For Such a Time: Esther 4
Setting and shock After the genocidal edict, Susa reels. Mordecai takes sackcloth and ashes—yet court protocol forbids such grief at the gate. Herodotus and Persian reliefs from Persepolis confirm a lethal etiquette: to approach the king unbidden risked death unless the golden scepter was extended. Esther has not been summoned for thirty days; the throne room is both near and unreachable.
Providence and agency Mordecai’s word is the turning point: “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (New International Version). It is not fatalism but faith: “relief and deliverance…will arise…from another place.” The Hebrew hints are rich—makom acher (“another place”) later becomes a reverent Jewish title for God (HaMakom). Esther’s reply, “If I perish, I perish,” uses a forceful repetition (vecha’asher avadti, avadti), a steadying of the soul. The diaspora book where God’s name is hidden (Esther’s own name echoes “hidden”) becomes a theology of seen-in-actions providence.
Fasting as vocation Three days of corporate fasting (the seed of the later Fast of Esther before Purim) precede action. In Persian loanwords we hear exile: dat (law), an irrevocable decree. Yet another “law” begins to work—the self-giving courage of intercession. Some Reformers wrestled with the book’s silence (Luther was uneasy), while many, from the Rabbis to Matthew Henry, read a quiet sovereignty that invites human obedience.
Practice - Fast before you speak; then speak for those who
cannot.
- Stand with your people even when your position shields you.
Suggested cross-references - Genesis 50:20; Romans 8:28; Proverbs 31:8–9; Joel 2:12–17; Jonah 3:5–9; Hebrews 4:16; Philippians 1:20–21; Exodus 17:14–16; 1 Samuel 15.
Hymn “God of Grace and God of Glory” (“Grant us wisdom, grant us courage for the facing of this hour”).
Prayer Hidden God, train our hearts in fasting and courage. Place your scepter of mercy over our fear, and make us faithful for this hour. If we perish, let it be in love; if we live, let it be for your people’s good and your unseen glory. Amen.