Mordecai at the King's Gate Esther 2:19 - Equipped for Battle

Esther has been named the new queen of Persia, and a feast is being held in her name. While she is being honored, her older cousin Mordecai is still in the background monitoring what happens in her life. In chapter two and verse nineteen the fair young maidens are beckoned again, and we discover where Mordecai is located in the picture. We read:

And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat in the king's gate.

Our verse begins, “And when the virgins were gathered together the second time,...” It is interesting to note that these fair young maidens were gathered a second time. As if they were to celebrate the coronation of Esther like beauty contest contestants after the winner's crowning, these young ladies were brought together in the palace. We are not completely sure why this event occurred, but nonetheless it did.

The verse continues, “then Mordecai sat in the king's gate.” We may recall that back in verse ten of this chapter we were told that Mordecai instructed Esther not to reveal her nationality nor her family heritage, and in verse eleven we saw him walking in the court of women every day to see how Esther was doing. Now in this verse we see that Mordecai is sitting outside the king's gate. The festivities are inside, but Mordecai is not. The celebration and coronation for Esther are within the palace, and Mordecai is only at the king's gate.

Can we imagine Mordecai's thoughts at this time as he watches Esther being celebrated even though she was someone he has cared for deeply in the lowest parts of her life? Can we even begin to wonder as he did whether her nationality or family background would be exposed? We might even think about whether Esther would forget him because of her advancement in the kingdom of Persia. We note that Mordecai could only watch and observe from without the gate.

Perhaps there are those within our lives with whom we are “sitting outside the gate” so to speak. Maybe we have cared for them, watched over them, and helped them in crisis areas of their lives and now we are only able to be on the outside looking in. What we must realize as Mordecai most likely did, that although he was sitting outside the king's gate, God Almighty was within the palace. Where Mordecai's influence was little over Esther now, God Almighty's was still strong. There were no gates for the Almighty when it came to Esther, and although Mordecai's position may have been outside, the loving God of the Universe held Esther within His mighty hand. We may receive encouragement today from the observation point of Mordecai as we think about those we love. God is with them, though we are not. God has them, though we do not, and God knows exactly what He is doing in their lives as we observe from the King of King's gate.

Next time we see that Esther was still keeping her secret even though she was queen, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow...there is more...

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