Esther Chapter 4-5
My final year of university at Stranmillis was filled with excitement, stress and angst!  As May and June drew nearer and eventually August and September, my friends and others I had went to university with, all seemed to have been accepted for their first teaching job at the beginning of the school year.  I remember scrolling through the teaching jobs website – Teacher of English, Teacher of Technology, Teacher of French and Spanish but a Teacher of Religious Studies, it never seemed to appear.  So many people I had heard from had been offered a temporary post for a few months or the whole year but nothing seemed to come up for me.  The end of August had come, and I was sitting watching my phone constantly hoping a call would come from a school, any school, to ask if I was available for sub cover.  The unknown, the thought of unemployment, not gaining much needed experience – it was something I might have to face… but if Jesus had been standing beside me at that point I know His words would have been, “You of little faith”.  I didn’t know what was around the corner, what crisis I might have to face but I had forgotten to focus on the fact that God had it all in His control and knew where He would have me placed.  Without me realising it, this was very much a test of faith for me.

My experience is minor compared to many situations and crises people have to face through life but we all face a form of crisis from time to time, whether they be severe ones that are life threatening or some that are less critical.  However, all are times in which we need help.

Esther, Chapter 4, begins in the middle of a crisis, in fact, Mordecai and the Jews were facing the crisis of their lives as a decree had been issued that all Jews would be killed – every man, woman and child.  They were in desperate need of help and God had placed Esther in a perfect position for ‘such a time as this’.

As soon as Mordecai heard the decree, his heart was filled with fear, but he knew that there was hope… Queen Esther.  Mordecai sent the message to Esther, and she was now faced with the decision of her life.  Esther needed to become a mediator for the Jewish people.  She had to plead with the King to reverse the sentence of death upon her people.  Understandably, Esther would have been scared and in fact her initial response does not show her jumping in headfirst.  Chapter 4 verse 11 reveals a dilemma that Esther had to face.  According to Persian law, it was prohibited for anyone to approach the King without being summoned.  It had already been 30 days since the King had last summoned her and she knew that she might not be summoned again to see him but… Mordecai doesn’t give up!  He knew not only how important her role was to save the Jews, but she needed to intercede for her own life.  Esther was a Jew.  Although she was the wife and queen of King Xerxes, this would mean nothing against Persian law.  Her life, too, was at risk and she needed to respond.

I wonder how I would have reacted in Esther’s shoes.  Would I have had the courage to stand before the King and to act quickly?  Would I have thought firstly of so many others before myself or my family?  Esther and Mordecai could have decided to save themselves, or simply waited on God doing something Himself.  Instead, they recognised the positions God had placed them in and knew it was for His divine purpose and this was it, the moment they needed to seize and act upon. Understanding, both, that God was in control and that Mordecai and Esther had to act are true statements simultaneously is next to impossible for us to comprehend.  God chooses to work through those willing to act for Him.

Esther’s faith and boldness pierces through in verse 16.  She knew what she had to do.  She knew the cost could be her life and yet she says, ‘if I perish, I perish’.  It’s a huge step and as we read this, we need to ask ourselves do we have a willingness to step out in faith and sacrifice everything for Christ?  Esther’s attitude is the perfect inspiration for us to show the same commitment to do what is right, despite the consequences.

Esther’s approach before the King is suspenseful and dramatic but she steps forward in faith.  She trusted God with all her heart, soul, mind and strength to give her the wisdom she needed in this moment.  She acted as the mediator between her people and the King and this points clearly to our need of a mediator.  Our sin creates a huge chasm between us and God – we need someone to intercede for us before God and ask for our sentence to be reversed, that sentence of an eternity separated from God.  Jesus Christ is that person, the only perfect person who is accepted by God and can bring us to Him if we accept His invitation.

Chapter 5 verse 2, God answers prayers and we see the plan begin to roll into motion, although possibly a strange plan in our eyes.  Instead of bringing up the matters at stake, Esther makes a humble and simple request that the King, along with Haman (a man we have already met in the story of Esther who clearly thinks very highly of himself), attend a banquet she had prepared.  God’s timing was provident.

At the first banquet, Esther makes a second request that the two men attend another banquet the next day.  Behind Esther’s methods was an effort to soften the King’s heart by showing him how much she valued being in his company and therefore be more likely to accept her charge against Haman.

The banquets also reveal more of Haman’s true nature.  A man who trusts only in himself and takes great pleasure in gloating about his position and importance within the Empire.  His strong hatred towards Mordecai as he sees standing him at the palace gates is a clear indicator of his pride and bitter anger.  After restraining himself from acting on his anger, Haman invites friends together for a social event or rather another opportunity to boast about his wealth and position, as well as the invitation that he had been given by Queen Esther herself.

Whilst Esther sought God, we see that Haman seeks himself and ignores God.  He allows his material possessions to become the focus of his prideful heart.  Our hearts should be thankful for the blessings we have, rather than bragging about them, because ‘every good and perfect gift comes from above’ (James 1:17), a fact Haman failed to recognise.

Like Esther, we should turn to God in the midst of a crisis or difficult circumstances because we can trust in Him to guide us and give us the strength we need. God cannot only help us, He longs to help us and in those times of a need of desperate help, it is God who we should call upon and trust in alone.

Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”