Ruth and Esther — Unit 8

Esther's Intervention — Esther 4:4–7:10

Observations

At the start, Esther knew nothing of the edict or why Mordecai would be mourning — she was an isolated person, cut off from the real world.

Her maids and eunuchs told her of Mordecai's distress, showing how much they cared for their queen. They had to learn of the edict from Mordecai, and when they learned of her heritage they stood united with her and did everything they could to help.

When Esther learns the reason for Mordecai's mourning she writhes in agony — the Hebrew word for the pain and labor of childbirth. This is the point at which the woman of action and strength is born in Esther; an internal struggle births the woman of destiny to which she has been called.

When Mordecai discloses what has happened, he even names the exact bribe Haman offered the king — which the king refused and which was not in the edict. How did Mordecai know? Friends in high places. He asks Esther to go plead before the king for her people.

She is reluctant at first. The king has not called for her in 30 days, and to go unsummoned likely means death. The king was always surrounded by warriors with axes; how lonely must that court life have been — enough to help make a mad king.

Verses 13–14 are the key verses of the whole book. Regardless of the apostasy they live in, Mordecai expresses faith that the God of the Jews will not abandon His chosen people. Though God is not named, He is implied. Mordecai's confidence in deliverance points back to God's covenant — His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 17:7; Exodus 6:7): you shall be my people and I shall be your God.

'For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father's house will perish.' This echoes Ruth: the kinsman who would not take responsibility would be forgotten, his name blotted out. Esther and her father's house would be remembered no more, though God would raise up another to save the Jews.

Mordecai points to God's providence: perhaps God placed her in royalty for just such a time as this.

In 4:15–5:2 we see the new Esther — strong and confident — being born. She steps out in faith knowing it may cost her life, offering herself as a kind of kinsman-redeemer by putting her life on the line to save her people, answering the call not of her king but of her God. She calls Mordecai and all the Jews to fast three days, she and her maids doing the same, and then she will go to the king though she may perish for seeking audience unsummoned.

On fasting: many note there is no mention of prayer or God. But fasting was commanded by God for only one day a year, the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29–31), where they were to humble themselves and afflict their souls — understood by the Jews to mean fasting — chastening their souls, reflecting on sin, and atoning, abstaining from food to grasp their proper place before God. Moses, David, Elijah, Daniel, Anna, Jesus, and Paul all fasted, seeking God's favor, so prayer would naturally have accompanied it. The silence about God and prayer has been explained various ways by scholars, but the author of Esther is unknown, and the reason for this stylistic choice remains a matter of conjecture rather than settled fact.

After three days of chastening her soul and seeking God's favor, Esther stands before the king. Her heart is humbled before God; she is as close to His will as she can be — yet surely she still trembled. Bravery is not the absence of fear but acting in spite of it. She offers herself to possible death to save her people. Who else humbled himself to the point of death, enduring humiliation on behalf of others (Philippians 2:5–8)? The three days of afflicting one's soul point to Christ, our great Kinsman-Redeemer — a nugget of the Old pointing to Christ.

Esther is greeted warmly by the mad king, setting off a chain of events showing she is exactly where she should be, in the hands of God, being used to save her people. The king offers her anything she requests.

Esther invites Haman and the king to a first banquet, but withholds her request and instead invites them to a second — setting off a sequence common in appearance but miraculous in light of God's providence: Haman runs into Mordecai on the way home and seethes; at home he brags of his riches, honors, and sons yet is inconsolable over Mordecai the Jew; his wife and friends tell him to build a gallows and he likes the idea; that night the king has insomnia; he orders the Chronicles read; the servants happen to read the very passage of Mordecai uncovering the assassination plot; the king learns nothing was done to honor Mordecai — at the exact moment Haman arrives to ask to hang him.

As one commentator put it: when Satan put it into Haman's heart to murder Mordecai, God put it into the king's heart to honor Mordecai. What a dance between Satan and God — with the assurance that God always wins.

Haman's ego becomes his downfall. Asked, without a name, how to honor a man, Haman assumes it is himself and pulls out all the stops: a king's horse, a royal robe, a crown for the horse, a parade — in effect, to be treated like king for a day.

Imagine the lump in his throat when the king says, 'Do this for Mordecai the Jew sitting in the king's gate.' Note the king knew Mordecai was Jewish, yet there is no sign he ever asked who the people in the edict were — he had given Haman carte blanche. It had only been three days since the edict; he likely thought it targeted a gang of thugs, per Haman's description.

Haman must disgrace himself by parading Mordecai in honor, then runs home with his head covered in shame.

His friends and wife, who had suggested the gallows, now say he is doomed: he has set his hand against the Jews and will fall. It is his pagan friends who say no one can stand against God's chosen people and live.

While those words still hang in the air, the eunuchs arrive to escort him to the second banquet — another anvil about to fall.

At the banquet Haman hears Esther plead for her life and her people: 'We have been sold to be destroyed, killed, and annihilated.' Each word must have pounded in his ears.

The king storms to the garden in fury — perhaps realizing his own edict will take his beloved Esther. He returns to find Haman fallen on the couch at the queen's feet: 'Will he even assault the queen while I am in the house?' To be within a foot of the king's harem meant instant death; Haman has sealed his fate.

The servants cover Haman's head — he is not even worthy to look upon the king. Harbonah the eunuch, who once summoned Vashti, becomes Esther's champion, telling the king of the gallows Haman built for Mordecai; the king orders Haman hanged on it.

Interpretations

Pride goes before the fall (Proverbs 16:18): what good is it to gain the whole world yet forfeit your soul (Matthew 16:26)?

God honors the humble (James 4:10): humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up.

It is always best to answer God's call even if it may cost your life (Matthew 16:25): whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses it for Christ will find it.

It is best to remember who we are in light of who God is — a right estimation of ourselves. Like a bridled war horse (the Greek picture of meekness, Matthew 5:5), fasting and affliction of soul remind us that apart from Christ's work we are nothing; humbled before God, we are right where He can use us, for in our weakness He is strong.

Esther approached the throne trembling but with a proper understanding of herself before God. We may draw near the throne of grace with confidence (Hebrews 4:16), clothed in Christ's righteousness and helped by the interceding Spirit.

Patience is a virtue. Esther waited for the right moment at the second banquet, letting God orchestrate events in her favor and her people's.

Seek wise counsel, not the counsel of fools. Haman's wife flips from urging the gallows to predicting his doom.

Look for the miracles even in small things — sleeplessness, dull reading, an overlooked honor.

Vengeance belongs to God. Hatred of any kind — racism, anti-Semitism, making any image-bearer your enemy — is no way to live; God desires all to be saved.

Applications

Fasting with prayer — when should we do it? Is it common enough in our lives when we seek answers from God?

Is there someone I need to forgive?

Are we looking for miracles even in the smallest things?

Do we have people in our lives with whom we can seek godly counsel?

Do we wait patiently and expectantly for guidance from God?