If I Perish, I Perish

Last week the Jews celebrated Purim. The wicked Haman the Agagite “had plotted against the Jews to annihilate them, and had cast Pur (that is, the lot), to consume them and destroy them” (Es 9:24).  But the LORD overturned Haman’s plan and brought it down on his own head. The Jews were given two days to fight against their enemies, so these two days are celebrated by Jews every year since—the 14^th and 15^th days of the month of Adar.

This great deliverance for the Jewish people occurred during the time of the Persian empire, when Ahasuerus (or Xerxes) was king. Most of the events took place in the province of Shushan, also called Susa (the modern city of Shush is in southwest Iran), but the empire stretched from India to Ethiopia. Ancient Shushan has been named a UNESCO world heritage site.

The (human) heroes of Purim are a Jew named Mordecai and his beautiful cousin Hadassah (also called Esther), whom he had brought up after her parents had died. Five years before the main part of the story picks up, Esther had been made the queen of Persia through her marriage to the king.

Maybe you’re wondering, “How did the Jews end up in Persia?” Glad you asked. They were exiled to Babylon for seventy years because of their unrepentant sins—especially idolatry. During that time, Babylon was conquered by the Medes/Persians. After seventy years, as God foretold through the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 29:10), by the order of Cyrus king of Persia, the Jews were allowed to return and rebuild Jerusalem. Some Jews stayed where they were though, and did not go back. That is how it came to be that Esther’s family was still there.

The young woman Esther played a pivotal role in the deliverance of the Jews, but it was not without personal risk.

When Mordecai found out about Haman’s evil edict to destroy the Jews, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and mourned. When Esther’s maids and eunuchs told her about finding Mordecai in this state, she was distressed. She sent clothes to Mordecai, hoping he would put them on instead of the sackcloth, but he refused. Esther then sent one of her eunuchs to see what was bothering her cousin.

Esther 4:6-9 (NKJV)
6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square that was in front of the king’s gate. 7 And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries to destroy the Jews. 8 He also gave him a copy of the written decree for their destruction, which was given at Shushan, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her, and that he might command her to go in to the king to make supplication to him and plead before him for her people. 9 So Hathach returned and told Esther the words of Mordecai.

If you have young adults in your family, are any of them quick to tell you what the laws are? That’s how it was when Esther responded to Mordecai’s plea.

Esther 4:10-12 (NKJV)
10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a command for Mordecai: 11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days.” 12 So they told Mordecai Esther’s words.

Essentially, “Everyone knows it’s against the law to approach the king unasked. I could die. And if I tried, the odds don’t look very good he would spare my life.”

Next up was the exhortation that shaped the course of history. Without it, I don’t think we’d know Esther’s name. These are my favorite verses in the book.

Esther 4:13-14 (NKJV)
13 And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Esther took it to heart.

Esther 4:15-16
15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”

Esther responded to the gravity of the situation in a very spiritual way. Even though she acknowledged that approaching the king was the right thing to do, she didn’t immediately go marching into his throne room. Instead, she called for three days of corporate prayer and fasting. Since she was going to stick her neck out, why not be as covered as possible by the LORD hearing the petitions of His people? Prayer with fasting takes prayer up a notch, because the person is choosing to delay food (and in their case, water), to cast themselves on the intervention of the LORD. It is a way of reminding us we want God more than our daily sustenance. Significant moves of God rarely involve just one person. In this way, God’s glory and praise are magnified exponentially. Esther’s action demonstrated that she believed the words of this Proverb, “Many seek the ruler’s favor, but justice for man comes from the LORD” (Pr 29:26).

I believe Esther also recognized that spiritual battles aren’t won just because a servant of God is willing to engage in the fight. It reminds me of the disciples on the night Jesus was betrayed.

Matthew 26:31-35 (NKJV)
31 Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:

‘I will strike the Shepherd,
And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

32 But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”
33 Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.”
34 Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”
35 Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!”
And so said all the disciples.

The disciples loved Jesus, but their willingness wasn’t enough.

Matthew 26:36-46 (NKJV)
36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”
39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” 43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.
44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”

Whether it’s fighting temptation, or engaging in some other spiritual battle—God is the source of power, not our own motivations, no matter how honorable. And He invites us to pray to Him!

Matthew 7:7-11 (NKJV)
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

This parable in Luke 11 ends slightly different: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Lk 11:13).

So, why is Mordecai’s exhortation my favorite part of Esther? I’ll repost it here.

Esther 4:13-14 (NKJV)
13 And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

His call to speak up challenges me. Even though I was a Christian, in my teenage and young adult years, I feared man a lot.

I was just a teenage girl when God opened my eyes about the Biblical end times doctrine—probably not unlike Esther’s age when she became queen of the Persian empire. I knew I wanted to share it when I was older, but back then, I kept it to myself.

When I was in my early twenties, I applied to a seminary so I could take some Hebrew classes and get credit, just in case I later would decide to pursue a masters. This particular school taught Pre-Tribulation Rapture. They told me I could attend as long as I kept quiet about my disagreement. I thought that was pretty telling, but I went along with it. (It was interesting to find out this was a thing—many evangelical seminaries have restrictions like these, at least for the teachers.)

This same call to keep quiet about my differing conviction happened in another way, later. Then I would agree to silence, but I took steps to challenge it, because I didn’t want it to be permanent.

Ezekiel 33:6 and Paul’s words to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 (Ac 20:20, 26-27, 31) were really burning into my heart a couple of years ago, and I knew I could not agree to silence anymore. I’ve paid a price, but it’s worth it to me to fear God more than man. Christ is the One I’ll answer to at the end of my life—not any man.

Proverbs 29:25 (NKJV)
25 The fear of man brings a snare,
But whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.

Psalm 118:5-9 (NKJV)
5 I called on the LORD in distress;
The LORD answered me and set me in a broad place.
6 The LORD is on my side;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
7 The LORD is for me among those who help me;
Therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me.
8 It is better to trust in the LORD
Than to put confidence in man.
9 It is better to trust in the LORD
Than to put confidence in princes.

God didn’t answer my prayer just so I could understand. The truth is meant to be shared. I’m fully confident if I feared man more than God and kept my mouth shut, that it would not go well with me. This website is an outflow of my desire to be faithful with the much He has given me.

I’m sure you can think other examples for your own life – an insight, position, or spiritual gift, etc., which the Lord has bestowed upon you so that you can use it to build up the body of Christ.

May the LORD bless you.