HealingStrong's Around the Word

Episode 51 - The Esther Series: Faith in the Face of Danger (Esther 4:12-17 NIV )

• HealingStrong • Episode 51

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We explore the inspiring story of Queen Esther as she faces a life-or-death decision that will determine the fate of the Jewish people in Persia.

• Reading from Esther chapter 4:12-17, where Mordecai challenges Esther to approach the king uninvited
• Discussion of the divine purpose in Esther's position as queen "for such a time as this"
• How Esther moved from hesitation to courage through spiritual preparation
• The power of Esther's decision to fast with her attendants for three days before approaching the king
• Examination of her powerful declaration "if I perish, I perish" showing complete surrender
• Parallels between Esther's courage and that of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
• The importance of community in faith challenges rather than facing them alone
• Why remaining silent or doing nothing is not an option when injustice threatens
• Evidence of God's providence working throughout the story even when not explicitly mentioned

Suggested Resources:

BIBLE PLAN - Trusting God's Plan When You Don't See Him: Lessons From the Book of Esther

PODCAST - Genesis to Revelation Bible Reading

TOOLS - Refresh Your Spirit through God's Word


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Speaker 1:

I want to be an actress. I'm going to pretend I'm Mordecai, and I think Mordecai would have said something like Esther do you think you will escape? If you don't go to the king, Not only will you be killed, but all of our people will be killed.

Speaker 2:

Well, hello, dear listener. My name is Cheryl and you are listening to Healing Strongs Around the Word. Who are we? We're a group of friends that love God and we love learning about His Word. So each day you'll hear me reading a Bible passage and then we'll chat about what we're learning from it. Today we'll be reading Esther, chapter 4, verses 12 through 17 from the NIV version of the Bible. So join us around the word. Esther, chapter 4, verses 12-17.

Speaker 2:

When Esther's words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer Do not think. Because you are in the king's house, you alone of all the Jews will escape, for if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place. But you and your father's family will perish. And who knows, but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this. Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai Go, gather together, all the Jews who are in Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.

Speaker 2:

So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther's instructions, and that was our Bible passage for the day. So now let's listen in on what Jeff, susie, myself and Angie were all talking about. Around the word Looks like it is not a good scenario right now for the Jewish people. Why? Because Mordecai and all others are. They are in sackcloth and they are mourning because they've heard about the seed.

Speaker 1:

I want to be an actress. I'm going to pretend I'm Mordecai and I think Mordecai would have said something like Esther, do you think you will escape? If you don't go to the king, not only will you be killed, but all of our people will be killed. Who knows, esther, this may be, the whole point of your life is for this very moment, for you to go before the king and rescue all of the Jewish people. Yeah, I love it.

Speaker 1:

I think it's more like that, instead of the first few times I read it it was like he was kind of condemning her and you know he says somebody else will, you know God will rescue us some other way. But I think he's, I think he's led by the Holy Spirit at this point. And he said Esther, esther, who knows he's seeing the big picture? They're living their lives day by day, but he gets a glimpse of the big picture and he's pleading with her Esther, it could be this very moment. That is the purpose of your whole life, and obviously we know that that's right. But living it at the point.

Speaker 1:

And then when she says, go and gather all the Jews, I mean she says she, immediately I think it's the Holy Spirit comes together with him and says okay, this is what we'll do. I'm going to get my people, my maids and everybody around me we're going to fast for three days. You go, Mordecai, get all the people that you can to fast for three days. We're going to pray and see what happens to that and instead of the whole time, you know, esther does what Mordecai says. This time Mordecai does what Esther says oh, very good point. Yeah, he's taking instruction from her, so I think her voice is of authority. Now I just feel Holy Spirit in that communication back and forth, that it's elevated to a different level. It's not just a regular conversation. This is monumental.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I love that. Remaining silent or doing nothing is not an option. Now you know how so many people will be like I'm just going to keep quiet or I'm just not going to do anything. Hopefully it'll just all work out. You know, there literally was no, like they had a date on the calendar, now an official edict that couldn't be changed. So there was no just ignoring it and hoping that it went away. It had to be done and you're right, I think it was probably Holy Spirit led. That is like the light bulb went on. Wow, wait, she was here. She's now here. She's now the queen. Whoa, wait, this has come up. Now she has the possibility to have an audience with the one person that can do something about it, the king Mm-hmm, for such a time as this. Maybe this is why you're here.

Speaker 3:

But he also reminded her look, if you don't follow through with this, god is still going to take care of rising up, the protection for the people. He didn't say that they proper, he and Esther would survive, but he did say that the people would be saved. God would bring up someone else or help from somewhere else.

Speaker 2:

The Lord would always have a remnant, you know, that would be left to be taken care of, to continue on the line to provide salvation ultimately, because if we didn't have a remnant, we would have no Jesus, absolutely.

Speaker 1:

But you know, if Esther thought what Mordecai said was true, if she thought, yeah, let's let somebody else do it, mordecai just said someone else will come to the rescue. If I had been Esther I'll be honest with you I'd have been like, let's go find that someone. Okay, yeah, I've had good relations with the king so far. I think he'll spare me. That thought would have probably entered my mind. But I think that far I think he'll spare me that thought would have probably entered my mind. But I think that's why I think it's divine intervention. I think it's extraordinary that she said she was on board at that point. She got on board and she had a plan. We're going to fast.

Speaker 2:

I love it. That's her go-to is fasting. It wasn't just let's just jump right in there and go talk to the king right now. I'm impulsive, I swear. I think I would have done that at first. I wouldn't have even been thinking. I'd be like I'm just going to go in and just be like dude. This is my one favor, my big favor. I'm just going to ask it one time Give me a buy on this. Can you hear me on this one? But if your life was in jeopardy, you would think twice. No, and I would.

Speaker 2:

And she knew. She obviously knew the rules and the regulations, because she's citing it earlier to mordecai yeah, so she knew the rules and I'm only guessing that they probably had enforced some rules in the past that she saw. So she's probably like don't mess with the king. Yeah, I, I have to have an audience with him. He's got to request me in. So I love that. Like you said, she goes to fasting as the first thing that she wants to do. So when people say, well, the lord is, uh, we don't see god's name in this story and I'm like but she's no, I mean she's going. Fasting is a means of submission to, to ask for the Lord to lead you, to get his wisdom, to seek his opinion on something.

Speaker 4:

Don't we see, though, in this whole story, I mean just from the beginning, and now we're here, we're this famous verses that we all know, that said in Esther. But one thing we do see is the obedience of God's people all along the way. And you know, just right before this, mordecai was in the not the courts, but outside the courts with sackcloth on. During that time they do fast, so he was fasting, right. So I mean, they were just doing that, and she was observing what the Jewish people were doing because of it. So now she's like okay, now I'm identifying with my heritage, right, I am a Jewish woman here, and this is my responsibility. Let me do what I know is best to do. They were just fasting, they were just in sackcloth, you know fasting, and so now she's bringing it into the courts, into the palace. This is what we're going to do. You do this, and then we'll see.

Speaker 2:

The enemy wants to always isolate us. He wants us to remain silent, to isolate, think we're the only ones. That's going through it, we're by ourselves, but she sees the power of coming together. Me and my handmaids, we're going to go fast, you all go fast, and that they probably weren't even of her belief.

Speaker 1:

we don't have any evidence that they were jewish. To the contrary, they probably were not, but our indications are that they joined her, they respected her and they joined her.

Speaker 3:

And it ministered to them. So don't be afraid to show your faith out loud and be a light in a dark area, because that later on is going to prove some changes in other people that weren't Jews.

Speaker 1:

Genuine faith, exhibited in a loving manner, always wins. So when you're genuine about it and you're passionate about sharing your beliefs and your concerns, or you know, you're just saying this is what the the Lord has done for me, this is what Jesus has done in my life, that's rarely rejected in my experience. It conveys concern and compassion and love to the other person, and not many people turn that down and there.

Speaker 3:

There are times, though, when we have to, as believers in Christ, stand up and go against the grain, and those are, like Esther, a very scary thing moment, because we're just regular people, but take courage and trust that, no matter what, when we stand with the word and with what God would have us to do, he will protect us.

Speaker 2:

I love that she says if I perish, I perish. That reminds me of Shadrach, meshach and Abednego. You know we have a wonderful study If you haven't checked it out. It's trusting God's plan in the fire. It tells their whole story. But they had an edict that came down. They were not going to bow down to an idol, they were going to follow and obey God's word. And they said if we die, we die, but we are not going to do this, king. And you're right, god was there in the fire with them.

Speaker 1:

And they said if we burn, we burn, we burn. Esther says if I perish, I perish.

Speaker 2:

I love Esther's courage and her resolve at this part of the story. It's just so inspiring. And I love how she fasts Whenever she has a problem and she wants to hear from God and she wants to know what to do. She fasted and she brought others along to do it so awesome. It's a great lesson for all of us. Thank you for joining us for Healing Strong's Around the Word podcast. I hope you were encouraged to read and explore God's Word. Please visit us at healingstrongorg where you can find out more about our mission and our amazing community groups. Until next time, remember faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.