Flawed People And A Flawless God Series

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

(Daniel 3:16-18 ESV)

There is just nothing in the text to suggest that Esther’s response is in any way an expression of her faith in God.

Let me address one last issue in the text. In verse 3, we learn that the people fast when they learn of Haman’s plot to kill them. And then again in verse 16, we see that Esther tells Mordecai to have the people hold a fast on her behalf. I don’t know about you, but when I read that, my assumption was that this fasting was done in conjunction with prayer, as we often see that connection in the Scriptures. But again, if we just stick with is in the text, prayer is not mentioned at all, either here in chapter 4 or anywhere else in the book for that matter.

There are other examples in the Old Testament where fasting is not connected with prayer or other “religious” activities. Most of those are in relation to the death of someone. So there is at least the possibility here that these fasts are not a part of prayer, but rather a corporate lament for imminent death. In the case of all the Jews in verse 3, it would be a lament for the death of the entire people. And in the case of Esther, it would be a lament for her imminent death at the hands of the king.

This possibility seems to supported by the fact that Esther’s non-Jewish servants are going to fast with her which makes it more likely that this is not any kind of “religious” activity at all.

To me, the idea that Mordecai and Esther might not be quite as virtuous and godly as they are often considered to be actually serves to confirm what we’ve seen all throughout the Old Testament – even when God’s people refuse to be faithful to Him, He remains faithful to them.

None of us can be absolutely sure what the author had in mind here because there is just so much ambiguity in the text. But regardless of whether the author is trying to portray Mordecai and Esther in a favorable light or whether he is trying to highlight their lack of faith in God, there at least a couple of important ideas in this passage that are true either way.

TWO IMPORTANT TRUTHS FROM THIS PASSAGE

1. God is at work even when we can’t see that clearly

God had been working behind the scenes long before Esther was faced with the decision of whether or not to seek favor with the king. Had Esther come up with the idea of putting in her application to be queen, there is no way she would have ever been picked. While she was beautiful, she was young, inexperienced, a foreigner and an orphan – not exactly the kind of woman who we would expect the king to choose. But God made that happen anyway, knowing that He was going to use Esther down the road to carry out His promise to protect His people.