Today’s passage: Esther 4
Helpful thoughts:
- Mordecai would not have been allowed to enter the king’s gate in his state of mourning due to the laws of the empire to express joy under the leadership of the kings (See Nehemiah 2:1-2).
- Mordecai might have hoped Esther was seeing King Ahasuerus more often, granting her more favor with the king. Esther’s news that she had not been called into his presence for thirty days makes this task all the more daunting. If she was going to see the king she would have to initiate the contact, which was not legally her choice to make.
- The book of Esther reveals to us the sovereignty of God working through the perspective of people.
- Mordecai and Esther did not know whether God had put her there in the palace for this reason, but they hoped He did and were willing to act on it.
- Signs and wonders were never a normal occurrence throughout history. Throughout the Bible, People were astonished when they saw miracles and angels or heard God speak to them because it was strange.
- Mordecai and Esther did not expect or demand miracles or special revelation in their situation. They knew what God’s Word promised and they responded in faith.
- Mordecai’s statement in verse 14 is very similar to what the three young men declared in Daniel 3:16-18. God would still be good and true to His promises to the Jewish people, whether He preserved them through Esther or not.
- Mordecai and Esther did not know whether God had put her there in the palace for this reason, but they hoped He did and were willing to act on it.
Questions to consider:
- What is the reasoning for both Mordecai and Esther to proceed with the decisions they are making? How is their faith in the promises of God guiding their processing of all the facts in their situation?
- What is absent from this narrative? How does the fact that God doesn’t send an angel or speak audibly to Mordecai and Esther help us to better understand the process of what they are deciding?
- Mordecai knew the promises of God found in His Word (Verse 14). How does this teach us in our decision making without signs and visions? (2 Timothy 3:16-17)