Esther 3-4 (Feb.11)

Esther 3-4

Faith & Risk
(February 11, 2007)

“When Hathach told Mordecai what Esther had said, Mordecai sent her this message:

'Don't think that just because you live in the king's house
you're the one Jew who will get out of this alive.
If you persist in staying silent at a time like this,
help and deliverance will arrive for the Jews from someplace else;
but you and your family will be wiped out.
Who knows? Maybe you were made queen for just such a time as this.'

Esther sent back her answer to Mordecai:

'Go and get all the Jews living in Susa together.
Fast for me. Don't eat or drink for three days, either day or night.
I and my maids will fast with you.
If you will do this, I'll go to the king, even though it's forbidden. If I die, I die.'”
Esther 4:12-16 (MSG)

Have you been placed in a situation “for such a time as this”?

Is God leading your heart to serve Him in a way that your head finds risky (or even foolish)?

Ref: Matthew 16:25 (NASB)
“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ”

What does God's process look like for serving Him in faith?

1. Our Loyalty Will Be Tested

2. Our Understanding Will Be Challenged

3. Our Safety or Comfort Will Be Requested as an Offering

Exploring the narrative:

1. Haman enters the scene. He's an Agagite (a descendant of Agag, king of the Amalekites).
   Some information about the Amalekites:

• Saul was told to annihilate the Amalekites.
  His disobedience (sparing Agag and his pregnant wife in the attack) cost Saul the throne. Obviously, Agag's wife escaped before Samuel put Agag to death.

• The Amalekites were nearly constant enemies of Israel (throughout the Old Testament). Some traditions claim that the Amalekites were descendants of Esau.

Haman was at least motivated by a lust for power.
His ambitions MAY have included revenge against the Jews
(even before Mordecai's refusal to bow to him)

2. The Jewish holiday, Purim, is a celebration of the story of Esther.
   The name “Purim” comes from Haman's casting of the “pur” (Esther 3:7).
   The date of the holiday comes from the selection of the 12^th of the month of Adar
   as the day when the Jews in Persia would be executed.

3. The conversation between Esther and Mordecai in Esther 4 represented a risk in and of itself (remember that Esther had not revealed the fact that she was a Jew).

1. Our Loyalty Will Be Tested

Ref: Esther 3:1-2 (NIV)
“After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite,
elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles.
All the royal officials at the king's gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman,
for the king had commanded this concerning him.
But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor.”

Mordecai's loyalty to God and, possibly, to the king was being tested.

1. The words used here for “kneeling” and “paying honor” are “kawrah” and
   “shaw-khaw”, which means “to bring low” or “to abase”.
   The words are typically reserved for one's reaction to God.
   Therefore, Mordecai was obeying the Law
   Ref: Exodus 20:2-5a (NLT)
   “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt,
   the place of your slavery.
   You must not have any other god but me.
   You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind
   or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.
   You must not bow down to them or worship them,
   for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God
   who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.”

2. As an Amalekite, Mordecai was naturally inclined to view Haman as an enemy.
   He was likely immediately suspicious of him
   and very well may have been making a loud political statement.

How are our loyalties tested? In the workplace? In social settings? With family?

Why does God test our loyalties first? To demonstrate we are ready for the upcoming trial.

2. Our Understanding Will Be Challenged

When we're heading into a trial, we usually don't understand it
(and find our circumstances to be confusing and discouraging)
Ref: Esther 4:5 (CEV)
“Esther had a servant named Hathach, who had been given to her by the king.
So she called him in and said,

'Find out what's wrong with Mordecai and why he's acting this way.'”

Mordecai was “acting weird” from Esther's perspective
(she does not appear to be aware of what's been happening with Haman).

Responding to Esther's questions (delivered in proxy by Hathach),
Mordecai not only sends word back, but includes evidence.

Ref: Esther 4:8 (NLV)
“He also gave him one of the letters of the law that was sent out from Susa to destroy the Jews, that he might show it to Esther and let her know. And he said that she should go in to the king and beg him to show favor to her people.”

Esther is being told that her husband, the king, is signing off on a plot to kill the Jews.
She is likely immediately skeptical. She is, no doubt, feeling confused and discouraged.
Mordecai anticipates this by sending more than his opinions on the matter.

Esther and Mordecai both demonstrated the wisdom in seeking and pursuing understanding, rather than relying on opinions and feelings alone.

What kinds of information do we need to understand about our next predicament?
What did Esther seek to understand?

Ref: Proverbs 3:13-17 (NIV)
“Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding,
for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.
She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.
Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace.”

3. Our Safety or Comfort Will Be Requested as an Offering
   “God is far more interested in your character than he is your comfort.”
   - Rick Warren (The Purpose-Driven Life)

Ref: Esther 4:10-17 (ESV)
“Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say,

'All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know
that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law--to be put to death,
except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live.
But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.'

And they told Mordecai what Esther had said.
Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther,

'Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace
you will escape any more than all the other Jews.
For if you keep silent at this time,
relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place,
but you and your father's house will perish.
And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?'

Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai,

'Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa,
and hold a fast on my behalf,
and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day.
I and my young women will also fast as you do.
Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law,
and if I perish, I perish.'

Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.”

Esther was being asked to sacrifice her safety and comfort to fulfill God's mission for her.

Could she have died? Yes

Could she have been thrown out of her house and treated like Vashti? Yes

Could she have been humiliated? Yes

How may God call us to sacrifice safety and/or comfort?

What's interesting here is Mordecai's statement, “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place....”

God's plan will be completed.

Our willingness to submit to His will, our obedience, does not supersede His sovereignty.

Conclusion-

Have you been placed in a situation “for such a time as this”?

Is God leading your heart to serve Him in a way that your head finds risky (or even foolish)?

Ref: Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ”