In our text, Esther’s concern was relayed back to Mordecai. In verse 13 Mordecai reminded Esther that her life would not be spared from the effects of this decree. We need to keep in mind that this was the same country that under a different king had allowed wicked men to write a decree that no one should pray to anyone but the king, for thirty days. This was in the days of Daniel and the king tried to get around that decree because Daniel would not stop praying to the true God. The law of the Medes and the Persians could not be changed. God miraculously saved Daniel and destroyed the evil men who plotted against him. Daniel benefited from being a faithful servant of the Lord.
The Bible makes it clear that salvation is a personal matter. There is no such thing as “corporate” salvation. Each person is accountable before God and will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ one day. The nation of Israel has been protected from annihilation over the centuries. Many of those Jews that were not annihilated by ruthless rulers, still died and went to hell. God is merciful, but He does not allow anyone into heaven apart from repentance toward Him and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the book of Esther, Mordecai had been dishonest in the past. He seemed to be a secular Jew and did not make God known to the king or anyone else. He had tried to “shelter” Esther from any harm by telling her to hide who she truly was. Now it was time for her to realize the gravity of the situation. Now it was time for her to identify herself before the king. Mordecai seemed to operate with the idea that spiritual matters are a last ditch effort but not a mainstay of life.
In verse 14 Mordecai reminded Esther that if she would hold her peace now, deliverance would come to the Jews in some other way. He also reminded her that she and her father’s house would be destroyed as a result of this letter. Mordecai also suggested that Esther could have been brought into the kingdom for just such a time as this. God did not need Esther to be involved in an adulteress relationship in order to deliver His people from this wicked decree. Had Mordecai been a true man of God, he could have had an audience before the king.
Even though he had been very quiet in the past, now he had some sense of the power of God to deliver his people in some way. He did not mention God, but he obviously implied that there would be deliverance in some miraculous way.
The nation of Israel was raised up by God to be a light to the nations around them. They were to magnify the Lord as they lived within His blessings. Sadly, it did not take long for the nation to assume they could have better blessings by following the pagan nations around them. This was disaster and had led to the Babylonians being brought in by God to take Jerusalem and to take many hostages. Others were killed. The captives were slow learners. The majority did not seek after God even though they were in captivity. They just blended in with the rest.
In verse 15 we see that Esther was convinced. Mordecai had made his point and she was ready to listen now. She sent a message back to Mordecai that all the Jews present in Shushan should declare a fast for her. They needed to abstain from food and drink for three days. Esther would also have her maids join her in a similar fast. At the end of the three days she would go before the king. If he became angry and had her put to death, then she was prepared to take that. She knew she would be breaking the king’s law, but she was willing to risk that now.
It certainly was a strange law for a king to have. Unless a person was invited to come before him, they could lose their life for daring to try to come before him. Certainly not an open government system. This king was not very approachable at all.
Thankfully, God is not like that. A wicked lost sinner, such as we all were, can turn to God in repentance and be saved through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. God does not strike a person dead for crying out to Him in time of need. He is merciful and just.
In verse 17 we see that Mordecai was willing to do according to Esther’s request. Fasting is a good thing. Biblical fasting is designed by God as a means for the participants to draw nigh to God. In order to draw nigh, the person(s) would need to know God in the first place. There is nothing in this book to suggest that Mordecai knew the Lord.
As we have noted before, God made a promise to Abraham. He had punished the Jews for their rebellion against Him. He had allowed some of them to be killed. He would never allow the Jews to be wiped out. If this decree were to be carried out, a large number of Jews would have been killed.
God would intervene in this matter due to His holy name. Mordecai and Esther and many other Jews would be spared because of God’s holy name, not because they had been faithful witnesses for Him.
As we noted earlier, Ezra had been in Persia around this time as well. He had gone back to Jerusalem and was involved in seeing the temple rebuilt in that city. The Jews who remained behind, were the more secular Jews who were not excited about going back home. They had made themselves homes in Persia and they were quite content to remain there. This letter had certainly upset their hopes and plans. They had not been a good testimony while in captivity. They were seen as an indispensable group of people.
They were much different than Daniel and his three friends. They made themselves known not just as Jews, but as God-fearing Jews. God provided ways for them to have a major impact on the leadership in Babylon and later in Medo/Persia.
We can learn many things from this book. One of the things we can learn is that God’s people need to walk in the fear of the Lord. God did not raise up Israel for their goodness. He raised them up to be a light to the other nations. God wanted the other nations to see the importance of serving the true God. God sent men like Jonah into Gentile territory to preach repentance. His desire was for Gentiles to know Him and serve Him.
Since the time of Christ, Jesus began a new thing, called the local church. He is the founder and head of each true local church. His design for born again Christians is to be a light for Him. He wants other Jews and Gentiles to know Him. It is important for born again Christians to live as lights in a dark and dying world.
I spoke with a man recently who claimed to know the Lord. In our conversation he talked of meeting with another man around a campfire and having a couple of beers and having a good old time. That man proved he did not know the Lord. As part of our talk I invited this man to attend our Bible Study. He needs to be exposed to the truth so that he can hear the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in his heart better. He has too many distractions cluttering up his life.
Those who are saved need to seek to help others to know the truth. We cannot do that if we want to blend into the fabric of ungodly societies. We need to identify with the Truth if we indeed know the Truth. God saves people to be a light to help others to see the blessings of His salvation. Let us stand up for the truth and glorify the true God, if we know Him.
Pastor Bartel