Study No. 2 Standing up for Who You Are. 2:9-16
God arranges events in our day to day lives that can be .. or are .. important and essential in relation to events that He knows are coming into our lives in the future. We usually see this in hindsight. Joseph recognized that the things that happened to him in his younger days were to prepare him and others for a future event that otherwise might have meant total devastation.
Genesis 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
God knows that His children who were still living in Babylon were going to come under attack. There would be an attempted genocide. But before any of this even takes shape, God is arranging things and putting things in place that prevent this terrible thing from happening.
God exalts Esther to the position of Queen. In doing so, Vashti has been removed. Was this totally of her own doing? Was she without blame in her refusal to listen to the drunken demands of the king? Is it possible she did the right thing ... in the wrong way? That is, was her response perhaps laced with pride and sense of her own power as queen?
God makes sure that Mordecai is in the right place at the right time to overhear something very important then gives him the wisdom to do the right thing with what he had heard.
Both of these things ... arranging for Esther to be queen, and the information that Mordecai learned 'by accident' can be seen as God working ahead of time to avert a future calamity.
Young women are brought to the palace to potentially become queen. Esther is in the group and for some reason Hegai is impressed by her. He starts the normal regimen of beauty treatments that had become customary for building the King's 'harem' within the Persian kingdom. Verses 8,9
Esther does not reveal her nationality. This fact is mentioned again in a few verses. We could take a few moments to examine the reasons. We recognize that the Persian kingdom at this point in their history is made up of many nationalities. They were multicultural. So what could be wrong with saying that she was a Jew? Mordecai had instructed her to keep it quiet. Why? Was it fear? Was it shame or embarrassment? Or was it wisdom?
I can think of one good reason for Mordecai to want to keep their nationality a secret. The Jews were unique as a nation. They claimed to be the only people of God. And according to scripture that is accurate.
Do you remember the dreams Joseph had when he was a boy? He dreamed on one occasion that he saw the sun and moon and 11 sheaves of grain all bowing down to him. His brothers were offended by this, perceiving that this dream meant that their father and mother and all the boys would one day bow down to Joseph. What was it that caused anger? They took it as an insult that their parents and themselves would ever have to bow down to the youngest brother. They took it as an insult that Joseph would dare to exalt himself to such a position of superiority. And we can kind of understand that.
As Christians we believe that there is only one way to heaven, and that is by Jesus. He alone is the door. All other religions of the world take that as an insult; as an affront.
Even so the nations surrounding Israel were insulted by the Jews' claim of being the only people of God and possessing the only way to God. The Jews were not well-liked for this. Mordecai, and the Jews who were still living in this foreign kingdom were not in a position of strength, but rather in a position of ridicule and derision.
So why keep 'who you really are' a secret?
Ro 1:16 ¶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
2Timothy 1:8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.
Compare these verses with the following two passages.
Mt 10:16 ¶ "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
And I Corinthians 9:19-23
19 ¶ Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.
21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.
22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.
23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
Twice it is mentioned that Esther is to keep her identity a secret. However, Mordecai openly reveals his nationality. (3:4) From this we see that Mordecai is bold and unashamed to be known as a Jew. He could easily expect things to turn bad. Not too many years earlier Daniel faced a similar situation. The same thing holds true for Daniel's three friends. Daniel ended up in a lion's den. His three friends were thrown into a furnace. All for taking a bold stand for the God of Israel. And God delivered them. Mordecai is unafraid, but at this point no one knows that he is connected with Esther.
Comments on 2:12-14
The opulence and lavishness of this king is something hard to identify with. Of the whole string of young women that are brought to him ... none of them return home. He would take one for a night. She would not return to the same quarters. She would remain single the rest of her life if the king never called for her again.
When it finally was Esther's turn to go to the king, she did not ask for 'extras' with which to impress him. At Hegai's advice she takes only what he suggests. It is now the seventh year of the king's reign – four years into the 'beauty contest'. For four years she has lived in special quarters. For four years Mordecai has stayed near to see how she is doing.
The King throws a special banquet in her honour. A national holiday is called for. Gifts are exchanged in celebration of the event. (17,18)
The next verse (2:19) is probably five years later. I have discovered that this verse has been problematic for many bible scholars. I found one that to me, at least, makes the most sense.
Five years have passed. Esther has been queen ... but as we will see later, her situation was tenuous. Women in the Persian culture were treated cruelly and considered to be possessions. At times they were even traded as commodities. This king ... as we have already discovered, has the lust of a playboy. After five years of marriage to Esther, after the newness is past, we can only imagine where his lusts will take him. So this verse is a bit of a downer.
The king has a second group of virgins brought to him.
Mordecai is at the gate ... nothing unusual in that. But apparently he was nothing more than a 'fixture' to the 'regulars'. Two men come into earshot. Mordecai discovers a plot.
Verses 21-23
Mordecai could have passed this information on to some other servant or prince who would take the news to the king. Having his young cousin right there in the palace, he did what was logical to him. He told Esther. Esther gives credit to Mordecai. Both of them had no idea that this would work out for the best later. Neither one had any inkling of the threat about to come down on the Jewish people. But Mordecai 'happened' to be in the right place at the right time to hear of this plot. He got credit for saving the king's life. ... And then the king 'happened' to forget to thank Mordecai.
3:1-7
Haman seemed most worthy to be elevated to 'prime minister'. Haman parades through the streets. People everywhere are commanded by the king to bow as Haman passed by. Mordecai refuses.
When news comes to Haman ... he is so furious, and knowing that Mordecai is a Jew ... he decides he will teach him a lesson. He will take steps to have all the Jews in the kingdom wiped out.
8-13
So ... there it is. In Persian law ... which in unalterable. On the 13th of the 12 month ... annihilate the Jews and take all of their belongings.
God arranges events in our day to day lives that can be .. or are .. important and essential in relation to events that He knows are coming into our lives in the future. We usually see this in hindsight. Joseph recognized that the things that happened to him in his younger days were to prepare him and others for a future event that otherwise might have meant total devastation.
Genesis 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
God knows that His children who were still living in Babylon were going to come under attack. There would be an attempted genocide. But before any of this even takes shape, God is arranging things and putting things in place that prevent this terrible thing from happening.
God exalts Esther to the position of Queen. In doing so, Vashti has been removed. Was this totally of her own doing? Was she without blame in her refusal to listen to the drunken demands of the king? Is it possible she did the right thing ... in the wrong way? That is, was her response perhaps laced with pride and sense of her own power as queen?
God makes sure that Mordecai is in the right place at the right time to overhear something very important then gives him the wisdom to do the right thing with what he had heard.
Both of these things ... arranging for Esther to be queen, and the information that Mordecai learned 'by accident' can be seen as God working ahead of time to avert a future calamity.
Young women are brought to the palace to potentially become queen. Esther is in the group and for some reason Hegai is impressed by her. He starts the normal regimen of beauty treatments that had become customary for building the King's 'harem' within the Persian kingdom. Verses 8,9
Esther does not reveal her nationality. This fact is mentioned again in a few verses. We could take a few moments to examine the reasons. We recognize that the Persian kingdom at this point in their history is made up of many nationalities. They were multicultural. So what could be wrong with saying that she was a Jew? Mordecai had instructed her to keep it quiet. Why? Was it fear? Was it shame or embarrassment? Or was it wisdom?
I can think of one good reason for Mordecai to want to keep their nationality a secret. The Jews were unique as a nation. They claimed to be the only people of God. And according to scripture that is accurate.
Do you remember the dreams Joseph had when he was a boy? He dreamed on one occasion that he saw the sun and moon and 11 sheaves of grain all bowing down to him. His brothers were offended by this, perceiving that this dream meant that their father and mother and all the boys would one day bow down to Joseph. What was it that caused anger? They took it as an insult that their parents and themselves would ever have to bow down to the youngest brother. They took it as an insult that Joseph would dare to exalt himself to such a position of superiority. And we can kind of understand that.
As Christians we believe that there is only one way to heaven, and that is by Jesus. He alone is the door. All other religions of the world take that as an insult; as an affront.
Even so the nations surrounding Israel were insulted by the Jews' claim of being the only people of God and possessing the only way to God. The Jews were not well-liked for this. Mordecai, and the Jews who were still living in this foreign kingdom were not in a position of strength, but rather in a position of ridicule and derision.
So why keep 'who you really are' a secret?
- It could be fear of what might happen to you if you were to reveal it. What could possibly happen? In our present time and place it may be important to us to be accepted in our neighborhood, in our places of work, at school, in our recreational groups. We fear we would lose respect. People might think less of us. We could become objects of derision. (Has everyone seen the movie, 'God's not Dead'?)
- It might mean that if someone should discover you are a born again believer, that persecution of some type might happen to the rest of your family. In that case, an individual would be keeping quiet to protect his family.
- Other reasons?
Ro 1:16 ¶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
2Timothy 1:8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.
Compare these verses with the following two passages.
Mt 10:16 ¶ "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
And I Corinthians 9:19-23
19 ¶ Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.
21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.
22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.
23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
Twice it is mentioned that Esther is to keep her identity a secret. However, Mordecai openly reveals his nationality. (3:4) From this we see that Mordecai is bold and unashamed to be known as a Jew. He could easily expect things to turn bad. Not too many years earlier Daniel faced a similar situation. The same thing holds true for Daniel's three friends. Daniel ended up in a lion's den. His three friends were thrown into a furnace. All for taking a bold stand for the God of Israel. And God delivered them. Mordecai is unafraid, but at this point no one knows that he is connected with Esther.
Comments on 2:12-14
The opulence and lavishness of this king is something hard to identify with. Of the whole string of young women that are brought to him ... none of them return home. He would take one for a night. She would not return to the same quarters. She would remain single the rest of her life if the king never called for her again.
When it finally was Esther's turn to go to the king, she did not ask for 'extras' with which to impress him. At Hegai's advice she takes only what he suggests. It is now the seventh year of the king's reign – four years into the 'beauty contest'. For four years she has lived in special quarters. For four years Mordecai has stayed near to see how she is doing.
The King throws a special banquet in her honour. A national holiday is called for. Gifts are exchanged in celebration of the event. (17,18)
The next verse (2:19) is probably five years later. I have discovered that this verse has been problematic for many bible scholars. I found one that to me, at least, makes the most sense.
Five years have passed. Esther has been queen ... but as we will see later, her situation was tenuous. Women in the Persian culture were treated cruelly and considered to be possessions. At times they were even traded as commodities. This king ... as we have already discovered, has the lust of a playboy. After five years of marriage to Esther, after the newness is past, we can only imagine where his lusts will take him. So this verse is a bit of a downer.
The king has a second group of virgins brought to him.
Mordecai is at the gate ... nothing unusual in that. But apparently he was nothing more than a 'fixture' to the 'regulars'. Two men come into earshot. Mordecai discovers a plot.
Verses 21-23
Mordecai could have passed this information on to some other servant or prince who would take the news to the king. Having his young cousin right there in the palace, he did what was logical to him. He told Esther. Esther gives credit to Mordecai. Both of them had no idea that this would work out for the best later. Neither one had any inkling of the threat about to come down on the Jewish people. But Mordecai 'happened' to be in the right place at the right time to hear of this plot. He got credit for saving the king's life. ... And then the king 'happened' to forget to thank Mordecai.
3:1-7
Haman seemed most worthy to be elevated to 'prime minister'. Haman parades through the streets. People everywhere are commanded by the king to bow as Haman passed by. Mordecai refuses.
When news comes to Haman ... he is so furious, and knowing that Mordecai is a Jew ... he decides he will teach him a lesson. He will take steps to have all the Jews in the kingdom wiped out.
8-13
So ... there it is. In Persian law ... which in unalterable. On the 13th of the 12 month ... annihilate the Jews and take all of their belongings.