Esther 4

When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. Esther 4:1

Mordecai knew that he and his people were in a terrible situation. Once a law was passed, the Persians felt it could never be revoked (1:19). He knew his people, the Jews, were about to be annihilated. He probably felt that he was to blame for most of the trouble. In the West, it is difficult to understand Oriental expressions of grief. We try to hold our emotions in check, but they let it all out (cf. 1 Gen. 37:34; 2 Sam. 1:11; Isa. 3:24; Dan 9:3). [1] The tearing of one’s clothes in grief is called kriah in Hebrew and is still practiced today. For funerals of their loved ones, Jews often make a small tear in their clothing. Sackcloth was a rough cloth made from the hair of goats or camels. It was very uncomfortable when worn next to the skin. [2] Ashes put on the head were a universal sign of grief. In addition to all this, Mordecai went to the city weeping and wailing loudly and bitterly.

“But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it” (4:2). Anders says: “…The cardinal rule of Persian etiquette was apparently never to upset the king (see Neh. 2:1-2).” [3] To weep or mourn in the king’s presence was absolutely forbidden. The king’s presence was supposed to make people happy and not sad.

“In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes” (4:3). Commentators remark about how strange it is that prayer is not mentioned here. In fact, prayer is mentioned only once (Ezr. 6:10) in all the post-exilic books. That does seem strange. We can assume that prayer accompanied all the acts of penitence, but it is never mentioned. McGee feels that it is because the people were out of God’s will by not returning to the land and therefore, they did not feel the liberty to pray or talk of prayer. [4]

Queen Esther Hears The Bad News

When Esther’s eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. Esther 4:4

Queen Esther was secluded in her royal harem, completely insulated from what was going on in the world. She must have been quite shocked to hear news of Mordecai’s great troubles. Her servants undoubtedly knew about her relationship with Mordecai, but they probably did not suspect that she was his close relative. [5] The news about him was likely embarrassing to Esther so she sent some good clothes for him to put on. However, his problem had nothing to do with clothes. Esther’s insulated situation reminds us of the church’s condition today. McGee remarks: “Someone has said that the modern pulpit has become a place where a mild-mannered man gets up before a group of mild-mannered people and urges them to be more mild-mannered.” [6] Somehow, we do not understand the deadly turbulence that is going on in the world around us and therefore we are unable to address it.

“Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why. So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate” (4:5-6). Apparently, the king had assigned one of his eunuchs to care for and watch over Queen Esther. Some commentators suspect that Hathak was Jewish. [7] That would not be out of the ordinary because Jewish people had a strong tendency to work their way up in Gentile governmental systems. These royal servants had the freedom to go in and out of the Harem while Esther had no such liberty.

“Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for 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 and 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” (4:7-8). It seems that Mordecai “spilled his guts” to Hathak. By his sharing this kind of closely guarded information we can surely believe that Hathak was a Jew. This also tells us something about Mordecai’s governmental position. “Since Mordecai knew the exact amount of Haman’s bribe, he either had connections in the palace or his official function allowed access to detailed information.” [8] This section does not say much about the intimacy the queen of Persia had with the king.

“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 in the inner court 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’” (4:9-11). Getting the full truth about the fate of her people must have shocked Esther to the core. Yet, she did not see how she could go to the king without his invitation. We learn much about this strange custom of Median and Persian kings from the Greek historian Herodotus (Hist. 3.118,140). [9] Just to appear before the king uninvited was positively life-threatening.

After all, the king had not called her for thirty days. Perhaps she was losing favor or else he might have been sensually involved with another woman in his harem.

Probably, Esther was at this point still having thoughts of self-preservation. She would soon lose any such thoughts. Meyer asks: “Was her love for her people greater than her love for herself? In her resolve, there was surely something of the great love of Christ…We should look upon our position as a sacred trust to be used for others.” [10]

“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’” (4:12-13). The palace would provide no protection for Esther. She also would be caught in Haman’s trap. What could she do in this terrible situation? We are reminded of words that have been credited to Edmund Burke: “All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” [11]“She was not accidentally the one who became queen. She is there for a very definite purpose, and God has been arranging this all the time.” [12] How true the words of God in John 16:33, both in her day and in ours: “…In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

“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 family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (4:14). “Mordecai’s argument is brutal in its clarity. Death awaited her whether she approached the king or not, therefore she had nothing to lose.” [13] If she did not act, God’s plan would not fail to materialize. He would simply use someone else for the deliverance of his people. Wiersbe mentions how young John Mark once failed as a missionary and returned home to his mother. However, very soon he was replaced with young Timothy who joined the team and did not fail (Acts 13:13; 15:36-41; 16:3). [14]

Whether it was Esther, called upon to sacrifice her life for the Jews in ancient Persia, or Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was called upon to sacrifice his life for Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, it is a frightful and urgent calling. Proverbs 24:11-12 says: “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?”

The statement, “ And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?,” has been called the most famous phrase in the whole book. [15] Breneman says: “In the biblical perspective election is for service, not just for one’s own benefit. Being liberator of her people was more important than being the queen of Persia…” [16]

Queen Esther Offers Her Life

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 4:15-16

We cannot help but think of Jesus who willingly offered his life to save his people from eternal death and destruction (Mt. 20:28). We remember how he left us with the same pattern of self-sacrifice (Matt. 10:28; Phili. 1:21).

Once again, we see the call for universal Jewish fasting but strangely there is still no mention of prayer. We have to conclude that fasting had to be accompanied by prayer if deliverance would be gained. From their position of already fasting, weeping and wailing (4:3), it was not difficult for the Jews to heed Esther’s advice and join her. They were accustomed to fast from both food and water on the great Day of Atonement. That was only a one-day fast. Some folks today have taken long fasts from food, much like the forty-day fast of Jesus. However, after three days fasting from water one’s health can begin to be seriously damaged.

Most of us Christians are familiar with Esther’s great reply, “If I perish, I perish.” Matthew Henry says: “This was the language of strong faith, which staggered not at the promise when the danger was most threatening, but against hope believed in hope.” [17] Coffman says: “Esther’s action here equals or surpasses anything ascribed in the literature of all nations to the greatest heroes of the human race. What a marvel was Esther!…” [18]

“So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions” (4:17). Mordecai also had a very serious job to do, and he did it. They worked closely together for God’s glory.

Footnotes

1. Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah & Esther, The New American Commentary, p. 333.

2. Utley, Free Bible Commentary, Esther, v. 4:3.

3. Anders, g. ed. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Holman Old Testament Commentary, p. 318.

4. McGee, History of Israel, Ezra Nehemiah, Esther, pp. 208-09.

5. Utley, Free Bible Commentary, Esther, v. 4:4.

6. McGee, History of Israel, Ezra Nehemiah, Esther, p. 210.

7. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, p. 807.

8. Anders, g. ed. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Holman Old Testament Commentary, pp. 318-19.

9. Utley, Free Bible Commentary, Esther, vs. 4:9-12.

10. Meyer, F. B. Meyer’s “Through the Bible Commentary,” Commentary on Esther,

11. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, p. 806.

12. McGee, History of Israel, Ezra Nehemiah, Esther, p. 214.

13. Guthrie, et. al., The New Bible Commentary, p. 417.

14. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, p. 808.

15. Utley, Free Bible Commentary, Esther, v. 4:14.

16. Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah & Esther, The New American Commentary, p. 337.

17. Henry, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible, Commentary on Esther, vs. 4:5-17.

18. Coffman, Coffman’s Commentaries on the Bible, Commentary on Esther, v. 4:13.