Esther

Momentous Decisions

Chapter 4

I told you that the word God is not used at all in the Book of Esther.

So far we have not seen that either Esther or Mordecai were people of great faith in Yahweh, BUT, when I read these 17 verses it reminded me of the verse Romans 8:28.

Romans 8:28 (ESV)

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Doom is on the horizon, and Mordecai is the cause of this impending Holocaust. Here we will see that both turn to God, having all the Jews that they can muster to fast for 3 days. Fasting includes praying and they are to pray that Esther can intervene with a direct plea to the King.

We will see that this could cost her, her life. Not a light decision for anyone to make.

We will see from Esthers first response, things could have turned out differently. She was concerned for herself.

It could have went like this:

She wasn’t one of those Jews, she was the Queen. She had an entourage, eating of the Kings food. She had drank the Kool-Aid. This is not something that is easy to give up. She could have said.

Hey cousin Mordecai, I’m sorry about your luck, but quit your whining and put on that nice outfit I got you. You look ridiculous in that potato bag. Not to mention none of this would be happening if you didn’t let your ego get the best of you. If you would have just shown the man some respect, you wouldn’t be here blubbering right now. Oh, here try one of these bagels with schmear, the royal bakers make the best bagels.

What she did say is...

“I will go” marks Esther’s momentous decision.

At first Esther was more concerned about her own safety, after all, she was the Queen.

But when she realized the influence she could have and perhaps God’s purpose in putting her in her position “for such a time as this,” (that Mordecai vehemently pointed out), she decided to act, committing herself to God. Possibly at her own peril.

We will see how this plays out, but what about you?

Are you more concerned about your own security than about the desperate physical and spiritual needs of the world?

If you understood that your decision could make a difference, would you make the commitment God is asking of you?

God may not be asking you to put your life on the line, but we should have the same commitment to our Lord and Savior, that he had for us.

We should be looking for our own “momentous decisions” to make. Romans 8:28 as well as this Book of Esther shows that God will use us for His glory.

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.