Esther 2:5-7
A much loved story in the Bible is that of Esther (Hadassa), a young beautiful Jewish girl who becomes Queen of Persia - Est 2:16-17 “And when Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus into his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign, the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.” Who at great risk to her life intercedes for and saves her people - Est 4:15-16 “Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, "Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish."’ -- Which led to the establishment of the days of Purim for the Jews - Est 9:26-32. Integral to the story of Esther is the involvement of Mordecai the Jew, the first cousin of Esther, who also lived in Shushan of Persia - Est 2:5-7, whose greatness is described in the last verse - Est 10:3 “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.” -- In fact, the Feast of Purim is called “the day of Mordecai” in 2 Mac 15:36, Mordecai was truly an “Expatriate Extraordinaire”. As such, he provides an example in many respects for Christians today.
A much loved story in the Bible is that of Esther (Hadassa), a young beautiful Jewish girl who becomes Queen of Persia - Est 2:16-17 “And when Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus into his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign, the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.” Who at great risk to her life intercedes for and saves her people - Est 4:15-16 “Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, "Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish."’ -- Which led to the establishment of the days of Purim for the Jews - Est 9:26-32. Integral to the story of Esther is the involvement of Mordecai the Jew, the first cousin of Esther, who also lived in Shushan of Persia - Est 2:5-7, whose greatness is described in the last verse - Est 10:3 “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.” -- In fact, the Feast of Purim is called “the day of Mordecai” in 2 Mac 15:36, Mordecai was truly an “Expatriate Extraordinaire”. As such, he provides an example in many respects for Christians today.
Expatriate - One who has taken up residence in a foreign country. His great-grandfather Kish had been taken away into Babylonian captivity - Est 2:5-6 “Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite, who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away.” The Jews had begun to return to Jerusalem nearly fifty years earlier - cf. Ezr 1:1-5 “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel--he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem." Then rose up the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem.” -- Mordecai, like many other Jews, remained in the country of exile.
Extraordinaire - Extraordinary; beyond what is ordinary or usual; highly unusual or exceptional; remarkable. He raised his orphan cousin Esther - Est 2:7 “He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.” He served as her mentor and protector - Est 2:10-11 “Esther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known. And every day Mordecai walked in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.”, 20 “Esther had not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him.” He displayed patriotic loyalty by saving the king from assassination - Est 2:21-23 “In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. And this came to the knowledge of Mordecai, and he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai.” He refused to give Haman homage due only to God - Est 3:1-4 “After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him. And all the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage. Then the king's servants who were at the king's gate said to Mordecai, "Why do you transgress the king's command?" And when they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai's words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew.” The Jews all think that Mordecai refused this prostration because it implied idolatrous adoration. - Clarke. Hence, in the Apocryphal additions to this book, Mordecai is represented praying thus: “Thou knowest that if I have not adored Haman, it was not through pride, nor contempt, nor secret desire of glory; for I felt disposed to kiss the footsteps of his feet (gladly) for the salvation of Israel: but I feared to give to a man that honor which I know belongs only to my God.” - ibid.
He did what he could to save his people, the Jews. Tearing his clothes, mourning in sackcloth and ashes before the king’s gate - Est 4:1-2. Sending word to Esther that she must be willing to risk her own life - Est 4:13-14. Heeding her plea for him and all the Jews to fast and pray for her - Est 4:15-17 Together with Esther he wrote a decree that countered the one by Haman - Est 8:7-12. He wrote the letters establishing the Feast of Purim for the Jews - Est 9:20-28. -- Mordecai was truly an extraordinary person, his greatness extolled in the book of Esther - Est 9:4 “For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai grew more and more powerful.”; 10:2-3 “And all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 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.”
With the example of Mordecai, what parallels or applications might we draw related to our service as Christians; Christians as expatriates extraordinaire...? When we continue our lesson we will look at how we can also be expatriates extraordinaire.
