Esther 4:1-17
1 When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry;
2 And came even before the king's gate: for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth.
3 And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and manya lay in sackcloth and ashes.
4 So Esther's maids and her chamberlainsb came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he received it not.
5 Then called Esther for Hatach, one of the king's chamberlains, whom he had appointedc to attend upon her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it was, and why it was.
6 So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which was before the king's gate.
7 And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them.
8 Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.
9 And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.
10 Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai;
11 All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.
12 And they told to Mordecai Esther's words.
13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.
14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargementd and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
15 Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,
16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are presente in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.
Esther 4:8. He gave him the copy of the writing; for the decree, or dogma, was exposed to the public.
Esther 4:11. One law of his to put him to death. This was an ancient law of the Persian kings. Herodotus has noticed it much the same as in the text. The Assyrian kings, it would seem, did not permit their subjects at any time to see them. This law was the effect of fear: the monarchs of the east being absolute and tyrannical, plots were often formed against them; it was also thought to contribute to the sanctity and divine homage claimed by those kings, that they should not be seen by their subjects. Ministers favoured this law, because it made their services more essential to the sovereign, and augmented their influence over the people.
Esther 4:16. If I perish, I perish. The LXX, “Though it may behove me to perish.” God gave Esther the soul of a princess.
REFLECTIONS.
The poor Jews, who had now lingered in Babylon and in Persia near thirty years after the emancipation granted by Cyrus, were suddenly appalled and terrified by this sentence passed against them. No doubt they would bitterly reproach their unbelief concerning the prosperity of Zion, and the attachment to their lands and shops, which had detained them among the heathen. They would bitterly regret that they had not gone with Zerubbabel, or with Ezra, to sustain a few hardships in cultivating the inheritance of their fathers; for the brethren in the confines of the empire would have the best advantage of escaping the carnage. Thus it is that afflictions and danger bring our sins to remembrance, and constrain us to acknowledge the equity of God's pursuing hand. Take heed, thou man of the world, lest thy heart, lingering in the avocations of life, and forgetful of Zion, do not bring upon thee some terrible visitation from God.
Mordecai and the Jews took the wisest way to avert the calamity: they put on sackcloth, they fasted and prayed. These offices of piety excite in the soul the finest dispositions. They cause us to put away and bewail all past offences, and engage the omnipotent arm to undertake the defence of the afflicted. To fasting and prayer this good man joined prudential counsel, because it is tempting the Lord when we indolently ask his help, without using the means he has already put in our power. He repeatedly urged Esther to go directly to the king, and beg the life of all her people. He counteracted her fears of dying by the consideration of the danger in which her life stood in common with the Jews. The counsellors who had ruined Vashti would hardly spare an obnoxious alien; and he encouraged her to this high duty by the grateful consideration of her elevation to the throne. And how many, and how great are the considerations which should urge us to act for God in the salvation of souls, and in the good of his people. Health, fortune, and life itself are mere private considerations when compared with the advancement of his glory.
This elevation of Esther to the kingdom, Mordecai made his last and great argument. And all those favoured characters, Joseph, Moses, David, Daniel, and others, whom God raised from obscurity to the greatest lustre, were not raised vainly to wear fine robes, and riot in wealth; but to benefit nations, to punish the wicked, and protect the church. The object was worthy of their mission, and their mission was worthy of the Lord. Hence every man should regard his talents and offices as so many trusts, for which he must one day give an account to God. What then must be the shame of those great men who forget the sacred characters of their duty. Let the christian learn to weep in Israel's tears, that he may learn to trust that arm which covered them with an omnipotent defence.