Mordecai Requests Esther’s Help
Introduction
Note: Nothing has been said so far in the book of Esther to suggest Esther and Mordecai were people of great faith in Yahweh.
Neither the word for God nor the name Yahweh (Lord), occurs in the book of Esther.
Even though the name of God is nowhere mentioned in the book, His sovereignty, divine guidance, and care are evident throughout the story.
Esther is a story of foreign powers vigorously trying to eliminate the Jewish race and how God sovereignly preserved His people in accordance with His covenant promise to Abraham.
Esther 4 NLT
Mordecai Requests Esther’s Help
4:1 When Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on burlap and ashes, and went out into the city, crying with a loud and bitter wail. 2 He went as far as the gate of the palace, for no one was allowed to enter the palace gate while wearing clothes of mourning. 3 And as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes.
4 When Queen Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, she was deeply distressed. She sent clothing to him to replace the burlap, but he refused it. 5 Then Esther sent for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been appointed as her attendant. She ordered him to go to Mordecai and find out what was troubling him and why he was in mourning. 6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the square in front of the palace gate.
7 Mordecai told him the whole story, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. 8 Mordecai gave Hathach a copy of the decree issued in Susa that called for the death of all Jews. He asked Hathach to show it to Esther and explain the situation to her. He also asked Hathach to direct her to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her people. 9 So Hathach returned to Esther with Mordecai’s message.
10 Then Esther told Hathach to go back and relay this message to Mordecai: 11 “All the king’s officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter. And the king has not called for me to come to him for thirty days.” 12 So Hathach gave Esther’s message to Mordecai.
13 Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. 14 If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”
15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” 17 So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.
Examine the Scriptures
Esther 4 NLT
Mordecai Requests Esther’s Help
4:1 When Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on burlap and ashes, and went out into the city, crying with a loud and bitter wail.
Mordecai’s response was dramatic.
Tearing his clothes, putting on burlap and ashes, and crying publicly signified mourning.
An outward sign of inward distress and humiliation.
Matthew 11:21 NLT
21 …clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse.
- Mordecai’s feud with Haman had caused a great crisis for his whole nation.
Perhaps Mordecai was remorseful for having revealed his nationality and thus having endangered the lives of thousands of his people.
- Mordecai tearing his clothes, putting on burlap and ashes, and crying publicly signified that he was in mourning.
2 He went as far as the gate of the palace, for no one was allowed to enter the palace gate while wearing clothes of mourning.
We know this was where official business took place. Apparently the king did not want his officials distracted.
3 And as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes.
- Jews throughout the provinces heard the king’s decree and responded much like Mordecai. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many lay in burlap and ashes. Note: God’s name is not mentioned.
4 When Queen Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, she was deeply distressed.
As the queen of Persia, Esther had many luxuries and was waited on by maids and eunuchs.
- Esther’s unique position in the haram apparently shut her off from normal lines of communication.
She sent clothing to him to replace the burlap, but he refused it.
Wearing these garments Mordecai could then enter the king’s gate and talk to Esther directly. (See v. 2)
5 Then Esther sent for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been appointed as her attendant.
She ordered him to go to Mordecai and find out what was troubling him and why he was in mourning.
- Apparently Esther was unaware of the king’s edict to have all of the Jews executed.
6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the square in front of the palace gate.
7 Mordecai told him the whole story, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. 8 Mordecai gave Hathach a copy of the decree issued in Susa that called for the death of all Jews. He asked Hathach to show it to Esther and explain the situation to her.
- The fact that Mordecai possessed this specific knowledge and a copy of the edict further shows his prominent position in Persia.
- Esther now knew the details of the King’s edict and how it came about.
- Hathach would now know that Esther was a Jew.
He also asked Hathach to direct her to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her people. 9 So Hathach returned to Esther with Mordecai’s message.
Mordecai asked Hathach to direct Esther to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her people.
10 Then Esther told Hathach to go back and relay this message to Mordecai: 11 “All the king’s officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter.
- Esther reminded Mordecai that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter.
And the king has not called for me to come to him for thirty days.”
Esther had not been in the presence of the king for a month.
This does not mean that Esther had fallen from the king’s favor.
12 So Hathach gave Esther’s message to Mordecai.
13 Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed.
Esther 3:12-13 NLT
12 … a decree was written exactly as Haman dictated. … The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. 13 … giving the order that all Jews—young and old, including women and children—must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day.
- A decree sealed with the king’s signet ring was irrevocable. (Previous chapter.)
- Mordecai planted the idea in Esther’s mind that she would die if she did not act.
If Esther does not exercise her individual responsibility, she and her family will die.
14 If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place,
- Mordecai knew God’s promises and realized that God would not allow his chosen people to be annihilated.
Genesis 17:1-8 NLT
17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. 2 I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.”
3 At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, 4 “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! 5 What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!
7 “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”
but you and your relatives will die.
Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”
God’s providential timing.
A hint of Mordechai’s belief in God’s providence.
- Esther’s rise to power at this precise time was not just a coincidence. Esther’s position as Xerxes’ favored wife and queen was a role God had given her to influence history for the Jewish people.
The story of Joseph.
Genesis 45:5-7 NLT
5 But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. 6 This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors.
In Joseph’s story, Joseph knew God was using him to preserve Jacob’s family.
15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day.
- Esther was convinced that she needed to act.
No eating or drinking for three days was a serious fast.
No mention of prayer.
An indication of Esther’s faith in God.
Daniel
Daniel 9:3 NLT
3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.
My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.”
- Esther was willing to die for her people.
It was a serious undertaking to go in to see the king without an invitation.
17 So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.
Most translations say “ordered” or “commanded”.
- Esther and Mordecai are seen as great patriots on behalf of the Jewish nation, but are not presented as righteous people, like others in the Old Testament who fully trusted the Lord.
