It Effects Us All

“Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews.” (Es 4:13 AV)

Because Mordecai refuses to bow in worship to a prince, namely Haman, there is a death sentence placed upon all Jews.  Haman has convinced Ahasuerus to decree that all Jews be exterminated that dwell within the kingdom of the Medes and Persians.  Esther, the niece of Mordecai is the current Queen to Ahasuerus.  She has, as yet, to divulge to her king her national heritage and bloodline.  When Haman convinced Ahasuerus to exterminate the Jews, this would also mean Esther.  Mordecai makes a statement which had not occurred to Esther.  That being, her life was also in jeopardy no matter what position she held.  It hadn’t dawned on Esther that her life was also in peril.  This was not nefarious in nature.  It was merely a fact of the situation.  It hadn’t dawned on her that her background would be and issue.  Once the common sense fact was mentioned, Esther’s attitude towards the threat and what need to be done changed.  She now felt compelled to risk her life a little bit early and bring to Ahasuerus’ attention the ramifications of his hasty law.

We are careful to not cast judgment upon Esther for her lack of understanding.  We do not accuse her of callousness towards her own people.  We are cautious to not assume she was so self-involved that she failed to care about those with whom she identified.  More likely than not, Esther was very busy performing the duties of a queen that she hadn’t thought any other thoughts outside of her own immediate obligations.  She hadn’t stopped long enough to meditate upon the severity of the situation.  Mordecai had to bring Esther down to earth.  He had to help her see the black and white of the situation and help her realize just how this would affect her personally.  This wasn’t neglect.  This wasn’t selfishness.  It was merely a matter of stopping to contemplate the reality of a situation outside of one’s own immediate concerns.

This reminds me of all the news that I read concerning persecution of the saints throughout the world.  Several churches have been blown up in Sri Lanka.  One might think that just because they are not of the same denomination or are in a Muslim world, this cannot come to America.  We read of persecution against the saints in Europe and we think that because we have a constitution that protects freedom of religion, we are safe from such actions.  The moment we believe that is the moment these things come to our shores.  We better wake up!  The silent majority cannot be silent any longer.  It is time to let our numbers be known and if we go down, we go down with a loud voice!  We may be in the palace, but unless we do something about it, it will come within our walls too.