“Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews.
For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Esther 4:14, 15
In the Book of Esther, we see two pictures of the Church – the Esther church sits under the obvious blessings of God, residing in the palace, and the Mordecai church sits under oppression and persecution.
Esther was perfect in her natural beauty, and her refusal of worldly enhancements endeared her to the King, who loved her above all others and made her his queen. She is the very embodiment of the Bride of Christ, beautiful in grace, entering into the blessings of God honestly and humbly. Proverbs 22:11 says that he that loveth pureness of heart, the king shall be his friend. Esther was a perfect picture of that pureness of heart.
Mordecai, however, sat on the other side of the palace walls. As a devout Jew, he would bow to no one other than God Almighty, so when wicked Haman rode by, whose ambitions knew no bounds, he considered Mordecai’s refusal to bow as the ultimate insult. Haman, as with his predecessor Satan, aspired to be like the Most High, and was determined to gain that power using the same demonic methods of deceit and murder, so when he saw Mordecai the Jew refusing to give him homage, his hatred for the people of God welled up to overflowing. He ordered Mordecai hanged on the gallows and conspired to destroy the entire race of Jews.
So Mordecai went to the only place of refuge he knew was sure – he sat in dust and ashes at the king’s gate.
It is not enough that we say that we know God and that we trust that God will always deliver us. That is merely presumption. Presumption doesn’t seem that bad when times are good. If it works, great; and if it doesn’t, oh well, no great loss. But when utter destruction and severe persecution is looming over you, you have no room for chance, and all those great and swelling words of love, peace, and overflowing blessings wear a little thin.
Mordecai knew that he needed an answer from the Throne of God, and he was willing to sit at His gate in fasting and prayer until God moved. Even when honored by the king to be led through the town by Haman, proclaiming the honor bestowed upon Mordecai by the king, he went right back to his sackcloth and ashes. So often, we as Christians will seek the face of God for an answer in times of trouble, but as soon as we feel the winds of victory begin to blow across our face, we quit and assume that God will finish it all the way. Not so with Mordecai. He was determined to pray it all the way through to the victory.
As a young Christian, I was taught to pray like a warrior and stand before God in holy boldness and determination, claiming your answer before God. “One of us is going to move”, I would cry out to God, “and it’s not going to be me!” When you pray like that, be prepared to be tested, but like Mordecai, you are assured of the answer because you will not quit until you get it. The definition of Faith is not believing that God CAN do something – it’s believing that He WILL do it because you will not let go until He does!
While the people of God outside the palace were determined for destruction, Esther, at ease in the palace, was oblivious to their plight. It was only the sight of Mordecai in sackcloth that got her attention to realize something was wrong. The challenge he answered her with was severe – march into the Throne Room of the King and plead for the deliverance of her persecuted brethren. It was an act of ultimate courage, for if the King did not accept you, your only fate was death.
The Throne Room was not a place to wander in mindlessly. If so on earth with earthly kings, how much more with God Almighty? And yet, because we stand in the grace of God, we know without a doubt that God will hold out the golden scepter but it takes a certain holy boldness to march all the way up to the Throne (were not talking regular prayer here), and only righteousness in the fear of God will give you that kind of holy boldness and victory.
Esther could have made excuses to get around Mordecai’s request. She could have ignored the problems her brethren would face outside the walls and gone about with her life of peace and blessings – but she didn’t. She took upon herself the challenge that has always been placed upon those in the “Esther” church to stand in defense of her persecuted brethren and, taking her life in her hands, go in to storm the Throne of God for their deliverance.
But do we in America, as the most blessed and prosperous church that has ever been, hear the call of Mordecai? Do we do anything more than peer over the castle walls and muse amongst ourselves at how terrible it must be for those in 3rd world countries who not only live in a state of poverty that we cannot imagine, but stand to defend the Gospel with their very lives?
Sadly, the answer is no. Oh yes, we support our missionaries who have to take months off from ministry to come and plead with us for enough finances to subsist. We write a check and hope that all will be well, and we have a picture in our minds of a nice little missionary hut somewhere “over there”. But do we really know and understand the intensity of the hardships they are facing? Are we really willing to take upon us the same role that Esther did?
Mordecai’s answer to her is chilling. He knew God was going to deliver the Jews somehow – he knew because he was not going to let go of the horns of the altar until God did – but if Esther did not come to their aid in such a time, she would face destruction. God had placed her in this position for just such a time as this. She was part of the plan of salvation for God’s people, even playing a part in the rebuilding of Jerusalem years later. Is America any different?
It is amazing what we can accomplish when we yield to what God has called us to do, whether inside the palace or outside the walls. It was not the threat of destruction, but rather the brotherly love that marks us as true Christians that Esther responded to. “If I perish, I perish”, she replied as she prepared herself to present herself before the king, and went in to touch the golden scepter. Touching the golden scepter is that point of prayer we come to when, having done all we can, we submit to the mercy of God and reach that breakthrough in the prayer room. Only true prayer warriors know what that is like. And that is the point when your deliverance begins to roll.
God has a plan, and He calls us to answer the call. We can busy ourselves about our own lives and never notice what happens elsewhere, feigning ignorance and the importance of those things that surround us, but the call comes to us from over the walls.
An old man sits down there, slumped over in his cry to God, covered in garments of affliction, soiled by the dust of humility before God, and rocking back in forth in the agony of prayer. When we look closer, we see that it is our cousin, the persecuted church, afflicted by the forces of darkness and slated for destruction. We sigh and feel badly for him, but will we take upon ourselves the call to battle?
Esther made her choice without hesitation.