Jump Start # 3526
Esther 4:16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.”
Tuesdays with Esther. One of the impressive transitions that takes place in Esther is seeing her go from an obscure Jewish girl to not just being the queen, but to see her leadership roles. When Biblical leadership is studied, Esther is not typically one that comes to our mind.
Up to the fourth chapter, Esther is doing what Mordecai tells her. That changes. Now she orders Mordecai. The Jews are going to be killed. Likely, that would include Esther, since she is a Jew. She must go and speak to the King. But one doesn’t just go and talk to the king, even if you are the queen. Approaching the king without his summoning you very easily means death. Esther understood that. She is breaking the law. But, she is the only hope that the Jews had. A death sentence had been signed and only the king can do something.
Although God’s name, the subject of prayer and the quotation from other passages are not found in Esther, page after page we find the fingerprints of God. Mordecai seems to understand that God had promised to Abraham and then to David that their descendants would bring forth the Messiah. That necessitated Jewish people being around. God would deliver His people. God always keeps His promises. If it was not through Esther, some how God would fulfill His will.
There is a great back and forth between Esther and Mordecai through the eunuch Hathach. He plays a valuable secondary role in this story. Both Esther and Mordecai trust him with confidential messages. How easily all of this could have blown up had Hathach gone to the king or changed the messages. But, he didn’t. Faithful messenger—that’s what he was.
And, that’s what we are supposed to be. Faithful messengers.
First, we must be faithful messengers with God’s word. We are not to change the message. We are not to speculate what might have been. We are not to fill in between the lines. When some have recently pondered, “What if we started all over with just Jesus and nothing else.” That’s a waste of time. God didn’t give us just Jesus. He gave us the complete N.T. message. “What if we lived on Mars?” Well, we don’t. “What if I had three heads?” I don’t. The faithful messenger is content with God’s message. He is pleased with God’s message. And, he glorifies God my passing that message on.
The apostle said regarding the Lord’s Supper, “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you…” (1 Cor 14:23). The “that which” is the same message. Read it in Corinthians and then read it in Matthew. Same thing. Timothy was told to teach faithful men who would teach the same thing (2 Tim 2:2). Too many are looking for something new, something different, something no one as ever seen before. And, that chase to find those things leads them through the gates of error and they do not even realize it.
Faithful with God’s message means keeping things in context. It means using words as God uses them. It means stopping where God stops.
Second, we need to be faithful messengers with the confidence and words of others. How many times does someone say, “Please do not share this with anyone else.” And, we go tell just one person with the same warning, “Do not tell anyone else.” And, that person goes and tells just one person with the same warning, “do not tell anyone else.” Before long, everybody knows. And, if it gets back to us, our reply is, “I just told one person.” Faithful messenger. If you can’t keep the promise to be quiet, then don’t agree to that.
Third, for three days, things were happening. Mordecai was fasting. The Jews in Susa were fasting. Esther and her ladies were fasting. Most times when the Jews fasted, they also prayed. The text doesn’t say that but what are believers doing while they are not eating? Esther was going to break the law. She was going to approach the king without an appointment. If he chose, he could have her executed, even though she was the queen.
What courage, faith and hope we find in Esther. If I perish, I perish, she says. As Mordecai presented it, “Maybe that’s why you are here.” Maybe God put you in this place for this very reason. For you, it’s not approaching the king without an appointment. It may be telling your boss that you cannot do something that is illegal or unethical. I can’t do that. It may cost you your job. It may create great hardships for your family.
Esther drew a line in the sand. If I die, I die, but I’m going to the king. And, notice, she doesn’t immediately bring things up. She has worked a plan in her mind. A feast is taking place today. That meant a lot of prep time in getting things ready. She has to build trust and confidence.
Had she just told the king outright, the king would have looked into the matter. Haman may have twisted things in his favor, as he often does. All of this may had backfired.
Esther was patient. Esther had a plan. Esther used those three days to get things ready. Esther knew what she was doing. She was a leader. We could learn from Esther. We may be too rash and quick with things. Think things through. Develop a plan. Fast about it. Work the details. All the traits of a godly leader.
Tuesdays with Esther.
Roger