern people, she was embarrassed to witness a loved one mourning.

One of the most foolish statements commonly uttered to those in distress is, “It will be all right.”

Akin to that foolish statement is the statement that urges one who grieves, “Don’t cry!” Grieving is unbidden in most instances; we had as well tell the tide not to come in or command the rain to cease falling.

Sorrow overwhelms the grieving soul, and the sorrow cannot be contained.

Hadassah sent Mordecai clothing, urging him to cease lamenting before the king’s gate.

Perhaps greater than embarrassment was her fear of what might happen to Mordecai should the king become aware of this unpleasantry; and, it is quite probable that she feared exposure as a Jewess.

The king could not be made to feel ill at ease.

Therefore, no one was permitted to mourn in his presence, except for when he himself was mourning.

Then, everyone had better mourn with him, much as Koreans were compelled to mourn at the death of Dear Leader this past year.

Mordecai, however, refused to break his fast or to cease his lamentation.

Let’s be quite clear that Hadassah was attempting to preserve her family.

In doing so, she failed to understand that when her people were threatened there truly was no safety for her family!

In this day, people who focus on the immediate welfare of family when the nation, or when the community, or when the congregation is imperiled, are ignoring the fact that the greater danger is not avoided simply because the immediate problem is averted.

The natural tendency of almost all people is to sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the temporary.

It is exemplification of the proverbial case of feeding others to the crocodile in hopes that you will be eaten last.

Hadassah sent once again to learn what had precipitated Mordecai’s very public grief.

When Hathach, the eunuch who attended her, came to Mordecai, the following exchange occurred.

“Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.

Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people” [ESTHER 4:7, 8].

THE CHALLENGE SHE FACED — Poor Hadassah; her cousin’s refusal to cease mourning put her in a tough spot.

If his lament caused the king discomfort, Mordecai would be executed—nothing could be allowed to disturb the king; he was an important man.

On the other hand, Hadassah could not just waltz in and speak to the king whenever she wanted to do so.

She explained her situation.

“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live.

But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days” [ESTHER 4:11, 12].