Today in God's Word—May 2023
East Tallassee Church of Christ
May 10, Esther 10
For Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brothers, for he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people. - Esther 10:3
People need heroes. I'm not just talking about children who put posters of their sports or entertainment heroes on their bedroom walls. We adults may often feel small and quite insignificant in the big scheme of things. We like to read about great men and women who overcame adversity and succeeded. Their stories of triumph and bravery encourage us in our own struggles. We do not idolize them, but we do admire their courage, their tenacity and ability.
The nation of Israel is very important to the story of the Bible. But Israel was never as large in area or population as many of their neighbors around them. The Israelites triumphed over some foes in battle with the help of God. David and Solomon pushed the borders of Israel out as far as it ever reached. But in the eyes of Israel’s contemporaries (as well as in the eyes of secular history), the Israelites were not considered a mighty nation throughout most of the time of the nation’s existence. The greatest impediment to their prominence was their own chronic faithlessness and disobedience to God.
The Jewish people had careful records of their history and genealogy. The books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles describe the kings who reigned, how long each one reigned and who succeeded them. The books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther are unlike the other historical books. They are more like a zoom view of an event or episode from the timeline of the nation's history. Ezra and Nehemiah are about the remnant of exiled Jews who returned to their land to rebuild their temple and their wall and the city of Jerusalem. And Esther is about some heroes in exile, Esther and Mordecai, who did what they could where they were to protect and save the
Jews from evil enemies who wanted to destroy their entire race.
The book is named for Queen Esther, who rose from the lowly state of an exiled orphan to become the queen of the Persian empire. But the book emphasizes the words and work of Mordecai her cousin as the real hero behind Esther's great story and the preservation of the nation. God used these two people right in the heart of the Persian citadel city of Susa to save the Jewish people from extinction.
Chapter 10 shines the spotlight on Mordecai. It begins with reference to the greatness of Ahasuerus, the Persian king. The empire grew to its zenith during his reign, reaching from India to Ethiopia, controlling 127 provinces.
Great kings over great empires have great revenue needs, Historically, those great leaders have levied great taxes on their people to fund all the great things they wanted the government to do. Ahasuerus was no exception. He had plenty of subjects to tax, and he imposed taxes on people all across his empire.
But the author of Esther only tells us about Ahasuerus’s greatness to help us understand just how great Mordecai was to his people in his time. He is cast as the hero, the one who worked out the deliverance of his people from certain death. He was so great that he was second in power only to Ahasuerus himself.
Advanced by the king to his place of prominence, Mordecai remained popular with his people. He never forgot his roots, and always sought prosperity and peace for these descendants of Abraham. He was an ideal hero for the returned exiles in their impoverished and impotent state.
I think I hear a Messianic pre-echo in these last few lines about Mordecai in the book of Esther. Sin had ruined us. We were slaves, helpless and impoverished with no means of saving ourselves, But Jesus came to seek and save and give us abundant life. He not only spoke
peace to the faithful seed of Abraham (the children of faith). He himself became our peace, satisfying the wrath of God by his death for our sins and redeeming us by his own blood on the cross. Praise God for the heroic men and women among us who inspire and encourage us. Praise him most for our Savior who died to save us.
Copyright © 2023 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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