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Esther Chapter 4
Esther Agrees to Help the Jews
- Esther 4:1 When
Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes,
and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of
the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry;
- 2 And came even
before the king's gate: for none might enter into the king's
gate clothed with sackcloth.
- 3 And in every
province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree
came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and
weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
Prayer and fasting gets our minds off
trivial worldly concerns and onto the things of the Lord. It helps
build our faith and realize the importance of God in our lives, in
the study of His word and in seeking Him from within our innermost being.
We all, every human being, male, female, child; need the Lord.
They are saying with this action, "God
help us or we will be destroyed". Satan has wanted to destroy the
nation the Israel from the beginning of time to prevent the coming
of the Messiah to deliver us from sin. The Messiah will one day rule
the whole earth. God chose Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (whose name was
changed to Israel), Judah, and on down until King David, From David
came Nathan from whom many years later was born Mary (Mariam), the
one God chose to bring His Son Jesus into the world.
After dying for our sins when He did
not sin Himself. He was raised from the dead and will return to
fulfill the other prophecies concerning the Messiah, eventually
getting rid of all sin forever.
David's Son Solomon was the one that
Mary's husband, Joseph came through which was the line of the kings.
When Mordecai heard what was going to happen he started mourning,
fasting and crying along with other Jews.
- Esther 4:4 So
Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then
was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to
clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he
received it not.
- 5 Then called Esther
for Hatach, one of the king's chamberlains, whom he had
appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a commandment to
Mordecai, to know what it was, and why it was.
- 6 So Hatach went
forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which was before
the king's gate.
Esther's servants the king ordered for
her were very faithful and seemed to care all about her being very
attentive. Hatach went to seek out Mordecai to find out what was
causing his grief.
- Esther 4:7 And
Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the
sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's
treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them.
- 8 Also he gave him
the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan
to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto
her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to
make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for
her people.
- 9 And Hatach came
and told Esther the words of Mordecai.
Her faithful servant immediately went
to Esther to let her know what was happening.
- Esther 4:10 Again
Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto
Mordecai;
- 11 All the king's
servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that
whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into
the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to
put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out
the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called
to come in unto the king these thirty days.
They sure had some strange laws. It is
even stranger that the king didn't even call for his wife for a
month. He must have been very busy, sick or troubled about things.
Maybe God was trying to speak to him, we don't know. If we live in a
free country, we should be very thankful. Under the kings one could
be put to death without a trial, or for any reason if the king
wanted him or her gone.
- Esther 4:12 And they
told to Mordecai Esther's words.
- 13 Then Mordecai
commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou
shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.
- 14 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?
Mordecai tells her that she and her
family will not escape this purge either so perhaps God put her in
her place for a time like this.
- Esther 4:15 Then
Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,
- 16 Go, gather
together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye
for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I
also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto
the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I
perish.
- 17 So Mordecai went
his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded
him.
Esther was willing to risk her life but
wanted them all to help her by fasting and praying for 3 days. There
is no mention of the name of God in the whole book of Esther but
since they did fast and pray, they had to have known God and how to
seek Him in prayer. Esther chose to risk death rather then ignore
what was going to happen to the Jewish people. She could have
ignored it and pretended not to be one of them but she didn't. I'm
thinking that eventually someone like Haman would have found out she
was Jewish and have her killed also. -DC
Esther Chapter
5
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