For Such a Time as This

Esther 4:1-14

Welcome back to our series titled “Days to be Remembered: the Book of Esther.”  I think we’re all pretty familiar with the story of Esther, but I’m going to review a little because Carl left us hanging off a cliff last week. 

The book of Esther takes place from about 483 – 473 B.C.  The king of the Persian Empire at the time was King Xerxes I who ruled from his capital city of Susa (Shushan in the KJV).  Susa was in what is now Iran a few miles north of the end of the Persian Gulf.  After 2 feasts that together lasted a massive 187 days, Xerxes called for Queen Vashti to come to the royal court.  She refused, disgraced the king, and so was removed from her royal post.  Four years later, a beauty contest was held, and a Jewess named Esther was chosen to be the new queen of the Persian Empire.

Mordecai was Esther’s adoptive father, but he was really a relative.  We aren’t sure if he was a cousin or an uncle, but he brought Esther up after her parent’s died.  After she was made queen, Mordecai later overheard a plot to assassinate King Xerxes.  Mordecai told Esther, who in turn told Xerxes.  The plotters were executed; and the events, along with Mordecai’s name, were recorded in the king’s chronicles.  Keep this in the back of your mind; it will be significant in a few weeks. 

A couple years later, the king promoted an Amalekite named Haman to a position over every other royal official and declared that the same honor normally shown to the king, should be shown to Haman – a really odd decree in a shame-honor culture.  Mordecai refused to bow and show honor to Haman, probably for the two reasons that Carl shared last week: 1) Haman’s ancestors were ancient enemies of the Jews, and 2) a devout Jew would bow to no one but the true King of kings.  When Haman realized that Mordecai refused to bow to him, his anger boiled inside him and turned to classic bitterness.  He decided that it wasn’t sufficient to kill Mordecai only.  No, he would only be vindicated if he slaughtered every Jew – something his ancestors had been trying to do since the Jews left Egypt some 1,000 years prior. 

Haman craftily worded a request to the king to get permission to carry out his evil plot.

           

Then Haman said to King Xerxes, "There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king's laws; it is not in the king's best interest to tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents of silver to the king's administrators for the royal treasury." –Esther 3:8-9 NIV

Haman never told the king which ethnic group he wanted to get rid of.  Some suggest that this was because the king knew of Haman’s racial prejudice already and would not have approved it otherwise.  I think Xerxes was just that trusting of those around him that he did whatever they suggested.

Haman went so far as to even offer to fund this slaughter out of his own pocket!!! …Just in case the king couldn’t afford it!!!  How Xerxes doesn’t react to this shame casting, I’ll never know, but I digress.

By the way, if you haven’t noticed this yet, Xerxes “takes little initiative and acts only on the basis of what others direct him to do: Memucan tells him what to do about Vashti (1:16-20); Haman tells him what to do about the Jews [without telling him about the Jews] (3:8-9);” and we will see yet other areas where he let someone else make the decision for him. (Dr. Robert Bell, The Theological Messages of the Old Testament Books)

Xerxes gave Haman his signet ring!  Do you understand the significance of this?!?  Kings didn’t actually sign laws in those days.  The signet ring of each king was specific to that king; it was used it as a signature.  The law was written, melted wax was poured onto the document, and the king just pushed the back of his ring into the wax leaving an impression of his specific seal, his “stamp of approval.”  Popes still use these.  This is Pope Leo XIII wearing the ring, and a print of what the stamp would look like: 

Haman could write the edict however he wanted it, and the king didn’t even have to read it.  Instead, Haman had it written in every language of the empire, pour melted wax on it, stamped the king’s seal of approval on it, and sent messengers to all 127 provinces declaring the date that it was permissible by law to attack a Jew and take his possessions as one’s own.  As we know from Daniel and other Biblical passages, the laws of Persia cannot be undone, even by the king himself.  From that perspective, this is a done deal.  The Jews would be slaughtered in approximately 11 months.

So to pick up where Carl left off last week, “What will happen to the Jewish people? What will happen to Mordecai? Will Esther’s connection to the Jewish people be found out? Is there any hope for the people?”

Let’s pray and ask for open hearts and God’s blessing before we answer these questions.

Lord, we thank You for using the truth in Your word to teach us.  As we read more of Esther’s story today, we ask that you would instruct our hearts, that we would be able to see how You are placing each of us in situations “for such a time as this.” Amen.

Chapter 3 ended with the Jews throughout the entire Persian province, from Ethiopia to India, terrified of a day still 11 months away.  The entire city of Susa was confused at the sudden decree of annihilation.  Chapter 4 picks up with Mordecai’s reaction.

When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it.  – Esther 4:1-2 NIV

When the decree against all Jews went out, Mordecai openly shamed himself. He stripped himself naked, put on sackcloth, and covered himself with ashes. Wailing loudly, Mordecai walked through Susa then sat outside the king’s gate. (People in sackcloth and ashes could not enter due to their unclean state.) He voluntarily debased himself with symbols of death to show his lowered status. – Esther 4:1-2 HSP

The ultimate sign of mourning was to clothe oneself in sackcloth and rub ashes all over.  It was how they displayed great mourning and sorrow.  It was the ultimate public display of shame.  Daniel did it in Daniel 9, mourning the length of time that Israel still had in captivity.  Others used it to mourn loved ones: Jacob mourned Joseph’s supposed death after Joseph’s brothers lied to Jacob; David mourned Abner this way; David dressed in sackcloth when he saw the Lord standing over Jerusalem with an outstretched sword because David had counted the people; others realized the severity of their sin and mourned it in the same way that most mourned the death of a loved one.  (The concept of mourning sin is at least another sermon, if not a full series, all by itself!)

Mordecai publicly showed his distress at the decree and goes to the king’s gate.  He knew that he could not take such shame into a place of honor like the king’s palace.  We don’t know why he chose to come to the palace gate.  Perhaps he was trying to create a dichotomy by displaying his extreme shame against the place of highest honor known to that society.  But Mordecai wasn’t the only Jew making this display.  Mordecai was advertising that he was a Jew by doing this, and I’m sure others would start making the connection to Queen Esther.

In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.  When Esther’s eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. – Esther 4:3-4 NIV

Feeling disgraced by her uncle’s behavior, Esther sent clothes to Mordecai, but he refused. Jews everywhere fasted, mourned, and lamented their imminent death. These symbols of humiliation ritualized their shame.  – Esther 4:3-4 HSP

When Esther got word that Mordecai was in sackcloth associating himself with other Jews, she sent him clothes from the palace for him to wear.  He was also shaming her, because at least her attendants knew that they were related.  They now know that she’s a Jew, something Mordecai had instructed her for years to keep secret.  Mordecai refuses to change, so she sends a servant to find out what on earth was troubling Mordecai.

Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.  So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate. Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. – Esther 4:5-7 NIV

The news regarding Esther’s people greatly distressed the queen. She sent the king’s eunuch to learn from Mordecai everything that happened. Mordecai recounted everything… – Esther 4:5-7 HSP

Esther sent a servant to Mordecai to find out why he was so distressed.  Somehow, the queen wasn’t even aware of the edict the king had allowed Haman to issue.  Mordecai explains it all, and even sends a copy for Queen Esther to read herself.

He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people. Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said.  – Esther 4:8-9 NIV

…and gave the eunuch a copy of Haman’s edict to destroy all Jews. Since Esther was now the queen, Mordecai asked her to petition the king for a favor on behalf of the Jewish people. – Esther 4:8-9 HSP

Some scholars says that Mordecai having a copy of the edict points to his high position in government, but I think it is possible that copies could have been made and passed out among the people.  Suffice it to say that Mordecai sent it to Esther to read it for herself. 

Along with the copy of the decree, Mordecai sent another message to Esther: please go to the king and beg for mercy and plead with him on behalf of her people the Jews.  Remember though, Mordecai had given her explicit instructions to not tell anyone about being a Jew.  In order to beg for mercy from the king, she would need to reveal her ancestry to make the strongest case for the Jews.  Sure, she could plead as the queen, the one who had found favor with the king more than all the other young women.  But her case would be far stronger when she revealed that she herself was now subject to annihilation pursuant to Haman’s decree.

Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”  – Esther 4:10-11 NIV

Through the eunuch, Esther replied to Mordecai, “Everyone knows what happens if you approach the king without an invitation—instant death! Approaching the king affronts his royal status. The king must invite a person into his presence, and I haven’t been invited in 30 days.”  – Esther 4:10-11 HSP

Esther sends word back to Mordecai reminding him of a well-known fact about life in the Persian court: you don’t just show up and expect to be seen by the king.  He has but one law: that they be put to death…To just barge in on him was suicidal.  The Honor Shame Paraphrase said that to do so uninvited “affronts his royal status.”  You brought shame to the court by waltzing in uninvited.  Esther was terrified to even go to the king.  He hadn’t summoned her for 30 days.  I’m sure she was starting to question whether she had fallen out of favor with the king.  If she had fallen out of his favor, to walk into his presence unrequested meant certain death. But, there was one thing that could save her: if the king raised his golden scepter.  One scholar surmises that raising the golden scepter was a kind of safety measure.  He would only raise it for people he knew and recognized.  I disagree.  If Xerxes extended the scepter for anyone he knew, then Esther’s fear was unfounded.  She was known by the king, and he would have certainly raised the scepter for her.  I think it was a signal to the guards near the door whether to deal with the intruder according to the one law, or whether he really wanted to grant them permission to see him. 

When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” – Esther 4:12-14 NIV

Mordecai replied, “Esther, even as the queen, your life will not be spared. If you don’t act now, God will save his people through someone else. If you betray your Jewish people, then your entire family will be disgraced. You have been royally honored for this very moment—to preserve the name of your own people.” – Esther 4:12-14 HSP

I’m not sure that Esther fully understood Haman’s rage, and apparently Mordecai knew more about Haman than we are told.  Mordecai knew how angry Haman was and that he would find every Jew, even the Queen of Persia.  Mordecai told Esther that she could not hide in the palace as queen and expect to be saved.  Haman would find out that she was a Jewess and kill her too. 

We also see a little glimpse into Mordecai’s faith.  He knew that God had promised to use the Jews as His chosen people.  He remembered the promises God made to Abram in Genesis 12:2-3 and in Genesis 17:1-8.  God had promised to make Abram the father of a great nation, to bless those who bless Abram, and to curse those who curse him.  He remembered the promise God made to that nation Abram fathered as they left captivity in Israel “to make them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6).  Even if Esther didn’t act to try to save the Jews, Mordecai was sure that help will come from somewhere else.  But he saw that from an earthly point of view, Esther was in the position with the best potential to save the Jews. 

Mordecai encouraged her to act by suggesting that perhaps she was put into this position for just such a time as this.  Sometimes we trivialize this by saying we just happened to be in the right place at the right time. 

I read an article recently about a police officer who said that he went to a house to issue a court summons to a man at this particular address.  He knocked several times, but no one ever came to the door.  Just as he turned to leave, the front door cracked open and a woman with visible bruising whispered “Please, help me.”  He pulled the woman from the house, and after speaking with her realized that she was a victim of domestic violence and her children were still inside.  He wisely called for other officers.  When help arrived, they searched the house and found the suspect hiding in an access door in a closet.  The first officer told the journalist, “I was at the right place at the right time.”

Yes, Esther was “in the right place at the right time,” but there was something else going on behind the scenes that the author only alludes to.  I think it has already been noted that God is never once mentioned in the book of Esther.  (The HSP brings Him back in for clarification.)  But that force behind the scenes in the book of Esther, is God’s sovereign control of our circumstances.

God was obviously at work when…

1. Vashti refused to grant the king’s request, and was removed from her post, making room for a new Queen

2. Esther was chosen out of hundreds of other young women to be the next queen

3. Mordecai was not recognized for his role in revealing the assassination plot – we’ll see how this is significant in coming weeks.

4. Haman cast lots, and the date chosen was almost a year away.  Plenty of time, humanly speaking, for the Jews to find a way to protect themselves.  No, God didn’t need 11 months, but from a human perspective, it was plenty of time.

God’s power doesn’t interfere with our ability to make our own decisions; but He can take even wrong intentions, and turn them into good.  Look at Joseph.  His brothers sold him into slavery.  However, God took that evil deed, and used Joseph to spare the fledgling nation of Israel – a tiny nation that God had promised Abraham would someday outnumber the stars.

In an article for Christianity.com, Chip Ingram wrote:

If you were to look up the word “sovereign” in the dictionary, you would find words and phrases like “superior,” “greatest,” “supreme in power and authority,” “ruler,” and “independent of all others” in its definition. But the way I like to explain God’s sovereignty best is simply to say, “God is in control.”

Biblical Definition and Context of "Sovereign"

There is absolutely nothing that happens in the universe that is outside of God’s influence and authority. As King of kings and Lord of lords, God has no limitations. Consider just a few of the claims the Bible makes about God:

·         God is above all things and before all things. He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. He is immortal, and He is present everywhere so that everyone can know Him (Revelation 21:6).

·         God created all things and holds all things together, both in heaven and on earth, both visible and invisible (Colossians 1:16).

·         God knows all things past, present, and future. There is no limit to His knowledge, for God knows everything completely before it even happens (Romans 11:33).

·         God can do all things and accomplish all things. Nothing is too difficult for Him, and He orchestrates and determines everything that is going to happen in your life, in my life, in America, and throughout the world. Whatever He wants to do in the universe, He does, for nothing is impossible with Him (Jeremiah 32:17).

·         God is in control of all things and rules over all things. He has power and authority over nature, earthly kings, history, angels, and demons. Even Satan himself has to ask God’s permission before he can act (Psalm 103:19).

That’s what being sovereign means. It means being the ultimate source of all power, authority, and everything that exists. Only God can make those claims; therefore, it is God’s sovereignty that makes Him superior to all other gods and makes Him, and Him alone, worthy of worship.

How Does God’s Sovereignty Impact My Everyday Life?

1.     God’s Sovereignty calls for our submission.

Just as peasants always bowed before their king for fear of offending the one who had the authority to take their life, God’s sovereignty compels us to bow before Him. But unlike corrupt earthly kings who abuse their authority to terrorize their subjects, God rules in love. He loves you and wants the best for you.

Romans 8:28 promises that “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

That’s an amazing promise not only because it demonstrates that an all-powerful God cares about you and me, but because it cannot be fulfilled unless the One Who gives it is all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful, and all-loving. The promise itself is a testimony to God’s sovereignty.

2. God’s Sovereignty provides us with comfort.

But God makes that promise, and millions throughout history have testified to its truth because God has proven His ability to back it up time and time again.

Think about the implications of that promise. Because God is sovereign and He loves you, nothing will ever come into your life that He does not either decree or allow. Consequently, no matter what you face in life, you can take comfort in the fact that God is sovereign.

2.     God’s Sovereignty inspires us to worship him.

Because God is completely good and completely sovereign, he is completely worthy of worship. The Biblical claims listed above are specific reasons why Christians worship God. Psalm 41:1-2 is another: “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.”

The Psalmist often worshipped God because God rescued him (Psalm 18:16-17), provided for him (Psalm 23:1), and led him (Psalm 32:8). It is important and good to worship God for the ways he works in a person’s individual life. But the Psalmist also shows us in Psalm 145:3 that Christians can always worship simply because God is always worthy. “Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.”

What are you struggling with today?  Is it financial trouble?  Are your parents driving you crazy?  Are your children driving you nuts?  Is there a situation at work that is challenging?  God has you where you are for a reason.  I’m not saying that every circumstance that put you in the position you’re in was right.  But God is still in control.  Submit to His providential control, take comfort in it, and worship Him through it.

What is it that he wants you to accomplish where he has you?  He put you there for just such a time as this.  Let’s be praying to have open eyes to see His mission instead of our day to day struggles. 

Let’s pray.  Lord, thank You that You are sovereign.  I will never understand how You can use everything, even evil, for our good.  Please help us to see what You are calling us to do in the situations You allow us to face.  May we be witnesses of Your love in a world that is broken and lost.