Esther 4:13-17

D. Courage

TEXT: Esther 4:13-17

13

Then Mordecai bade them return answer unto 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 will relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father's house will perish: and who knoweth whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

15

Then Esther bade them return answer unto Mordecai,

16

Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast in like manner; 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.

Today's English Version, Esther 4:13-17

When Mordecai received Esther's message, he sent her this warning: Don-'t imagine that you are safer than any other Jew just because you are in the royal palace. If you keep quiet at a time like this, help will come from heaven to the Jews, and they will be saved, but you will die and your father's family will come to an end. Yet who knowsmaybe it was for a time like this that you were made queen!
Esther sent Mordecai this reply: Go and get all the Jews in Susa together; hold a fast and pray for me. Don-'t eat or drink anything for three days and nights. My servant girls and I will be doing the same. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. If I must die for doing it, I will die.
Mordecai then left and did everything that Esther had told him to do.

COMMENTS

Esther 4:13-14 Reality: Esther is human; Mordecai is human. They are ordinary people caught up in the struggle between good and evil, courage and cowardice. Esther's first reaction to the impending holocaust is self-preservation. Others may have to suffer but she will not risk her life in an action that is sure to bring death. Perhaps she thought the problem would go away in time; perhaps she thought she could be of more help to her Jewish people by staying alive as queen than by being a martyr. Surely Esther was not so hard-hearted as to have no compassion at all for her Jewish brethren, especially her uncle Mordecai and his family! Surely Esther was not so totally self-centered that she gave no thought at all as to how Mordecai, at least, might escape the edict of genocide upon the Jews.

Mordecai immediately sent back a message to Esther that would bring her face to face with reality. He reminded her that since she was a Jew too, and that her ethnic origin was now known (Esther 4:8), she need not think she will escape the massacre just because she lives in the palace. In fact, once it is known by the emperor and Haman that she is a Jewess and that she concealed this fact while being chosen as Vashti's successor, Esther might be one of the first to be slain!

Mordecai pleads with Esther that she seize her opportunity to be a heroine. Mordecai believes it is divine providence that has placed his adopted daughter in the position of queen of Persia for just such a time of great need by God's people. It is interesting that the word translated relief is the Hebrew word ruach (usually translated spirit). It probably means that, if Esther does not help save God's people then deliverance (natzal, Heb.), and the great sigh of relief (ruach, Heb.) that goes with deliverance, will come from some other source. If Esther does not seize her opportunity and exercise her responsibility, her father's house will perish and be disgraced. Where did Mordecai get the idea that Esther was probably chosen queen of Persia through providence in order to help deliver her people from their enemies? From God's word! The Jews in the captivities had some of the scrolls of the Old Testament (cf. Daniel 9:2). Mordecai, as a child, like Jewish children centuries before him, had studied the Old Testament. He knew the providence of God had put Joseph in Egypt to deliver his people from famine; he knew the providence of God had put Moses in the palace of Pharaoh to deliver his people from bondage; he know about David and a host of other Jewish heroes (even recent ones like Daniel) who by the providence of Jehovah had been put in circumstances and times of great danger. Mordecai knew that at great personal sacrifice these heroes of God had to willingly choose to be used by Him for delivering His people. Mordecai's challenge to Esther was based on the historical certainties of God's past dealings and His promises to fulfill the covenant made with Abraham through the prophets. Mordecai's evaluation of the situation was not based on human possibilities, but upon the certainties of God. The people of God today (Christians) have not only the historical certainties Mordecai had but a covenant enacted upon surer promises, the historical certainties of the New Testamentspecifically the victory over sin in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Esther 4:15-17 Resolution: How soon Esther answered, we do not know. We presume she took time to think through Mordecai's great challenge. One does not decide hastily to lay one's life on the line. Esther's reply is not one based on an unreasoned emotionalism, or arrogant self-confidence or fatalistic desperation; it is the result of searching, rational, earnestness based on Mordecai's warnings and challenge. Esther also believed in God! Her reply to Mordecai must be interpreted in the light of her proposal for a three-day fast. Esther's request for fasting is for the very purpose of intercession and supplication to Jehovahthere can be no other objective in mind! It certainly is to Esther's great credit that she looks immediately to God and not man for help. It is interesting to see that some of her maidens (attendants) were godfearing and would intercede to Jehovah through fasting also. Perhaps they were Jewish maidens; but they may have been Persian maidens influenced in the Jewish religion by Esther.

The resolution of Esther is that God's will may be doneshe is willing to accept it. Jacob uttered a similar resolution when he sent some of his sons back to Egypt for release of his hostage sons (cf. Genesis 43:14: And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.). Jesus decided to fulfill God's will with perfect resignation, ... nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. (Matthew 26:39). We are told that our prayers, if we expect them to be answered, must be with the same resignation to the will of God (1 John 5:14-15).

We should like to close this chapter by quoting the conclusion of a masterful sermon, If I Perish, I Perish, by our good friend, the late Charles A. Willbanks, preached at the Ozark Bible College Preaching Convention, Joplin, Missouri, February 18, 1959:

Let us never forget that in this great drama of human history, a time element is involved. Mordecai said to Esther, -Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?-' Esther needed to do somethingnow!
Esther had to act at once to save a people committed to destruction. The same is true for us. Unless there are some drastic changes, statisticians tell us that 14,800,000 persons will go to meet their God unprepared before next year.
The Persian decree for the destruction of God's people could not be changed. It was a cruel, hideous plot which meant only death; and it could not be changed! But another decree was sent out enabling God's people to arm themselves for the battle. We face a similar situation today.

The very nature of God, which provides freedom of choice, means that sin is present all about us and the wages of it is death (Romans 6:23). The whole human race is committed to destruction, for all have sinned (Romans 3:23). This verdict cannot be changed. But thanks be to God, we can arm ourselves for the battle; we can -put on Christ-'; we can -put on the whole armour of God, that (we) may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil-' (Ephesians 6:11; Galatians 3:27).

Esther's fears were allayed, her appeal was effective, and her people were saved by her timely intervention. A nation rises up to call her blessed. What, may we ask, will be the cause of gratitude that others may feel for our having lived and faced our own times of decision?

There is a time element for all of God's dealing with men. Sometimes God reveals the length of that time; sometimes He does not. He gave Hezekiah an additional 15 years of life (cf. Isaiah 38:1-8); God gave the false prophet Hananiah two months to live (Jeremiah 28:1-17). The Lord gave the Jewish nation 490 years from the going forth of the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the coming of the Messiah to accomplish God's work and prepare themselves to receive Him (Daniel 9:24-27). The Jews did not receive the Messiah (on the whole) when their time came so God took the kingdom from them and gave it to others (Matthew 21:33-46). We are now living in the times of the Gentiles (cf. Luke 21:24; Romans 11:11-36). After these times there will be no more time! Generally speaking God has numbered man's lifespan upon the earth to be about 70 years (Psalms 90:9-12). Soon they are gone and we fly away. So let us put every day we have, each day at a time, to do what our hands find to do to glorify God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

We may learn the following lessons form this chapter:

1.

There are times of rejoicing for those who believe in God (such as at the coronation of Esther); but there may also be times of mourning and supplication (such as at the decree for the slaughter of the Jews).

2.

When such times of mourning and intercession are called for, godly people (like Mordecai) will not indulge in selfish release from the need for contrition, even when, in all innocence, suggested by others.

3.

Great biblical heroes and heroines were made, nor born!

4.

Great biblical heroes and heroines were as human as we are.

5.

Decisions to choose or refuse great responsibilities in relation to the will of God should not be made without intercession and supplication.

6.

If we do not carry out our responsibilities toward the kingdom of God, God can raise up others who will.

7.

Resignation to the will of God is not fatalism.