Have you ever been in exactly the right place at exactly the right time to be a part of something great? Maybe it was someone else who was there at just the right moment for you. They came to your rescue just when you needed it, saving the day, solving the problem, turning bad circumstances to good. At times like these, you know God is looking out for you and stepping in on your behalf. God intervenes for His people in both small and grand ways – sometimes really grand ways.
That’s how it was for the Jewish people among the Diaspora when Esther came along. An orphaned maiden, she lived with Mordecai, her cousin and adoptive guardian, at the time when King Ahasuerus ruled over the fifth-century B.C. Jewish people. The Jews were dispersed in a kingdom that stretched from Turkey into Eastern Europe and from Ethiopia into India.
Queen Vashti displeased the king, so he banished her from the throne and conscripted beautiful maidens from his kingdom to undergo twelve months of beautification. From them, the king would choose his next queen. Esther was among them and kept her Jewish heritage a secret. When the time came for the king to select his queen, he chose Esther. Still, she did not disclose her Jewishness.
Mordecai learned of a plot to kill the king and told Esther. Esther, in turn, informed the king in Mordecai’s name, thus saving the king’s life. The would-be murderers were hanged, and the incident was recorded in the kings’ Book of Chronicles.
After these events, the king promoted an official named Haman and commanded that everyone bow and pay homage to him. Mordecai refused because he could only bow before the one true God. Haman was enraged and set out to kill not just Mordecai but all the Jewish people in the kingdom. He convinced the king these people were a threat to his rule because of their undivided loyalty to God alone. King Ahasuerus gave Haman authority to “do with them as you please” (Esther 3:11), and Haman issued an irrevocable decree in the king’s name to kill all the Jews – young and old, men, women, and children – in one day.
When Mordecai learned of the coming slaughter, he sat at the king’s gate in sackcloth weeping and wailing. Esther sent word to find out what was troubling him. The servant relayed to Esther all that Mordecai had told him, including his appeal for Esther to go to the king and plead for her people.
Going before the king when not summoned meant death if the king did not extend his golden scepter to the one who dared such a thing, and Esther had not been summoned to the king for thirty days. When the servant relayed these words from Esther to Mordecai, Mordecai spoke a message that held warning, faith, and prophetic insight.
Mordecai warned: “Do not think in your soul that you will escape in the king’s household more than all the Jews” (Esther 4:13).
He trusted God, saying, “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place,” and warned again, “but you and your father’s house will perish” (Esther 4:14a).
Then, Mordecai conveyed a message that echoes through the ages with some of the most inspirational insight to anyone in a position of influence or power. He said, “Who knows whether you have attained royal status for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14b).
