If I Perish, I perish

Esther 4:1-17

Have you noticed that bad news gets more media time, more print than good news, and it seems to keep getting reported for extended periods?  Mordecai has received the sad news of what Haman has offered the king and that the king has allowed him to use his signet ring to seal the law.  It is now the law of the land that in eleven months every Jew in the 127 provinces would be killed.

Mordecai, it is believed was an officer of some kind in the king’s court, but one who was in great distress and wept openly and tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and this act would keep him from entering the King’s gate, but it did not prevent Esther from being aware.

Now Esther is like many of us she does not have the facts, but she wants to fix Mordecai’s problem, so she sends him new clothes.  When that does not work, she sends one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to her by the name of Hathach to talk with Mordecai, and he gets the real story, and a copy of the written decree, issued in Susa.  It ordered the Jewish destruction and was sent by Mordecai.

Next, we have Mordecai’s command to Esther to plead with the King for her people, and this was Esther’s reply to Mordecai found in verses 10-12.  “Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to tell Mordecai, “All the royal officials and the people of the royal provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner courtyard and who has not been summoned—the death penalty. Only if the king extends the gold scepter will that person live. I have not been summoned to appear before the king for the last 30 days.” Esther’s response was reported to Mordecai.”

I’m almost sure that policy will not bring the same outcome in 2018, but Esther has a clear understanding that to enter the king’s throne room without invitation has a high-risk factor, and depends on his mood at that moment.  I can see it playing out, hi honey how is your day going, it has not been good for me, but much better than yours is going to be?   

Now you have to like Mordecai, because he does not mince words; one always understands what he is saying.  Let’s continue the account in verses 13-14, “Mordecai told the messenger to reply to Esther, “Don’t think that you will escape the fate of all the Jews because you are in the king’s palace. If you keep silent at this time, liberation and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father’s house will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.”

Please do not miss the message, God did not need Esther to beg for the lives of his people, but if she were open to hearing from the Lord, he would guide her on how to do so.  The same thing holds true for you and me, but first we have to be open to the Lord’s leading.

Esther shows some excellent understanding of the need for God to do it all for her, and she makes this request of Mordecai and the Jewish people.  “Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: “Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa and fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, day or night.  My female servants and I will also fast in the same way. After that, I will go to the king even if it is against the law. If I perish, I perish.”  So Mordecai went and did everything Esther had ordered him.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice