August 16 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

Esther 4:10-17

¹⁰Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai;
¹¹All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or women, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.
¹²And they told to Mordecai Esther's words.
¹³Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.
¹⁴For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
¹⁵Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,
¹⁶Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
¹⁷So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.

Devotional:

We pay tribute to Vashti for setting limits to her submission to a heathen monarch. What do we say about the Jewish woman who succeeds her as favorite wife in the harem of this heathen monarch?

First we have to ask, What do we say about David and about others like him in earlier years? Nothing more harsh may be said about Esther than about them. Although she disobeyed God's creation mandate for marriage, she must not be singled out for a sin greater than that of David.

Having said this, let us turn to recognize the magnificent place in the history of her people that Esther filled. She, like Vashti, determined to go against the law in defiance of the king. She was forbidden by Persian law to approach him of her own accord. This was to risk death if he was not pleased at that moment to receive her. But she dared to do just this.

What a sense she and her cousin Mordecai had of the sovereignty of God! The line of the promised Messiah would not be broken off. Deliverance, as Mordecai reminded her, would come to the Jews from another quarter without her intervention. However, she dared to be used by God as He would grant.

How aware Esther was of her need of God's help! She was weak. She asked for fasting (with the prayer that accompanied it) on the part of 'all the Jews' and of her own maidens. An ancient 'Day of Prayer'!

She did not have her eyes closed to the possibility that she might be put to death. But she was willing, for the sake of her people and her God, to proceed with this thing, undergirded by their prayers. God rewarded her selflessness by preserving her life along with the life of her people. Mordecai was right. The line of Messiah could not be broken off. And God granted to Esther the honor of being used to this end.