The plot to our story of
Esther thickens as we have now drawn our attention to Esther's older
cousin and childhood caregiver Mordecai. King Ahasuerus has promoted
an Agagite named Haman, and he has commanded that everyone bow to
Haman and give him homage. Mordecai will not bow, and although
Mordecai is bombarded by peer pressure to comply, his obedience to
God is more important than his compliance with a blasphemous law of
man. In chapter three and verse four we see more of our story where
we read:
Now
it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not
unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters
would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew.
Our
verse begins, “Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto
him, and he hearkened not unto them,...” It is one thing to
refuse to comply with outside pressure one time, but notice
Mordecai's stand – it was “daily”. Every day the same event
would occur. Let's picture it in our minds. Haman would arrive
possibly with his entourage. All of the servants at the gate of the
king would immediately bow before him as Haman pompously rode
possibly on a horse or walked very proudly among them. His chin might
have been held high and his nose lifted into the air as he felt
himself much better than these lowly subjects that were before him.
(We have all seen this type of behavior before.) Then, suddenly, out
of the corner of his eye, there is old Mordecai. He's standing and
not giving any homage. The others would say possibly in a concerned
and stern whisper, “Mordecai, you better bow. You are going to be
in trouble, and you might get all of us in trouble. Bow! Mordecai!
Bow!” However, Mordecai would not bow nor would he give Haman any
honor.
The verse goes on to say, “that they told Haman, to see whether
Mordecai's matters would stand: for he had told them that he was
a Jew.” After many attempts, those who were attempting to get
Mordecai to comply decided to tell Haman about him. Notice, “to
see whether Mordecai's matters would stand”. In other words
they believed that Mordecai's behavior could be altered if they told
on him. Rather than have their own necks on the line for Mordecai's
insubordination, they “threw him under the bus” so to speak. Then
they separated themselves from him by noting “he was a Jew.”
Now it may seem at first glance that under these circumstances it was
a unfavorable thing if a person was a “Jew”, but as we think
about it for a moment, this title and heritage meant that a Jew was
not going to bow to anyone other than God Himself, and in the eternal
perspective that is a wonderful title and heritage to have. Mordecai
was a Jew, and being a Jew meant he would not bow to Haman or any
other man just because the king said he should do so.
As we
think about this “daily stand” of Mordecai, what is it that we
would “daily stand” for if we were put to the test? As young
people we were often posed with this question, “If they were to put
a guillotine out in the parking lot, and one by one have each of us
put our heads in the slot and be asked the question, “Do you
believe Jesus is the Savior of the world?” If we said “yes” the
blade would fall and we would lose our heads, but if we said “no”
we would go free. What would we do? Basically Mordecai is making this
kind of stand. No matter what happens to him, he will not bow to
Haman, and no amount of peer pressure, convincing words, threatening
edicts or otherwise will alter his stand. Would to God that we would
all have that type of resolve when standing on our faith in Jesus.
Next time we will see Haman's reaction
to Mordecai's refusal to bow, so read ahead, and we shall join
together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look for
the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation
to Generation” and the new marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
No comments:
Post a Comment