Now What?

“Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai; 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.  And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words.”  Esther 4:10-11

We understand that this was a desperate situation for the Jewish people, and a desperate situation sometimes takes a desperate solution, and Mordecai’s request that Esther speak to the king to try to avoid the slaughter of their people was asking a lot of her, considering that she would be taking a tremendous risk.  Should anyone approach the king without first being called could result in a death sentence unless the king held out his golden scepter which would indicate permission to come before him.  Mordecai’s request was a real predicament for Esther.  The ball was in her court.  At this time, about 130 years after the initial captivity of the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar, there were likely millions of Jews scattered out across the entire Persian Kingdom.  These were Esther’s people, thus if all Jews were killed, so would she, unless she continued to keep her secret.  However, if she were the only one spared, then imagine the guilt that would come upon her.  It seems like it would be better to die with all of her people than to live knowing she could have possibly averted the entire slaughter but was too afraid to do what was necessary.

To not be able to approach the king whenever one desired is not that unusual.  Try to enter the Oval Office in the White House to see the President without permission.  Hopefully, it wouldn’t mean death, but it would be very risky.  Esther said that she had not been called in to see the king in a month.  I don’t know about you, but not seeing one’s loved one who lives in the same house for a month is weird.  However, customs were different then.  I would imagine that Ahasuerus had been keeping company with some of the women in his harem which, to me, is disgusting, but, like I said, customs were different.  Besides, Ahasuerus had probably never read in Genesis where God said that a husband and wife become one (Genesis 2:24).  How much happier would Esther have been to marry a young Jewish man and raise a family, but she was willing to forego her own happiness in order to serve God by doing His will even though, heretofore, she didn’t know what that as until now.  She was definitely caught between a rock and a hard place.  She sent her reply to Mordecai which explained what danger she would be in to approach the king without being called.

Mordecai replied to her very bluntly.  His message was that for her to not think that she would escape the slaughter just because she was in the king’s house.  As usual, secrets are finally made known.  Someone, somewhere, at some time would have discovered that Esther was Jewish, and she would have suffered death, not for just being Jewish, but for covering it up the whole time.  They say that the cover up is worse than the deed, and sometimes they are right.  Mordecai continued by warning Esther that if she decided to keep her mouth shut and do nothing to save her people, then God would find someone else through whom He could deliver the Jews, but she and all those who were related to her, including Mordecai, would be destroyed.   Mordecai asked, (paraphrased), ” Who knows, Esther?  Perhaps you were selected queen for such a time as this.”

I am sure that Mordecai hated the fact that it was his cousin whom he loved dearly that had to be the one to take such a risk in order to save her people.  It makes me wonder if God felt the same way knowing that Jesus was the only one who could bring salvation to sinners.  If there had been any other way to save the Jewish people, then Esther wouldn’t have had to risk her life, but there was no other way for this was God’s plan.  If there had been any other way for people to be forgiven of their sins, then God would have chosen it, but nothing but the shed blood of Jesus could bring redemption to people lost in sin.

Mordecai was adamant that Esther was the only hope for her people at this time.  It was her destiny.  The question arises:  if deliverance came from another source, why would she and her relatives be destroyed?  If she had taken the coward’s way out and refused to honor God and obey His will, then that would cause her to fear His judgment, and that judgment could be a death sentence.  She was the one that God chose.  To obey meant life, but to disobey meant death.  I am reminded of Adam and Eve.  Their disobedience brought the scourge of death upon all creation.

Esther summoned some courage and replied to Mordecai, telling him to gather all the Jews that were in the city of Shushan and fast for three days.  She and her maids would do the same.  It is not stated in scripture, but along with the fasting, they surely would have been praying to the LORD for deliverance and for the king to be receptive of Esther when she appeared before him.  We have to wonder about Esther’s maids.  Were they Jewish, also, or proselytes, Gentiles who desired to worship God and adhere to the laws of Judaism?  If they were not Jews or proselytes, then, keeping her secret from them, she may have convinced them to fast and pray for those whom Haman sought to destroy because it was the right and compassionate thing to do to help fellow humans.  After those three days of fasting, she would go into the king’s throne room, and if he chose to execute her, then so be it.  Matthew Henry wrote concerning her attitude, “Better do my duty and die for my people than shrink from my duty and die with them.”

To be continued next time.