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 from the destruction of the Jews. 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 an 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. 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 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.”
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 families will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
Esther 4:9-16
It’s always a little difficult to remember that biblical heroes and heroines like Esther did not know the end of their stories while they were in the midst of their struggles. Esther more than likely had no vision and little hope for the triumph that was to come for her and her people. Each moment, each step was revealed to her by the Lord in the same way He reveals His plans to us: one small piece at a time.
We can clearly see the pattern of the Lord working in her and through her- she wins the favor of her attendants, the king, and “everyone who saw her” (2:15). However, Esther was a human just like us, with doubts and fears. She was afraid and even resistant to go before the king after receiving Mordecai’s instruction. His sharp reply however must have brought to surface the truth that Esther already knew in her heart: not my way Lord, but Yours. She accepts Mordecai’s instruction and immediately begins preparation for the task before her, asking everyone she could reach to join her in three days and nights fasting. Esther has submitted her life to the will of her Father.
But the people in the courts of King Xerxes were not the only ones to show her favor, for we see the Lord clearly honoring the faith of this young woman. Triumph upon triumph builds for Esther and cousin Mordecai. The enemies plotting the destruction of the Jews are more than defeated, Esther retains her position as queen, and Mordecai becomes “second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews…”
If God can deliver an entire nation through a young woman’s small words spoken out of turn to a mighty king, can he not deliver any of us from the apparent destruction we feel we face? There is no task that is too great for our Father, nor any difficult time in our life that comes as a shock to Him.
With men there are things that are impossible, but with God all things are possible.
No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:37-39
