Question

---

1. How did Mordecai and Esther save the king's life? (2:19-2:3) After these events, what did the king do? (3:1) How did all the royal officials act toward Haman? But how about Mordecai? Why such an act? (2-4) How did Haman react to this Mordecai? (5,6) 2. What did Haman plan? (6-7) Why did Haman try to destroy even Mordecai's people? How did he get the king’s approval and support? (8-11) How was his plan carried out? (12-15) 3. How did Mordecai express his sorrow and pained heart when he learned of all that had been done? (4:1-3) When Esther sent Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, to Mordecai, what did he ask Queen Esther to do? (4-8) How did Esther reveal the difficulty of the situation? (9-11) 4. How did Mordecai warn Esther and what did he believe? What did he say to Esther about her royal position? (12-14) What did Esther request Mordecai to do and what decision did she make? (15-17) What can we learn from Esther?

---

Attachment

Message

---

In last week's passage, Esther was made queen. That was by God's invisible hand that works for God's people. In today's passage we see another work of God. It was in the heart of God's people. God desires his intervention to save life. And in many cases it requires man's participation. Let's think about the contemporary meaning of the faith which Mordecai and Esther had 2500 years ago. In verses 19, 20 we assume that there were more contests for the concubines. At this time Esther was already the queen. But she did not reveal her minority background. Her enhanced position did not change her consistency. Her beautiful characteristics of obedience were built up through Mordecai's childhood education. In verses 21-23 a conspiracy was revealed. Look at verse 22 22 But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai. The conspiracy was about the killing of the king. As many kings in history faced terror from the close people, king Xerxes also had a danger of terror from his palace officers. Mordecai discovered the plot and saved the king's life. The criminals were hanged. Even though Mordecai saved the king's life, there was no description about the king's reward to Mordecai. Only it was written on the history book of the palace. It was not fair for Mordecai to be treated in that way. But it was to be used more efficiently in the proper time. We will see this in our further study of Esther. From chapter 3, a new person appears. His name was Haman. Here 'Ha' is not his family name. So Missionary Ha Man-Taek in Bonn UBF is not Haman's descendant. According to the description, Haman's personal relationship with the king seemed to be great. The king gave him a higher position than all other nobles and cabinet members. Here Haman is introduced as the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite. The name 'Agag' is familiar to us. He was the Amalekite king. So the Agagite seems to be the race from Agag. Their hatred to the Jews started long time ago. Look at verse 2 2 All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor. When Haman passed by all the people knelt down and yelled at him, "Long live Haman! Long live Haman!" Some people brought a placard, "Haman, our bright hope" But there was one man who kept his neck straight. It was Mordecai. Look at verse 2b But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor. He did not kneel down and did not pay honor. Here we don't know why Mordecai did not follow the king's command. Someone said that Mordecai became proud because his adapted daughter Esther became a queen. But Mordecai was a man of discernment. He knew that his life would be in danger if he disobeyed the king's command. So it seems like that there were things more than human reasons. We assume that the main reason was the worship issue. People praised Haman in a worship level like idol worshiping. Mordecai's struggle was based on a faith reason. Mordecai wanted to keep his faith even though he lost his life. His worldly friends could not understand him because it was easy to do and it was a safe way of living. But that was a temptation. Everyday they advised him but Mordecai's decision was solid. He was not shaken in his faith. At this point Mordecai told them he was a Jew. And that meant that Mordecai was struggling in the name of God. When the majority of people enter into the broad gate, entering into the narrow gate is not easy. When Japanese were governing Korea, they forced all the people to worship the Japanese Emperor. Many people compromised and did the idol worship even at the church. But a few people resisted to this. They were tortured and died in the prison. But because of such a people the Christianity in Korea kept the purity and did not lose the direction to go. There are Haman like things in the world, which try to enforce us to kneel down and bow. And we should fight against them in the name of God. There are always conflicts between a pleasure seeking life and a holy life. And we should choose a holy life to preserve our faith. Haman was reported of Mordecai's behavior. His plan without hesitation was to do an ethnic cleansing of the Jews. Look at verse 6. 6 Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes. They casted pur to find a lucky day for the plan. Actually Mordecai's deed to Haman could be a small thing in a sense. If Haman did not have hatred to the Jews it could be solved easily. But it was developed into a huge conflict over the time. There is a story how a small thing can bring a huge impact. It happened at a small countryside church in early 20 'th century in Korea. The church did not have a pastor. So they invited a pastor from Seoul for a wedding ceremony. But on the wedding day, the pastor sent a telegraph saying he could not come because of the other schedule. Instead he gave a Bible verse to read at the wedding. It was 1 John 4:18 "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…" But at the wedding something happened that made the bride crying. The '1' at the telegraph was deleted and 1 John 4:18 became John 4:18. The presider of the wedding read the verse in a loud voice, "The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true." This story tells us how the small difference ends in a big result. We need to manage the small root causes of problem before it develops. Especially we have to do it for the relationships. Haman accused of the whole Jews. Look at verse 8. 8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom whose customs are different from those of all other people and who do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. Haman said, "It is not in the king's best interest to tolerate them." Then he offered ten thousand talents of silver for the budget of the project. At that time Persia used silver coins as money and this amount was 2/3 of the whole national income. (Here is a Bible quiz. Last week M. Joshua gave a correct answer. So no more chance for him. How much weight of a talent? Answer: 34 kg. M. Moses weight is about two talents. Christopher, one talent.) Ten thousand talents of silver is about 340 tons of silver. Even though Haman got more chances to get wealthy using his position than others, it was too much for a person. It seems that he was considering of robbing the money from the Jews after destroying them. "It is not the king's best interest to tolerate him." Haman seemed to be working for the sake of the king. But he was doing this for his own purpose. In the new year what kind of interest shall we have? Satan keeps whispering, "It is not your best interest to devote yourself to God" But our interest should be God's interest. Rick Warren wrote in 'Purpose Driven Life', "Life is not about me. It is about God." We need to think more and more about what is God's interest. The king took out his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman. Verse 15 shows an interesting contrast, "The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered." Mordecai ripped his clothes and put on a sack. He sprayed ashes on his head and wailed bitterly. Look at verse 4:1. 1 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. All the Jews in the provinces heard the most shocking news in their life and did the same thing. Verses 4-14 describe of the communication between Mordecai and Esther. Esther did not seem to know the edict. Mordecai gave the copy of the edit to Esther and asked her to go to the king and beg for mercy. But Esther's response was discouraging. She explained about the Imperial security system. Anyone who approached to the king could be killed right away unless the king extended the gold scepter. The king did not call Esther for thirty days. Esther's answer was, "I can't do this because it is too risky." Things seemed negative to Mordecai. When the queen said like that, it was easy for him to be discouraged. But it was the time for him to stand by faith. Negative thoughts try to defeat us even without fighting. There is a story how negative thought affects. A man's car stopped broken in a country road. Opening the car hood the man realized that he could fix it if has a tool. He saw a nearby farm house. So he decided to borrow the tool. Going to the farmhouse negative thoughts began to develop in his mind. "Maybe nobody is in the farmhouse." "Maybe the farmer might not have the tool." "Even though he has the tool maybe he would not allow me to use it." He was getting nervous and angry. So when he knocked the door and the door was opened, he said, "I don’t need your damn tool!' But when Mordecai heard Esther's negative words he did not give up. He challenged the situation by faith. Mordecai reminded Esther of two things. First, it was her own matter. If the Jews were destroyed, it was the matter of time for Esther to be harmed when she was found to be a Jew. Second, it was God's matter. If Esther would not act, God would act. And Esther would not be the part of God's salvation work. Look at verses 14. 14 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 royal position for such a time as this?” Mordecai added a significant word, "Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" Mordecai's word helped Esther to think of the matter in God's side. Missionary Moses came to Canada as a PhD student. And through his teaching experience, he saw many students who were suffering from the failures of the course. Also he himself experienced a failure. Now he got a deep understanding heart toward students. Last week he took the three Bible students to the movie and watched AVATAR. "Who knows that God molded him in this way to make him a good shepherd for the Canadian students?" Albert came from Vancouver to Toronto for his bachelor's degree. But who knows that God has a plan to use his gentle and loving heart for U of T students? Our second gens have good English plus the gospel faith. They don't have problem in speaking English. Who knows that God will use them for the fruitful campus ministry? We need to think of God's purpose and will in our life. There is God's intention in the details of our life and ultimately God will use us for his purpose. When Esther heard Mordecai's advice, she corrected her attitude. She did not insist her thought as a queen. She accepted God's sovereignty and determined to do what is right. Look at verse 16. 16 “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 maids will fast as you do. She knew that this cannot be done by human strength. She knew that it was a spiritual battle, which needs God's help. Now the life of her people was in God's hands. And she wanted to depend on the prayers of all of her people. She also wanted to pray with her maids. She had no idea what to do but she determined to do it through prayers. Look at verse 16b, 17. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” 17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions. What was her determination? "If I perish, I perish!" When we think of Esther’s past. She was an orphan but she became a queen now. She has all the good things that she can enjoy. Who would want to die at this point? But in this verse she indicates that she would die if she needed to save his people. Knowing God's will is not enough we need a decision making. And this kind of decision was not possible without the resurrection faith. People might envy Esther of her queen ship. Many girls might admire her of her beauty. But what made her great was not those things. Her decision and commitment to obey God's salvation plan made her great throughout the history. To save life we have to give life. Jesus gave his life to save us from our sins. Through Apostle Paul's life giving spirit, many souls were saved and the first century churches stood firm. When we try to meet campus students, sometimes we feel like dying. Also when students give us a cold rejection, it seems like we are already dead. But we cannot feed sheep without meeting students. As for our second gens they might feel like dying when they are excluded from the worldly friends because of Jesus. When our student leaders study hard for the glory of God, they feel like dying because of the endless challenges. For our missionaries spiritual struggling with a hard working job makes us feel like dying. So we all need Esther's decision, "If I perish I perish." (LET'S NARATE TOGETHER.) With Esther's faith, may we be strong even in the weak situations. When we live with Esther’s resolution there is nothing that we can’t do. We will experience God's mighty help. In conclusion, there was the enemy of God who wanted to destroy God's chosen people. But Esther made a decision to do what God wanted her to do. Esther's decision making faith made her life great and left a spiritual legacy for us to follow. Written by Peter Moon

---

Attachment