Esther 2:21 through Chapter 3
Mordecai: A Portrait of the Man
One of the most miserable things in
life is when you are put under a boss or a teacher or a coach that is an
abusive idiot. Deep within your heart
you fight your hidden desires to punch him or her in the nose. Every time you have to speak with him or her,
you have to bite your tongue and bide your time to get out of there as quickly
as possible. Either that or you become a
complete phony. To their face you act
like Mr. Team Worker or Ms. Cooperative, but the minute you get with your
fellow workers you let them know how you really feel. The minute you get home you punch a boxing
bag or scream in frustration over the fact that you can=t say anything or do anything about
it. We know that this attitude and these
feelings are not spiritually healthy.
God did not create us to be angry and vengeful people. He doesn=t want us be so filled with
venom. Yet when we are stuck in those
situations we don=t feel there is much else we can do, because if we speak our
mind we will risk our job or probably make our situation even worse. It seems to be a lose B lose situation.
Perhaps about five years into Esther=s Amarriage@ with Xerxes, Mordecai seemed to be
in a situation such as this. Given the
fact that he hung out at the city gate - and this is the place where the
officials hung out - it would appear that Mordecai had some form of status on
behalf of the Jewish people under the government of Xerxes. At first, he appears to be a good law abiding
citizen. As a decent patriot he even
revealed a plot of two Bigthana and Teresh to assassinate Xerxes. He did well in that first situation as he
rightfully spoke up to protect the King - even though Xerxes was somewhat of a
beast. But when the King then promoted
Haman - perhaps a fellow official of Mordecai and someone he was well acquainted
with - to a much higher position than Mordecai - Mordecai changed his
tune. In hindsight of thousands of years
- and without all of the details - it woulld appear he responds somewhat
hypocritically. Whereas he didn=t seem to have any qualms about Esther
joining the harem or becoming Xerxes= wife - intimately joining herself
with the beast; he did have a problem when he is simply called on to bend the
knee to Haman on a regular basis. He
refused to do it! When he was put under
a guy that he couldn=t stand, he refused to comply to the law and bow the knee to
Haman.
When we look carefully at the words
of God through the book of Esther - we might get some idea as to why Mordecai
responded this way. The first thing is
that verse 1 of chapter 3 delegates him as an AAgagite.@
The only notable mention of Agag was that he was the king of the
Amalekites who was spared by Saul but then put to death by Samuel. The Amalekites were long running enemies of
the Israelites.
Deuteronomy 25:17‑19 Remember what the Amalekites did to
you along the way when you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out,
they met you on your journey and cut off all who were lagging behind; they had
no fear of God. When the LORD your God gives you rest from all the enemies
around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall
blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!
Perhaps then this AAgagite@ was a descendant of Agag - or he
came from a region that the Amalekites once dwelt in. They were obviously still despised by the
Jews and vice versa. This seemed to be a
major sticking point for Mordecai. He
wasn=t going to bow his knee to any
Agagite - probably no matter how good of a leader Haman may have appeared to be
to Xerxes.
The second phrase that gives us as a
clue as to why Mordecai dug his heels in is found in vs. 4. AHe told them he was a Jew.@
Either this was referring back to the long running history between the
Jews and the Agagites / Amalekites - or perhaps Mordecai was referring to his
spiritual and religious principles saying, AI can=t bow the knee to anyone but God.@
This is true when it comes to worship, but it isn=t true in regards to respect and
honor. When Abraham presented himself
before the Hittites to purchase some land to bury Sarah, he first bowed down to
them. If Abraham - the father of the
Jews and the father of faith - could bow down to the Hittites as a show of
respect, why did Mordecai now decide that he couldn=t do it?
A part of it - now this is
speculation - is probably that Mordecai just didn=t like Haman or his people. If Mordecai was indeed an official and leader
of the people, perhaps he felt some pressure from the people in his
jurisdiction - who were pressuring him NOT to show respect and to take a stand
to this Agagite because of their history with the Israelites. This was no light thing. To their credit the other officials daily
tried to convince him otherwise before he got in trouble. But he would have none of it. In the end, I believe it was mainly just a
matter of pride. There was no way he
was going to bow his knee to Haman no matter who told him to do so - no matter
what the circumstances. Perhaps he used
his religion and their history as an excuse to do what he just plain didn=t want to do.
Compare this to Jesus. Do you think it was always easy for Him to
live under a sinful mother and step-father and do what they said? Here he was a perfect child, yet it is not
unimaginable to think that He had to sweep the carpenter=s shop, fetch water for the family,
and do many other things that were seemingly menial tasks of a servant. Consider also the first moments after his
baptism. Where does the Holy Spirit lead
him to but the desert? And who is he
then placed under but Satan himself - who uses his power over Jesus to try and
lead him into sin! Think about it, Jesus
could have said, AI=m not going anywhere with you Satan. I=m not going on that temple mount. I=m not going to allow you to take me
to this high mountain.@ But Jesus knew that
he was led there by the Spirit and put in that place and that position to face
the devil. When push came to shove - at
the right time and the right place Jesus rightfully refused to bow the knee to
Satan. He would not worship anyone but
the LORD. But in the meantime he allowed
Satan to lead him around - as long as it didn=t involve Him sinning. What else could we mention? Think of Jesus before Pilate or Jesus before
Herod on trial. He allows these men of
authority to arrest him and He allows them to question Him and even beat Him
and crucify Him - unjust and humiliating as it was! As long as it didn=t involve HIM sinning - He allowed
them to be the leaders and to abuse their positions of authority - on HIM - the
one who had given their authority in the 1st place. His pride didn=t get in the way. Instead, 1 Peter 2:23 says, AWhen they hurled their insults at
him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he
entrusted himself to him who judges justly.@
This is the kind of behavior that God
expected out of Mordecai and God expects out of us. The Word of God is clear -
Colossians 3:22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in
everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their
favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.
Matthew 5:39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil
person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Romans 13:1 Everyone must submit himself to the
governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has
established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
Yet for some reason, Mordecai tried to justify his behavior -
to feel that he had the Aright@ to rebel against the king=s command. In the same way, anti-abortion activists felt
the right to bomb abortion clinics years ago in protest to the murders that are
sanctioned by our government. In the
same way, do you feel justified to work at half speed for your employer because
of your low wages? Is it really ok for
you to slander your boss with other co-workers because he or she is a real
pain? Is it acceptable to not listen or
apply yourself in a class just because you don=t like the topic or the teacher is
lousy? It is not acceptable to God - who
has put those lousy teachers and that unjust government over you.
What=s the problem with this? Why do we bristle at it? Kids say it every day, AIT=S NOT FAIR!@
We want justice! People get
really angry at God over this. Think
about it though. Do you really expect
justice in an unjust world? Do you
really expect life to be fair, when God=s Word says that the whole world has
been taken captive by Satan and sin? How
on earth can you expect a manure pile to smell good? When God=s Word says that sinful hearts
naturally produce murder, sexual immorality, theft, slander, and false
testimony (Matt. 15:19), you can=t expect anyone to really get what=s coming to them. Think about it - what justice was there in
seeing the Son of God - the only Perfect human and creator of the universe -
get hung on a cross and crucified for something He didn=t even do?
So what do people like Mordecai try
to do? They try to become crusaders for
justice! That=s all good and dandy. We want our leaders and teachers to be fair
and just - and God expects as much of us.
God expects us to speak up for the victims of governmental abuse and
other injustice. But often times these
same people who are very concerned about justice become really angry - to the
point of violence. Not too long ago some
Christians justified bombing abortion clinics in their search for justice. Some judges have tried to take the law in
their own hands and legislate from the bench.
Like Mordecai, they decide to disobey the law in their disapproval of
what was happening. Like Mordecai, they
try to manufacture justice by their own works.
On top of this, what good do our remedies do? Does our additional sin of laziness or
slander really perform any justice whatsoever?
What did Mordecai get as a result of
his own personal crusade for justice?
What reward did he earn with his works?
Esther 3:5‑6, AWhen Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him
honor, he was enraged. 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.@
Mordecai played with a fire - and he was about to get burned - not only
him - but all of his people - both young and old throughout the entire 127
provinces. Haman not only reacted - he
over reacted. He used Mordecai=s insolence as an excuse to fulfill
his hatred towards all of the Jews. And
he had an easy scapegoat - since these Jews were easily seen from their
religious practices. They wouldn=t have eaten pork. They wouldn=t have worn certain clothing. The hairstyles of the men were distinct. Notice what a shrewd politician Haman was in
carrying out his hatred.
Esther 3:8‑9 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, AThere 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. If
it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will put ten
thousand talents of silver into the royal treasury for the men who carry out
this business.@
Notice how he doesn=t mention WHO these people were - in
case the King had an affinity towards them.
Notice also how he makes it sound like he=s doing it to Aenforce the law.@
Notice also how he appeals to the King=s greed by offering to pay him 10,000
talents of silver! That was equal to
375 tons! How would he pay such an
amount? He probably planned on
extracting it from the Jews he murdered!
This was going to be a complete slaughter - and the King bought into
it! By the way - it would appear from
translation that the King actually said to Haman, Ait=s your money@, not Ayou can keep it.@
In other words, Aif that=s how you want to spend your money - it=s up to you.@
This was the result of Mordecai=s rebellion. If Mordecai really knew who Haman was, he
should have known as much would happen - he should not have even given him an
opportunity for such actions. Now, we
don=t want to blame him for Haman=s sinful plans of slaughter. Yet he certainly didn=t help the matter any by rebelling
against a law he most likely could have and should have kept. In his search for justice or his stubbornness
he and his people were about to face a huge injustice.
What would happen with this
mess? When the lot was cast to see WHEN
the destruction would take place, it didn=t fall until the last month of the
year. This was no coincidence. Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast into the
lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. This casting of the lot would give precious
extra time for Mordecai and Esther to try work out a plan to get themselves and
their people out of this mess. Even
though His Name is never mentioned, we can see how behind the scenes the good
LORD would be able to bless their counter-efforts in defense of His people as
will become evident in the weeks ahead.
This lesson strains us to see the LORD
through the casting of a tiny lot in one second through the sands of time. At that one second in time we see God work in
a hidden way. This is what God calls
Himself - a hidden God. (Isaiah 45:15)
It is this hidden God who says to us, Abe still, and know that I am God.@
The most difficult thing in life is not fighting the battles with Gideon
or even building the ark with Noah - but simply being called on by God to do
nothing but trust Him to do the work for us.
It was so difficult for Mordecai, and remains difficult for us. Like Elijah, we want to run from this world
and scream at God for not performing justice against the Jezebels and Hamans of
this world. We want to perform our own
works of justice at our own time. Yet
God says to us, Abe still, and know that I am God.@
But how can we, when we see so many Hamans being brought to power and
threatening us with injustice?
Through the eyes of faith God calls
on us to see Him in the casting of the lot.
What we need to learn to see is that God Himself works behind injustice
- that God indeed works through injustice - which is a really bizarre thing in
and of itself and takes faith to believe.
Think about how God Himself worked through the devil=s temptation on Jesus so that Jesus
could in fact obey the law in our place.
Think about how God worked behind Pilate and behind Herod to get Jesus
to the cross - and there - at that greatest injustice is where we see God=s justice strangely working. It=s His justice of grace, His justice
of love, His justice of mercy. To think
that the Son of God - the perfect Man - dying on a cross - is where our sins
are paid for and God takes care of our justice - that=s the only place that justice can
take place. That=s why God calls Himself the Hidden
God. He calls on us to see Him behind
the injustices of this world and to trust that He is even working through and
behind these awful injustices. It takes
faith to believe this. It takes faith to
trust God when He says to us, ABE STILL,@ when we want to rise up and be God=s right hand of justice.
How many times have we not stayed
still? How many times have we taken the
pathway of Mordecai and said, AI=m doing something anyway@?
In a fit of rage we=ve told people off - at the spur of the moment we=ve quit our jobs - struck back in
anger. The results of our own impatience
and desire for personal justice have sometimes caused lifelong embarrassment
and years of poverty because we couldn=t wait and refused to see God working
through it all. But the beauty and glory
of it all comes back to the LORD in that simple casting of the lot. God didn=t give up on Mordecai or the
Jews. God didn=t leave them to rot through Mordecai=s seemingly bad leadership. He still worked, still guided and still
directed a bad situation to turn it out for good. And so God still hasn=t given up on you - throughout all of
your impatience and attempts to work out your own justice. In mercy He continually forgives you. He uses your mistakes to remind you that you
need Him. In love He promises that He
will still work through your lack of faith, through your own desire to control
- working all things out for your good.
Next time you=re faced with that impossible
situation - when you=re placed under that impossible boss - next to that
oppressive classmate - or you find yourself working for that employer that
demands way more than you can give - picture the portrait of Mordecai. Even if you are seemingly stuck in a
lose-lose situation, don=t take justice into your own hands by breaking the law. Don=t expect justice in the courts. Search for it in the lots. Seek it in the hidden things. Believe it to be true, because God promises
it to be true in hidden and small ways.
Christ is in charge. No matter
what situation you are in - no matter how bleak it may be - remember, it=s not lose-lose. In Christ - it=s win - win, because He is the King
of Justice - working through the sin of this world - to bring Xerxes, Haman,
Satan and the world to justice. He=s the winner. In Christ, with His forgiveness, mercy,
patience, and love - you will be too.
Amen.