Transcript

On August the 21st, 2015, two American service members, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos, and their friend, Anthony Sadler (which is a great last name), boarded a train in Amsterdam headed to Brussels. Having time off from their military duties, they planned to do some sightseeing.

Unbeknownst to them, a 25-year-old Moroccan terrorist had also boarded the train and was armed with an AK-47 assault rifle, a 9mm pistol, a boxcutter, and 270 rounds of ammunition, planning to massacre the passengers on the train and grab the attention of the world.

When the Americans heard gunshots and the breaking of glass, the three of them sprang into action.

Alek Skarlatos, who had been napping, came to life and instinctively shouted, “Go,” and the three young men attacked the terrorist, tackling him, disarming him, and rendering him unconscious with the butt of his own rifle.

Spencer Stone was stabbed with the boxcutter, but his injuries were not life-threatening, and, using emergency first aid skills, the three tended to the wounded.

The young Americans were rightly hailed as heroes for stopping what could have been one of the worst terror attacks since 9/11.

The three young men first met as students at a Christian school in Sacramento and they felt the Lord had prepared them and placed them on that train for such a time as that.

Anthony Sadler said afterward, “It’s like our lives were leading up to that moment. You don’t always know what plan God has for you. What we’ve come to realize with hindsight is that this was all part of His plan, a bigger picture.

“That’s where we were supposed to be that day. In hindsight, looking back on our lives, it looks like we were all preparing our whole lifetime for that moment. There’s no denying it.”

Esther was prepared by God and placed in a strategic position for a critical moment in history to save her people, the Jews. And she made a courageous decision to step forward in faith even at the risk of her own life.

Esther 4:1-3: “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; And came even before the king’s gate: for none might enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. 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.”

It has been estimated that there were perhaps around 15 million Jews scattered throughout the Persian empire in the days of Esther. Now, as a result of Haman’s hatred and influence upon the king, they were all decreed to die.

At the end of chapter 3, we read about the reaction of those in the city of Shushan to the news that all Jews were to be killed, that they were “perplexed.”

Here at the beginning of chapter 4, we find Mordecai’s reaction, as well as the reaction of all the Jews in the kingdom of Persia.

Upon reading the irreversible edict which commanded the destruction of all the Jews in Persia, Mordecai is understandably distraught and grief-stricken.

Mordecai expressed his grief visibly as he tore his clothes. The external tearing of his clothes was a picture of his internal mourning, grief, and being torn inside.

Mordecai then “put on sackcloth with ashes” and went around the city of Shushan crying out “with a loud and bitter cry.”

In our Western culture, our expression of grief is often restrained; our tears and crying are done quietly, and we try to maintain a stoic image of strength. But in Eastern culture, sorrow has always been expressed visibly and vocally.

And in the time of Esther, they changed their appearance with sackcloth and ashes. One commentator describes the use of sackcloth and ashes for mourning this way:

“…people in Esther’s day would commonly wear loose-fitting, dark-colored coarse garments made of goat’s hair, which hung on them like a large gunnysack.

“On top of that, they would take ashes from the remains of a fire and throw them on themselves so they would be covered with them and appear ghastly and unclean.

“Sometimes they would even sit in the midst of a cold ash heap and throw the ashes on themselves as a vivid expression of grief.”

The ashes were also an acknowledgment in one’s grief that we come from the dust of the earth, and we return to it.

Putting on sackcloth and ashes was not just practiced by the Jews in time past, but by other nations as well (Isa. 15:1-3).

Mordecai’s grief-stricken journey through Shushan ended at the king’s gate.

Warren Wiersbe wrote of the king’s gate that it was “the commercial and legal hub of the city, a combination of a marketplace and courtroom.”

Mordecai sat in that king’s gate, Esther 2:19 tells us, holding an official position as a magistrate or judge in Persia’s judicial system.

Mordecai stumbled up to the gate, but dared not enter into or go through it, as it says that Mordecai, “came even BEFORE the king’s gate.”

That was as far as he was allowed to go because as verse 2 states, “for none might enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.”

Nehemiah was a cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, the son of King Ahasuerus, and Nehemiah lived in Shushan and served in the palace.

In Nehemiah 2:1-2 we find that when the king noticed that Nehemiah was visibly sad in his presence, it says that Nehemiah was “sore afraid.”

There was to be no sorrow in the palace or the presence of the king, who lived sheltered from the realities of life. There was to be only gladness and pleasantness in his presence. To keep sorrow away, it was even the law of the land that no one wearing sackcloth, the clothing of mourners, could enter the king’s gate (v. 2).

The king was regarded as divine, and his palace then was looked upon as a holy place where sorrow and tragedy were not to intrude or even get close to him.

This is so very different from the King of kings, Who desires that we bring all our sorrows and burdens to Him and Who comforts us with His love and by His grace.

In verse 3, we learn that it was not only Mordecai who was distraught by the edict but Jews from India to Ethiopia in every one of the 127 provinces of the Persian empire were likewise overcome by it and, like Mordecai, they gave public expressions of their grief and horror.

The news that they were under the sentence of death by an irreversible Persian decree was greeted by ALL the Jews with great mourning, fasting, bitter wailing and lamentation. And MANY manifested their grief by laying in sackcloth and ashes, or many wearing sackcloth sat in ashes and threw the ashes on themselves.

Esther 4:4-9: “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.

“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.

“So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which was before the king’s gate. 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.

“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.

“And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.”

Esther, living in the isolation of the palace, had not yet been made aware of this decree, which was the talk of the city and the empire. But now, for the first time, she catches wind that something is happening.

Mordecai likely had come before the king’s gate in sackcloth and ashes, trying to make himself visible to somehow get Esther’s attention. And it worked.

From the days of Esther’s purification and Mordecai walking every day by the court of the women’s house to check in on her (2:11), Esther’s maids and chamberlains knew Mordecai and that he cared for her.

Thus, Esther’s attendants informed her of Mordecai being clothed in sackcloth and ashes, wailing loudly outside the king’s gate.

Upon hearing this, Esther was “exceedingly grieved,” or seized with sorrow, deeply distressed. She knew something serious was going on and it alarmed her, and Esther was immediately concerned for her cousin.

Her first response was to send Mordecai some clothes to put on in place of his sackcloth. Now, earlier in this book, we see that Mordecai was able to get word to or even speak directly to Esther about the plot to kill the king. So Mordecai was able to communicate with Esther.

This is why the queen sent clothes to Mordecai. By law, he could not enter the king’s gate in sackcloth, so she sent him a change of clothes so that he could enter and then give her the particulars and reason for his sorrow.

But when Esther’s attendants brought the raiment to Mordecai, he refused it. It may have been because he was too overcome with grief, or perhaps he was making Esther aware of just how serious it was.

Being informed of Mordecai’s refusal to take the clothes, since Mordecai would not come to her, Esther then sent someone to Mordecai to find out what had happened.

Esther called for and sent Hatach to Mordecai, who was one of the king’s chamberlains that had been assigned to her by Ahasuerus, and Esther obviously trusted Hatach to send him on this personal task.

She sent Hatach “to know what it was, and why it was,” verse 5 says.

Hatach was to discover what it was that was troubling Mordecai, and why it was that he was in such mourning, and why it was that he did not take her clothing.

Hatach went out of the palace as the queen commanded, going outside the king’s gate to “the street of the city,” or literally the “city square,” or the “open square” in front of the king’s gate, and Hatach found Mordecai there (v. 6).

As an interesting aside, it’s said that “Archaeologists [in Shushan] have uncovered the king’s gate—a large building, 131 by 92 feet, with a central room 69 feet square. The discovery that the gate opened onto a city square corroborates the accuracy of details such as that given in this verse.”

Finding Mordecai, Mordecai told Hatach in detail “all that had happened unto him,” which caused him to be in mourning, giving him the whole story about the decree that Haman had persuaded the king to agree to, to exterminate all the Jews in Persia.

As a result of his official position and having connections with the inner workings of the palace and the dealings in the king’s court, Mordecai even had inside information about the bribe and the amount of money Haman was willing to pay into the king’s treasury that he might destroy the Jews.

Mordecai even had a written copy of the decree of the Jews’ destruction that was being circulated all over the empire, and he gave it to Hatach for him to both show it to Esther and to also read it to her.

Mordecai also sent Hatach back with a charge for Esther, to urge and implore her to go in unto the king and to plead for mercy “for her people,” and therefore to divulge the fact that she was a Jewess, which if Hatach didn’t know that before, he did now.

Mordecai had “charged” Esther prior to this to not reveal that she was a Jew (2:10,20). Here we find that Mordecai charged her again, but now that it was time to make her ethnic identity known and “that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.”

Mordecai believed that the only hope for the Jews was for Esther to go to the king to intercede on behalf of “her people” and to beg for their lives.

Mordecai knew that he was also putting Esther, whom he dearly loved, at risk by asking this. He had told her to keep her race a secret before to protect her, but now having her reveal it was putting her in danger. Mordecai also knew that for her to go to the king unsummoned was punishable by death. But this was the only chance for the Jews.

James Hastings captured the anguish of this request from Mordecai:

“Mordecai contemplated this bitter necessity. He gazed upon it till his eyes were a fountain of tears. He studied the situation till the iron entered into his very soul. Then he made his appeal to Queen Esther to stand forward as the savior of her people.”

In verse 9, we read that Hatach returned and told Esther all that Mordecai had said. This servant also had an awesome and weighty responsibility. Millions of lives hung on his effective and accurate delivery of the message from Mordecai to Esther.

Esther 4:10-14: “Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai;

“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. And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words.

“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?”

In verse 10, after having received the decree and the message from Mordecai, Esther sent Hatach back with her reply.

Esther reminded Mordecai of something that all the king’s servants knew, and for that matter, all the people in the entire empire also knew, including Mordecai, that nobody, man or woman, not even the queen, could approach the king in the inner court without a royal summons.

Uninvited visitors were not welcome before the king. Access to the king was strictly limited and this was primarily to protect him from attempts on his life.

Persian law was that to approach the king without being summoned meant death. As Esther put it, “there is one law of his to put him to death.” An uninvited person was under an immediate death sentence the moment they stepped into the inner court of the king.

But as Esther added, “except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live.”

Only if the king mercifully extended his golden scepter would a person be pardoned and permitted to live. If the king did not, they would be taken out and executed.

The king needed to summon Esther for her to have an audience with him, but the queen’s dilemma, as she told Mordecai through Hatach, was, “but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days,” as she had not seen the king or been called to come to him in a month.

Mordecai knew the palace protocol about appearing before the king without a summons, but we can be reasonably certain that he did not know this fact.

And this put doubts in Esther’s mind that she had possibly fallen out of favor with the king because he had not called for her for this extended period of time, and it caused her to question whether he would pardon her should she show up before him unannounced.

To obey Mordecai’s charge very clearly meant to risk everything, including her life.
Esther’s message and quandary were then relayed back to Mordecai, who essentially responded by telling her that there was no plan B.

Mordecai’s reply was firm and honest. Mordecai reminded her that her life was in danger either way. He knew she risked death by going into the king, but she was risking death by doing nothing as well.

He puts pressure on Esther by telling her, yes, she would put herself under a death sentence and she might die because she entered the king’s presence unsummoned, but if she failed to do this, she was still under a death sentence, and she would die later because of the edict.

Mordecai told her that being a resident of the king’s house and her royal status was not any guarantee she would be delivered. She would not remain insulated from this decree any more than anyone else.

The decree said very clearly, “to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, ALL JEWS, both young and old, little children and women” (3:13). Being a Jew, she would die like the rest of her people.

Mordecai told Esther that if you remain silent, you will still die. But Mordecai then added that if you remain silent, then deliverance will come from somewhere else, as he said, “For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement [or relief, liberation] and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place.”

This shows us that Mordecai had faith in God’s Word and that God would preserve His people and protect Israel from annihilation to fulfill His promises to them because God is always faithful to His Word.

God had promised Abraham, “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an EVERLASTING covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee” (Gen. 17:7).

God had promised David, “And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established FOR EVER before thee: thy throne shall be established FOR EVER” (2 Sam. 7:16).

Mordecai knew that God’s covenants and divine promises to Israel guaranteed that the Jewish nation would not perish, as these promises could not be fulfilled if they were wiped out as a people.

Therefore, Mordecai was confident of deliverance, and he told Esther so, telling her that the Jews’ deliverance would come from somewhere, it may be from Esther, and if not, it would come from somewhere else. God would intervene with or without Esther.

But Mordecai warned Esther again, that if she stayed silent, the decree did not exclude her, and she and her father’s family would be destroyed under it.

Then Mordecai stated, “who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Mordecai wondered to Esther that perhaps the providence of God has you here for this exact moment. Perhaps this explains your royal position, and why you were chosen to be queen, for such a time as this?

He speculated to Esther that her being in the palace was no accident but that there was a purpose, a divine purpose: to meet the need of this present hour. Perhaps this opportunity to save her people was the reason she had been exalted to the throne.

Mordecai’s response to Esther challenged her to be brave and bold, to stand and speak and not be silent, because perhaps God had brought her to the throne to have someone in a strategic position to save His people. Mordecai wanted Esther to have the courage and wisdom to see this purpose and fulfill it.

The Nelson Study Bible states this, “There are three lines to [Mordecai’s] argument: (1) Esther herself will not be exempt from destruction under the edict.

“(2) He reveals his own conviction that God will not permit the extinction of His people: if Esther fails, God will have another way of saving the Jews, since God’s purposes are not thwarted by the failure of one individual to respond positively to His leading.

“(3) The outcome of her decision is so far-reaching that, without exaggeration, she is now at the very moment when her life’s purpose is at stake.”

Esther 4:15-17: “Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, 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. So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.”

Having received Mordecai’s response, Esther sent back her answer.

Mordecai had been asking her to do something for the Jews, now Esther asked him and the Jews to do something for her: “fast ye for me.”

She asked that Mordecai and the Jews of Shushan gather together and unite in a three days’ fast while she and her maidens did the same.

Albert Barnes said this about the purpose of the fast: “Esther’s fast could have no object but to obtain God’s favor and protection in the dangerous course on which she was about to enter.”

Esther told Mordecai that she “will…go in unto the king, which is not according to the law,” as she resolved to go to the king unsummoned. In the moment of crisis, Esther decided to identify with the people of God even if it meant death.

And she told Mordecai, “and if I perish, I perish.” Esther had a bold attitude towards her mission. She was determined to do it, no matter what the cost. She was willing to risk death in order to do what was right.

In this chapter, Esther went from fear to faith, from reluctance to resolve, from hesitation to determination, from concern for her own safety to concern for her people’s safety and survival.

Esther’s words show courage, trust, and a voluntary submission to carry out God’s will no matter the cost. Esther showed a determined and heroic willingness to risk her life and even die for the sake of her people, the Jews.

After Mordecai received this response, he left the city square and “went his way” and he did as Esther requested, uniting the Jews of Shushan in a 3-day fast for Esther in which they did not eat or drink, night or day.

And with Esther’s decision, it is here that the tables begin to turn in the book for the overthrow of Haman’s (and really Satan’s) evil plan.

God had taken a once obscure, orphaned Jewish girl, and by His working, He arranged that she be the queen of all Persia. God did bring her to that place for such a time as this, and by her courageous decision, He used her life to alter the history of her people.