For such a time as this
Opening Prayer
My Good Shepherd, when all seems like it is against me, I remember that You gave all to save me.
Read ESTHER 4:1–17
[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. [2] But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. [3] In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes. [4] When Esther’s eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. [5] Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why. [6] So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate. [7] Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. [8] He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people. [9] Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. [10] Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, [11] “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.” [12] When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, [13] he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. [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 your royal position for such a time as this?” [15] Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: [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 attendants will fast as you do. 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. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
How do the characters respond to this crisis?This is a key moment for Esther, Mordecai and the Jewish exiles. Mordecai’s dramatic mourning (1) wasn’t just for show. It was in keeping with the practice of the time, crying out to God publicly in the face of national crisis. But King Xerxes didn’t want to be disturbed by others’ grief (2)! The Jews across the land joined in Mordecai’s lament (3)—it was a time to weep (Eccles. 3:4). Queen Esther responds with shock and compassion to the news about Mordecai (4,5); then, with great courage, to the news of the evil sanctioned by her husband (16). The salvation of God’s people would perhaps depend on her (but notice in verse 14 the hint of Mordecai’s faith in God). It was Passover season (“Nisan,” 3:7,12)—a time for fasting and prayer, a time to look for God’s salvation. Esther courageously agrees, risking death, to go to the king to intercede for her people (11,16). Her faithful staff support her (16), and all the Jews in Susa gather to fast and pray as she goes to the king. Today, for us, for our church, for our nation—what kind of “time” is it? What action is God calling us to?
Apply
Let’s encourage one another to fast and pray and call on the name of the Lord together.
Closing prayer
God of salvation, You are the hope for our troubled world, for our troubled communities and for our troubled hearts.
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